Cruise Day 6

We are now approaching the mainland of Australia and our first port of Darwin, having left Benoa, Bali on Tuesday. We are now 9.5 hrs ahead of GMT, and life on board has now started to settle down into a routine.

We tend to wake up at about 8:00, and head off for breakfast for 8:30ish. This is generally driven by Rigby who is keen to get into kids club for 9:00. Imogen is less keen as she would rather stay in bed, so we sometimes split the party.

There are 3 or 4 options for breakfast, firstly the formal main dining room where we can dine to the music of the string quartet, or the Steinway Piano. The French Bistro is on mid deck where Crepes and typically french pastry options are availabe, or the option we generally choose which is the top deck Buffet that has everything the others have and in a relaxed and informal ambience.

After Breakfast the kids dissappear for 3hrs to get up to all sorts from waterballoon fights, to Dodgeball, to Scavenger hunts and more. Steph and I stroll on deck and stop at the Speciality Cafe where Steph gets here tea fix, and I try the next weird option, as yet untried, from the endless menu. This is usually accompanied by the brazilian acoustic guitar player and his repetoire of chilled out tunes. After this we may take up our position on one of the deck areas, near the pool usually so we can laugh at the events that go on here, or for a quieter more relaxed position wee can wander around the ships decks to find a scattering or smaller secluded areas. Steph reads for a few hours while I just people watch. At 11:00 we head to the gym.

As you walk into the Gym there is a big sign proclaiming that the avergage cruiser will gain 1lb per day whilst on board!! a great motivation to get in there, and the size of the gym suggests that people do try to be on the lower end of this average.

Before you know it the Kids are back from Kids Club. Imogen always wants a swim, whilst I get pulled from one part of the boat to the other by Rigby who wants to either play basketball, Tabletennis, Boule or Golf (on the grass deck!) but we always stop at the card room on the way back to the pool for a daily game of Chess.

The options for lunch are too many to list, about 10 retaurants in total, all serving their own unique menu. For us it is nearly always the Grill near the pool which has the simple choice of Burger or Hot dogs and Chips. The burgers are awesome, and we just cant get the motivation to try anything else. The Kids get another swim in before returning to Kids Club, well Rigby does, sometimes Imogen will stay at the pool with friends rather than go back. Steph returns to her book, and I take my position at the pool bar.

The pool bar is the place to be if you are still relatively young, or young of heart! The staff here have had to work their way up to this highly regarded prime location, the barmen here are the best on the boat. They do not earn this postion through mixing cocktails, but more for being extremely good with the less elderley on the boat. By mid afternoon I expect to see snowballs thrown (from the Frappe machine), soda pump fights and general childish pranks (well away from the children of course!)

Live music continues to play from the pool stage, and it gets livelier as the afternoon rolls by, interludes of pool games break the music, but whilst the mood is always upbeat and fun, it never over steps the mark, and the formality and high class nature of the boat is kept.

The kids return from Kids club at 5:00 and we make our way back to our stateroom to get ready for the evening. We have 3 formal nights that require a suit or dinner jacket, but even informal evenings are kept smartish, and everyone on the boat keeps to a relatively formal attire. By 6:00 we have made our way to the 'Molecular Bar' where we try the next cocktail on the list. These are not normal cocktails, but Bloomenthalesque concoctions that challenge the tastebuds and the senses on many different levels. The use of liquid nitrogen is commonplace, as are air diffusers that create a smell that needs to be enjoyed alongside the drink. The chap who devised these cocktails is apparently very famous in America, and has made drinks for Obama among others. His most famous drink is one he made for Oprah Winfrey which includes Rose petals within the drink and a rose petal foam on the top. Anyway some of them are complete genius, others boarder on revolting, it's always an entertaining way to start the evening though.

