18/5/26 – New Zealand via Singapore to Sri Lanka!
A last minute pack was the priority this morning. Raelene and I managed to get it done before needing to head to the airport at around 11. Oliver and Raelene raced out to send the box of things back to Nhulunbuy and made it back just in time for us to quickly pack the car.
The drive through the city went easily with Max directing and Raelene squished in the back with the boys. We were all a bit sad to be leaving NZ! Thankfully before we left our plan that was made on the fly, on the side of the road at after Lewis pass came to fruition today. Maree and Neville were waiting for us at a cafe near the airport with our bikes in the back of the ute!
Gosh it was great to see them again, we honesty cannot thank them enough for the help that they have given to us while we have been in NZ. We all enjoyed a coffee before hitting the road for the last section to the departures drop off where we said our final goodbyes and thank you’s before embarking on the next section of our trip!
Check in went down without a hitch and we made it through to the boarding gate with plenty of time to spare. There was a great buzzy bee display which had hidden dressed up bees to find, this kept the boys entertained for a while, even Raelene and I good hooked in finding the elusive Queen bee. Then while waiting at the gate Raelene quickly gave Peter Rabbit facial surgery from a wound he got from wrestling a crocodile…. The kids were dead keen to get onboard and watch some movies, which was lucky as we then sat on the tarmac for an hour before taking off….both Raelene and I remarked that we would be cutting it fine to make our connection to Colombo in Singapore!
The flight was great, the kids pretty much pulled an all nighter, watching movie and enjoying their airline meals. Can’t fault Singapore airlines that’s for sure. We got some decent turbulence on the flight which tested out Raelene’s EMDR therapy!
As first thought, we were tight on time to transfer between flights. They had delayed the other plane boarding for us so we raced off down the terminal to find our gate for our Singapore – Colombo flight! Thankfully we all made it on time and got straight back on a plane! No time to stretch the legs.
Our second flight, while again turbulent, went down without a hitch. Oliver and mum watched Harry Potter 4 which Oliver loved. On landing in Colombo we were greeted with a muggy warmth that we were devoid of in NZ. Unfortunately though while we had made our quick transit in Singapore, our luggage did not. We left the airport with the stuff that we had carried on (not much) and 60,000LKR (approx $250) in compensation, given to us by the airport baggage service…amazing! We purchased a SIM card then went to find a taxi which was much easier without all our bags to be honest.
When we arrived at our Airbnb, we got a quick tour of the place (this being at 0100 in the morning….then we all got the hay for some well earned z’s…..
Welcome to Sri Lanka! 🇱🇰
19/5/26 – Wattala (Colombo)
Even though we got to bed so late we all woke up around 8am, feeling very sluggish we had a slow morning around the house. The Airbnb house we booked had a caretaker at all times which was great for asking for local advice and they were kind enough to get us breakfast supplies. Due to our luggage not arriving we were all still in our warm clothes and it was so hot and muggy that none of us wanted to venture outside.
Oliver and Arthur spent a long time doing their cross stitch bookmarks which was fun, both are getting quite good at them. I had one on either side of me asking for help with thread colour change and reading the pattern, it was great. Around lunch time we received a phone call saying our luggage had arrived and they were organising it to be delivered, with a bit of help from the caretaker we were able to confirm the address to have the bags delivered too. As we waited for them to arrive, we all tried to have another sleep. Oliver was the only one successful in the mission.
A few card games later we received another call saying our bags could not be delivered as we needed to be there personally to take our bikes through customs. So we all put on our warm clothes (We had been wearing only underwear for most of the day) and got a PickMe (it is Sri Lanka’s version of uber and is great) to the airport. We had to go to security to get a day pass which allowed us entry into the arrivals area, they would only give me one as my name was on the luggage paperwork so while I went through to get our bags Rhys and the boys waited in arrivals hall. Security cleared me to enter the baggage claim area and I was relieved to see all our bags on trolleys when I arrived at the ‘left luggage’ office. A bit more paperwork and having the bikes cleared with customs I was finally able to push the two trolleys of gear out to Rhys.
While I was collecting the bags Rhys had got some food for the boys and they were all enjoying a garlic bread roll or omelette bun. Rhys had got us an egg roll which was spicy and delicious. I grabbed a SIM card for my phone as we thought it would be easier to have both phones in Sri Lanka and the packages were very cheap. We were finally ready to head back to our house and to our surprise we found it very easy to find a van to fit all our gear in.
