Term Three holidays coincided with Idul Fitri so we joined the millions (Literally) of other Jakarta residents and escaped the city. After hearing so much about Ocean Queen at Palabuhan Ratu we decided to check it out ourselves, so that was our chosen destination.
The journey down was an adventure in itself with Zachary never being in the car for three plus hours before, the hairy mountain roads and one stop thanks to Sebastian's car sickness. (Something that has never happened before!)
Manuel took a day or two to unwind but the boys and I headed straight to the pool. We spent the next 7 days, swimming, setting off fireworks, swimming, playing cricket, swimming, surfing, swimming, walking along the beach, swimming, playing football, swimming, getting massages, swimming, relaxing and swimming!
Sebastian was a little hesitant at the start of the week about going into the surf. He may be a little fish in a swimming pool but the ocean sure is a little scarier! But after a little encouragement his confidence grew and by the end of the week he was paddling out on his own and riding the waves back in! And as soon as he hit the sand, he was up and out there again.
Zachary experienced the beach for the first time. He loved the sand but the waves were a little daunting, so we stuck mainly to the pool. He floated around for ages watching all the other kids, then when he had had enough of that it was play time under the palm tree before nap time.
Manuel enjoyed a chance to relax, in fact he couldn't have done any work even if he had wanted to as the whole of Indonesia was on holiday. So he was able to teach Seb how to boogie board, play football and cricket with all the kids and invested god knows how many hours in a game of Risk with friends in the bungalow next door.
Truly a family vacation!