Our dinner sitting is early, for the kids, and we are sat by 6:30 at the latest, where we enjoy the sunset from our window seat and tuck into an awesome 5 course meal (we generally just opt for 3 though). The service is impeccable from the extroadinarily diverse staff on the boat. I believe there are over 150 nationalities represented on board by the staff, and all the customer facing ones rely on their tips. They all enjoy telling you the story of why they are on board, and generally befriending you for your time afloat.

The kids club reopens at 7:00 so we sometimes lose the kids again at this point, and see them again at 10:00 for bed, but we have also stayed together for a number of evening to take in one of the many shows, all of which are of a pretty good standard. The casino has beckoned me a few times, and it has been kind so far, so I am trying hard to just stay away now! - well we will see!

We end the evening with a few drinks at one of the many bars, that can be chosen for the diversity of the drinks offered, their formality and ambience, and for the live music being played. We avoid the jazz, karaoke and party lounges, and tend to go for the Capella group or Disco areas.

Bed by midnight at the latest, and onto the next day

Cruise day 3

I blog in from the veranda of our stateroom on the eighth floor of the celebrity Solstice, which is approximately 500 nautical miles below the equator, heading towards Bali. The time is 7:24am and the sky is spotted with small clouds, but otherwise blue. The temperature is mild and very pleasant, and the breeze created by the ships speed tempers the heat to make this an extremely tranquil and enjoyable place to start the day. The sea is a calm deep blue, and the sky stretches an undetirminable distance to meet it, but a little rain shower can be seen maybe 8 or 9 miles away, well away from us and on a different course.

We are all now settled into life aboard, The kids have found friends at Kids Club, and are thoroughly enjoying their first interaction with other children since July. We on the other hand are enjoying some quiet time, Steph is reading, she finished Papillon yesterday! I am trying to break down my Britishness, which is preventing me from getting involved in any of the activities, No success yet, but I am slowly making headways. I was picked to go on stage to be humiliated by the comedy mime at the show last night. I must start to avoid the front few rows of productions, as this is the 3^rd such humiliation I have had in recent years. My face must have developed a 'sucker' look! Imogen experienced a major parent embarassment moment and nearly died, whilst Rigby found himself in the spotlight aswell as the Mime targetted him for an additional bit. He looked fab in his bow tie, and stole the show. He received a big 'ahhh' as he got up, and he had everyone laughing as he tracked the mimes clapping. (I was still on stage holding his jacket).

The average age on board is about 60, but there are enough families aswell. The majority of people are Australian and they are finding the story of why we are onboard very interesting, and this leads to us getting lots of advice to help us in our months ahead, some good and some terrible! The food is fantastic, and we are trying to control our amounts, along with a daily visit to the gym, but with the drinks package paid for, we are also keen to make sure we are exceeding the 'profitable mark' each day. I'll let you guess as to whether you think we are managing this.

13 days left!

Day 68 - We board the cruise today

I will admit to being a little nervous this morning.

The cruise is going to be great, I have no problem with getting on board. It does however represent a significant milestone for us, as  this was the date, the method of transport, and the goal for us ever since I found out that we could jump across from Singapore to Sydney by boat about 14 months ago (back then the goal was to get here without using a plane, so we compromised a bit on that! Crikey I'm glad we did.. we definately did our fair share of trains) I think the nervs are about what awaits us at the other end!

When we get off  we will be dashing about everywhere trying to sort out a location, and a house, and a school, and a driving license, and a car, and a tax number,  and a job, and some furniture and a dentist (Urgh!), and some Money!... and everything else we havent thought of or know about yet

The genius behind the trip ending on the cruise ship though, is that we can do absolutely bugger all about it until we actually arrive!.. so for the next 16 days, we can do nothing but relax and plan, but not act at all. (Genius or Crazy - one of the two!...I'll get back on that one)

We are off to Australia today!!.. that actually seems true for the first time.

More Singapore Pics

So have you seen the new models for the Dior Christmas advert!!!.....

