We had been here now in this tropical paradise for three days. In that time, we have taken two trips, one of us has learned fire dancing and got a mysterious device from a strange man in a mask while another has learnt a sea chantey from a ghostly pirate as well as finding maps for buried treasure.

With this being our last day, we chose to fill it with as much as possible.

Once we were all awake, we booked ourselves on the third and final available trip which was a helicopter tour of the island. Unsurprisingly, there was a problem on the tour. Shortly before landing, it was found we were overloaded for the fuel that was on board and either 100lbs of rocks or 100lbs of feathers be cast out. For anyone who has a similar problem on a helicopter tour, don't throw out the rocks. What the vacation giveth, the vacation taketh away.

Jolene refused to speak to me for the rest of the morning.

Game Notes

This is Jolene again. Following Will's ridiculous decision on the helicopter tour, I'm taking over this review. Just to clarify one thing, "Ancient Ruins" is not what the twins call us.

Yesterday, we thought our trip to see the witchdoctor was going to be a trip to a mysterious temple. Ok, so we were wrong. We were told that there were two old ancient pyramids not far at all from the hotel. The "Majestic Ruins of Jumbok IV" and the "Ancient Ruins of Numchuck" were supposed to be a thousand years old and were both temples to a great Monkey God. Why were these two temples so close? Don't ask me, I'm not an anthropologist. Perhaps they were for different denominations of Monkey God worshippers. Either way, we just had to go and look at them.

The Majestic Ruins of Jumbok IV were the furthest away. We chose to walk there first as we could pop in on the Numchuck Ruins on the way back. When we got there, we found it to be very impressive but a rock formation overlooking the ruins gave me the creeps. No wonder the ruins were abandoned with that looking down over it.

Things were going so well. Will was soaking in the hot springs. Yolanda had even made an offering to the majestic statue and fountain in the centre of the ruins, although nothing seemed to happen. Bradley, however, had other ideas and had somehow brought some soap with him that he added to the fountain. The next thing we knew was that the statue was spewing lava from his mouth. I was so embarrassed, especially as it had attracted the attention of some other people.

However, they did not seem to complain. The lava eruption did look quite impressive.

One of them actually showed Yolanda the local custom of hanging loose who in turn showed Will how to do it. This cheered him up as he had not been able to get "Mr. Mickles" to do anything for him.

Although it was getting late, we decided to call in at the Numchuck Ruins. At least we didn't have that creepy rock formation statue overlooking us. There was a food counter and while Will and the twins had something to eat, I was able to grab some souvenirs. I was pleased to find this stall as we were going home in the morning and I didn't think I would have time to go to the boardwalk to buy them.

Finally, at 1.30am, I gathered the family together and we walked back to the hotel. The Numchuck ruins seemed to have more than the Jumbuk ruins but I suppose after you've seen a couple of sets of ruins, you've really seen them all.

Game Notes

This is Will again. While Jolene slept, I took the opportunity to relax again in the hot springs, had a sauna and learnt the Hot Stones massage which is the local technique. I think we just have enough money now to pay the hotel bill and for the nanny who is dogsitting Saxon for us.

Our final morning dawned. Only Jolene had slept. The rest of us had stayed awake and although somewhat tired, we expected to sleep on the way back. Me, Jolene and Yolanda watched TV as the hour got closer for us to check out. TV on vacation is no different from that at home, oddly enough. They even have the same weatherman.

At about 10am, Jolene checked us out and booked the shuttle to take us to the airport. We grabbed our bags and got into the shuttle, just to find that Jolene had quickly joined a complimentary hula class on the back verandah of the hotel. Typical of her to keep us waiting. The driver of the shuttle was patient enough to wait for her, unlike the driver who picked us up from home.

We got home at about 7pm. I was expecting to pay the nanny about §1,000 but in the end only paid her ... §28. Not that I was arguing, nor could I correct her. We were home at last. We had a lot of memories, despite having not seen everything that there was to see. All the more reason to go back there again.

Game Notes

With the three resorts covered, our in-depth review is nearing its end. In the next part, we look the different types of accommodation that are covered in vacation resorts and a "minitorial" on how to build your own hotel.