Once back at the house everyone was very excited to open up our bikes and check the condition, the cardboard box had quite a bit of damage to it but thankfully nothing had fallen out. Oliver enjoyed putting his bike together while Rhys did the tandems. We had packed some ingredients for pesto pasta as an emergency meal for our arrival and it came in handy tonight as everyones fatigue levels were quite high and no one could be bothered going out to search for food. After dinner we all fell into bed and it didn’t take long for everyone to be silent and asleep.
20/5/26 – Negombo and Colombo
3:50am….wakey wakey rise and shine, everybody is on New Zealand time! We tried to laze around in bed a bit more but ended up just accepting our fate and got up at around 4:30. Raelene had read about the main fish markets in Negombo being something worth seeing so following some cups of tea to wake us up we jumped in a taxi and made it to the fish markets at around 6:15. As the taxi driver dropped us off he asked why would we be wanting to come to a place like this? I must say it did look rather stark however out we popped, keen to have a look around. Unfortunately we were too late to see most of the boats come in but as we wandered around we found fishermen down but the water with a huge catch of slimy mackerel, gutting them and placing them into blue plastic barrels. They would then fill the barrels with salt and brine the fish before drying them in the days to come.
As we were checking all this out we were approached by a fisherman to encouraged us to take photos, explained to us exactly what was going on, then simply said ‘follow me’ and took us on the most amazing little tour of the Negombo fish markets!
We walked around the markets and saw piles of what the locals call chicken fish which looked like some sort of tusk fish variety with a unicorn spike on its head. With this man’s guidance we were then in a tuk tuk, heading accross the bridge to the markets on the other side of the river where the big fish were. Sure enough we saw 100kg yellow fin tuna’s being loaded into trucks to be taken to various parts of the country. Ice trucks delivered fresh cut ice for the other truck drivers to pour over their load of tuna.
There were sharks, mackerel, Jew fish, bat fish, marlin, crabs, snapper and fish of all different shapes and sizes. All the while we were wandering around the man was getting us to Take video and photos of everything, explaining how it all operated and giving us a great behind the scenes view.
Oliver began feeling a bit crook due to a culmination of hunger and the raw sight and smell of fish! We got out of there but our man had yet another thing to see….i was wondering how much this ‘local tour’ might end up costing us….
Anyway we got in another tuk tuk and jetted off up the road, arriving at Negombo’s largest church – St Mary’s. The frescos on the ceiling and walls were quite well done and the church itself was imposing in all its overt display of catholic’ness….
Leaving the church we tried to cut ties with our very helpful man however he had heard the pleas of hunger from the children and said that he would take us to a local bakery around the corner. We sat down to some sweet and savoury treats and a cup of tea that had been literally ‘whipped’ up out the back. Our man asked me to step outside for a chat….boom….tourist trap time.
Old mate tried to hit me up for 15000 rupees for his bespoke local tour, the equivalent of around $65. I told him he was dreaming, then I got the guilts and actually reflected in what had been an Amazing morning. In the end I ended up giving him 10000 rupees around $40, worth it for us and an easy 10K for him. Everyone was happy.
The early start was really setting in though so we headed to the train station to make our way back towards our accomodation. We had an hour to kill so we found an optometrist to arrange new lens for Oliver, it was super easy and the glasses would be ready tomorrow and better still they were reusing Oliver’s frames. Back at the train station the tickets for all of us cost around $1.50 and what a cool experience it was. The rail carriages are so old school, all the doors stay open as it rocks and rolls its way down the track.
We returned back to our house and tried to have a nap to mixed success. Patrick ended up having a great nap while the other two rolled around in bed as if they had ants in their pants.
In the evening we headed into Colombo to have a bit of a look around. We checked out the Red Mosque however it was closed to the public for the month of May….bummer. The mosque was in the bustling market sector called Pettah. It was bedlam and literally had a shop for anything you could ever need to buy! We made our way out of the mayhem and headed to Galle face green where there was meant to be street food sellers of an evening. It was a bit disappointing though, we think due to it being the off season there was not many sellers open and the carts that were there all sold the same stuff. Arthur tried a prawn cake though and Patrick tried a crab which they both enjoyed.
