11 June 2014

After a good sleep, I got up and made breakfast for everyone (Simon & Kirsty)   ...poached egg & beans and a pot of fresh coffee which was greatly appreciated.

Simon was a busy bee, on his computer advertising my old laptop and video camera with underwater housing  ..and then brought out the Guitar Hero equipment which had been sat collecting dust under the stairs to see if everything worked.  The drum set was in need of a little soldering and glueing but that was about it..

So after testing out the guitars on a few songs, then attaching the mic  ...we rocked the afternoon away!

 

10th June 2014

The last couple of days it was a chill out time...

A little snorkelling, a bit of laying by the pool... and returning to restaurants for food..

Simon and I were up and dressed early.  The plan was to shoot down to Maehaad to meet Simons father & Kate for coffee before they caught the 9.30 Seatran Ferry but their hotel transit had dropped them with their heavy cases at the ferry terminal and at the wrong one  …so rather than sipping coffee at Café Del Sol, we only had a brief time with them before saying goodbye and boarded the Seatran to reserve their seats and get comfy. 

It’s been fabulous year so far, so many family members coming to see us and what’s brilliant is that finally they can see where we live, work and understand what’s so appealing  ..everyone says they’ve had a great time and would like to stay, so hopefully they’ll be back or come and visit if we set up home elsewhere.

Our visitors this year

Rosie

Chris, Fiona, Chloe & Iona

Roger & Kate

6th June 2014

It was time for a tour of Koh Tao... by boat...

We met up at midday, to catch our own little longtail boat around the island to see a few sites.. Sea sickness pills taken (just in case), we then set off..


Bad timing as waves appeared from nowhere, which gave our driver a hard time getting the boat to go in the right direction... however eventually we made it around the island to Hin Wong Bay.

We snorkelled around looking at the marine life of this quiet bay, and then ended the session by Jenny, Kirsty and me freediving through some underwater caves 6m below the surface.. Brilliant.!


Next stop was the small island next door to Koh Tao, called Koh Nang Yuan. We hopped off our boat and began the climb up to the view point... At the top there were a few granite boulders to climb before getting the famous view...

Then it was back to the bar for a couple of beers, and dinner at Pranee Kitchen... I think we all went home and slept well.

x

SD

5th June 2014

Today, was a working day... Jenny had Discover Scuba Diving students to attend to, while I created a new promo for the video guys...

We left Dad & Kate to chill out at their hotel for the day... and we were going to meet up in the evening for a BBQ at our pad.

I had lost my phone after leaving the restaurant the previous night... So spent some of the day calling it and sending lock codes out.

Anyway, after several hours I made a new promo video... Click here to view..

Then, a couple of hours running around getting food, making potato salad, and getting the BBQ going...I popped out to check if my phone had been found at the restaurant... and YES!! I have my phone back... Phew!

Dad and Kate eventually arrived after a small downpour and we ate some food and showed them the house....

Then, it was time to retire... Dad & Kate caught a taxi back to their resort... ready for a busy next day touring the island....

x

SD

4th June 2014

Today, since Dad & Kate had checked out of the Koh Tao Regal to head off to Jamakhiri the day before. we headed up to speak a few hours by the pool.

They were put into a bungalow which had broken air conditioning, and after a few hours of trying to fix it, the hotel gave up and moved them into "The Royal Suite!!!"

Boy had they lucked out.... it was like a palace!!

After admiring the rooms and long balcony with a lovely view, we headed to the pool to chill out and mess around with our Waboba water bouncing ball.

I also had a practice of my breath holding, and reached 1min 55sec.... not bad for an unfit oldie like myself!

After a few hours, it was time for me to head off as I had another meeting with the video company

We reconvened at Safety Stop later for a beverage before heading to Yangs restaurant for a yummy local Thai dinner (hot hot hot!!).

Food done, I managed to sort out a taxi from the dive school to take the guys back to Jamakhiri...


x

SD

3rd June 2014

So we had a plan of the day which we had discussed over dinner the night before.  Jen and I would bring a bunch of dive equipment to the hotel for Dad and Kate to try out. Then later in the afternoon, we would have a walk to the Wild Challenge site.

It was way too hot for Wild Challenge, so we scrapped that immediately and gathered up some dive kit.  Cheeky Jenny managed to convince Crystal's taxi driver to take the kit to the Koh Tao Regal for us, which saved a lot of walking up and down the beach.

After chatting with Dad and Kate, there were obviously a lot of nerves from previous experiences, so we took it nice and chilled... splashed around in the shallows until everyone got used to it. I mainly focused on Dad, and Jenny took care of Kate...

After a couple of hours, of pool action they have agreed that a shallow dive would be good to try. I shall have to organise something in the next couple of days for them.

Then it was chill time for a bit... For me it was a great time to watch Isle of Man TT races.

After a while I left Jenny lazing in the sun, it was back to Crystal to catch up on some UK emails...

Dinner in the evening was at Dolce Vita... an Italian restaurant up the road... it was tasty!!


x

SD

2nd June 2014

Yesterday was a day to chill out by the Koh Tao Regal.

Sun, sea and sand was the agenda for today. I went to attach new hoses to my regulator that came with my BCD, while Jenny went to get various bits (map, sim card, water etc) for Dad and Kate.

Then we plodded to the pool for some chilled out time... 

I left later in the afternoon to discuss business with the video guys, and then we met up for dinner at Fizz Bar in Sairee. We had a couple of  "South Side" cocktails before having a nice meal.

After having dinner and watching the fire guys in the sea, it was time to walk back to the hotel and bedski...