 

 

This one Missed the cut!.. apparently the dwarf under the tree was very much 'last year'

Daddy took us on a walk to find the cruise ship. it was ony 5 miles!..  and then we found out does not arrive until tomorrow!... we enjoyed the triffids on the walk though

Day 64 - 67 Singapore

We all love Singapore, it is up there with Dubai for western conveniences and all the nice stuff you forget you want, in fact Steph fancies living here for a while! Being in Singapore has reminded me that it was the work trip I made here 4 years ago that reignited a desire to spend a few years abroad with work. None of the half hearted attempts to find work here ever came to anything though!

The decline in the number of blogs I am posting is probably because my mind has started to move onto the challenges of the next stage. I am spending a few hours a day applying for jobs,  emailing old contacts and sorting all the other bits and bobs like schools etc. I have also been doing some consultancy down here which has given me a taste of work, the money is nice!

It has not all been dull though, we spent some of the consultancy money celebrating the end of one stage and the beginning of the next at the top of the Swissotel, which was fantastic. We did the Singapore Sling in the Long bar at Raffles, and we had breakfast with the Orangutangs at the zoo.

Today is exam day for the 'school of mum and dad', after this has been completed it is off to Toys'r'us to pick up whatever prize they have earnt. Following this we are off to the Marina to see if the boat has arrived, the kids are extremely excited about the cruise!

Pics Below:

Down at the Marina

Up at the top of Swissotel

This is pretty Cool

At the Zoo

Day 60 - 63, Johor Bahru - Shopping

We spent 3 days in Johor Bahru, and basically turned each of the 6 largest Shopping malls inside out. The main purpose as you saw from the last post was to get ready for the formal aspects of the cruise.

We were all successful except Steph, Although I feel the opportunities for success in Singapore will be numerous! The cost of the clothes came to £250 all in, so not bad at all! And a good way to spend the under spend on the budget. Yep we managed to come in under budget, although I will admit to massaging the numbers somewhat with the unaccounted gains from interest on savings, a tax rebate, and the decision not to stay at the most expensive hotel in Singapore for the sake of a swimming pool on the roof! Oh yeah we learnt our lesson from Koh Lanta, cancelled the Marina Bay Sands, and got into a nice serviced apartment, at a fraction of the cost.

Onwards to Singapore, our final land based journey

Immy and Daddy's Party outfits for the Cruise

We went out shopping today, Immy got a nice new outfit, and I got a suit, tie shirt and shoes!!

Oh yeah - and this 'whistle' has to get me that job in Oz!!!

 

 

 

Day 58 - 59 Kuala Lumpur

Brilliant couple of days in Kuala Lumpur, had a fantastic hotel that from a value perspective has been by far the best. Enjoyed an afternoon with the Daynes at the pool, and had a couple of nice meals. Thoughts are all turning to the cruise, and everyone getting very excited.

My job hunt and work on getting things sorted in Australia have stepped up a gear, we have options for the kid's school, organising house hunting, getting rental cars booked, and all the general administration.

Okay so I got a little obsessed about the fact the Petronas towers were a great view from the pool hotel!! - they actually looked really impressive

Day 56 - 57 - What a Turnip!

So the Cameron Highlands are a big vegetable patch, a few strawberries here a few tea plantations there, but it really hasnt lived up to anything like what we (or Steph!) had hoped for. In fact if our trip was a vegetable patch, then this part was very definately the moldy turnip on the compost heap!

It has been a rainy, cold and socially difficult few days, the latter due to the overwhelming presence of the less than accepting religious group who we do not speak of!

We had moments that were good, most of which are covered in the pictures below, but also a very nice lunch at an old British colonial restaurant, that was fun mainly due to the fact it reflected everything bad about british cuisine. We will also never forget the tout who worked the local restaurant and his uncompromising love of 1980's Britian. From his shoulder pad jacket, his love of Spandall Ballet, his rediculous hairstyle, and somehow, for just a moment in this rediculous part of Malaysia, he made us truely believe that Miami Vice was still cool!