But his stage we were so tired and hungry that we were struggling to work out where to go and what to eat. We made our way across to the mall and ended up settling for a very uninspiring western style meal experience at good old chilli’s restaurant, so much for our first meal in Sri Lanka!!!
By this time night had fallen and we got a ride share back to our house. We had a great view of the lotus tower that changed colour. It looked quite beautiful. Once again when we got home it took us no time at all to sleep solidly….phew 2 days in 1!
21/5/26 – Wattala (Colombo) to Marawila
It was not as early a start as yesterday but at 5.45am Patrick, Rhys and I were awake so while enjoying a cup of tea we played a game of bear, Oliver was next to wake and joined our game. Then it was time to start the big task of packing, we had done nothing yesterday so we had a lot to get done. Arthur finally rose at 7:30 and the breakfast train of making toast began.
We have decided to do guesthouses for our time in Sri Lanka which means we will be a lot lighter riding which will be nice, however it meant packing was little tricker as we had two piles to sort out what to take and what not to take then find space to leave it at the Airbnb house. We were looking good to leave then we found a flat so as Rhys fixed Oliver’s flat tyre I finalised our gear and we finally rolled out just after 9am.
It was a great feeling rolling out onto the street, excitement levels were high and we were surprised to see blue skies. Our first stop was a shop to stock up on water, it was already super hot so we needed to keep hydrated. We took the main road up to Negombo and the traffic was great. It reminded us of being in Vietnam with all the scooters and tuktuks and everyone waving or saying hello. The few buses or trucks were very friendly towards us as well which was great. Oliver rode in the middle and we made great pace, stopping every few kilometres to have a drink.
We passed so many food and drink stalls which was reassuring as our plan to not bring our cooking gear was proving to be a good idea. Patrick saw a strawberry stall so naturally we stopped and got some fresh berries which gave us the boost we needed to make it to the optometrist in Negombo before lunch. Oliver tried on his new lenses and was very happy to be able to read easily again, the service was fantastic and for only $10 he got new lens, glasses cleaner and case – bargin.
We had lunch in the cafe next to the glasses shop and all recovered from the heat, we were feeling it after being in NZ for the past 5months! Hopefully it won’t take us too long to reacclimatise to the heat and humidity.
Refuelled, rehydrated and feeling somewhat cooler we got back on the bikes and headed North. We stopped at a bike shop to see if they had a bike box we could collect at the end of our trip, they don’t often get boxes however the shopkeeper was super lovely and said he will try and get us one. Rhys then got more tyre repair patches and a small can of glue (no tubes of glue so we got a very cute small can of glue).
Not far north of Negombo we got onto a smaller coastal road which was great, we had small showers of light rain which was also great as it kept us all a little cooler. We found a cafe for a more substantial lunch, the rice and curry was absolutely delicious! After our amazing lunch we only had 11km to ride, we rode through small fishing villages which had some lovely and not so lovely old fishy smells but this is what make riding so great you certainly get to use all your senses.
We finally arrived at the road for our hotel and as we rode up to the address we could not see any building that looked like a hotel…..All the buildings were new builds. We asked some worker is they knew where the hotel was and they had never heard of it….quite confused we phoned the number provided on the Airbnb booking and was hung up on saying it was a wrong number. For the first time ever an Airbnb booking had not worked out for us. While stopped on the side of the road we searched for a new place to stay, I phoned a hotel 2.5km away and they had a room for us thankfully.
When we arrived at Saara Beach hotel we were all very happy to see the great pool out the front, the staff were super lovely and after preparing the room quickly for us showed us our huge room. We paid, quickly took our bags upstairs then all jumped in the pool to cool off with some fun Marco/polo games.
After a good length of time in the pool we went for a walk to find some water before ordering dinner at the hotel. Once again the curries we ordered were delicious. It is great to be travelling in a country like Sri Lanka again, everyone is incredibly hospitable and friendly. The boys have done very well with all the attention they get, often men will come up and pat their heads and the women will pinch their cheeks or simple touch their faces. It is all done out of kindness and it’s great to see Oliver, Arthur and Patrick are not afraid of it. Just before bed I asked Arthur if he wanted to try and pull his front tooth out, it has been wiggly for so long and Oliver has been talking about how we used fishing line to pull his out. Arthur said yes but unfortunately we didn’t have fishing line. We used sewing cotton instead which broke without pulling the tooth out, this hurt and poor Arthur was quite upset. The tooth is very determined to stay put however is also so wiggly I can’t believe it is still in his mouth.
