27th August 2012

We had a fab anniversary.  Simon took me for a romantic meal at Darawan.  We both got dressed up for a change ;-D   Simon had booked a table which had a stunning view overlooking the bay.  It was pretty windy but it didn’t matter.  It was nice to be away from everything & everyone and to be on our own.  Even though the service was very slow, our food was great and we thoroughly enjoyed the couple of bottles of wine we had :-D

By the time we got home, it was still pretty early and the power was on for a change :-D   ...so all set to watch a good movie and cuddle up, I was disappointed as Simon had passed out on the sofa  ..he was shattered....

26th August 2012

HAPPY 40^TH BIRTHDAY ROY!!!!!!!!

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY MY LOVER!!!

It’s been busy. I finished an Open Water course yesterday morning and then went straight out on the boat with 17 DMTs (Dive Masters Trainee’s) for the Dive Site Clean Up at Lighthouse Bay.   As Si was starting an Advanced course and not diving till the afternoon, he was able to get the DMT’s organised for the morning Beach Clean Up.   Fortunately there wasn’t a huge amount of rubbish on the dive, always a good sign but the mornings beach clean up group collected around 5 bin bags worth.  It’s amazing how much rubbish washes up.

This morning, as it’s our 6^th anniversary, I got up early and accompanied Simon on his morning deep dive at Chumphon with his students.  He thinks it’s because I didn’t want to miss out on seeing a Whaleshark , how could he think such a thing ;-D ...Im glad I did go as the visibility was stunning with large schools of fish everywhere you looked.  Far too many divers though.  I really dislike seeing other divers on my dives ;-D

Argh, when we got back from the morning boat, I chilled in the hammock outside of Crystal while Si sorted out his student certifications etc.  I must have dozed off to be awoken by a gentle kiss from Si and a beautiful bunch of flowers  :-D   ...I love my husband!!

Now with Si having to stay in the office till 6pm, I’m at home catching up with household chores and maybe I might have a nap.

Im not sure what the plan is for this evening, maybe a quiet meal and a good film 

24th August 2012

Well, I thought I would get a couple of days off.. but an instructor fell sick so I had to take his 5 students and continue..

They turned out to be a great group... and a couple are continuing to their advanced (2 more days of working!!)

On a side note, I got a lovely piccie of my niece sent to me... what a pretty lass!

The weather has taken a turn for the worse, bringing some much need rain for the island... last night I was actually shivering.... maybe because of the cold which I am currently sneezing with every minute that passes..!

Anyway.... 2 more days, and its a BIG BIRTHDAY for my Broski.... I hope he likes his pressie!!

x

SD

19th August 2012

We are BACK!!! 

For how long... who knows....

For the last couple of weeks we have had severe water shortage (due to no rain), power cuts (due to the poor infrastructure), and lack of internet (due to no power!).... All of this has made stuff very difficult, like UK work and talking to family, updating the blog etc

So, a recap.... The busiest full moon rush of the year was mental... Over 70 people starting their dive course each day... It was long days and nights for Jen and I...

One day, I got a few hours to finally go through with my bet that I lost during the Euro 2012 football.. I had made a bet with an instructor that England would go further than Germany... I lost...  The bet?? Well it was to have a full bikini wax...

We met at the massage place, and the woman was quite amused to hear what we wanted...

30 minutes of pure pain with 2 video camera, was not the most pleasant experience... and I was going to edit the video today... BUT... There is a twist in the tail...Cormac (the cameraman) made a bet with me last night... and lost!!!  Which means a return visit, but this time I will be the one filming, and he will be the one in the torture seat!


Besides, this slightly weird recent spate of betting... we have been diving, diving diving... and certifying a lot of people.

Some great news is that on a dive site 2 hours away... there are some Bull Sharks that have appeared.. These guys disappeared from another dive site about 3 years ago.. Everyone is very excited about seeing them...   Below is some  low resolution video shot by another instructor...

13th August 2012

Short update for ya!!

Apart from the incredible busy month of August and non stop teaching... my laptop hard drive decided to die....

This is the 1st time in 5 days that I have managed to get it up and running..... a long road to rebuild it...  and hopefully blog posts will follow!

xxxx

SD

4th August 2012

Last night was date night :-D  After Simons hectic day of confined session and academics, I met Simon at Crystal for a quick beer and then we shot off to Fizz, a beach side restaurant in Sairee.  It was so nice to get away from the normal crowd and just have some ‘alone’ time together.  We really need to do this at least once a week and stick to it.  The meal was lovely, I had fillet of fish with salad & honey and mustard potatoes and Simon had the pea risotto  …plus a few G&T’s   ..this morning I woke with a slight headache ;-D

Today with Si on the boat, I feel at a bit of a loose end.  I could potter around Crystal, cleaning up, tidying but don’t want to due to the fact that you don’t get any thanks and it’s taken for granted.  It’s rewarding for me but with some peoples ‘don’t care’ attitude, it drives me insane    ...

At this moment in time, I'm sat in the restaurant, just wasting time, waiting for my ECO student Tania to return with her father in order to say goodbye.    I think it would be very impolite of me not to.

 
It’s hard to sit and not do anything.  Even the internet’s down,  and my battery is about to die  ..great!!!   All n all, it’s a beautiful day!!

1st August 2012

Well, the Beach Clean up was pretty successful with 8 or so DMT’s attending, collecting over 25 bags of rubbish but unfortunately the afternoon was a bit of a shambles. 

Crystal 1 broke down, something wrong with it’s fuel pump so we were unable to participate in the Dive site clean up.   Annoying but one of those things you cant do anything about.  We seem to be having loads of problems with the boats recently.  Im so not looking forward to full moon.  If Crystal 3 is the only functional boat when it’s busy, then it’s going to be a nightmare.   

Earlier this morning, Simon was scheduled for surface cover as he’s starting an Open Water course this afternoon.  I thought it’d be nice just to go along for the ride and keep him company & help out. To be honest i wish I’d stayed in bed.  The boat was rammed, it would have been a nightmare for Simon to take all the reg & mask numbers down, note the time different groups descended/ascended as well as coping with people crying & vomiting everywhere.   Trying to help people back up on the boat was the nightmare, with some big swells, people were grabbing the ladder, then plunging a couple of meters  ....Im surprised there weren’t any injuries.  Some people are so stupid and just don’t listen.

Thankfully Im now back on land and at home.  I cycled back from Crystal and had a good ole tidy up, so everything looks nice and clean.  Unfortunately we’ve not electric at the moment, so relying on the natural breeze to cool me down  ..doesnt seem to be working though ;-D

Tonight, is date night, I think/hope we’ll have a nice romantic evening