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Consciousness. What did I do last night? I reach for the bottle of water I always keep next to the bed and find a bottle of root beer. Memories slowly filter back. In the bathroom I remember hitting myself in the head with a flaming poi - I look in the mirror for ash marks and find my face covered in green paint. Which girl did that?

it's 08h30 and I have the second half of my rescue diving course at 11h00; time enough to update my journal and pack my bag before getting breakfast/lunch. Showered and dressed I take my bag to the dive shop and check out of the guest house. I need to stop leaving my room key in the door when I go to bed.

Breakfast in AC2 (connected to AC bar/restaurant/guesthouse?) and check e-mails/lay in the sun. There isn't anything left to learn so my only task this morning is to sit an exam (92%). It takes 5 minutes. Michelle didn't set the homework right so I have to redo parts of it, but mostly I laze.

We get out to the dive boat before they realise there isn't enough gear and Lee goes back. We'll get under way before they realise there still isn't enough gear.

Our first dive is at Japanese Garden - though we don't get to see it with skill practices, drownings and recoveries. I'm told it's one of the diving highlights of Ko Tao. I get to splint a broken leg before we set sail for our second dive site.

I can't tell you much about White rock either, despite all the time I spent in the water. Our first dive was searching for a missing diver (concrete block) using expanding square - 15 minutes in Michelle takes us to the surface to show we're miles out of the search area.

The next dive we use a U pattern and find the block. A few skills and then a 'fun dive'. It's fun for Michelle and Keith anyway - for me and Wojtek it's like looking after mischievous school kids as they try to get into as much trouble as possible. One last skill on the surface and it's back to Ko Tao as a qualified rescue diver. Michelle buy a round to celebrate and we fill in the paperwork.

It's a little later than planned when Michelle gives me a lift to the next beach to look for a bed for the night. I walk miles and all the places I look at are full. A guy offers to give me lift to a 'f#cking' place he knows that still has a room. It's in the f#cking mountains and it's f#cking full. He wants me to give my bag to a guy on another motorbike so he can take me somewhere else, I tell him to take me back to the beach.

I get dropped off at Phoenix divers without asking to. I wander in to ask for suggestions and they offer me a bench in a class room if I'm not fussy. I take it.

Hungry, tired and in need of a shower I get invited to join Lee partying. I turn him down and go in search of food. Maybe I wont bother with a shower. Dinner at AC2 and get back to the dive centre to find they locked the classrooms. With my bag inside. 7-eleven for a drink and then find somewhere soft to crash out..

Snooze for a bit on the sofa in Phoenix, but the bar next door is too loud. If you can't beat them join them. I wander in and bump into Natalie from last night along with two new friends. They're already drunk. I watch them play with the fire poi and let them buy me a drink, but I'm not really awake and wander back to my sofa.

I wake when the bar shuts, the lack of noise is deafening. Again when some girls cry in the doorway and later to move out onto the terrace where there's a breeze.

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