The hotel tonight is a huge concrete building that appears to be half finished however has been around since 2011, the rooms are huge but so empty with furnishings. But everything is clean and the staff have so much pride in the building, its places like the one we stumbled across today that really make travelling fun.
22/5/26 – Marawila to Chilaw
Wow, the storm we were treated to last night was an absolute beast. We were lucky to be in a building however even then the door leaked due to the force of the water being slammed into it by the wind. The thunder and lightning were incredible to witness, lighting up the room then followed by a resounding boom and rumble…crazy.
Thankfully by the time we had to get up the storm had passed and we were left with a trickle while we ate a delicious freshly cooked breakfast. The ladies at the hotel are lovely and take so much pride in their preparation of food. The pool had refilled overnight following the litres of water that we put over the edge while playing in it yesterday!
With only 20 odd kms to ride today the boys got a few diary entries done then wanted another dip in the pool while Raelene and I packed the bikes. As we rolled out of the complex we were thankful for the much cooler temperatures today compared with the intense sun of yesterday.
We rode due north on the beach road which at times met the sand of the beach itself. People continued to drive or ride past and wave and some even stopped to introduce themselves. Everyone here wears a smile and are so happy to see the kids on the bikes with us!
The rain stayed away as we continued to edge further towards Chilaw. On the way we passed multiple prawn hatcheries. The boys were inquisitive so we headed into one and asked if we could have a look. The workers were all very happy to take us around the big tubs/pools in which they grow the baby prawns. They scooped up the prawns in cups and bowls to show the kids! These prawns will stay here for a little while longer then will get sent to a farm to be grown bigger to sell.
Back in the bikes it wasn’t long before we were in Chilaw. We stopped off and got lunch at another small restaurant, raelene and I shared a curry and rice yet still didn’t finish it all….so much food! All delicious too. The boys struggled slightly with their noodles which were a little spicy for them apparently.
We made it to our hotel, another tidy establishment with huge rooms and a very homely feel – ‘hotel pearl gate’. Diary time again for the boys then we headed into town for a wander around. The kids bought themselves an ice cream each then we walked over to the beach and watched the waves crash hard. They boys think they are masters of surfing and reading waves. It’s quite cute listening to them talk about barrels and how to ride a wave when none of them actually have never done it 😂.
On our way home we stopped off at a great little street food place and bought more of the roti wrapped spiced chicken and vege things that we had the other day. We also bought some egg hoppers which are eggs cooked in a bowl shaped pan, they pop out looking like a bowl and are also delicious. After dinner Arthur wanted to try and pull his tooth out, we had picked up some fishing twine from the bridge so after sterilising it I tied it onto the tooth, nerves then kicked in and after about 20mins so hesitation but also wanting to have it pulled Arthur finally decided to not try. Last night’s failed attempt must have been playing on his mind.
The things we really noticed today was just how relaxed Sri Lankan people seem to be. They are routinely out enjoying leisure time with their families and even the traffic is chilled out.
Finally once the boys were in bed raelene and I began the mammoth task of blog catch up. We’ve really fallen behind. Let’s hope we can get it sorted as we’ve got entries to do from over a month ago!
23/5/26 – Chilaw to Puttalam
Our room was wide awake while Patrick and Rhys were still sleeping so Oliver and I left Arthur playing happily with his teddies to go in search for some breakfast. It was lovely walking the streets early in the morning watching everyone start the day. We found some bakery savoury and sweet treats, got some cash out for the next few days then grabbed a tuk tuk back to the hotel to find everyone awake.
We rode out of the hotel just after 8:30 which was great, filled up our water bottles and grabbed some fruit for snacks then hit the road. About 300m into the ride Arthur told me his tooth had just fallen out, I pulled over and turned to see him holding his front tooth with a huge smile on his face. His front tooth has been wriggly for months and the past few days has been so loose but was refusing to fall out. Oliver, Rhys and Patrick pulled up beside us and were so excited to see Arthur’s tooth, after the excitement died down Arthur safely stored his tooth in his handlebar bag and off we went.
