Sydney Part 2

With minds made up we were now able to spend the next 10 days or so enjoying being in Sydney, catching up with family and friends, as well as making the most of beach life and the famous Aussie coffee.

Our time in Sydney coincided with our friend Gemma’s 30^th birthday celebrations, and so we spent a sunny Sydney Saturday relaxing on the deck of a catamaran, with cold beers, tunes playing and some Doyle’s fish and chips before we jumped off the boat, with a little more grace than I did in Halong bay, to have a much needed cooling off in the sea. It was great to spend time with Ian and Kate and meet Gemma’s boyfriend Dave as well as the huge number of new friends they have made in the 2 years they have spent in Australia (only one Aussie amongst them). It was a great day with a little too much sun and a little too much beer but lots of laughs.

As a Christmas present, Sue and Tony had bought Jill and I surf lessons on Manly beach. I had attempted to surf once, while a little hungover during my stag weekend in Cornwall, Jill had never had a lesson, so we signed the beginner box on the form and headed out with our huge foam boards towards the waves. It was a rain filled morning and the wind lashed the spray into our faces off the sea. The water looked dark and ominous, but in we waded, with our instructors words of encouragement still ringing in our ears. The first wave came, and with a gentle shove from Brad the intructor I was off, the water pushing me on, I got my feet planted, I began to stand and then in a flash I was flying head first into the sea my board shooting off in the opposite direction!

After spending 10 minutes trying to get back out past the breaking waves I was ready to give it another go. I got the shove, I got the feet planted, I rose . . . and I was away! For the longest 10 seconds of my life I was riding the wave and grinning like an idiot. I caught the next couple of wave as well and was bursting with confidence. I met Jill out in the water and we compared our experiences, she too had managed to ride one, just as briefly, but they all count! After 2 hours of paddling out and attempting to surf back in we were spent, but by the time we reached the surf club we had decided that another lesson was needed before we left. We booked a lesson for Thursday, 4 days to recover would be perfect we thought. Unfortunately, the night before lesson number 2, my lack of balance and general coordination in football left me with what I initially thought was a broken wrist, the prospect of paddling on, or pushing myself up off the surfboard looked unlikely. And so it was left to Jill to show the Aussie’s how it’s done.

We woke to a gloriously sunny morning, Jill went on ahead to get herself sorted I followed behind as official photographer. By the time I reached the beach they were already in the water and with the silhouettes of surfers against the sun-bleached sea it was difficult to pick out Jill. Surfers came and went before I finally saw her preparing for a wave, she looked over her shoulder, she paddled hard, she got the encouraging shove, she planted her feet, she rose, she grinned and then she adopted the signature surfers pose, one arm straight out in front, the other at shoulder height, bent and also pointing at the beach. She came in bubbling with enthusiasm and was straight out again. Again I lost her on the bright sea. Then I spotted her, this was a HUGE wave, she paddled, and then vanished. The board shot up in the air, no bobbing Jill appeared, seconds went by, still no Jill, another wave broke, still no Jill, then a head and shoulders broke the surface with a shocked expression. The drowned rat plodded in, knocked by every wave as she came, she looking shaken and breathless. “That’s it I’m done!” she declared. After 5 minutes of deep breaths, in through the nose out through the mouth and envious glances at those still surfing it was concluded that this couldn’t be her last wave. So out she went. Again I lost her. I watched on as a silhouette paddled, it planted it’s feet, it rose, it adopted the surfers pose, in it came, closer and closer to the beach, the only feature visible was a beaming smile which broke into a full on laugh, she continued in, arms raised in celebration, she hopped off the board as it reached the sand, the perfect wave!

Our time in Australia was coming to an end, and with only one weekend left we thought it would be a great opportunity to get out of Sydney and spend some time with the Kinner’s. So on Thursday evening we picked up a hire car, had a great meal with Ian and Kate in Surrey Hills before heading back to pack. We woke early on Friday and finished filling the cars with stoves, eski’s, camping tables, tents and much much more.