We have been looking forward to leaving, and we do tomorrow, with the promise of a modern city in Kuala Lumpur.

Here are some pictures

Day 55 - Mossy Forest & Tea Plantation

Finally the Cameron Highlands showed some class!

We got up early and grabbed a taxi, an early 1970's mercedes classic!, and made our way up into the higlands to see the forests and Tea plantations. It was all very good and will be best expressed in pictures and videos, whch will come later.

We have another Steamboat dinner, and whilst the day was great, we look forward to leaving the Cameron Highlands, which has sadly been the least inspiring part of the trip so far!

Day 54 - Strawberries

The Cameron Highlands have still not risen to the expectations we had before we arrived. Today we picked our own strawberries, which was not unlike any PYO in the UK, we had noodles for lunch, managed a couple of hours of school work, and basically sat about in the hotel while the afternoon rain came down.

Hopefully the tea plantations and jungle will be better tomorrow.

Reflecting as the end is seeming closer

As we get close to embarking on the final leg of our journey to Australia, I find myself reflecting once again on what has happened so far, and how we got to this rather peculiar position. I will admit that the emotion I am feeling is odd, it is one of glee and sorrow mixed with excitement and fear.

We have after all nearly completed the dream, which was to make the move, to be successful in gaining the Visa, and then taking the long and windy road down. It is with this realisation that I feel sorrow, for the completion of the journey will sadly signify the end of a major personal project, a project of which I am immensely proud. I wanted a significant period of time with my children as they grow up, and I have had that, and it has been as rewarding as I hoped. My relationship with them has moved to a completely different level, not necessarily in a conventional fatherly manner, but for the moment we are each others buddies and 'dudes'. We share and laugh as equals, as we have continued to be there for each other every day and night for the past 150 odd days, and yet I am also their teacher, hopefully achieveing a level of advancement in their education, but no promises there! We have formed a very strong bond between the four of us which can only come from the concentration of time we have spent together, and the peculiarity of being without external influence or distraction. I am sure that we will return to the conventional relationship as life returns to normal, but for the moment it is here that we are, and I like it.

So I am also filled with glee, that my children will have this memory, not just of the places, experiences and mishaps that have come our way through the journey, but that they will have them with me, their father, and that we will always be able to look back on those memories as I turn back into the worker and provider that society expects and dictates. I will not however allow myself to become overly absorbed by the career that awaits me, as I must remember that it was a realignment of my priorities that helped to encourage the move in the first place. In fact let me write here for my future reference the inspirational observations of Bronnie Ware, a palliative nurse who recorded the most common regrets of the dieing, and in so doing, pushed me up a a gear!, here they are

 

 

• I wish I'd had the courage to live a life true to myself, not the life others expected of me.
• I wish I hadn't worked so hard.
• I wish I'd had the courage to express my feelings.
• I wish I had stayed in touch with my friends.
• I wish that I had let myself be happier

I frankly feel that I have always led my life in a way that would avert any potential 'regrets' like the above, but the brutal reality that these have become regrets to so many, has lead me to start thinking of them as personal mantras, not as a way to live life, but as a reference to sometimes remind yourself of the pitfalls that others have fallen into.

Of course the greatest kick we can get is the stark reality of our personal frailty, and with Steph's stroke, and Mum's experience last year, I have had my fair share of reminders that life needs to be lived to the full, whilst you have your health and your family around you.

So as I look towards the new adventure, the bigger adventure, starting in Australia at the end of the cruise, I am exhilarated about what this will bring to us all. The challenges that starting a new life in a foreign climb will bring, the expectations that we all have for the location, be it the beach, the sport, the lifestyle, the food or any of the other opportunities which may or may not be there. With this uncertainty comes the fear, will we succeed, or will we be heading home in short-time. I have always maintained that a swift return would only indicate a renewed enthusiasm for the UK, but the reality is that I would hate to see this level of effort be pushed into a short stay, that would definitely be depressing. The fear of homesickness! How much will I miss blighty and all its quirks, how much will I miss friends and family. It has been easy to push all this to the side as we travel south-east, but in the real world, I can see this being a more prominent thought. Skype, Ipads, blogs, and the rest make us feel close, but as we are starting to appreciate, we are in the bar when everyone back home is waking up.. it will not always feel so close.