It was nice to get out of the city, we started to ride along some nice country areas and even saw our first monkey which was pretty cool. It was pretty hot today and everyone was struggling a little, we had regular drink stops and at every stop Patrick kindly reminded us we had mangoes in our bags to eat. As energy levels were dropping we stopped at a food stall and ate a delicious omelette, eggs rolls and curry roti. Back on the road we passed lots of men riding bikes who all happily waved at us, at one point Rhys was chatting to a man who had his child standing behind him on the bike rack it was very cute seeing two Dads ride with their children chatting. At our next drink stop (approximately every 4-5km) we finally cut open and demolished our mangoes. Oliver then bought two more from the fruit stall just up the road.
We passed lots of small villages and so many food stalls which was great to look at, a few people had small fires burning cooking sweet corn. As we were riding Oliver rode beside Rhys and Patrick he was holding onto Patricks handlebars talking, all of a sudden I saw Oliver wobble badly he wasn’t able to regain control and crashed off his bike. I remember screaming Oliver as it looked like he was going to be badly hurt then all of a sudden I was crashing into him. I tried to miss him but couldn’t and next thing Arthur and I were falling off our bike. As we went down I felt my right knee twist badly, I didn’t have time to unclip my foot before we fell. I was lying in the middle of the road with intense pain in my knee, a few choice words were used – oops, as now the kids like to remind me I said them. Within seconds, about 20 locals had run to our aid and as Rhys came into my field of vision he asked if I was ok, I told him I think I have done my knee and I couldn’t move.
Thankfully everyone else was ok, as I was in the middle of the road I had to move however unable to walk Rhys carried me to the side of the road. I finally had time to check on everyone else, Oliver had a graze on his elbow and his ankle was a little sore from where I ran over him. Arthur thankfully was fine, I think he fell onto his knee but was ok. It was quite overwhelming and chaotic with bikes and people everywhere. I was unable to stand on my leg and the pain was severe so it was decided we would go to the local hospital which was only 2km back down the road. Rhys, with the help of a lot of men, moved our bikes into the yard of the house we crashed in front of then helped me get into the ute. Oliver, Arthur, Patrick and Rhys then jumped in the back and off we went.
At the local hospital they got me a wheelchair and we went into the see the Dr, with the limited English she asked me a few questions then said I needed to go to the bigger hospital to have an x-ray. I was moved onto a bed to wait for an ambulance. We tried to say I could get a bus or something however everyone was pushing me to stay and get the ambulance. While waiting the nurses cleaned and dressed my graze, they also cleaned and dressed Oliver’s elbow and knee which both had a graze. Oliver wouldn’t leave my side, I reassured him often saying it was an accident and reiterated how glad I am he wasn’t hurt. Both Patrick and Arthur had been rather speechless for most of the event, then when it came to leaving did not want to leave me. It took some encouragement and reassurance but finally Rhys and the boys left to get some things and meet me at Puttalam hospital.
While I waited for the ambulance the nurses gave me some tablets, they couldn’t explain what they were in English but I recognised the Panadol and just took the others trusting them, I also tried to move knee to try and work out if it was all just a dream. The pain on moving was quite intense and I couldn’t straighten it, however I pushed it and I stretched it out on the bed I heard a loud crack and the pain spiked. Bending my knee again straight away (the pain was much better with it being bent) I sat on the bed without moving and waited. The hospital was a very small concrete building with very limited equipment but everyone was friendly and the ambulance arrived very quickly. I sat up as a young girl who looked very unwell lay on the stretcher, her mother sat beside me and a nurse sat in with us, the ambulance had nothing inside but the seats we all sat on. As we drove to Puttalam I looked out the back window trying not to get too upset with our current situation.
At Puttalam Base Hospital I was wheel chaired into a triage room, the Dr asked me a few questions then asked if I was ok to be admitted to have the x-ray, I agreed. Then I was put to the side and left, as I waited it was interesting watching the Sri Lankan medical system. The Nurses are all dressed in gorgeous white dresses and hats, the Dr’s sat at the table as patients were bought to them. Occasionally the Dr would stand up to do a very quick assessment then sit back down and write things, they were constantly writing things down. The nurses would take BP, HR and Sp02 and yell it over to the Dr. The sharp containers were reused 5L drinking water containers and gloves were never seen.