After 3 hours driving north, guided by Ken our sat-nav, we arrived at Sandbar campsite overlooking Smiths Lake. It was a great spot, a ten minute walk from the beach, a short drive from numerous other amazing, white sand and near deserted beaches. On our arrival we set about the task of putting up Sue and Tony’s tent. A huge structure with multiple sleeping areas. It dwarfed most of the places we had stayed in over the past 4 months. Ben had been getting increasingly excited about the prospect of sausages and after an hour of tent building and a quick explore of the nearest beach we thought it was time to get the camping stove on for some much needed grub. As we sat and chatted we were interrupted by an odd ‘whhhooosh’ sound coming from the stove. To our surprise we looked to see it in flames. After three attempts to make it work and three more small fires we were left to accept that we would not be cooking our dinner that night. We set out in search of food and returned sheepishly to the campsite with pizza.

We woke to the sound to kookaburras and lorikeets at dawn and as the sun rose so did the temperature in the tent. We spent the next couple of day visiting the nearby beaches and cooking on our borrowed barbeque. It was great to spend time with Sue, Tony and Ben and get to know them all a little better. Since being with Jill I have never lived in the same country as them and so I needed to take advantage of the short time we had in Australia.

We returned to Sydney and had a meal together, joined by Michael, who had been unable to make the camping trip because of wisdom tooth issues. It was a really nice way to end our time in Australia. In the morning Sue drove us to the airport where we would catch a flight to our final destination before home. It was hard to say goodbye to everyone, knowing that it would be quite some time before we would see them again, Jill and Sue shed a few tears while Ben wondered what was happening, there were hugs all round and then we were off. It was nice to think that after the sad goodbyes of Sydney we would be seeing friends and family soon, but before all of that we had a couple of days in Singapore to enjoy.

Relaxing with Ian on Gemma's 30th

Jill rides the surf on a sunny Aussie morning.

Jill enjoying the last wave of the morning.

Ben, Jill and Bobby camping

Sue and Ben enjoying some long overdue sausages

Me and Ben being silly

A typical Smiths Lake envening

Ben and Tony at sunset.

Sydney Part 1

As we flew towards our penultimate destination, the friendly pilot’s voice came over the PA system informing us that it was going to be a warm day in Sydney – a balmy 45 degrees! Now I know we had been acclimatising ourselves for the Australian summer for the past 4 months, but even so, that sounded hot! In our defence a newspaper described Saturday 5^th March as the day the city melted.

We had a warm welcome (no pun intended) from my sister, brother in-law and 2 year-old nephew Ben (who I am officially obsessed with,) and were delighted that he instantly declared “Jill”, “George” when we walked into their flat (good coaching skills Sue!) We were invited back to theirs for a BBQ on the balcony overlooking the stunning Manly beach later that evening, and went off to settle into our room, which was very kindly provided by Michael. We were going to be in Sydney for 3 weeks and actually felt like we could catch our breath and have a little bit of a normal life. The idea of being able to make a cup of tea for ourselves and even pour our own cereal in the morning was alarmingly exciting.

One of the reasons we added Sydney to our travel itinerary was the fact that we could spend time with some of our closest friends and of course my sister’s family who we hadn’t seen in far too long. It was wonderful to catch up with Ian and Kate – who are looking way too healthy, relaxed and sun-kissed from their time living in near the beach – and to meet their friends who are sharing their Sydney lifestyle. We were welcomed like old friends and invited to drinks at the stunning location of the Opera Bar. It was lovely to catch up with Amanda too, who seems to be thriving in the city and enjoy a couple of glasses of wine.

