A fine day out and about

*Warning* cute turtle photos ahead....
Freddie H describes two points of call on our day out...
Note: I have been ordered to bring dry wit to this post, so let's see what I can do.
The first point was a turtle sanctuary. It was flippin' adorable (if you see what I did there). Our tour guide had fifteen years of experience with the flippered cuties, and it showed!

The sanctuary was located next to a famous turtle beach and looks after turtles until they can actually survive at sea, or forever if they are injured.
But let's get to the tiny weenie turtle babies.

They were kept in these big vat-type dealies. Just look at them all! A couple were really enthusiastic, and soared through the water like tiny torpedoes. And a few just sat in the water chilling, like they were in hammocks or something, uncaring for what was going on around them. There for the grace of God go I, turtle babies.

One of the big tubs had turtles just for looking, but there was a second vat full of a different species of turtles that we were definitely told the name of. But the main point was that we could pick up the turtles in the second vat! You can tell that Alannah is just trying so hard to keep back a massive grin.

This is pretty much the incubation place for the eggs.
... Ok back to the pictures of us with turtles.

On the site, there were a number of older turtles. While the majority were there due to medical reasons, the one below, being modelled by Nick, started flipping his flippers at random points until the tour guide tickled his neck to make him chill.
The turtle is just looking at his pen in the picture below, wondering why there were so many blue shirted giants milling about. You can see that the turtle has just finished sighing in resignation.

When holding the turtle was offered, Faye stood up to the plate, and got some great photos with the grumpy looking turtle.

Chelsea also got involved, and the turtle began glaring at the camera, as shown below.
Also, shoutout to the tour guide (centre, orange/grey/black shirt), I (over on the left, looking like a muppet) and Thivanka (centre, pink shirt) for successfully getting involved in this photo for no reason at all.

Ellie was the final soul to brave the grump-turtle, bar James Paus, who obviously got final dibs due to the whole 'turning sixteen thing'. And the turtle has just thrown in the towel at this stage.
On an unrelated note, Ellie ate a banana today. Just felt I should mention, what with the not eating a banana until now in five years.

And then we got back to the tiny midget baby turtles. Emma was at the forefront of the turtle holding sessions, successfully securing a turtle by the name Jeffrey.
A message from Emma: Hope everyone enjoys the picture of my cute baby turtle Jeffrey who was the coolest little dude!! Just a quick one to say Happy 50th Birthday to the most amazing Mum in the whole wide world! I miss you so much and so wish I could be with you to celebrate your birthday. Hope you all have a fantastic time on your surprise trip and I will think about you all lots. Thanks for being the most incredible Mum ever and I miss you and love you more than words! Love to all the family. Xxxxxxxx

Of course Yasmin got her own adorable little friend which she had to say a heart felt farewell to at the end of the stay.

Pretty much everyone got involved in the turtle petting. I am fairly sure that Mrs Clarke and Mrs Speed were as attached to their own turtles as we were.

Names were given to each of the turtles that were picked up, and the turtles had never received such attention.
Also, blurred Yasmin face at centre-left.

Joe got stuck in and worked out a pretty efficient way of calming down some of the more vivacious turtles. It involved the stroking of their throat. They would promptly stop all attempts to flip away, and would (I like to imagine, if they made noise) purr.
You can actually see that the turtle Joe is dealing with now is gleefully lying back to allow a ness ier stroking pattern. And of course Ella would want to take a picture, because it was totally adorable.

Nick was fairly effective at holding onto the turtles and stroking them... I mean, more effective than most.

This is an up close image of the turtles that we were petting. I am still surprised at how cute some tiny cold blooded amphibian can be. I mean just look at them!

A slight tonal shift now.
After the turtle sanctuary, we visited the memorial for the lives lost during the Boxing Day earthquake and subsequent tsunami in 2004.
The memorial had been mostly created by Japanese contributors, and is a great example of many cultures working together for the greater good.

The large sculpture was based on an identical one in Afghanistan that had been destroyed by terrorists in 2000.
The whole area was really thought provoking, especially when you think of the damage that still persists along the coast of Sri Lanka.
The Buddha statue was a fairly great reminder of the teachings of Buddhism, of acceptance and good will among men.
Which are fairly important morals, especially today.

Many of the ruined buildings from the tsunami have been left as monument to those lost.

These of course were additional reminders of nature's wrath, and of the devastation that many unprepared countries could face any day.

We also visited the famous railway on which 1500 people lost their lives when the tsunami hit.
We were speechless in contemplation for a few moments, before the cameras of course came out to (I hope) pass on the morals that have been learnt.

Just a final image of James and I gazing out to sea.
Because over dramatic shots are always great.

So we had a pretty interesting day. Some sad things, some happy things. But all the things were worth thinking about.
And it was a great birthday for James as well.
A lot to think about...
(Just a personal message here. Hi mum. Um. Yeah. The zappy thing is pretty cool, seems to work. Hope everyone is alright. Is Charlie doing anything useful. Haahahahaha. Nah just kidding. Tell him that the drive through Negombo was like the opening to Farcry 2. He will know what I mean. Lots of love, Freddie.)
Oh yeah, this was Freddie Hoare.

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