This morning we had breakfast, and every meal here is a delight as you can just have whatever looks good and help yourself. My chores today are in the elephant kitchen which is fun as you can have music on. We unload tonnes of bananas, pumpkins, pineapples and watermelons, stack them and wash them with disinfectant before they are chopped up with a machete into the baskets for feeding time. Then the elephants are fed when they come up to the platform by putting each piece into their trunks, that job never gets old. Then the elephants have their bath which I’ve done a few of but am avoiding from now on because it’s fun but it can’t be good for the healing process. Unloading the trucks is around the clock, elephants just never stop eating ... read more

Today, we had theory in the morning with more paperwork and quizzes before we went to get ready for our first open water dive in the afternoon. The water was so rough, throwing you around, so setting the gear up on the boat was a challenge. I managed to full on smack my head but luckily no one noticed, oh dear. Definitely nervous but it was so exciting stepping into the water. I’ll admit I found the first few dives tough as I struggled to equalise which I found painful and rather alarming. The only was I can is by swallowing but the dry air makes that so difficult and obviously the more you start to worry about it the more difficult it becomes. Swallowing also requires you to temporarily stop breathing so I’d be waiting ... read more

Arrive s in Koh Tao this morning and had booked a taxi to get me from boat to resort. Checked myself in and had been upgraded which was lovely as A/C can be so much more expensive and it is a great to come home to everyday. The room seems so big, we’ve been having up to four of us. It’s feels wrong living alone. Had my theory this afternoon and met my instructor. I travelled in with a French couple and a German man travelling by himself. So, we decided we’d have a German instructor called Anna, just the two of us and she’ll teach in English with a bit of German. This was fab because you can have as many as 6 or more in a group and for no less money and I’ve ... read more

The next day was fairly chilled out, it was the last day for the boys so they had a few things to do and I booked up my bus South for when they took off. We didn’t have enough beds, in the apartment Ben and Andy were put up in, so Ben and I booked a 5star last minute for a ridiculous discount. We checked out their apartment on the way which was very nice indeed went swimming on the roof to take a break from the heat. Then Ben and headed off to check in and were absolutely amazed. Everyone was asking if we were married etc and we corrected them at first but by the time we got to the front desk we were teasing each other about it and went and got upgraded. ... read more