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Frog's adventures
  • Findlay Russell
  • Kate Bougoure
  • Fern Russell
  • Findlay Russell
  • Kate Bougoure
  • Fern Russell

Frog's adventures

An open-ended adventure by Findlay, Kate & Fern Read more
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  • Trip start
    September 11, 2024
  • Frog's adventures

    Tiki the tuk tuk

    September 18, 2024 in Sri Lanka ⋅ ⛅ 29 °C

    Meet Tiki, our trusty tuk tuk. Although she wasn't so trusted yesterday as she broke down twice while we were trying to go to dinner. Luckily, we had some locals come help us on the main road and we made it to dinner in time. At night time , Colombo comes alive and everyone is on the streets looking for a place to eat.Read more

  • Frog's adventures

    Turtle conservation project

    September 19, 2024 in Sri Lanka ⋅ ☁️ 28 °C

    Today we went to a turtle conservation project. 90% of the turtles are released into the wild and the other 10% are there for a very short period of time to show tourists how to look after turtles. One of my favourite turtles was the albino turtle and this is very rare, which is 1 in 500000 hatchings. We were very lucky today seeing one day old baby turtles in enclosures.Read more

  • Frog's adventures

    Swimming with turtles

    September 21, 2024 in Sri Lanka ⋅ ☁️ 28 °C

    Today we started our day at the fish market. At the fish market we saw lots of fish , including mackerel , Mahi mahi stingrays and a big Cod.
    After the fish market we went to a Tsunami museum which showed us about the tsunami that happened in 2004 and was devastating to the Islands of Sri Lanka. At the tsunami research facility, there's a school program which helps kids affected by the tsunami. They draw pictures about how they feel about it and and I bought one. I got to see a part of the train that got destroyed which 1700 people died when the tsunami hit in the train. It was very upsetting seeing all the photos and how destroyed Sri Lanka got. It took 5 Years for the Sri Lankan people to rebuild their city.
    We also went to the beach. We went swimming with wild sea turtles. We got to feed them seaweed .But we always remember to not get too close and respect them because they are wild animals. For breakfast we had traditional Roti and it was some of the best bread I have ever had.    Read more

  • Frog's adventures

    The best days at Galle

    September 22, 2024 in Sri Lanka ⋅ 🌬 28 °C

    The last 2 days we've spent in Galle Fort. Galle Fort is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. On day one, we walked all around the wall of the fort. Our hotel room is super close to the famous Galle lighthouse and is also right across the road from the beach.
    I made some great Sri Lankan mates and spent both days playing cricket and soccer with them across the road near the beach. Not only did I play cricket with my new mates, I was lucky enough to watch a test match at Galle Cricket Ground. Sri Lanka was playing New Zealand. I wish I could stay longer in Galle, I will miss my new mates but I have their phone number and I am going to keep in contact with them.    Read more

  • Frog's adventures

    Our journey from Galle to Weligama

    September 24, 2024 in Sri Lanka ⋅ 🌬 30 °C

    On the way to Weligama we had a couple of pit stops. First stop was Japanese Peace Pagoda. We were not allowed to talk or wear shoes. Then we went to Frog Rock- I guess I met my ancestors! I needed a burger for lunch- i couldn't handle a curry today. What can i say about the burger- amazing!
    We arrived in Weligama and mum didn't have a good feeling about the hotel, bit of a strange place. Dad said it was like Fawlty Towers. We found a great beach break and spent the afternoon on the boards. No dumpers and peaceful waves.
    We explored Weligama town and had the best Hoppers and Roti for dinner. I love watching them make the food in front of us.
    On the way home from dinner, I came across some fireflies- which was the first time all of us had seen them. This totally made my day!    Read more

  • Frog's adventures

    Onwards to Mirissa

    September 25, 2024 in Sri Lanka ⋅ ☁️ 28 °C

    Today, we left willagama and also left behind my favourite roti shop. The staff at the shop got to know us really well and welcomed us there every day. From there we went to our hotel in Marissa. We spent our afternoon looking out for green turtles and having swims in the pool. Yesterday, I also started learning how to juggle. For lunch we went to this place and the roof was tiny. Dad couldn't even fit in. Luckily, there was an upstairs, and we all had amazing curry, chips, and noodles.Read more