So it is what it is (I hear you say Emma!) and I will continue to ramble along on the blog as we strive to succeed in the new 'Aussie Challenge'.. only time will tell, its just been great so far, long may this continue!

Penang Video

Day 53 - Titiwangsa, Cameron Highlands

So we left Batu Ferengi this morning in the moderate luxury of a private car, on a four hour drive up to the Cameron Highlands, it sounds extravagant but it didnt actually cost much more than a bus. Our driver was very pleasant, and was very handy at taking sharp hillside bends whilst playing with his Galaxy Note!

We stopped at a highway service station for a late breakfast and found ourselves in a real gritty Malaysian experience. There was not a western face in sight, although a full mix of Malaysian workers and travellers mingled about the dozen market stalls, selling things from boiled peanuts to durian fruit. Durian is the disgusting smelling fruit that is often on reality TV shows as a forfeit for contestants, it is eaten widely in these parts although hotels take an extremely dim view to anyone who tries to bring one in and signs are posted everywhere. We have steered cleart from any temptation to try it, as the lingering smell we occasional get when passing is certainly enough to dampen any bravado that would draw one in. We sat at a table close to a counter that had a selection of rice and noodle dishes, I pointed at one that closely resembled a Chicken Chow Mein, and then at another that looked close to a chop suey, we were playing it as safe as possible. The cost was 5 ringitt for the two dishes, so about a pound, and on the side I had a bag of boiled monkey nuts, thinking that hot nuts taste good in the pub back home, so how bad can these be! The food was predictably completely inedible, and so we headed back to the car. I caught our driver as he was leaving the WC's and I offered to buy him some breakfast, he said " no thanks it all looks disgusting to me". Hey ho!

The Cameron Highlands is yet to leave any form of impression on us, as we have not seen any tea plantations, and the strawberry fields are all covered in makeshift polythene sheets. Less impressive than the scenery is the opportunity to buy a beer! We had a steamboat dinner, that is a simple fondue concept but instead of oil or cheese, you boil things in a noodle soup, pretty foul, yet the kids seemed to at least enjoy the noodles and chicken. I asked if I could have a beer, which was met with a disgusting look and the comment " No, this is Halal!"

We are now back in our hotel enjoying a Chang that I bought form the shell garage up the road, living the dream! 

Backlog of Pictures and vids from Thailand & Malaysia

Relaxing in Papillon

Mcdonalds in Hat Yai (bombed)

Crossing into Malaysia

Jenga in our favourite bar in Georgetown (Hong Kong)

Oh and there it is - the hong kong bar

Snake Handling (dont look freaked at all!)

Luck for a year if you stroke this snake from head to toe

Love the Signage

Even better one!

Where are we, where we going?

Reclining Buddha

Freaky Chap covered in gold

Butterflies

And more

another Video from Thailand

Day 52 - Hard Rock Butterflies

Today we saw butterflies and fruit in abundance, as we took the tourist trail from our hotel here in Batu Ferengi. We were back in time for a meal at the Hard Rock Cafe, difficult to resist when the hotel next door is the Hard Rock Hotel! I do not feel guilty about this culinary sell out, here in Malaysia's capital of food, as my Steak Sandwich was a dreamy red meat delight, made even more scrumptious by the swiss cheese and mushroom topping and the rich beef stock, not so much drizzled but splashed all over the half toasted and half fried garlic bread bun! Immy and Rigs demolished theirs like they hadnt seen junk food in 52 days ( well maybe they have once or twice!) - Steph didnt join in completely and nibbled a club sandwich! (Party Pooper)

Dont judge us, but we are going back for dinner!! - Oh Yeah!... its the Highlands tomorrow, stawberries and tea leaves for breakfast, lunch and dinner!