Our objective for the next 3 weeks was to find out how feasible it was going to be to get sponsorship to live and work in Sydney and to then decide whether we wanted to do that, or return to live in England. That will be easy we thought.....how wrong we were! The reality was in fact 2 weeks of turmoil with our minds changing almost daily. We felt like we were auditioning Sydney and every time we did anything we were asking ourselves if we could see this as our life. It actually got to the point of drawing up a pro’s and con’s list (for which both Sydney and England had countless pro’s)

Whilst in the process of making the ‘Big Decision’ we took every opportunity to enjoy being Auntie Jill and Uncle George in the flesh rather than virtually via Skype. We readily accepted the challenge of a whole day of babysitting and spent the day at the zoo with Ben. We quickly assumed a tag-team formation with one of us pushing the buggie whilst the other ran after Ben pointing out various animals and averting disaster. We were exhausted, but satisfied at the end of the day when we had passed every test – he’d eaten at all the right times, napped and even had a very pooey nappy changed – phew!

We both managed to arrange interviews for jobs in Sydney and were surprised to find that it would definitely be possible to get sponsorship and therefore visas to live in the country. We realised that it was impossible for us to make up our minds and so decided to leave it to fate – if we were offered jobs we would take them, and if not, well, we would be happy to head home to London. This seemed like a perfect solution until I was actually offered a position and told that I would be living in Sydney in less than 2 months. Reality hit like a ton of bricks and it was then that we realised we couldn’t do it – England was home and that’s where we wanted to be. It goes without saying that we would miss family and friends in Sydney, but our decision was made – we were going to stay in England.

Cracker in Melaka

With the year of the rabbit only days away Jill and I got a bus south, from Kuala Lumpur to the town of Melaka, famous for its historical buildings, great food and very lively China town. It was also half way to Singapore and therefore the perfect stopping off point as we approached the southern tip of the Southeast Asian peninsular. Singapore would mark the end of this leg of our journey and it was going to be upon us all too quickly.

We had a day to find our feet, and a good venue for Chinese New Year before the festivities hit full speed. Melaka is an amazingly attractive city with European influences at its heart, invaded by Portuguese, Dutch and British over the centuries, all of whom left their mark on the architecture of the buildings which sit at its heart. A Dutch square which would sit happily in any town in Holland marks the centre, but cross the 20 metre bridge to the east is Chinatown, ruby lanterns hang from every crumbling, wooden shuttered building and criss-cross every narrow winding street for a square mile. It’s an area you can walk around for days and continue to find new streets to explore and new cafes at which to sit and watch the world go by, which is pretty much exactly what we did.

We walked around the sun filled streets, browsed shops filled with lanterns, waving golden cats, strange and very Chinese smiling figures, furry red dragon heads and much more, we saw the locals burning calendars and (fake) money for luck, we wandered passed bustling Mosques and Buddhist temples and saw people preparing the streets for the celebrations to come.

When we were in need of refreshment we found ourselves at the Baboon House, this is one of the most incredible places to relax with a coffee, beer or wine by day or night and serves some damn fine burgers too. You enter what looks to be a small shop with wooden shuttered windows and a black and white tiled floor. Dark wood furniture and soft crumbling plaster sit side by side. This TARDIS-like space continues into an internal courtyard filled with plants and lanterns, surrounded by inward looking windows on the first floor and with chairs and tables in and around it. Then there is a bar area and beyond, is another small room which leads into a beautiful, haphazard garden. We spent a couple of afternoons and evenings in this, and similar spots around town.

For New Years’ eve we were on the very busy Jonker Street in the heart of China town eating pineapple cakes with the locals and shuffling from stall to stall in the tightly packed street. It was a fun evening and a great experience to be in a place where the celebrations meant so much. We were at the far end of Jonker street as midnight was fast approaching and saw a huge Chinese dragon being carried through the street, complete with police escort. Unfortunately, it was too big to get through the arches that spanned the streets and we watched as the panic ensued, as they attempted to squeeze it under. They eventually forced it through and with a little celebration from the crowd who had stopped to watch and help they were on the way again.

The next morning we were up early to catch our bus over the border into Singapore where we were catching a flight on to Sydney...

Jill enjoying a drink stop in Chinatown 

The old Dutch buildings on the riverfront

The old Mosque

Baboon House, if you are ever in Melaka go!

