Day Nine - 29/11/25
Two up on the beach swing
Day 9 kicked off with another delicious buffet breakfast at the resort. This time, though, we put a firm limit on the kids’ pancakes. Yesterday’s sugar-fuelled emotional rollercoaster was… memorable. We know the kids aren’t great with sugar, but we are trying to let them have fun and enjoy themselves, but we are learning quickly that equals chaos, tears, and zero regulation. So today: controlled sugar intake = calm kids = happier parents.
After breakfast, I got stuck into a little bit of work before we decided to hire scooters from the hotel. The original plan was to squeeze all four of us onto one scooter, but that idea was shut down pretty quickly. Kia wasn’t feeling super confident on the roads (fair enough), and we also weren’t allowed to ride four-up. So we ended up with two scooters instead. Once we topped one of them up with petrol, we headed off on our first little adventure.
Our first stop was a beach not too far from the hotel. We parked the scooters, walked down some steps, and found a perfect little setup. Deck chairs on the sand, drinks available, and calm water where the kids could play right in front of us. There were some puppies running around that were super fun to watch and even a small beachfront restaurant where we had lunch. We happily spent a couple of hours there just relaxing, swimming, and enjoying the atmosphere.
After a quick stop back at the hotel to swap some things over, we jumped back on the scooters and headed out again, this time chasing another beach with a restaurant recommended by the resort. The ride there was fun… until Google Maps tried sending us down a private road and security turned us away. We had to backtrack and found an alternate route that took us along a bumpy dirt track. But it worked, and we eventually arrived at a beautiful, quiet beach with a rustic little restaurant. The kids were straight back into the water while we enjoyed some drinks and the afternoon sun. We stayed there until late afternoon, taking turns on a beach swing before cleaning the kids off and getting ready to head back.
Before leaving, Maddie FaceTimed one of her friends who was celebrating a birthday with a sleepover. She was so excited to still be part of it, even from Vietnam.
When we finally made it back to the hotel, we discovered the power was out. At first we thought it was just the usual island outage, so we didn’t worry too much. We showered, got changed, and went back out for dinner since the hotel restaurant was closed.
We found a cosy spot up the road called Eat Pray Love. The menu had major Australian influence, Aussie beef, Aussie-style meals, all very familiar. The kids had fish and chips, I had a chicken pesto pasta, and Kia a chicken salad. All very delicious.
We returned to the hotel after dinner, and the power was still out. So, we called it a night and went straight to bed.
And that wrapped up Day 9. Simple, sunny, full of scooters, beaches, and a bit of adventure… finished off with a blackout for good measure.