Not much in the way to update.
Jenny has been back to back working courses since we have returned from Samui. Hopefully tomorrow she gets a day of rest.
I have been working on a huge Mr Men project back in the UK... 104 Episodes to get through!
However, yesterday afternoon, I took the camera out to record the beginning of what is possibly another Coral Bleaching event.
Since the weather has been so hot for so long, the water temperature has increased and the coral reef is starting to suffer. With flat seas and not a cloud in the sky, the only hope is that the weather cools down and cloud cover appears.... If not, then we shall see a repeat of the bleaching of 2010.
Its early days, but filming the lead up will be useful if we actually get a full on event. This is always the hottest time of year, and I do expect the temperature to decrease a few degrees in the next couple of weeks (fingers crossed).
I'll make a short video of the eco work we were doing yesterday and post it as soon as I can.
In the meantime... some bad news...
I HAVE RUN OUT OF KP PEANUTS, VEGGIE BACON, HALLOUMI CHEESE, VEGGIE SAUSAGES..
What am I to do?
Love to all..
xx
SD
Monday, 28 April 2014
Wednesday, 23 April 2014
23rd April 2014 - Samui Break Catchup
As always, we are busy little bees... and a couple of days after the Tickells left, we headed to Samui for a 3 day break to celebrate Tina's birthday.
Catching the ferry in the morning, we headed to Cocooning Hotel, a small boutique place run by a friend of ours called Dave.
Being a classic Essex boy, he welcomed us with open arms, and lots of swear words.
That night was Walking Street night, where the main road turns into 1 big market full of goodies, so we sat outside Daves bar and watched people go by while playing cards, and me doing a few card tricks on the guys.
Catching the ferry in the morning, we headed to Cocooning Hotel, a small boutique place run by a friend of ours called Dave.
Being a classic Essex boy, he welcomed us with open arms, and lots of swear words.
That night was Walking Street night, where the main road turns into 1 big market full of goodies, so we sat outside Daves bar and watched people go by while playing cards, and me doing a few card tricks on the guys.
After drinking quite a bit of Strawberry flavoured Tequila... I could keep my eyes open no longer and headed to bed.
The next morning, we chilled by the pool for a bit, and then Carsten and I went to the pub to watch F1 qualifying... then it was over to Chaweng district for some wine and cheeses at a restaurant called Wine Connection... being on Koh Tao, we don't have much selection of wine or cheese... so we may have over ordered!
Next stop was back to the pub, where many games of cards were playing, and Jen and I retired about midnight.
The following day was filled with pool lounging, F1 racing, and then it was cinema time. We went to see Noah, which we all left quite dissappointed with... not recommended. In fact I was more interested in our taxi ride home which had its own laser light show!!
Thats was it... our Samui journey completed... The following day we heading back to Koh Tao and straight back into dive courses!!
xx
SD
Saturday, 19 April 2014
Thursday, 17 April 2014
15th April 2014
A very quite day for Simon and I. It felt odd not getting a text or going out to meet the family.
I think most of the day was spent on the sofa just watching various TV shows and then in the evening, we ventured down to Crystal to watch the Open Water movies from today and then Si put on the Moto GP which he had downloaded that morning.
After the Moto GP we popped into Cafe Del Sol for a quick drink and ordered takeaway as we'd not eaten.
I think most of the day was spent on the sofa just watching various TV shows and then in the evening, we ventured down to Crystal to watch the Open Water movies from today and then Si put on the Moto GP which he had downloaded that morning.
After the Moto GP we popped into Cafe Del Sol for a quick drink and ordered takeaway as we'd not eaten.
13th April 2014
Today is Thai New year and everyone gets wet!! I think it's just an excuse for a massive water fight myself. Fortunately here on Koh Tao it only lasts for one day where as other places it could last several days
This morning Chris, Fiona and the girls arrived down at Crystal around 10.30. It was pretty quiet to start with. Entree's from the Wild Challenge (obstacle course in the jungle which is run every month) were coming in to complete the last obstacles on the beach which consisted of an electric fence crawl through, a cargo net that they had to clamber underneath and then a wall they had to run and climb over and then into the sea. The Wild Challenge only started this year, so it's slowly picking up momentum and this month I think there were around 30 entree's
Watching people as they came in red faced and panting was great. They all got a good spray with water pistols, Iona took delight in this and was a very good shot which increased the entertainment as people scrambled through the electric fence obstacle.