Let the festivities begin!

Chinatown at New Year

Stepping out of the madness of New Year to grab a beer

Cloudy KL

We arrived back in Kuala Lumpur, me slightly hungover from my 2 glasses of wine on my birthday (travelling obviously hasn’t made me any less of a lightweight) but both of us keen to get to know the city which was littered with domed mosques, old English colonial buildings and modern sky scrapers including the famous Petronas twin towers. We were staying in the heart of Chinatown on the pedestrianised Petaling Street, which was a hive of activity with stalls lining the street, selling fake everything from watches to bags to trainers. Sadly none of the trainers came in a George-sized 12, much to his disappointment. Preparations for Chinese New Year were in full swing, so as we  wandered through the streets – well as best we could with hundreds of other people doing the same thing – we were frequently met with the sounds of Chinese drumming and Dragons dancing through the crammed streets followed by people handing out sweets and oranges. The first time I saw the oranges being handed out I thought I was in luck, so dived into the scrum with the locals and emerged victorious with a couple of bags. I soon realised that oranges were given out by everyone at New Year, it must be a Chinese tradition, so before long we were overrun with oranges and not quite sure what to do with them all. At least we were getting our vitamin C!

Unfortunately it rained for most of the 3 days we were in KL, so we had to seek out things to do which involved being inside. I found the lovely old Art Deco central market, which was so unlike all the other markets we had visited in SE Asia, it was clean, orderly, full of (mostly) genuine local wares and an absolute joy to wander round. A short monorail ride away were the Petronas Towers which were shrouded in rain clouds, making it impossible to actually see the full scale of the buildings. We were surprised to find a very large shopping centre housed in the lower floors and decided this was a great way to while away a few hours. I reacquainted myself with a few old friends, Top Shop, Banana Republic and Zara.

After a day of avoiding the rain, we decided to embrace it and head to the city park, Lake Gardens. This turned out to be quite a mission and we only managed to get into the park after crossing a dual carriageway, walking through a hotel car park and passing though the closed observatory – as we said before, the attractions aren’t thrust at you, you have to actively seek them out! We had wonderful views of the city from the park, which rewarded us for our efforts. We had a similarly difficult time trying to get to the KL Tower, the highest point in the city which can be seen from all directions. We had planned on splashing out a little and going to the bar at the top of the tower to enjoy a cocktail with views of the Petronas Towers (the rain had finally ceased). After a few wrong turnings we ended up on a jungle trail, which wound its way up through the ‘urban forest’, along rope bridges and mossy steps until we finally reached the entrance. Our best clothes which we had worn for the occasion were now slightly sweaty and my hair was taking on the familiar humid frizz! We were then told that we had to book in advance to go up and no, we couldn’t just go up for a drink! Marvellous! So instead we ended up at the Mandarin Oriental, sipping very expensive cocktails and admiring the stunning  views of the Petronas Towers lit up against the night sky.

The cultural mix that is KL

The peaceful scene from our hotel window

The scrum for oranges

New Year Dragon dances

Petronas Towers shrouded in cloud

What a difference a day makes!

George enjoying a cheeky glass of wine - a far cry from our normal backpacker haunts!

Penang - the long way round

From Koh Lipe we were only 2 hours away by speedboat from the Malaysian island of Langkawi, which was a mere 2 hours away from Penang, our next destination. Unfortunately we had, in a moment of reckless planning a few weeks ago, booked cheap flights from Phuket to Kuala Lumpur. We obviously hadn’t banked on us changing our plans and heading south and thought we had been very well organised. So instead of a 4 hour speedboat transfer, our epic journey consisted of 3 hours on the ferry to mainland Thailand, 5 hours by minibus to Phuket where we stayed in an airport hotel. It continued with a 5am wake up call for our 8am flight to KL, followed by an hour bus transfer from the airport to the city centre, where we took a luxury bus 5 hours north up to Penang. We finally arrived in Georgetown, Penang at 8pm the day after we left! Oh well, at least we saw a lot of the countryside and we had our first hot shower in over 3 weeks en-route – pure bliss!

