Goodbye Timor, Hello Bangkok (via Darwin, Perth and Phuket!)

It is Sunday afternoon and I am writing from our hotel in Thailand which is absolutely beautiful and a very nice follow on from the challenges of travelling with children in Timor. It is not until you leave a place like Timor that realise how difficult it really was. The constant and ever present risk of Dhengi Fever and Malaria meant regular coatings of repel, mosquito nets and constant vigilence for the winged nuisances. The general bugs also meant constant hand washing and being on Gus surveilance duty following him pretty much everywhere to prevent him from digesting some unsavoury item. Noting that life for a 2 year old is pretty much the same wherever you are, they don't ofcourse recognise geography, life is just one big playground. In hinsight Timor was certainly more difficult and more work than initially thought and planned for but lessons ofcourse are usually learned this way.
Last message was from Darwin airport and from there we flew to Perth, stayed one night in a very nice apartment before getting up very early the next day to travel to Bangkok, yes another plane. We received a not so nice and very unexpected surprise at the airport. As we stood in the queue and looked at the board we realised that our flight was heading to Phuket, news to us. Our itinerary didn't show any stopover but we had been scheduled on a flight to Bangkok via Phuket which meant yet another stopover and yet another flight, not happy Jan! As well as this we were told that Jen and Nick had been seated in different parts of the plane not only from us but also from each other. Once on the plane we received some good news, we had been given the row of seats at the front which meant extra leg room and Gus not kicking anyone in front. Also despite assurances of a full flight we saw once on board that the plane was only half full and Jen and Nick were moved to sit behind us, as Poppa would say "everything is coming up roses".
As we boarded the plane there was an older gentlemen boarding in front of us and upon meeting with the very pretty Thai flight attendants gave a very worrying little hip wiggling dance that told us exactly what was on his plans for Thailand. Not a pretty sight! It does seem to be the case though that every flight we take to bangkok there is always some unsavoury Aussies on board heading to Asia to do not so nice things. Anyway on with our story....
On the plane we were a little worried about the little master, he had a slight fever and very green boogers and looking a little lethargic. On the plane he soon fell asleep on me and fortunately proceeded to fall into a dead sleep for about 4 hours. He sweated out much of his fever and fortunately for all woke a much happier little man. He had a run around in Phuket airport and was in the midst of a major tanti when all was saved by the purchase of a toy plane, problem solved. The plane was a little shaky that we were flying on and the take off and landing manouveres didn't exactly fill us with confidence but we are still here to share the tale. Short flight to Bangkok, saying goodbye to Nanna and Poppa and then into the transport to our hotel. It is always somewhat disconcerting when you step into your Bangkok transport that has been organised by your client and the driver turns to you and asks you if you know the way to your hotel. Things did not get much better from there as we drove around for at least 30 mins trying to locate the hotel. Fortunately the car was very comfortable and we were all too tired to really notice anyway. Things were all recovered when we arrived at the hotel and found a room that was perfect for us and a hotel with many things for the kids and Bec to do during the week while I am at work, stay tuned for further details.