Pictures to come
That evening as most restaurants were closing early we decided to dine at Haad Tien with the family. I can't believe where the time has gone. Two weeks has shot by.
Saying goodbye the next morning at the Seatran pier was emotional but it's brilliant that Chris, Fiona and the girls would come back to see us again ;-D
This morning Chris, Fiona and the girls arrived down at Crystal around 10.30. It was pretty quiet to start with. Entree's from the Wild Challenge (obstacle course in the jungle which is run every month) were coming in to complete the last obstacles on the beach which consisted of an electric fence crawl through, a cargo net that they had to clamber underneath and then a wall they had to run and climb over and then into the sea. The Wild Challenge only started this year, so it's slowly picking up momentum and this month I think there were around 30 entree's
Watching people as they came in red faced and panting was great. They all got a good spray with water pistols, Iona took delight in this and was a very good shot which increased the entertainment as people scrambled through the electric fence obstacle.
Pictures to come
That evening as most restaurants were closing early we decided to dine at Haad Tien with the family. I can't believe where the time has gone. Two weeks has shot by.
Saying goodbye the next morning at the Seatran pier was emotional but it's brilliant that Chris, Fiona and the girls would come back to see us again ;-D
Monday, 14 April 2014
12th April 2014
Snorkeling trip today!!! We hired the Crystal fishing boat to go out diving/snorkeling around the island. This time our route took us to 'Tanote Bay' which was Chloes choice as she'd not snorkeled around it the other day. While we all went off snorkeling, Simon set up all our dive equipment and then when got back was practicing his free diving. He managed to get down to over 11mtrs ..I was impressed. Free diving is something I don't really find appealing to be honest as I'm not that good at holding my breath. On our way to our 2nd location, Aow Leuk, we had lunch. I'd bought some tuna & egg rolls and Fi had bought some tasty water melon and banana's.
Iona and I went for a little dive. She used my alternate air source. She did brilliantly. We went down to around meter and we saw multiple fish, starfish and sea cucumbers . The only time we came up was when Iona signaled to say she had a sore mouth from my mouthpiece as it was too large. Once back at the boat, both Chloe and Iona went for a little surface bubble with me in the middle using my snorkel and we ventured all the way into shore and back again.
While this was all happening, Simon and Chris went for a dive and Fiona followed myself and the girls around.
Our last stop was Three Rocks. Simon, Chirs and I all went for a dive while the girls and snorkeled and jumped in from the boat. We planned it so we'd be out of the water by sunset ..but due to heavy cloud cover, there wasnt much of a sunset.
Going out on the boat for the day was just lovely. It's really relaxing and picking when & where you want to go is just bliss.
Back at Crystal, salty and damp, we sat and had a few beers and then headed to 'Pranee's' for food. Being out on the boat for most of the day is pretty exhausting, I don't know how the girls kept awake.
Iona and I went for a little dive. She used my alternate air source. She did brilliantly. We went down to around meter and we saw multiple fish, starfish and sea cucumbers . The only time we came up was when Iona signaled to say she had a sore mouth from my mouthpiece as it was too large. Once back at the boat, both Chloe and Iona went for a little surface bubble with me in the middle using my snorkel and we ventured all the way into shore and back again.
While this was all happening, Simon and Chris went for a dive and Fiona followed myself and the girls around.
Our last stop was Three Rocks. Simon, Chirs and I all went for a dive while the girls and snorkeled and jumped in from the boat. We planned it so we'd be out of the water by sunset ..but due to heavy cloud cover, there wasnt much of a sunset.
Going out on the boat for the day was just lovely. It's really relaxing and picking when & where you want to go is just bliss.
Back at Crystal, salty and damp, we sat and had a few beers and then headed to 'Pranee's' for food. Being out on the boat for most of the day is pretty exhausting, I don't know how the girls kept awake.