  • Frog's adventures

    Todays fun and adventures

    September 27, 2024 in Sri Lanka ⋅ 🌬 28 °C

    Today, we went for our last surf at welligama. I met a new mate from israel, he was shredding in the surf. The weather was a bit rainy , which made the waves much bigger than usual , which led to a good surf day. After our surf , we went to our favourite roti shop for our final time in Weligama. We were all eating Roti's and curry. Then suddenly dad had a mini seizure. It happened because he was hot and not enough oxygen got to his brain. It only lasted a few seconds but I was scared. The people working there helped us. Thankfully Dad was fine and he is back being the usual Grinch that he is. After dad's moment we went for a short drive to a statue carved into a rock called Kushtarajagala Statue. We saw a grave here from 1907 - 117 years old.
    For the afternoon we came home from a long day of activities. Me, mum, dad and Fern all sat on the beach for a bit of a relaxation with our good friend Black Dog- patrolling the area. I insisted that I must pour his beers because I am a professional and get all the good angles. In the evening me and Fern stayed in the rock pools. They were freezing about 7 degrees. Then we decided this is too cold and we went into the hot tub!    Read more

  • Frog's adventures

    Safari experience

    September 29, 2024 in Sri Lanka ⋅ ☁️ 27 °C

    For today's adventure we went on a safari trip in the back of an old 4x4. Starting off at 6am we took the ute to the National Park. As we were entering we saw our first elephant of the day. Inside the park is where the magic happened! The road was fairly eroded from yesterday's rain. The animals that we were luckily enough to see were elephants, peacocks, mongoose, spotted deer (which I ate the other day!), crocodile, cow, monitors, buffalo, monkeys, horn bills, serpent eagle, a gazillion frog eggs and squirrels. My favourite animal was of course the elephants. The first ones in Udawalawe Park was a family with a mumma, daddy and little baby. When we saw the monkeys, I was a bit scared of them coming into the car- which they did! At the very end we had the biggest elephant that I have ever seen walk down the road towards us- I was so excited! I felt that today was the best day since we started our trip because it is something new that we have never done and the first time I have seen elephants in the wild.Read more

  • Frog's adventures

    Yala national park safari

    October 3, 2024 in Sri Lanka ⋅ 🌬 31 °C

    Today, we got to see some of the coolest animals in the world. My favourite was called the sloth bear. We were also lucky enough to see a leopard. The chances of seeing a leopard are very, very slim, but with that against us, we still got to see one. There's only 20 leopards in the entire National Park and 15 to 20 sloth bears. Other animals we got to see were Buffalo rabbits, jackals, chameleons , crocodiles , monkeys, and wild boar. There were also hundreds of spotted dear. We saw 3 elephants however, it was nowhere near as much as what we saw the last safari. When we saw the sloth bear it came right up to the side of a car. Me and dad thought he was about to climb in.Read more

  • Frog's adventures

    Elephant Road

    October 4, 2024 in Sri Lanka ⋅ ☁️ 21 °C

    Welcome to Elephant Road. This Road is the most dangerous road in Sri Lanka. The reason for that is because Elephants come out of nowhere and try and tip the tuk tuks over. When coming across an elephant, usually you would have to wait for it to move- but we didn't do that because a bus came and helped us get around the Elephant. It was actually quite nerve-racking but at the same time really cool. The first Elephant we came across was a big bull. If the bus didn't come we could have been waiting there for hours. The second Elephant we came across was a smaller female and she wasn't in the middle of the road so we just zipped right past.
    We were on our way to Ella when all this mayhem happened. The road to Ella is exceptionally steep and in some parts we thought Tiki wouldn't make it.
    Ella is a town hanging off the side of a mountain. The temperature is fairly cold at night and a bit chilly during the day.
    After a delicious curry we stumbled across a pool hall filled with tables. I reckon I had 10 games before I tapped out. Good day in Ella.    Read more

  • Frog's adventures

    Tea time!

    October 5, 2024 in Sri Lanka ⋅ ☁️ 24 °C

    Today we went to a tea plantation to have a look at how they grow tea. Tea was invented in China but it is very popular in Sri Lanka. We had a tour of the fields and got to pick some tea. I wore a scarf to protect me from the sun and a basket on our back to carry the tea. You should pick the light green fresh baby leaves. Dad picked the most, I was in second and the girls had nowhere near as much.
    Today was my first time ever trying tea so I didn't know what to expect. I had 5 cups, all different varieties. I liked the second strongest. Still don't know about tea... maybe in a couple of years.
    I liked today because it was something we have never done before.    Read more

  • Frog's adventures

    The odds of winning!

