We recently drove out to Mallipo Beach at the recommendation of some friends in our LDS Branch. It is about 2 hours southwest of where we live. The drive was reasonably smooth and took us over one of the larger bridges I have driven over in quite some time. It is part of Teaenhaean National Park situated on the west coast. There is a small beach town there which was like a ghost town due to the fact that school has just started again and most of the shops and hotels were closed up. We were told there was a bathroom at the end of the beach which we had to search for but we eventually found it.
And what a find! This was our first experience with Korean toilets and the girls did not take to them easily. As you can see it looks like a men's bathroom style urinal but is situated in the floor. You simply squat over the top then stomp on the handle when you are done. It requires a new set of skills for sure.
Some friends in our LDS branch told us that when they found their first bathrooms like this their daughter (age 8) got really excited and exclaimed in a Russell-like fashion (from the movie Up), "I've been training for this!" -- Her mother questioned what she meant by this and she told her she had been squatting/standing on their toilet at home. She later told Jari, "And here I thought it was Hyrum (11-year-old son) peeing all over the place...."
After our adventure with the bathroom, we went for a stroll until we found a place to eat.
The girls only ate part of their sandwiches as they were a little distracted and excited. Especially Charlotte who I think would LOVE to live somewhere near the beach.
Zachary really loved the sand so I think he and Charlotte are two peas in a pod. I remember when we took Charlotte to the beach as a baby in Florida - she did not take so kindly to the sand then. Now, however, she loves playing in the sand on the beach.
It took a lot of effort to make sure he did not eat the sand, or should I say eat too much sand...
After some sunscreen, they were ready to go.
Both Hazel and Charlotte were happy to play in the sand rather than running to the water.
Sharing is hard so it took a bit for them to find a way to play together
They eventually worked it out though.
After playing with the sand for a bit, it was Zachary's turn to check out the water.
As you can see here, he was not a fan of the cooler water.
Hazel and Charlotte on the other hand did very well.
Here they are trying to cover my feet up with sand. The beach was a little rocky at some points but for the most part, had nice soft sand.
Found a few crabs, no longer among the living creatures of course, though the girls eventually found a couple of hermit crabs running around that they enjoyed.
Zachary was happy to be out and about. We tried to cover him up with a hat but he would not have it. Not disciplined like the Korean kids who will wear a shirt, hat, and sometimes pants (shirt and pants made out of the swimming material) to keep themselves hidden from the sun like we all should to prevent skin cancer, but of course, never do...
The far north end of the beach had this zipline that ran from a tower to a small shack on the side of the road and back to the tower. I checked it out later. The beach and surrounding area were a nice mix of conifer forest, rocks, and soft sand.
Charlotte was constantly on the move exploring every inch of the beach. She was in heaven.
After a little while, I took note of these perfect little round balls of sand that were all over the place and realized that something was making them as they burrowed out their small homes in the sand.
I had to wait a while to see one but eventually, a small little crab that measured maybe 1/4-1/2 inch wide came out. Here he is in the middle of the picture. Hope you can make it out.
Another close-up.
Hazel in the field of small crabs. I tried my hardest to get the girls to sit still long enough to see one. As you can imagine, they never did.
And yes, Jari and Zachary had fun as well.
Here were the only other people we saw on the beach that day, a mother and toddler who wandered by for an hour. Other than that, we had the entire beach to ourselves!
Leftover lunch. I accidentally dropped it in the sand which was sad. A few minutes later Hazel walked up and handed me the crust... I guess her PB and Honey sandwich came with some minerals... I will say that girl can be really sneaky at times. She is without a doubt a snitch in the kitchen when she wants to be.
Took a while but Zachary eventually fell asleep. Though we did not get there until lunch, time passed really slow so that after 2 hours when I felt like I was ready to go, I was surprised that such a short amount of time had passed.
Zachary and I went on a little hike when he woke up and left all three girls to play on the beach. We walked down the road behind some hotels and restaurants, past a tank with really big live shrimp (fun to see them running in the water as if they were on a treadmill), and eventually made our way to the white tower. Here is a view of the beach, you can see how much the tide had gone out already, about 100-200 feet.
There was a new walkway up there made out of that new plastic vs wood-like deck material that is popular in the US right now. Cannot have been more than a year old. Really pretty area.
Eventually, we came to this really cool suspension bridge.
No sand beach here, just the rocks
As you cross the bridge there are glass panels that allow you to look down at the 50-60 foot drop and rocks below you. Really cool. I think this must have been nearly brand new as the metal connections between the segments still had their plastic covering that one would peel away that surely came from the factory.
A few of the far/south end.
More views.
Looking back.
The end of the walkway led us to the leading point on the beach. There was an old house up there that had been coated in small round stones and cement. It had been rusted out and all windows and doors were missing. I am sure that many years ago when someone lived there it was beautiful.
After hitting the shower and toilets one more time we got on the road. It was 5:30 at this point and though we looked for a local place to eat, most were closed. We drove through a great number of small towns and restaurants so we started to look for a place to eat. However, Hazel fell asleep within 3-5 minutes, Charlotte who never naps anymore soon followed her. Signs of a hard day of play.
They woke up an hour later and rather than fight with them overeating yet another dish they have never tried, we stopped at this chain store that sells small breads and other pastries
Here is Jari eating this awesome raisin bread with cream cheese in the middle. I thought it was great.
Charlotte wanted Pizza so we found her the closest thing. I gave a small bit to Hazel and Charlotte was not happy about sharing.
And Hazel was ready for bed, not for dinner. They just could not cope with sharing the milk I bought for them...
In spite of the poor dinner attitudes, we had a great time. The rest of the drive went relatively well. It was a fun day and we look forward to next season when we can go again.
In closing, I will simply say - thank goodness for GPS. I remember navigating before GPS using road maps and I think GPS is a great step forward for family trips :)
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