11th April 2014
A slow start to the day for me. I got up around 9.30am, made a cup of tea for Simon and I and then sat and watched 3 episodes of EastEnders (sad I know) Simon, as usual had been up for a few hours working away on various projects.
Today, we were all going to just chill and relax. I ventured over to Haad Tien around 1pm and joined the girls in the pool, playing various games and seeing how many widths we could swim underwater. The pool was pretty full compared to last week, a lot more families and children. A little annoying seeing that we didn't have the whole pool to ourselves :-D
Later in the afternoon Chris hired a canoe which he, Chloe and Iona took out while Fiona and I snorkeled behind. We did managed to see a few black tip shark which was brilliant but I really wanted to find Terry the Turtle.
Today, we were all going to just chill and relax. I ventured over to Haad Tien around 1pm and joined the girls in the pool, playing various games and seeing how many widths we could swim underwater. The pool was pretty full compared to last week, a lot more families and children. A little annoying seeing that we didn't have the whole pool to ourselves :-D
Later in the afternoon Chris hired a canoe which he, Chloe and Iona took out while Fiona and I snorkeled behind. We did managed to see a few black tip shark which was brilliant but I really wanted to find Terry the Turtle.
Friday, 11 April 2014
10th April 2014
It was an early start for Simon, Chris and I as we were all off diving. Meeting at Crystal at 6.45 was a little bit of a struggle but after a coffee, we were set to go. Steve, one of the video chaps was free, so he said he'd be delighted to film us and would show it at Crystal tonight at 7.30pm ..how lovely!!. ...video to come!!!!
Our fist dive was at Twin peaks, just a casual dive around the deeper part of the pinnacle where we bumped into a huge school of barracuda.
Our second dive was on the Wreck, the HTMS Sattukut
As for Fiona, Chloe and Iona, they were off to a Thai Cookery class which didn't start until 10am. As we came up from our dives, we were wondering what they were doing and how far they'd got with their dishes as after our dives we were going straight up to the cookery class to sample their delights :-D
Dives over and back on land, We washed and packed away our kit and headed to Zest to buy 3 large cappucino's and 2 mars bar shakes for the girls and headed to the Thai cookery class. Si didn't come as he was working doing another eco dive that afternoon.
On arrival, the girls were munching through some No Name vegetable & Papaya salad that they made. They'd kindly saved some for Chris and I and there was even some No Name vegetable for Simon which we later took back to Crystal for him.
As we made ourselves comfortable, the girls finished off their Pad Thai Prawn and Red Thai Chicken
and presented everything before us, everything smelt and tasted delicious ..by the time we'd tried a little of everything, we were rather full :-D
After a short walk back to Crystal we jumped in a taxi and headed back to Haad Tien for a lazy afternoon by the pool and a bit of snorkeling/kayaking to see the black tip shark that swam around the bay. Unfortunately we still didn't see Terry the Turtle.
Sun kissed and showered, we caught the 6.45pm shuttle bus into Mae Haad and walked slowly down to Crystal bar. We were all petty excited to see Chris's movie. Steve had done a brilliant job and we will be downloading it soon, for all to see.
After a couple of G&T's we headed down to Whitening to eat and then it was home to bed
Our fist dive was at Twin peaks, just a casual dive around the deeper part of the pinnacle where we bumped into a huge school of barracuda.
Our second dive was on the Wreck, the HTMS Sattukut
Launched
in 1944, this battleship was commissioned by the U.S. Navy and used in
the occupation of the Japanese islands during WW2.
Almost 50m in length lies between 22m-30m |
 |
As for Fiona, Chloe and Iona, they were off to a Thai Cookery class which didn't start until 10am. As we came up from our dives, we were wondering what they were doing and how far they'd got with their dishes as after our dives we were going straight up to the cookery class to sample their delights :-D
Dives over and back on land, We washed and packed away our kit and headed to Zest to buy 3 large cappucino's and 2 mars bar shakes for the girls and headed to the Thai cookery class. Si didn't come as he was working doing another eco dive that afternoon.
On arrival, the girls were munching through some No Name vegetable & Papaya salad that they made. They'd kindly saved some for Chris and I and there was even some No Name vegetable for Simon which we later took back to Crystal for him.
