On the Hunt for Dinosaur DNA in Bukit Dinding

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Our foray into nature and the great outdoors continues in Bukit Dinding…

The drill sergeant, aka Mum, sent the boys hiking again. This was Daddy’s trail so even I had no idea how far we were going. I half expected that we would have to turn back before making it all the way to the top but the boys really surprised me. G1 kept himself distracted by pretending he was searching for dinosaur DNA so he could cross them in the lab and make dinosaur hybrids to fight off the Indominus Rex (yes, someone’s been watching Jurassic World and playing the game). G2 – our “smell the roses” boy – would stop every so often to pick up sticks, leaves, and rocks. When G2 started losing steam, G1 stepped in to distract him by enlisting his help to carry an imaginary basket to hold the dinosaur eggs.

The real struggle was the last few hundred meters to the top when fatigue threatened to overwhelm him. We managed to motivate him to continue with the idea that he could tick this box if he made it to the top. Not wanting to leave his box unticked, he pressed on and made it the rest of the way.

Something about the idea of “going home” seemed to revitalise G1 because he powered back down like a bat out of hell. G2 had the hardest time on the way back. I played him music and stories on my iPhone to distract him. When that no longer worked, Daddy bribed him with Kit Kat and the promise of Niku Udon if he walked all the way out by himself.

The boys made it out on their own but they swore they were never going to take this trail again. We took over 2 hours to complete the trail that was nearly 6 km. It was a tough hike because the hike up was a steady uphill incline with little respite. It would be interesting to try it again without the kids in tow just to see how long it would take us.

Personally, I thought it was quite a nice trail if it wasn’t for the mozzies. Even with half a tin of bug balm slathered all over us, there were still mozzies hovering around us.

Our next hike will probably be our toughest yet since our boys are already wary of hiking, but habits are formed through repetition, so we just need to persevere a little more.