Doug & Jodie

Well, we arrived in London last Wednesday in the evening. Customs was amazingly fast, considering we were entering one of the largest airports in the world. We jumped in a cab, as we had no idea where we were going. It cost us 63 pounds to get to Debbie and Darryl’s place. Too scary to convert to Aussie $.

On Thursday morning, we set about looking for apartments and activating our bank accounts. We went to Battersea to look at an apartment we had arranged to visit while in Thailand. The apartment was a little less than sub-standard. The roaches were trying to get out, not in ! The paint was peeling of almost every wall, as it was a basement apartment and suffered from dampness. The bathroom was so low, there is no way I stand fully stand up in it. Needless to say, the visit lasted about 5 mintues. We then thought we had better check out the apartment we had lined up from the next night. It didn’t look to be much better, and was on a major intersection. We called and cancelled the next days apartment. We spent Friday looking at more apartments, but closer to the city. We found one in Tower Bridge road, which is about 5-7 minutes from Tower Bridge (and Debbie and Darryl’s). We put an offer in, and were asked to leave a deposit. Done !

 On Saturday, Darryl and I left around 1pm to go to our 10 year school reunion. Darryl read the email wrong, so when we got to the pub, it was closed. Darryl email and abused the guys for not showing, until they told him it was this weekend. In his defense, the email said it was for the England/South Africa rugby test, which for some reason there are 2 of… We ended up at a Walkabout pub, which was FULL of Aussies, Saffas and Kiwis.

We spend Sunday walking along the river and into town. We can walk from Tower Bridge, right up to the London Eye, and over the bridge to Westminster. We took some photos (see the London album in the photo gallery), on a bright and sunny day… yes ! I didn’t believe it myself, the sun does actually shine in England. In fact we’ve probably only had about 2 days of rain, or it rains before we get up. Otherwise it’s been quite sunny but cool.

Most of this week saw Jodie’s first day of work, the signing of more apartment (I beg your pardon, FLAT) documents. – To think, I just got used to saying unit or apartment from flat in South Africa. I’ve been aplying for jobs, but not getting any responses. A friend of mine in Brisbane, has been good friends with a guy who works for Westminster City Council, so we met for coffee today, and he explaining what was wrong with my CV, and gave me a list of the best IT recruitment companies in London, based on a survey they did for their HR department. hopefully the name dropping and dirct contact with recruitment agents will help.

Tomorrow we move into our apartment. Much to everyone’s disbelief, being at home is not all “sleeping in late” and “watching movies all day” – IF WISH ! Organising our baggage from Australia, (which is being delivered tomorrow to Darryl’s) and arranging the inventory/orientation for the apartment is a bit of a logistical nightmare. I had the “great” experience of having to drop off the papers to the letting agent for the apartment. [I'm not sure if pride gets in the way or maybe they're trying to seem more important than they are, but ... they advertised their office as being on Tower Bridge road, but was actually about 3 doors up a side street] Needless to say I wandered around like and idiot in the cold looking for them.

That’s all from me for the moment, I’ll Jode to post some more news from her perspective

Now every diver you talk to has stories about diving some magical, tropical reef, where they saw everything and more… ours is not dissimilar! Yesterday, in the evening, we went to visit the dive shop next to our resort, to arrange a dive. They asked us to fill in the usual waivers and a dive history. I hadn’t dived in a few years, while Jodie hadn’t for about 8 years. The next day we were explaining our diving experience to the Portuguese couple that had been running the dive shop for 1 year. The look of horror in the woman’s eyes when Jodie told her 8 years was pretty amazing….picture a deer in headlights! We got our fins fitted and tried on shortie or spring wetsuits, which were placed in a bag for each of us. (There were 6 certified divers and a novice), the adventure started with a short ride in a long boat, out to the dive boat, which was anchored some 80m away.

We boarded the boat in choppy seas, and proceeded to have the usual boat tour (drinking water, toilet etc…).  We were then told that the boat ride was an hour to get to the dive site (given our previous snorkelling adventure, we knew a speed boat would get us there in about 15 minutes). EVENTUALLY we got to Bida Nok Island, where the dive master kitted up and proceeded to jump over board, in search of a royal parks board placed concrete anchor. Shortly after, we were invited to inspect our gear and get ready. Minutes later we were in the water, all giant strides, no back flips off rubber dinghies here!

Jodie has had some trouble with her ears in the past, hence the long time between dives. She told the dive master about it, and he made sure she was ok on the way down. From the surface was could already see the bottom and schools of fish, some 9 meters below. We headed off in search of promised treasures which first appeared in the form of a sea horse. The dive master (Cas) spotted it under some soft coral. Each diver took turns to get close and watch it blinking its’ eyes. We moved on while all around us we could watch parrot fish eating off the reef, while angel fish, emperor angel fish, moorish idols,   anemone fishes (Nemo’s) schooled around the rock face. We saw beautiful starfish and lobsters hiding in the rocks. Cas, picked up a sea cucumber and got Jodie to hold her hand up, so he could allow it to attach to the palm of her hand.

Soon, it was time to surface. We headed back to the boat in choppy seas, where we were greeted with lunch. On the previous day we got to choose lunch, Jodie and I hose chicken sandwiches. Some French guy got tuna… nice choice for a rocking boat. J Jodie and I sat in the middle of the boat and ate our lunch. I was really proud of her for completing the dive, as she nearly pulled out (partly because of the fear of her ears hurting and partly because of some confidence which had slipped away over 8 years).  It wasn’t long before we moved to the next dive site, Bida Nai Island. The sea and wind had really picked up now and the boat struggled to get into a position to be anchored. Eventually, we let the boat drift a little and chose to enter the water from the south of the island (basically a drop off and swim to the island). We were told that the plan was to swim around the island, as the reef went all the way around. The island itself was sheer wall all the way around, with reef below, so no sand to speak of.

