Day Twenty-Four - 14/12/25

Didn’t head out for a run this morning. Definitely felt like the body needed a bit of rest. I’ve had a tight hamstring/glute on the left side that’s been giving me some trouble, and lifting the leg has been a bit painful, so I’m trying to be smart and rest it every few days rather than push through it.

It was Sunday, so we started the day slowly. The kids found Rosie getting up to no good again. A lot of her antics have been toilet-themed lately, which feels fitting after Emmett clogged the toilet and we ended up having our entire toilet ripped out so the pipe could be properly unclogged. Not something you expect on a family trip, but definitely memorable.

We headed down for breakfast together as a family. These breakfasts have become a really special part of the day. Maddie has fully stepped into a little hostess role lately, grabbing my coffee, helping with breakfast, getting Kia a coffee too, and just hanging out with us. It’s been really fun to watch. Emmett sort of comes and goes now. He’s found a little buddy and they’ve been playing heaps together, which has been great to see. He’s definitely getting more social and confident.

After breakfast, I headed back to the apartment and got stuck into a fair bit of work. It wasn’t a fun job and it was pretty stressful. Lots of sifting through information and trying to piece things together. I put in a solid few hours, which burned a big chunk of the day.

I ducked out to grab lunch for everyone and we ate down at the common area, chatting with some of the other families before I went back to work again. Kia and the kids just chilled out for most of the day. Lots of swimming, chatting, and hanging around with everyone.

In the afternoon, there was a plan for a big group beach session. Some families headed down earlier, so we joined them, had a beer, chatted, and let the kids play in the water. Once five o’clock rolled around, Kia and I grabbed stand-up paddleboards for the kids. They were super cheap to hire, and heaps of others grabbed paddleboards and kayaks too.

We all paddled out together and just mucked around for the hour. People falling off boards, kids jumping between paddleboards and kayaks, one kayak loaded up with one adult and about six kids. It was absolute chaos in the best way. Heaps of laughs. We took the GoPro out and got loads of photos and videos.

There was also a guy from the hire company flying a drone around us, getting some really close shots. He put together some short edits that we ended up buying, and they turned out so cool. Combined with the GoPro footage, we’ll have some epic videos from that session. We’d drifted a fair way out, so the paddle back in was a bit of a mission, but still heaps of fun.

After that, we headed back to the resort where dinner was organised right on the beach. The kids jumped straight into the pool while we got changed. As the sun went down, two guys came out and did a fire show. Fire twirling, breathing fire, all sorts of insane stuff. I’ve never seen anything like it. They were great with the kids too, letting everyone take photos at the end.

We somehow ended up with a front-row table, surrounded by kids from the hub. Such a cool spot to be.

After the fire show, there was a more traditional Northern Highlands performance. They were pulling people from the crowd to sit down and drink what I thought was tea through bamboo pipes. Everyone was having a go, then they grabbed me out of my chair. First mouthful…definitely not tea. It was rice wine, and it was absolute rocket fuel. Every time I tried to get up they insisted on “one more,” and I somehow ended up having three shots. Wild stuff.

Dinner was hands down the best meal I’ve had so far on the trip. Perfectly cooked pork that just melted in your mouth, incredible beef noodles, rice, and a pizza for the kids that we all shared. Everything was unreal.

After dinner, there was a band playing and some of the kids got up and sang. They played a lot of Spanish music. The couple who run the hub are from Spain, so they started dancing, which turned into a full conga line with everyone joining in. The atmosphere was incredible. Everyone mingled so easily, heaps of laughs, heaps of dancing. Just one of those nights where everything clicks.

Once things started winding down, we peeled off, jumped back on the scooter and cruised back to the accommodation. Showers and straight to bed because it was pretty late by then.

Big day work-wise, but such a fun, memorable way to end it with everyone at the hub. One of those days that really captures what this whole experience is about.