If you thought westcoast weather was strange...

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First, I went to Australia where the weather could change in an instant and you could see the huge storm clouds coming on the horizon and watch them sweep over you. I immediately thought the old expression "if you don't like the weather on the west coast, wait five minutes and it will change," no longer rang very true. THEN I came to the Gulf Islands here in Thailand, and I realized I hadn't seen anything! We can go from completely calm weather with no wind whatsoever to a huge gale with massive downpour (like, MASSIVE) complete with thunder and lightening, within less than a minute. Then it will pour for maybe 5-10 minutes and clear up as quickly as it came. All I can say is that I wouldn't want to be a fisherman here. It would be scary to be out on the seas in that kind of weather. We've been caught in a couple downpours, but it's really just funny more than anything because you're generally damp with humidity and/or sweat, and it's never cold, so it's just one more wet sensation to add to the mix.

Yesterday was pretty fun, but I don't have much time to talk about it because we've got to run back to Chalee Villa, have breakfast, and do the final packup. We're leaving for Ko Pha Ngan today, and everything tends to leave earlier than planned so we've got to be ready to go ASAP. Basically, Mark finally rented a motorbike after wanting to for our entire duration here. It's only abou $5 for a 24 hour rental. Derek and I were definitely not feeling up to that, so we took a songthaew into Liam beach and met Mark there. There were some adventures, involving three songthaews and a sting getting caught in an absolute torrential downpour, but we made it in the end. Looked in some shops and then had a long watch along beautiful Liam beach, which ended and Grandmother and Grandfather rocks (if you're 18+, look them up on the internet). Then we had a lenghthy walk back along the highway back to Mark's bike. Derek and I opted for the easier route of just taking a taxi back tou our place. After all the day's walking, we were pretty tired so we just had one final chill out night playing cards and listening to music at the Chill Out Cafe.

This morning Mark gave Derek and I a motorbike lesson on the side roads. It was OK, but I'm definitely not ready to tackle the streets yet. We'll see how traffic is on Ko Pha Ngan. Don't worry, Mom, I'll always wear a helmet and closed toed shoes on the road, and I won't go before I'm ready!

OK, precious time is slipping away. Gotta go!

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