We headed down, this time to an area which seemed richer with sea life. We started the journey swimming through a cave, which lead to the east side of the island. We gathered around a jelly fish, each taking turn to touch it (on top of course).  The whole way around the island, we were able to look up the rocks, to the surface. We came across a small turtle, about 50cm in length. He fed off the rocks as we congregated to watch him. Shortly after that we came across a reasonably sized moray eel, hiding in some coral, near the sea bed. It was almost black in colour. These were just some of the things was saw, but schools of reef fish, coral and even some tuna (in the water, not a lunch box) could be seen which ever way you looked. The second dive was a lot longer than the first, we surfaced after circling the island, again to choppy seas. The dive boat took the best route home possible, by travelling at the back of the islands, where it was calm and sheltered from the wind. All in all, a great days diving!

 

Phi Phi Island 7th Nov – 12th Nov

The contrast between bustling Bangkok and peaceful Phi Phi is remarkable.  After suffering a flight and 4 hour ferry ride (yes Fi, our travel agent duped us – we’re getting the speedboat back!) we arrived on Phi Phi Island.  The ferry ride itself is a story … drunk, fat, English men bragging about their multiple conquests and rating the women standing around them at the top of their voices doesn’t make for a romantic setting!

Back to Phi Phi! Belinda, this place is a must do destination! If you’re keen to splurge we’re staying at the top hotel on Phi Phi (Zeavola) … it a small luxury spa hotel and is amazing! We have our own cabin in the sand with a private deck and outdoor shower, we’re surrounded by palm trees and the maze of sandy paths lead to the beach where huge cushions are scattered over the sand, and waiters bring you complimentary drinks.  We have spent a lot of time lying by the water, swimming in the ocean and the pool and eating!! Thai food every day, yum!

Today we took a private speed boat to Bamboo Island and Mosquito Island for some snorkelling – saw some beautiful coral and fish. Tomorrow we’re heading out to scuba dive a couple of sites. Both Doug and I have our diving licences so it will be fun to see what we remember (fingers crossed no sharks!).  The next day we’re heading to Phi Phi Ley where the movie ‘The Beach’ was set J

Sunday we’re heading back to Phuket and staying on Karon Beach for three nights before we head to London! We keep having to remind ourselves that after this we don’t just go home, we move to England … still doesn’t feel real but for now we’ll just soak up the sunshine!

 

Bangkok 5 Nov – 7 Nov

As opposed to the other big Asian cities I have visited over the years Bangkok was surprising! It has the usual dramatic contrasts, 6 star hotels next to slums and beggars, the usual things to do with markets that sell all the copies you can handle … but I felt like it offered something more.  The Thai people are generally so happy and welcoming and the architecture of the various temples and palaces was simply breathtaking – such vibrant colours and detail (see our Bangkok gallery)!

We arrived late Sunday night to a basic hotel near the shopping district (hmmm how did that happen?).  Greeted pleasantly by some cockroaches in our room we managed to get some sleep and woke to a steamy Bangkok day.  We spent the first half of our day exploring the shopping centres and avoiding temptation (the look on Doug’s face when he saw the price of one handbag was enough to guilt me out of shopping J).

We caught the sky train to Sala Daeng where we walked to the Jim Thompson museum (he was famous for bringing Thai silk to the western world) – bought some beautiful silk! Then we caught the train to Saphan Taksin and caught a boat up the Chao Phraya River to the Grand Palace and Wat Phra Kaeo.

The Grand Palace was built in 1782 and is stunning. Doug and I kept saying ‘how can you put this place into words to tell people at home’ … you can’t. So much detail and so much devotion to their religion has kept the palace and surrounding temples immaculate.

Later that night we headed out to ‘Eat Me’ restaurant – a Lonely Planet recommendation suggested as a ‘splurge’ dining spot! The restaurant displays the work of a local artist and I was admiring it with ideas of how good it would look on my wall until Doug suggested I take a closer look – I won’t describe it but there were subtle yet disturbing additions to the images of women (maybe not one for the wall)! Anyway the food was amazing!

But don’t get me wrong two days was enough and we were itching to hit the islands!

 

-On Phi Phi Island (so this will be quick, too much sun and sand to waste) – On Friday night we celebrated Doug’s birthday and on Saturday we had the farewell at the bowls club [bowling not included ], we then had a send off at the airport. Check out the pictures in the Farewell Album in the Photo Gallery.

This morning, we went to the Kalinga park with Katy (+3 – Ben, Emma & Holly) and Alicia (+1 – Jack). We took a few photos with the new camera. See the picnic gallery.

On Tuesday morning, after a visit to Yagaburne on the weekend, Jode’s had to say goodbye to the pets.

Well ! You’d think that since all our furniture is in storage, we’d have nothing left to do… We’ve got so much packing to do !!! We brought all our clothes and things *we thought were inportant* to sort out over here. It feels like it’s harder than moving out of an apartment.

Other than the stresses and strains of moving to another country, we’re looking forward to the 10 days before we get to our final destination. We staying at Zeavola for 5 nights, which wil make it all worth while.