    October 6, 2024 in Sri Lanka ⋅ ☁️ 20 °C

    I started the day with my favourite chili and vegetable roti which gave me the energy for our journey. We were on our way to Little Adams Peak when we stumbled across the track leading to the 9 Arch Bridge. The walk down to the bridge was steep through the bushy mountain range. When we arrived there was hundreds of people and we decided to go on the less crowded side across the track. It was perfect timing because right after a train came and we would have been stuck on the bridge. We decided to head home and instead of going up the mountain again, we decided to go along the track back to Ella station. This was a good idea because I spotted another train in the distance. We all decided to wait for the train to come and we got a great photo of the train in the tunnel. On the walk home we spotted some cool plants, which are called sensitive mimosa. The cool thing about this plant is when you touch its leaves, it folds away to prevent being eaten by insects. But watch out as it has razor sharp thorns along its stem! I had to find out the hard way!
    When we were only a few kilometres from Ella Station I found a massive 8 foot long snake skin. I decided to leave it on the side of the track for other people to see, as lots of other people take the track too.
    I liked how we walked a lot today- great training for dad and I for Mt Kinabalu. A great day with 2 mango sorbets!    Read more

  • Frog's adventures

    Practice for Mt Kinabalu

    October 7, 2024 in Sri Lanka ⋅ ☁️ 23 °C

    To start our morning we got up early and packed up ready for our hike. We drove to the bakery in Tiki and I had a steaming hot vegetable roti which was delicious! Roti is my favourite food in Sri Lanka. A quick drive up the hill to the carpark of Little Adam's Peak and we started our ascent to the peak. I made it to the tallest point. When we got to the top there were clouds everywhere and most of the time we were inside of them. Every now and then it would clear up we could see that we were standing 1141metre above sea level. The walk up was fantastic practice for me and dad's big climb. Walking down was a breeze- literally! The wind was trying to push us off.
    Me and Fern somehow convinced Mum and dad to let us do one of the activities which was rock climbing. Obviously I beat Fern on both climbs. The rock climbing was fun but it was a lot higher than it looked when you got to the top and looked down!
    I really liked the hike, it was fun for the whole family.
    We had another lucky day with the weather. When we were pretty much at the hotel it rained. It rained for the rest of the afternoon- all the way till midnight.
    After dinner me and dad went to the pool hall for a couple of games and a game of snooker. I flogged Dad at snooker.    Read more

  • Frog's adventures

    The train with no doors

    October 8, 2024 in Sri Lanka ⋅ ☁️ 26 °C

    We started out our day with a 4:30am start. We were ready and packed up to go to Kandy. Instead of taking Tiki we hopped on a train. Mum and dad got someone to drive her all the way to Kandy so that is why we had to get up so early. The train left at 6:30am. On the train we all sat next to each other. Later we found out that you can turn the seats around so Fern and mum sat behind dad and I, and we turned the seats to face each other. At our first stop me and dad decided to scare mum and Fern by jumping off the train and pretending we werent hopping back on. I tried some chai tea and I loved it and some warm peanuts. I loved the clouds up high and the thousands of bats in the multiple tunnels. Overall the train ride was great and I loved hanging out the side.
    In Kandy we went to the markets. Fern was not the biggest fan. The meat shop smelt horrific. I would never buy meat from there- it sits in the heat all day!    Read more

  • Frog's adventures

    Our journey with Buddha

    October 9, 2024 in Sri Lanka ⋅ ☁️ 23 °C

    Our first destination for today was Bahirawakanda Temple. I was impressed with the sheer size- a staggering 88 metres tall! I liked that we were able to walk up to his head- the view was outstanding looking out over Kandy.
    The stupa that we visited was the most amazing building your eyes would ever see. The reason why I say that is because of the murals inside and on the roof. The walls were carved into flowers and there would have been at least over 5 thousand I think.
    Our final stop on the culture tour was Ambuluwawa Tower. Me, mum and dad were all trying to convince Fern to climb the tower, but she said no way. So we climbed it anyway- we got about 3 spirals away from the top but tapped out because the railing was below your knees and the steps about 30cm wide. So we couldn't blame Fern for not going up because it was really scary.
    We all visited Kandy's cultural dancing. I liked the grand finale fire dance which included them eating fire and walking over fire. We went to a temple that has Buddha's tooth in it. We didnt see it but we did see a ceremony with all the monks going inside the tomb.    Read more

  • Frog's adventures

    The Royal Caves

    October 10, 2024 in Sri Lanka ⋅ ☁️ 28 °C

    We left Kandy and it only felt like we had just got there. Back into the tuk tuk after our thrilling train ride- to be honest I kind of liked travelling in the train more.
    When we saw the Dambulla Golden Temple the first thing I noticed was the big gold Buddha was missing a part of his chin. We may have taken the wrong path and we had to go through 20 million monkeys.
    The caves were incredible. I counted 156 statues and 153 Buddha. It made me feel tiny with the sheer size of some of the Buddha's.
    It was so cool and I really want to know how they would have done that over 2700 years ago. I also got a blessing whilst I was there, the man tied a white piece if cotton around my hand.
    When we got to Sigiriya we checked into our hotel and I thought dad was having a heart attack cause he rang us and told us to come down to the river immediately. When we got there, there was a big elephant in the water having a bath. Not something you see every day!    Read more

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