I was so happy to see Rhys and the boys when they walked in, I got 3 very big hugs then a reassuring kiss from Rhys. They had been on their own little adventure. Our bikes had been moved to the police station for storage, Rhys had grabbed the things we needed for the night then they had got a public bus to Puttalam. The kids loved the bus, it was a bright blue one which they thought was cool.
I was taken down to ward 2 which was a whole different experience, I was weighed before I entered the room then was directed to a bed. I then sat and waited. The ward was rather simple and had 3 rooms with approximately 25beds, the beds were very simple and had pleather Kylies on top of a white cotton sheet, both appeared rather dirty. Everyone was super friendly though and very smiley, when the Dr came to speak to me he asked a few questions about my knee and the crash. It was so nice how worried about Oliver was when I explained the crash. He told me to wait and walked back to his desk. A nurse bought me a glove which had been filled with water and frozen and put it on my knee. I was never left alone by either Oliver, Arthur or Patrick (who the nurses all thought were very cute) and when the Dr came back to say x-ray finished at midday so I would have to stay overnight and be seen in the morning! I took some time to have a think about what to do. Up until now I had been too scared to try and stand on my leg so with Rhys’ help I tried to stand and found I could without too much pain, fantastic. I was then asked to sit back down as the cleaning staff came into the ward, it was incredible to witness as they poured water on the floor and squeegeed the floor sweeping up anything and everything that was on the floor. The amount of water used was huge but it seemed to be quite effective. After the floor was cleaned I got enough courage to try and stand on my leg and was relieved to find I could weightbear and there was no pain, I was able to hobble around which was great news.
I asked if I could go to the hotel and come back and he said I would be documented as missing but could do that. It was agreed I would leave and return at 8am tomorrow morning. Before I left the nurses gave me a frozen glove and wrapped it around my knee to help with the swelling. I then got a wheel chair out and we grabbed a tuk tuk to our hotel where I then lay on the bed and processed the days events! Wow what a day!
Rhys and I were both feeling rather overwhelmed and at a loss on what to do, but everything happens for a reason and I am sure we will discover the reason soon. When we got back to the hotel I lay on the bed with my leg up on some pillows, the owner of the hotel took the boys to get some coconuts which gave Rhys and I time to be alone and for the first time talk about what happened and what to do next. First thing is to try and get our bikes back to Colombo, I messaged the Airbnb accomodation we stayed at and where our things were stored, for the next hour the kindness and help we received from the owners was amazing. They had a friend staying in the house however they would let us have the larger room free of charge for as long as we needed, they also arranged a van to come and get us tomorrow after my x-ray and then to top it off were organising dinner for us to be ready at the house on our arrival – absolutely incredible and certainly gave us mental space to think about our options. Our hotel room has some pretty cool lights, they turn bright blue which encouraged a disco which was fun and made us all laugh.
Rhys and Oliver went into town to find dinner with the hotel owner and had a great time looking around Puttalam’s waterfront. It was a big fright crashing and not knowing what will happen next is a little daunting but everyone handled it very well, the boys have been very attentive to me and have not wanted to leave my side which is lovely. It was nice to get into bed and say goodbye to a very difficult day.
24/5/26 – Puttalam to Wattala (Colombo)
With the hangover of what befell us yesterday still making it difficult to see a right way out, we decided to take things one step at a time and prioritise getting back to the hospital for an X-Ray. We were relatively confident that nothing was broken however due to Raelene having her ACL repaired 6 years ago on the same knee it was probably worth getting the picture. There was also the inevitable insurance claim that may need to be done also, so we wanted to cover all our bases.
With a bit of trouble, we finally found a tuk tuk to get us into town. We headed straight into the hospital and had to navigate triage and the ‘emergency ward’ all over again. Thankfully this didn’t take long and Raelene was taken back up to Ward 2. It was so cool to check out the old government hospital, some parts were really really old and terribly underresourced, however the nurses were turned out immaculately In almost war era pinafores and caps. At one point we saw the Matron and it looked as if she had a paper airplane stuck to her head it was that crisp!
Off to X-Ray and as we suspected, no broken bones! The repair of her ACL also looked to be in situ and undamaged so…’phew. We just needed to wait around now for the orthopaedic specialist to review her then we would be away. Meanwhile with all this waiting, the boys were doing very well indeed. We used their infinity pads to create maths problems, do Mr squiggle drawing challenges and play naughts and crosses. Oliver learnt how to do long multiplication and division while sitting waiting for mum, which was cool. We also made use of the awesome canteen at the hospital which also served curry and rice!
