Adventure!

Sawadeekup!!!! Hulla balloo! Shalom!! Greetings!!

Sorry its been so long since updating this thing, but I have had severe problems. I couldn't get anything to upload so I gave up trying, this is just a last ditch attempt to get it done, so if it doesn't work you are not even going to read this.
Anyhow, I think I ended with my bro came, Yada Yada Yada!! we had a craic, met his luvverly girl B, and Admiral Watson joined us for the merriment that tickled our ribs.
Since they left we have had a surprise encounter, not aliens, or voices in my head, but Louis Sexton. Those of you who don't know Louis, we are old, great mates. He was in Ko Pha Ngan the same time Dan B and Admiral were here, the day they left Ko tao, Louis calls. Crazy. He had been 20 miles away for the 4 weeks prior to the phone call. So obviously we hooked up and caught up with each others stuff, you know, then we followed him to Ko Pha Ngan. Where Amy and I spent a week doing nothing but soaking up the fabulous view and weather. Bummer hey.

Louis had to leave, sadly as he had to start a biology degree, good reason I guess, so we decided to go with him to Bangkok. Amy and I had tickets to buy, as I have been offered a job in Townsville, Queensland, Australia mate! Which I very quickly accepted, and agreed to come in Oct. So yay to me! Anyway we had to get these tickets from STA travel, but when we arrived in Bangkok, we were greeted with total abandonment. The Kao Sarn road closed, the bars and restaurants closed. Then a txt came from Amys mum, telling us about a Military Coup, then Louis phone goes off, his bro Conner, (another good mate, how are you Conner? Email me! ), telling us all about what was happening beneath us in the street. But we were none the wiser as we hadn't even seen any military. So we went to bed with one eye open that night. I awoke suddenly...........

Turned out the coup wasn't as bad as the British press had originally implied. We saw about 20 soldiers with yellow ribbons tied to the machine guns and no magazines. So non-threatening. I felt more threatened at Heathrow Airport than Thailand in the midst of a Military Coup. And then out of the blue, walking along the Kao Sarn road a couple of obviously british people, one holding a massive camera, the other like a shy school girl, spoke as we passed them, I heard them say "I bet they're English", and I turned to show I was and they asked us.. They said they were from the channel 4 news, so Amy and I perked up immediately. As explained they would like to ask us what we thought of the Coup, and how it has affected our time here, Amy was letting her hair down and making her self more presentable, and I chomped on the pineapple I had just bought. We explained that it was seemingly safe, no problems, and 2 stars were made.... Did you see it? Cool hey!!

Louis Left Thailand, after missing one plane due to having too much Thai love, booked another 2 days later, so he was happy, Amy and I left to go back to Ko Tao and pack as we had to go across country to Phuket, or Fukit for the illiterate.
Before leaving Ko Tao we were to become DAN O2 providers. Which is a fairly basic course on providing Oxygen, for dive related accidents. We need this qualification for working in OZ, it is required. So we went and the instructor turned out to be a dive medic, and ex Paramedic from UK. And as I am an Instructor, Amy a Divemaster, the guy decided the actual course structure was too lame, and gave us a much more thorough course, explaining more in depth about the complications that can happen, also how to determine the difference between a mediastinal emphysema, and a tension emphyzima. So you are all in good hands now.

This has taken me a few days, well a couple of weeks to write, doing a bit here and there, and since writing this up, the company I am working for in Townsville, has offered Amy a divemaster job too. Which has made us very happy, as we get to work together, and Amy has no rush to find work, things are falling into place.

So we left Ko Tao, and felt mixed emotions, we both excited about leaving, but Ko Tao for those who haven't been, is as close to being in Paradise, as one can imagine. Beautiful views of the ocean, mountains, Palm trees lining the soft white sand beaches, etc, etc. SLowly though it is going to ruin, the amount of business' and divers are still steadily climbing, and as a dive hot spot for the past 15 years, I would only give it another 15 years then it may well have imploded. After all it is just a tiny rock in the gulf of Thailand. We made friends, met people who came then left, and made some friends for life. And it saddens me to think that maybe we will never see those people again, but brightens my day thinking that we were so lucky to have met so many cool people. So it is here nor there, as to if we would meet again, the important thing is we did meet. Like to give out to a guy called Tuk, originally from Chumphon, moved to Ko Tao to work many years ago, and through the work he does, shall we say he is stuck there. And has been for 6 years. I cannot imagine how he feels, meeting people everyday, becoming good friends with a percentage of them, then one day his mate moves on, as Ko Tao is not for life, just for dive courses. If anyone goes to KO Tao, go see Tuk at Happy Daze and give him my best wishes, say hi from me and Amy.