As we made ourselves comfortable, the girls finished off their Pad Thai Prawn and Red Thai Chicken
and presented everything before us, everything smelt and tasted delicious ..by the time we'd tried a little of everything, we were rather full :-D
After a short walk back to Crystal we jumped in a taxi and headed back to Haad Tien for a lazy afternoon by the pool and a bit of snorkeling/kayaking to see the black tip shark that swam around the bay. Unfortunately we still didn't see Terry the Turtle.
Sun kissed and showered, we caught the 6.45pm shuttle bus into Mae Haad and walked slowly down to Crystal bar. We were all petty excited to see Chris's movie. Steve had done a brilliant job and we will be downloading it soon, for all to see.
After a couple of G&T's we headed down to Whitening to eat and then it was home to bed
9 April 2014
Today, Fiona, Chris and the girls chilled out at their resort while Simon,
after sneezing most of the night got up early and headed off to the Eco office to continue
with work. After last night’s meal at
‘Yangs’ Si’s tummy wasn’t so good, so I stepped in for Simon and took a few DMT’s (Dive Master in
Training) on a Coral Watch survey
(taking note of the lightest/darkest parts, and which type of coral it
is, and then submitted it on line)
After a very hot and sweaty day, we met Chris Fiona and the
girls at ‘Hacienda’ (leisure park) around 7pm for dinner. We ordered some Nacho's to start with and then I shared a huge Ham and Pepperoni deep pan pizza with
Iona. Everyone else had their own Mexican style meal apart from Si, who
had his usual veggie pizza :-D
 |
| Great impression of a Rabbit fish Chloe ;-D |
Even before dinner the girls were very keen to play mini golf. So how could we refuse :-D
The course was really well built, not easy in the slightest. A few safari animals awkwardly positioned on the greens. We only few disastrous holes where we all gave up after 8/9 strokes but apart from that, it
was very entertaining. Iona even managed
to get a hole in one!
 | |||
| I'm sure I should have been up on the winners podium ;-) |
Thursday, 10 April 2014
8th April 2014
Last nights BBQ pretty good. With all bbq's, the food took a little longer than expected but Simon did a splendid job. I don't quite know how he did it, as it was so hot, we were all moaning about the heat. He is amazing!!! ..plus earlier on in the day, he'd made a delicious potato salad.
We'd invited a few folk over to join in the festivities, Tim, Steve, Linda and Chinese Mark who isn't actually Chinese, he just speaks it.
This morning I woke at a reasonable time and ventured upstairs to find Si at the kitchen sink, washing up. We had no water last night, so we were unable to tidy up/wash up. It always happens at the most inconvenient times.
Anyway, today we hired Crystals newest addition, a little fishing boat which you can hire out and go snorkeling/diving on. With just 2 crew and the 6 of us, we set off around the island stopping at a few bays as and when we fancied. The first bay we decided to stop at was 'Hing Wong' At first we all went for a bit of a snorkel and then Simon and I took Chris for a dive.
 |
| "Where have all the fish gone?!" |
 |
| "Argh ..they they are!" |
'Tanote Bay' was our second port of call. No diving this time but we all snorkeled. Tanote Bay has a huge rock which you can climb and then jump off, roughly 10 or so meters high. We saw a few hesitant jumpers and Chloe even managed to see a naked one.
Our Final stop was 'Pottery' a lovely and unappreciated dive site. It's very shallow and an ideal location to take Fiona and Chris for a lovely dusk dive. We saw an incredible amount of life. Moray Eels, Puffa Fish, Trigger Fish, Blue Spotted Sting rays to name but a few
I knew that the girls, especially Chloe were eager to drive the boat, so when Suk (the captain) handed the ship over, with very little instruction ..we were all very nervous and ever so impressed :-D
 |
Then it was time to head back... grab a Singha beer... and retire all very very tired...!
Tuesday, 8 April 2014
7th April 2014
After pottering at home for an hr or two …I hopped on my bike and
cycled to Haad Tien. It’s
not too far but it’s pretty hilly and I
usually turn up ‘fresh as a daisy’ not!!
