Day Trip up the East Coast to Kemaman and Cherating - Kemaman Zoo, Turtle Sanctuary, Club med Cherating, De Rhu beach resort and Pak Su restaurant

Going on a day-trip can be a whole lot of fun, and at the same time, extremely tiring. It's important to be prepared, particularly when children will be along for the ride.

Last Saturday we set out from Kuantan at 8:30am with our lovely friends and headed up the highway. We brought along a 5-litre bottle of drinking water, a bottle of isotonic drink, and a paper bag full of snacks for the children. We also brought the pushchair for Leah in case she got tired of walking around. Our friends had umbrellas. I was carrying my DSLR camera, bag and tripod, and Leah when she wasn't in the pushchair!

Posing at Kemaman Zoo by a unique tree trunk with bags, drinks and pushchair

I think the key to it all is having pleasant and easy-going company because the heat, the children and the baggage can be a large burden. But we managed everything with a smile and with a genuine excitement to be going places, exploring, and doing so with really good friends.

This photo was taken by our friend, Kenny

Kemaman Zoo is around an hour's drive from Kuantan. Kemaman is a town in the state of Terengganu, neighbouring Pahang to the north. We tried to get there early so as to avoid the heat, but it was still boiling anyway. A makeshift train pulled along by a tractor took us from the entrance to a central point in the zoo where we could explore.

The main animals of interest are the elephants, lions, a tiger and two bears. There are also plenty of birds, snakes, crocodiles and orang-utans. A smart orchid garden, children's playground and waterfall/swimming area are all present.

Lauren feeding the elephant

Leah was terrified of the elephants!

Sharmayne feeding the elephant. Leah waving goodbye to the elephant! Photo taken by Kenny

Having fun at the children's playground

Sharmayne and Lauren posing by the waterfall at Kemaman Zoo

There are 2 famous places in Cherating - the Turtle Sanctuary and Club med. At the Turtle Sanctuary we saw these very cute baby turtles:

We got in to Club med Cherating for a look around and were not disappointed. It's absolutely beautiful! Here are a few photos of this glorious resort:

It was a hot day! This large swimming pool was tempting...

Grace and Fidelia wanted to see some orang utans!

I love being with the children - they had so much fun!

Beautiful view at Club med Cherating

Lauren shows her favourite monster face whilst Sharmayne models the umbrella!

Good to see there is a tsunami evacuation route

Keeping ourselves hydrated with plenty of water, we stopped off to allow the children to try their hand at batik painting at a nearby roadside stall. We all got to sit down and relax for an hour.

It was 4pm by this time so we decided to set off for some swimming time at De Rhu beach resort, which is located nearby Swiss Garden Resort & Spa Kuantan. It was my turn to accompany the children in the pool while Fidelia, Grace and Kenny sat in the shade!

Sharmayne on the water slide!

Sharmayne gave me a good water fight in the pool, especially when I wasn't looking!

To end the day trip we drove to Pak Su seafood restaurant for dinner. Unbelievably, the children were still full of energy! I had to follow them around while waiting for our food to arrive.

I was too hungry to take photos of the food! We had fish, butter prawns, sweet and sour chicken and vegetables amongst others. After a long, tiring and really fun day trip, it was really good to eat yummy food.

Thanks to Kenny, Grace and Sharmayne for driving us around and providing perfect company. It was such an enjoyable day that I didn't really want it to end.

And I haven't had a day like that for years.