Grade 6 (they're about 11 or 12) Tioman trip

Taking 25 kids through an airport customs and check-in is a very similar experience to being poked in the eye with a sharp, dog poo-covered stick.




This is the plane we go on. I like it. Some people don't because it can be bumpy. I like it best when the kids cry.



After a harrowing plane flight, we then make them walk about five miles to the resort we stay at. It's a nice walk, mind you: right through the jungle. We've seen real monkeys and snakes in the river.





It's not a bad spot. No pie shops, though.



This is where the kids stop



Us staff get to stay a bit further away, in a cabin on the beach.



One perk of the job is that the resort we stay at is also the local turtle sanctuary. All the green turtles' eggs are buried here and then they hatch about two months later, and have to be released.





New-born turtles in a polystyrene box. See that one flat out on his back? If he can't make it in a box, how's he going to make it out there in the south China sea, eh? Girls - that turtle will be eaten to death in no time.



This is Rob giving the kids a briefing on releasing the turtles on the beach (Basically, "Don't stand on them"). They have to be released early in the morning because they swim towards the sun and horizon. Apparently, they keep going for about three days, swimming solidly. If they're not eaten by something bigger, that is.






This was a turtle I had. The kids usually put them down on the sand and let them flip their way in to the water. If I get one, I ask it, "Do you want to go in to the sea for your first swim?" If they put their hand up, then I let them go. If they don't, I usually eat them for breakfast, live on toast with scrambled eggs.





The chances of a baby turtle making to aldult-hood is usually 1 in 5000! With these sorts of sanctuaries, the odds are slightly better at 1 in 1000. (That was a FACT, by the way.)







Not that bad an office, all in all.





I do have to work while I'm there, though. We take the kids sailing, kayaking, snorkelling, trekking through the jungle, and we also do stuff like beach art.



I made this. I'm not sure what it is but it's very artistic and very clever.





Did YOU know that rubber comes from trees? I didn't. I thought it came from rubber factories but apparently not. It drips out of trees! This place is messing with my mind.




We get to make kids look stupid...



...before we let them go snorkelling in the water.

And then we fly back to Singapore for the weekend.