It’s been brilliant turning up, girls in the
pool, Chris and
FI have my lounger and fresh towel ready:-D
If we get bored of the pool then we just
snorkel off the
beach looking for black tip shark and Terry the Turtle ..which
we’ve not seen
yet...
That evening we decided to have a bbq at our house... It was good to show the
family where we lived
and for them to put everything into prospective.
6th April 2014
A slight change of plan from the normal today. Chris, Fi and the girls were
going to come
into town to do a little bit of shopping and perhaps have a little
bit of
pampering done :-D
We met at Zest, a lovely little coffee shop
just after 12.30
and had a cappuchino and then headed off shopping as Chloe wanted
a hat, postcards needed to bought and I needed to get Simon another pair of
sunglasses after his
last pair broke.
After walking in the baking sun for a couple of
minutes, we quickly
decided to go and get our nails painted.
When we walked in the shop, it looked as though no one was
there but
appearing from behind curtains and chairs, the Thai ladies
welcomed us and
before we knew it, feet were being washed and filed and we just
had the hard
job of choosing our nail polish color. Iona
decided that she wanted different colors on each toe, Chloe went
for
alternating colors and Fi and I just kept to one color. It’s
so lovely having someone paint your toenails for you. It transforms your feet
completely.
Meanwhile
Chris decided to opt out of having his nails done so went off to
buy some
postcards and relaxed while writing away at Safety Stop with a
small Singha
(Thai beer)
Nails painted, postcards written, we ventured
off around the
shops again. It was so hot
today and not
being able to jump in and out of the pool, the girls really
noticed it. After popping
into to wave at Simon in the Eco Koh Tao office and a few clothes
shops ..Fiona and I
marched Chris into the Royal
Thai Massage to have his feet scrubbed/fixed and as the girls
wanted a few
braids put In their hair, we popped next door to the hair
dressers.
5th April 2014
After a pretty full day of diving yesterday, a
day of rest
was needed. Luckily for
Fiona, Chris and
the girls, the pool at their resort is only a minute, if that
away.
Relaxing by/in the pool is pretty tiring in itself. There’s cappuchino’s, shakes to drink and when you get bored of playing with the balls, torpedo’s and rubber rings, there’s always the odd bit of snorkeling to do.
xxx
Jenny
Relaxing by/in the pool is pretty tiring in itself. There’s cappuchino’s, shakes to drink and when you get bored of playing with the balls, torpedo’s and rubber rings, there’s always the odd bit of snorkeling to do.
xxx
Jenny
Saturday, 5 April 2014
4th April 2014
It's great having Fiona, Chris and the girls here. We still can't quite believe it :-D
The first couple of days, have been spent at Haad Tien fresh water pool relaxing to a certain degree and getting used to the heat. Chloe and Iona have been playing non stop in the pool. Their diving skills are brilliant... I certainly could learn a thing or two.
Today, we met at Zest bakery for breakfast before heading down to Crystal. Today the troops were going on a DSD (Discover Scuba Diving) All very exciting.
After talking through a some theory and form filling, the troops were ready to get wet.
The pool session is just to get them used to breathing underwater and to master a few basic skills. They all did brilliantly. There was no stopping Iona ..she was a like a little fish.
The boat journey was pretty short, 25mins or so, we ended up going to Twins. After kitting up and getting in the sea we had bit of a surface swim to get to the shallows where we were all going to start the dive. As nerves go the better of Chloe and as she wanted to stay shallow so she could stand when she wanted, Simon took Chris and Fiona on a dive to 12meters and Matthew (Dive Master) and I took Iona and Chloe in the shallows to 2meters. As the dive went on, Chloe became more relaxed and both the girls did brilliantly. We saw so many fish and we worked on some new hand signals to say that stuff was cool :-D By the end of the dive, we swam/dove back to the Crystal boat and spotted even more different kinds of fish and I must say, we were cruising around about 15meters from the bottom and Chloe or Iona didn't even bat an eyelid. WELL DONE GIRLS!!!
Chris was the only one that wanted to come on the 2nd dive. I think it must have been exhausting for the girls and after Chris had a close encounter with a couple of Trigger fish , that must have put Fiona off slightly. Chris was near a Triggerfish, and Simon was trying to signal him to move away, while hanging on to Fiona. Then the Triggerfish and its mate decided to attack Chris... Chris swam away with a big grin on his face giving big OK's to Simon... while Simon was trying to shoot the Triggerfish with his air bubble ring gun... It was a blast!