At one point Arthur Patrick and I were escorted to the office to ‘pay the bill’ we were a bit worried about what it may be however there was no need. We were only charged 2500 Rupees for ‘Admission for non-local citizen’, all in all about $11 AUD! With the finances squared away and the consult completed, Raelene was presented with her X-Ray and paperwork and discharged. Amazingly though when we walked in to get her she had thick crepe bandages from ankle to mid thigh adorning her leg. We both had a bit of a giggle then slowly made our way out of the hospital and back to our hotel.
Here we waited yet again for a van that was graciously organised and paid for by our Airbnb hosts back in Colombo! We simply cannot believe the assistance we have received over the last 24 hours. The hotel owner even took the kids back out to get a couple of coconuts. Thankfully at around 1430 the van arrived. We all piled all in and headed south…somewhat disappointingly…back the way we had come from.
First stop was the police Station to pick up our bikes which they had looked after for us overnight. As I was loading the bikes in one of the police officers came and asked where we were from. After he learnt it was Australia he exclaimed that his son also lived in Australia…Perth to be exact. He promptly got his phone out and called his son then put me on the phone. I had a pleasant 3 minute chat with his son who also offered to help if need be! Thankfully all the bikes fitted in the van, we had to de couple the tandems to get them in.
Further and further south we went, the boys picking out landmarks along the way that they remembered from their time on the bikes. On the drive back to Colombo I must admit it all hit me and I was at a real loss that we were going to be unable to continue riding. I was also worried for Raelene’s knee and hoped that it wouldn’t affect her too much both physically and mentally.
Due to a bit of a wrong turn and huge blocky made by the driver we arrived at the house on dark with the caretaker, Saman, assisting us with all our stuff as we unpacked the van. We also met the other gentleman staying in the Airbnb (that’s right, the hosts had someone else there however let us stay also!). His name was Pradeep and he lived in Grafton, NSW. He was so lovely and offered to help out any way he could. The final amazing act of kindness we received today was the dinner that had been prepared for us by Saman’s wife, of rice and curry. It was delicious and hit the spot perfectly.
So with very mixed feelings we said our one thousand thank yous and retired to our room to sleep and take stock on the previous 48 hours. It must be said that the level of kindness afforded to us today has been almost unfathomable. With no hesitation, people have assisted us as completely foreign tourists, with no prejudice, concerns, expectation for reimbursement and a selflessness that seems to be becoming fewer and further between in our western society. We’ve defiantly racked up some kudos to pay forwards, but my gosh, are we ever so grateful….Again, from the bottom of our hearts, Thank you!
25/5/26 – Wattala (Colombo)
It was nice to wake up in a house we already knew, Rhys was wonderful and got breakfast sorted as I lay in bed wanting to avoid walking as much as possible to help my puffed up knee. We had a massive storm which was lovely to listen to as Oliver, Arthur and I did some cross stitch together in our air conditioned room. The morning was filled up with cross stitch, music and diary writing which all got a bit boring by about lunch time. I was lucky to find ice cubes in the freezer and was able to ice my knee which felt much better and the boys were fantastic at helping me with the 20mins on 20mins off routine. While icing my knee Patrick kept me company with playing bear, Arthur would come and go for cross-stitch and Oliver was helping Rhys put the bikes back together.
By lunch time cabin fever was hitting Oliver so Rhys took him for a ride on Wirrawuy to find some food and to get out the house to expel some energy.
I was finding I could walk around without pain which was great, the swelling was very uncomfortable but having no pain was a good sign in my mind. By the afternoon cabin fever truly had set in so we set the kids up with Young Bloods, a great YouTube channel about fishing, as Rhys and I discussed our plan and started rearranging our gear. We have decided to head south for a week or so to rest and re-evaluate our time in Sri Lanka. Both Oliver and Arthur has expressed they do not want to ride in Sri Lanka any more for a number of reasons, the main one being its simply too hot. Not wanting to put them off bike riding I think Rhys and I need to listen to all family members and take everyone’s thoughts into consideration. Not once did the boys say they didn’t want to ride in New Zealand so this is a new issue for us to navigate.