We left Ko Tao, smiling, and happy. I love it when we start on a new adventure and seem to thrive on starting up again, and I think Amy is warming to my crazy hobo ideas. Each place we visit, we add to the list, there is a list you see, of ideal places to live. We haven't found the most ideal yet, so it is our mission to find it.
We headed to Chumphon, where we were to pick up a big Ford Ranger. It is very cheap here if you can find it, car rental that is, £130 for 10 days. For a massive truck. Off we went, to start with a little apprehensive, as we'd seen the way that Thai's drive over here, we handed in our passports for insurance, so not to leg it out of the country. I drove. The roads were almost completely empty, they drive on the left, and the roads are really good, surprise surprise.
We were heading to Krabi, which is beneath Phuket, on the West coast. Tsunami region. On arrival it was dark and we could just about manage to make out the massive rock mountains lining the highway as we approached Krabi. We had no idea of the cool landscape, until we had slept and risen the following day. We decided to stay in a hotel in Krabi Town, as it was easy to find. Had cable TV too, so settled in for a night of movies and room service.
The next day was our first opportunity to explore, and with a 4x4 we left Krabi town and went to look around. The first thing we noticed was the amount of Tsunami warnings. A bit late if you ask me. I mean what are the chances of it happening again. Well if it did, they now know, thanks to the signs, that running to higher ground is the best thing to do.... No shit sherlock.
The place itself, the beaches and the surrounding countryside, mountains and all, are really beautiful, right until you meet a town, or a tourist area then it goes to shit. The beaches are dirty, and the restaurants are a rip, the place stinks really. We went to Phuket, dilluding ourselves that it was the best idea. One thing we were surprised to find was the enormous waves in Phuket. We were essentially in a kinda surfers paradise, with constant waves 24/7. We even sat to watch surfers on an almost daily occurrence.
The reason for this visit to Phuket was to pick up the Cartwrights. Amy's Ma, Pa, and Brother were heading out for a holiday, and they had flown from Norwich to Phuket. So we agreed we'd pick them up, and take them to the hotel of their choice. The Kamala Beach Resort. Amy and I checked in earlier that day and when we did, with our scabby backpacks, they looked at us like we were not meant to be there shall we say. I asked them if there was a problem, in a tone which made the desk man nearly wet himself, as he couldn't believe WE had a room there. It was not even a posh hotel, what a snobby prick. So we proceeded to wander round the hotel like we owned the place, ordering the staff around, etc.
Helen, Lorrie and Adam arrived on time, thankfully, as the rain was falling in Phuket, and I don't have an umbrella. They looked shattered, we must have looked that bad on arrival. So we whisked them off to there new home for a few nights. It was really nice that they were finally here, we had planned lots to do. But the next day we awoke and it was raining and grey, with winds and waves crashing into the beach. Wonderful we thought, their first day and it is shitty.
Fortunately for us and them they were just happy to be in Thailand, where it is warm even if it rains, and it would also be a great advantage acclimatising to the new temperatures.
We didn't actually do much over the next week, Amy and Helen went Horse riding and we had a day playing with elephants. Which was an excellent experience. We were a but dubious to how well the Elephants would be kept, and whether it seemed out of order to ride one. We found a place called Nosey Parkers, sounded western, so we headed there. It was really nice. The staff all lived in the little huts surrounding the Elephants, with a beautiful surrounding of Rubber trees and Palm trees, high rock faces, and a river running through. There were about 15 big Elephants, and a baby. We rode for an hour and only covered about 200 metres, but it was cool. Now I have done it it is out of my system, I no longer feel like I want to ride a big animal.

So we left Phuket, a day early due to the weather and headed east to Ko Pha Ngan. Amy and I adore this place. It is so relaxed, as soon as you find a room, you could quite literally stay forever. We took the Cartwrights to the same place Louis was staying, as the beach and quiet of the place is so stunning, the people who own it are fabulous nice warm people, and we feel comfortable, even in the tiny little budget sheds that are on the beach. Lorrie, Adam and Helen, stayed next door in a slightly nicer bungalow, but spent every minute at our resort anyhow.
We ate, drank and laid around for 8 days. Part of that 8 days was the full moon, so we spent it on the beach, nearly all night. The moon here is massive, and so bright. It was like the middle of the day at 2am. We did go to the Full Moon Party, what a load of shite...
The last couple of days, the lot of us all got new tattoos, AMy had a bit of colour added to her tat, Adam had a Bamboo dragon on his arm, very nice, Helen ended up getting 2 tattoos. SHe didn't waste anytime, a real cool cat on her shoulder and a ankle bracelet with the words "Love" and "freedom" in Thai. Lorrie had the best I think, a turtle, in some kind of tribal pattern. I had 3 smaller ones, on my wrist, a dolphin, a manta, and a turtle, all kind of tribal. So we are all graffiti'd up, and after we'd finished we left Ko Pha Ngan for at least a year. But we love it there, and will definitely go back. Sooner rather than later. As so much changes in such a short time..

So now I am on the 19th floor of a very posh 4-star hotel in Bangkok. OOHH I hear you sigh. Fortunately for us Lorrie has splashed out for us all, and we get two nights in the Montien Riverside. Swish huh.
It is the 16th Oct, and our trip to Thailand has officially finished. We are going to wave off the Cartwrights at 2.30pm tomorrow, then a taxi comes for us at 8pm. Our flight leaves at 1140pm, and arrives some 9 hours later in Brisbane. Australia here we come..

Like to give a big thank-you to every body that helped and visited and that emails us, we miss you all, but we love our life. I hope this finds you all well, and hopefully very soon we'll catch up. Cheers, see you next blog, THANKYOU THAILAND!!!!!!