Back at Crystal, we organized a taxi to take Chris an the girls back to their hotel to change and then we met at Hacienda (mini golf) but totally forgot that they were having a massive PADI function there, so ended up having a quick drink and then walking to Yangs Thai restaurant. Food was good, Chris did struggle a little with the spice but all in all, the food was very good.
Since Fiona's hotel runs a shuttle bus, we escorted the guys to the pick up point, Si did a run on his bike to 7-Eleven to pick up a couple of ice creams for the girls and then waited only a few minutes before the shuttle arrived.
The first couple of days, have been spent at Haad Tien fresh water pool relaxing to a certain degree and getting used to the heat. Chloe and Iona have been playing non stop in the pool. Their diving skills are brilliant... I certainly could learn a thing or two.
Today, we met at Zest bakery for breakfast before heading down to Crystal. Today the troops were going on a DSD (Discover Scuba Diving) All very exciting.
After talking through a some theory and form filling, the troops were ready to get wet.
The pool session is just to get them used to breathing underwater and to master a few basic skills. They all did brilliantly. There was no stopping Iona ..she was a like a little fish.
The boat journey was pretty short, 25mins or so, we ended up going to Twins. After kitting up and getting in the sea we had bit of a surface swim to get to the shallows where we were all going to start the dive. As nerves go the better of Chloe and as she wanted to stay shallow so she could stand when she wanted, Simon took Chris and Fiona on a dive to 12meters and Matthew (Dive Master) and I took Iona and Chloe in the shallows to 2meters. As the dive went on, Chloe became more relaxed and both the girls did brilliantly. We saw so many fish and we worked on some new hand signals to say that stuff was cool :-D By the end of the dive, we swam/dove back to the Crystal boat and spotted even more different kinds of fish and I must say, we were cruising around about 15meters from the bottom and Chloe or Iona didn't even bat an eyelid. WELL DONE GIRLS!!!
Chris was the only one that wanted to come on the 2nd dive. I think it must have been exhausting for the girls and after Chris had a close encounter with a couple of Trigger fish , that must have put Fiona off slightly. Chris was near a Triggerfish, and Simon was trying to signal him to move away, while hanging on to Fiona. Then the Triggerfish and its mate decided to attack Chris... Chris swam away with a big grin on his face giving big OK's to Simon... while Simon was trying to shoot the Triggerfish with his air bubble ring gun... It was a blast!
Back at Crystal, we organized a taxi to take Chris an the girls back to their hotel to change and then we met at Hacienda (mini golf) but totally forgot that they were having a massive PADI function there, so ended up having a quick drink and then walking to Yangs Thai restaurant. Food was good, Chris did struggle a little with the spice but all in all, the food was very good.
Since Fiona's hotel runs a shuttle bus, we escorted the guys to the pick up point, Si did a run on his bike to 7-Eleven to pick up a couple of ice creams for the girls and then waited only a few minutes before the shuttle arrived.
Wednesday, 2 April 2014
2nd April 2014 - Fiona, Chris and the kids arrive!
We have taken a few days out of work and having a lazy morning in watching eastenders and multiple cups of tea was very relaxing.
What Jen was waiting for was the ferry to arrive at 3:30pm with her sister and family....
They arrived and after a few tears they were whisked away to their hotel on the South side of the island. Its a very nice resort called Haad Tien.
Jen went with them, while I sorted out some bits, and then drove up there on my bike.
After walking around, I finally found them at the poolside with the kids already jumping around in the pool.
What Jen was waiting for was the ferry to arrive at 3:30pm with her sister and family....
They arrived and after a few tears they were whisked away to their hotel on the South side of the island. Its a very nice resort called Haad Tien.
Jen went with them, while I sorted out some bits, and then drove up there on my bike.
After walking around, I finally found them at the poolside with the kids already jumping around in the pool.
After an hour or so, it was time to head off, get showered and go out to dinner at Whitening, where we all stuffed ourselves with some great food... and then to bed!
x
SD
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