Tree-tops walk

By 9am on sunday morning, we'd started out on the jungle walk to the tree-tops walk in the Macritchie reservoir area. Normally we're just getting out of bed by this time on a sunday!

The first 3kms got us to the start of the tree-tops walk, and already we'd spied a monkey and some fish in a small stream. It was a good start. It was so humid in the jungle, even though there was a cool'ish breeze blowing.

The tree-tops walk was a 4km one way walk starting out 25m above the ground at the tree top canopy - the view was spectacular. Before long we spied more monkeys eating the blossoms and berries, then a sea-eagle, more monkeys and a squirrel. It was fantastic. I think it was our lucky day - a lady beside us exclaimed she'd done this walk before and hadn't seen monkeys.

The walk continued through the jungle until we reached the fork in the path, where we headed back to the car - all in all about 9kms. Have to say we were pretty proud of Zoe - who didn't complain at all. I think having an ipod stuck in her ears on the route home helped :) Think I lost about a kilo in sweat.

We stopped on the way home for some lunch at a local hawker centre - and filled up on BBQ pork and noodles for $3 a piece. It was SO good. We were the only caucasian's in the place.

With our belly's full and thirst quenched, we visited a local wet market to pick up some green mango's for tonight's dinner. We just LOVE green mango salad. It's so fresh and yummy.

We were home and in the pool by 2.3opm.

As I write this, it seems so bizzare to think of how we would be spending this day in France.... and indeed the way most of our friends will be today. While we're trekking through a jungle, they are skiing in snow-capped mountains... Can it be any different?

Green Mango Salad

Ingredients:- 3 unripe green mango's, 1-2 chilies deseeded and finely sliced, 1 carrot grated, 1 tbsp coriander finely chopped, 1 tbsp mint finely chopped, 1 tbsp lime juice, 1 tbsp brown sugar, 1.5 tsp fish sauce, 4-6 small dried shrimp, ground to a powder.

Method:- Combine all ingredients and mix well. Refrigerate the salad in covered container until ready to use.

PS - if you cannot find green mangoes, buy the least ripe mangoes that you can find and double the amount of lime juice.

Nature walks

In the heart of the island is a large nature reserve with three reservoirs. Yesterday, with french mum Sylvie and her 10 month old, we set out to explore the Macritchie reservoir - it's about 100ha of pristine rainforest. It's an area very popular with joggers and walkers.

It was beautiful - an enormous 'lake' with a 4km raised boardwalk on the edge of the reservoir and walks through the jungle. It's an 11km walk to circumnavigate the reservoir. At one end of the reservoir is a 'tree-top walk' where you walk on a suspended boardwalk 4 kms long, and 25 metres above the ground. This Zoe, Craig and I are going to tackle on sunday.

It was a beautiful walk - we managed about 5kms (there and back) with Eloue in the stroller. It was so peaceful and calm. We came across a group of monkey's who had stolen a pack of chips from a silly girl who didn't read the signs and brought food into the park. There would have been about 15 monkeys (I've since found out they were long tailed macaques). We got SO close to them about 3 feet away - it was great. They were so human like in the way they ate, and they sat in a row, one in front of the other and groomed each other. It was a unique experience.