Really hoping to get some strong connection soon! - great pics and vids mounting up

Day 51 - Batu Ferengi

Batu Ferengi is back on the beach, we have a great room facing the hills, but terrible connection. So will keep this very short. In fact I will leave it with a quote from Rigby, who was asked what the Equator was yesterday, his response was: "the equator is a line that goes around the middle of the world, it is not a real line but it helps stick the globe together"

Day 50 - More sights and more planning

Today we skipped our way through a number of sights again, taking in the largest reclining Buddha, Fed some monkeys, held some large snake's and and got back to the hotel in very good time.

We took the opportunity to plan the next few stages of the trip, as with the cruise starting to loom, we felt some joining of the dots was necessary. With the planning complete, the Journey will now take us up to the Cameron Highlands, where Steph is very keen to see the tea making facilities (this is more than just a kettle and a bottle of milk apparently!), from here we will travel down to Kuala Lumpur for a swift stop, and then our final stop before singapore will be Johor Bahru

Day 49 - Georgetown, Malaysia

So we got up this morning and decided to get involved in some intense tourism, frog marching across Georgetown and taking in each of the major sights swiftly and efficiently, which was great as we had it covered in time for an iced latte at 11.00! - perfect

So having done the sights we hit the malls, which is another must for the area apparently!.. so by late lunch we had sussed that the 'Galaxy Note' is expensive here too, and that cheap asian rip offs are not worth the discounted rate.  All boxes ticked, we could now settle back and take in this foreign city in the way the Cole family seems to enjoy the most, perched on the front of a cafe, pub, bar or other such establishment, slowly getting lost as we meander about with minimum purpose.

Tomorrow we intend on going to a temple which is covered in live snakes, and then hit a butterfly farm... expect us to have this covered off by midday so we can slip back into Cole mode!

Day 48 - Trang, Hat Yai, George Town (Malaysia)

Not many pictures and videos coming out at the moment as the connections are slow and the subject matter a little dull.

Today we spent over 6 hrs in a minivan travelling through  the far south of Thailand, stopping in Hat Yai, before crossing the border into Malaysia, and then travelling down to our final destination, Georgetown.

Immy and Rigs managed extremely well with the travelling,  certainly helped by the 2hr break in Hat Yai, when for the first time on this trip I was happy to take them to McDonald's. The reason for this lapse in my revoltion at the golden arches, is that the Mcdonalds in Hat Yai was the target of a car bomb that went off in late March, leaving 3 dead and over 300 injured.

So before you start thinking I am a little odd placing all of us in a prime terrorist danger zone, we felt it was important to show this city some support, as it has been brought to its knese economically by the shortage of tourists  that come and spend in this area, as a direct result of the bomb. This has been exaggerated by the heavy warnings to tourists not to go to Hat Yai by their home country consulates, and as such the terrorists have sadly won. So this was our minor and slightly insignificant way of sticking two fingers up at those who use blind aggression against the innocent to try and assert their beliefs.

That's all a bit heavy, so lets leave it there, slightly different from my corny pun about bombing our way south yesterday!

First impressions of Georgetown are very good, a nice contrast to Thailand, but will hold back till we have seen more in the daylight before commenting.

Day 47 - Relaxing in Trang

Today we relaxed, the ear infection seems to be clearing up nicely, so we had long discussions about our future journey, and the vote certainly favoured a mainland treck south from Trang, and not a return to the islands. Felix doesnt fancy being on an island incase the ear gets worse (fair enough!) and Imogen has simply had enough of small boats for a while.

So the immediate area south of us, all the way to the Malaysian border, is a no go area according to the british consulate, Those muslim fundamentalists showing again their low temperament towards everyone else, this time it is the moderate muslims and buddhists that get on their beef! So we will bomb it through this area and get into Malaysia. The Jouney should take about 6 hours in a minivan, with one short stop in Hat Yai, which was sadly car bombed back in march.

