Up early on Wednesday morning, we got stuck into our breakfast at the hotel as we knew it was going to be a long day ahead. Eggs and toast were the preferred option, but the cheese toasties were pretty handy too. Once everyone had loaded up, we got our bags together and jumped on the mini-vans and headed for the Yeam Nang Korl village in the rural Cambodian province of Kompong Speu.          

It was long, hot drive, about two and a half hours from Phnom Penh, but everyone was in great spirits as we knew what we were about to do would make a difference to a huge number of people here. Our mission was to build 20 houses for the people in the village, we knew that finishing a house would increase the children of the families’ chances of finishing school by around 70%, so there was plenty of incentive to get in there and do a good job.

When we arrived we knew instantly it was going to be a memorable experience. As we pulled into the village the locals lined each side of the street and applauded our arrival. To see their joy as we arrived was a moment we’ll never forget, we could tell how much this meant to them without anyone saying a word.

Then it was into it, first we knocked the nails into the floors of six houses then we split into teams. One team continued the floors, while the rest of us concentrated on putting up the walls of each home. One by one, in teams of four to six, we worked away under the intense Cambodian sunshine, which coupled with the humidity was tough work!

I was quick to appoint myself as site manager, as I thought the boys needed a little guidance. With Mitch Brown as my well-dressed offsider, we set a cracking pace early. Hilly and Ginna were more of the slow, steady approach, but everyone was chipping in and getting it done. The local builders helped us with those hard to reach places, or the ones that the boys with a fear of heights couldn’t get to!

At lunchtime on day one, we’d finished 5 houses. Not a bad effort we thought, but the day one target was 12 houses, so we still had plenty of work to do. The baguette’s in Cambodia are amazing (I know, right!?) and for lunch we feasted on fresh baguettes filled with ham, cheese, tomato and a delicious thousand island dressing. Upon arrival at the Tabitha Foundation that morning we’d been given what looked like a big tea towel, which everyone was dunking in ice-cold water and tying around their necks. They were a master stroke.

WATCH: Video diary from day three

Hilly and Hick decided a game of soccer with the local kids was the way to go, and it sure was a lot of fun. It’s amazing to see how much fun the children there can get out of a little interaction with others. The kids could have played all day, but Hilly and Hick had to get back to work with the rest of us, so it was ‘game off’.

Then it was time to get back into it, by this time everyone had got on somewhat of a roll. The floor teams were flying, and walls were going up everywhere. As the pace quickened, the target of 12 houses by the close of day one started to look achievable!

Once the day had ended, we’d reached our target. 12 homes completed with eight to go on day two, we were all pretty happy with that. We packed up our tools and headed for the Sunshine House orphanage.

Sunshine House is home to over 50 kids aged between four and 17 and is run by Perth dentist Gary Hewett. It was funny when he told us that the only thing that the kids knew was that the “Nic Naitanui people” were coming to visit. Even when he’s not there Nic Nat steals the show!

We showered, ate and prepared ourselves for the night’s main attraction, the concert. We were treated to traditional dances by the children, before taking to the stage ourselves to put on some performances. Paul Morrison, the club’s chaplain, kicked things off singing his song ‘Picking up the pieces’, before the whole travelling party joined in together for a questionable rendition of ‘Up there Cazaly’. Then it was time for the special acts, first up was Sam Butler, Mark Hutchings, Will Schofield and Mitch Brown who dished out the Backstreet Boys classic ‘I want it that way’. Suffice to say while it was a good laugh, the kids enjoyed it especially; the boys shouldn’t give up their day jobs.

Then Hilly hit the stage with a bunch of the youngest kids from Sunshine House and put his spin on Gangnam Style, which again was loved by everyone.

When we woke up the next day we had a volleyball game to play. We were playing some of the older children from Sunshine House, and watching them warm up it was easy to see why volleyball is one of Cambodia’s most popular sports! We banded together and won the first set, and felt confident, but the boys rose to another level and won the final two sets to claim the trophy. That’s three trips to Sunshine House and no wins- they’re too good!

Then we got back on the mini vans and headed back to the village to complete the build. By now we knew what we were doing so it didn’t take us too long to finish off the houses. By lunchtime on day two we were done. Then we held a handover ceremony for the families of the village, and presented each family with a blanket as a gesture of thanks for allowing us the privilege of building for them. We packed up and moved away quickly, allowing them to settle into their new homes quickly.

WATCH: Video diary from day four and five

We learned a lot on this trip, about ourselves, about each other, but most of all we found out more about the beautiful people of Cambodia and the resilience they’ve shown to overcome what was a terrible time in the late seventies under the Pol Pot regime.

A big thank you must go to Airbnb, the official partner of Cambodia 2015, who has given us the opportunity to come here and provide these families with new homes. Without their support, it wouldn’t have been possible.