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Published: December 16th 2006
The Calm Before The Storm
Trent lasted less time than me in the water when he heard someone saw a water snake!!Hello everyone,
Well we are at the end of our last day in paradise and what a day it has been! Before I go any further, let me tell you about the rest of our time (as there hasnt been much to tell!) We have literally spent the last few days relaxing pool and beach side! I have stopped having cocktails as they are 180 baht each and it was seriously eating into my budget! :-( We have eaten every meal at the resort as the food is beautiful (a little pricy, but with the cost of transport to town you wouldnt save any heading to town for a cheaper meal)... They have a bar with 2 pool tables so Trent has kicked my ass numerous times, although I have won twice!!
Yesterday right before Trent got into the shower the power went out... when we asked they said the whole island had switched off until 5pm! Some pubs etc still run with generators so we caught a taxi to Haad Rin as we heard a pub there was playing the Ashes between 10-3 everyday...
The ride to Haad Rin was beautiful and scenic however we couldnt believe
The little bay where we stopped
those life jackets were to come in handy less than an hour later!! the filth and construction going on as we entered the little town. Haad Rin is the armpit of Ko Phangan... home to 1000's of young drunk backpackers who converge here for the full moon party, half moon party, black moon party and any other excuse they can find to get drunk and act like dicks!! It was pretty feral however the little main street seemed ok... there was a cool pub called the Outback Pub where we stopped to see where we could find the Ashes... there was hope as the Outback was running off a generator... it wasnt the pub so we went in search of the Ashes... we finally found the little English pub however luck was not on our side... no generator no Ashes! :-( We headed back to the Outback, pulled out our books, grabbed some cool drinks and settled in... it has little raised platforms with cushions and low tables... they were playing movies on TV's all around the pub... it was really cozy... we stayed for lunch then decided it was time to hit the Resort Pool....
The rest of the day was spent at the Resort.... Today was to be different... we
Our little room!
My mosquito net is useless and full of holes! had booked a snorkelling/fishing trip to the Ang Thong Marine National Park... which is meant to be stunning.... it rained overnight and we were hopeful it would clear up.... When we arrived at the boat this morning it was cloudy and the ocean a bit choppy but they assured us that once we got to the Nat Park it would be great.... Getting onboard was an ordeal in itself!! From the pier we had to jump across another two boats to get to ours! Interesting experience.....
We settled in for the 2.5 hours to Ang Thong Marine National Park... halfway across the sea was a little rough (at the time we thought it was bad enough but little did we know we would be lucky later on to be sitting here typing to you all!!!!). It started to rain and by the time we reached our little cove we were drenched... The water calmed down once in the cove so we stripped down for snorkelling... Trent decided to fish instead (he caught a small one).... Well heres a newsflash to some (I am sure others will not be surprised) : I hated snorkelling! I was in the water for
about 2 min!!! I couldnt breathe properly and kept filling up with water in my mask and my snorkel! I got out and resigned myself to fishing! I am going to try again in Ko Lanta and Phuket... I am determined to enjoy it...
After about an hour the weather blew in and our little cove was suddenly getting choppy and the rain pelted in.... we were sitting there drenched... suddenly this was NOT fun anymore! :-( After another hour of sitting there freezing it was clear the weather was here to stay so we made the decision to head back... the original plan was to head to another cove for shelter to see if the weather would calm down..... Out of the cove we headed and straight into massive waves.... I didnt get a picture of the boat so its hard to describe but it is really low to the water as it is used for snorkelling and diving! Everyone was pretty freaked! Trent and I were holding on for dear life and put on the lifejackets! It was so scary... the guys that took us out there said they had been in alot worse (3-4 meters) ...
Pineapple & Lime Fruit Shake
I have lost count of how many of these I have drunk! And YES they are non-alcoholic!! at this stage they told us the waves were only 2-3 meters!!! ONLY!!!!
The boat would go over one and then come crashing down only to hit another... water was coming in the boat from every direction... If I hadnt been so shit scared I would of taken photos but I could barely hold on let alone find the camera! I heard one girl mutter "F%*K" and I wondered if it was I that had said it out aloud! I sat down and put my head down... I didnt want to see what was coming... I was sitting next to a norwegian girl who was standing and she actually screamed at one stage... I was shitting!!!!!
At the beginning of our trip we were told that we were not allowed in the captains room ... however I think the guys could see how terrified Trent and I were! They let us go up there with him and the norwegian girl soon joined us.... It instantly felt less rocky up there but Trent was pretty scared.. If the boat wasnt diving head first into the 2-3 meter waves it was being rolled side to side by them! It was
seriously like being in a washing machine! I told Trent to shut his eyes and amazingly within half an hour he was asleep!!! I, however, hadnt had a seasickness tablet since we left and was starting to feel the effects!! For the next 2 hours I sat there watching us roll around the ocean praying I didnt vomit on the back of the Captains head..... I was SO sick!!!! About 45min from shore it started to calm down as we had the protection from Ko Phangan... and by the time we were 15min from shore it was almost sunny and calm!!! We were then told once we hit shore that the waves were in fact over 4 meters!!!!! I cant believe we are sitting here to tell the story! The boat we were on wasnt very big but I wanted to kiss that bloody captain!!!
We have been off the boat about an hour now and feel much better.... have bought our tickets to go to Khao Sok tomorrow morning, found cheap internet, had an icecream and stocked up on some money for the next few days.... We will not have access to the internet in Khao Sok as
far as I am aware so you will not hear from us until at least Wednesday when we hit Phuket! We are now about to head to the Resort, grab an expensive cocktail (I need it after today) and have a swim in the cool relaxing pool with no waves!!! Here is hoping the ferry in the morning doesnt hit rough weather huh!!!
If anyone is interested the place we used was the Dive Inn and the trip incl breakfast and lunch was 1000 baht... a good deal... shame bout the weather!!!
We are really missing you all.... Trent only has a week left :-( Heath will be here in 8 days! :-)
Love heaps and heaps, Reet & Trent xxxx
PS Mick can you send us Glen and Carla's email address? Trent wanted to email them....
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Trish
non-member comment
Wow what an adventure
Reet and Trent you certainly cannot say that your holiday so far hasn't been without a touch of adventure! Glad you made in back to those delicious looking shakes and the tranquilty of a waveless pool. Looking forward to hearing the adventures from the next leg. Trish aka H20 (TA)