This evening we enjoyed our quirky hotel, and had some live music in the terrace bar, the bar had all the british premiership games going on live in the background ( the time difference makes our premiership essential saturday night viewing for the Thai's (unfortunately for us!)) but the music was very good.

I discovered a hidden massage parlour on floor 2A, half way between the pool floor and the exhibition centre, which only has access from 1 lift, and no other entrance. It all felt very Harry Potter, lets just say I hadnt seen anything like it since Bangkok!..... I made a hasty retreat!.. definately not for Harry Potter fans!!

Day 46 - Rigby's Ear Infection returns - A dash to the mainland

So we awoke this morning excited about another day on Koh Kradan, having had an excellent evening discussing the logistics of running an almost deserted island with our host Wally, unaware of the imminent panic that was going to develop, and how suddenly you can find yourself extremely insecure in such remote conditions.

Rigby was curled up in a ball under his mosquito net, moaning and slowly rocking back and forth, which is his usual reaction to a fever, he was barely able to acknowlede our presence but after a while made it clear that his ear was in significant pain. We knew his ear could possibly be infected yesterday as the weeping had started again, so he was already on the antibiotics, we attempted to put some more antibiotic drops into his ear, at which point the screaming started! There could not be an area on this small 60 acre island that was not immediately alerted to Rigby's pain.

The immediate panic threw the rest of us into hasty action! Imogen got busy, quickly responding to Mummy's orders, picking up bits and bobs and placing in which ever bag was closest, in a quiet and efficient fashion. Mummy took on prime carer role and rapidly took Rigby's side and tried to limit the pain and nurse him to some form of stability. I ran, rapidly at first, in a south westerly direction. Then on realising my directional error, less rapidly in an easterly direction, as I continued to question my route and purpose. The running turned to jogging and then walking and then for a short moment to a standstill. A level of sanity then prevailed, a plan and a direction for its execution entered my mind. I then ran very fast in a northerly direction just as a second set of whails started to come from Rigby's direction.

Wally's wife was tinkering with the generator (definitely woman's work!) and I told her of our immediate need to leave the island to get to Trang. Trang is a town on the mainland which I remember has a moderate level of facilities. 45 minutes later and we are on a longtail boat heading for the mainland, Rigby's head in Mum's lap, Imogen and Dad looking concerned and serious about the situation. I had dug out the insurance details and have googled the exact location of an english speaking doctor, and frankly I had the nearest hospital address close to hand aswell.

With just a mile or two to go to reach the mainland, Rigby turns his head round to me and suddenly opens his eyes wide and bright and says. “ Dad I've a cool new blog entry. Let's do one on Transport” at which point he bolts his head up and continues “ We can do each boat and train, tuc-tuc, and pick-up and post a picture next to it  Dude” Yes I am afraid this travelling lark has lead everyone to calling each other “Dude”

This comment was the start of the most miraculous recovery, and by the time we got to the mainland he was jumping around in his normal state. Obviously we were extremely happy to see him back, but equally ready to strangle him!

So today we are in Trang, a medium sized town just off the western coast of Thailand. We are staying in a very large hotel that has not been updated since its build in the mid sixty's, at which point I am sure it was the most impressive hotel in the whole of southern Thailand. It is a fantastic display of sixty's opulence, but with vast empty spaces, crumbling wallpaper, and no more than a dozen occupants. The Thumin Hotel is a cross between the Shining and an original Vegas resort. The surreal feel will make it the ideal place to rest and make sure Rigby is definitely fully back to normal. The question is, how will this change the journey from here?

Pictures from the last few days:

Posing on the boat with Koh Lanta in the background

 

 

First sighting of Kradan... very small!



The Kids on the front of the boat

A tropical storm led to extended School of Mum and Dad

Our Beach on Kradan

After Rigby's miraculous recovery

Tuc Tuc to hotel in Trang

Our Surreal Hotel in Trang