We had expected Penang to be an island similar to the Thai islands where we had spent our days relaxing on the beach and enjoying the laid back island lifestyle from the comfort of our hammocks. Penang was a completely different experience, more of a city than a beach resort. The capital, Georgetown, was full of skyscrapers and high rise apartment blocks with bustling Indian and Chinese districts. It was a very welcome surprise and we relished the idea of wandering round the narrow streets of little India and Chinatown, sampling the famous cuisine and browsing the many local shops.

We spent the night in one of the more ‘rustic’ hotels – a cockroach the size of an i-phone welcomed us back to our room after dinner to be met with my screams and the sole of George’s size 12. We escaped early the next morning and moved to a nicer place where strangely they had trouble spelling George’s name – yes we were staying in Georgetown – and set out to explore the city, a cultural melting pot of English, Dutch, Indian and Chinese, which has resulted in beautiful buildings, delicious food and very interesting and friendly locals. Preparations were being made for Chinese New Year and red lanterns filled the shops and could be seen strung up in the streets all over Chinatown. The city really came to life in the evening and we found ourselves in what was obviously a local favourite – a large outdoor food court where stalls compete for custom for their culinary treats (including my personal favourite frog porridge – no I couldn’t bring myself to try it) and drinks are delivered to plastic tables arranged around a stage in the centre. To my delight the evening’s entertainment was ballroom dancing and the locals paired up and began their well-practised dance routines to the live renditions of Moon River and other classics!

We decided to head to the beach resort of Batu Ferrenghi to celebrate my birthday and jumped on the local bus to take us round the island. The town was more English seaside than tropical paradise, but undeterred, we decided to treat ourselves with birthday money from Mum and Dad (thanks!) and checked into a swanky 5* hotel. We had a wonderfully relaxing couple of days spent chilling by the pool, checking out the hotel gym and gorging ourselves stupid on the amazing buffet breakfasts (hence the gym visits)! I was very touched to discover a birthday cake had been delivered to our room and we enjoyed it along with a lovely cold glass of white wine during ecstatic hour (it’s not just happy in Penang) which was a real birthday treat after living within a tight no-wine-allowed budget for months!

As we left Penang and headed south back to Kuala Lumpur, we were excited to see what else Malaysia had to offer. It’s a country which although geographically very close to Thailand, seems a million miles away with a distinct lack of tour agents and backpacker bars, sights which you have to actively seek out rather than have them thrust at you and taxi drivers who will happily tell you which bus to take rather than try to get that extra fare - how refreshing!

One of the many pretty shop fronts in Georgetown

Sampling the delicious local dishes

Preparations for Chinese New year

Enjoying the local nightlife

A local delicacy we couldn't bring ourselves to try

a couple of locals waiting to be asked to dance! (the one on the right had a total of 3 teeth!)

Being spoilt on my birthday!

Koh with your heart part 2

We approached Koh Lipe, as we did with Koh Tarutao, by speed boat, and it was very obvious which of the islands Lipe was. It is the only island in the national marine park that has allowed private development to take place for accommodation, restaurants and bars. Where Koh Tarutao, Koh Adang and Koh Rawi only have park approved and owned accommodation, Lipe has been allowed to grow and develop. This can be looked at two ways; Koh Lipe is showing the others how successful selling out can be and they will soon follow suit, or, with only one island developed the others can be visited and appreciated without being ruined by the 7-eleven, happy hour army that have already had such an influence elsewhere. We had no idea what Lipe would be like, and after our time on Tarutao it might have been a risk to go and see, but with the promise of great diving I was sold.

The first impression of Lipe was not as obviously positive as with Koh Tarutao, we were both a little cautious of what we might find. But as we hopped from the speedboat to a longtail we could see golden sand beaches, coral reefs only a few feet below the rippling blue surface of the water. We could see the bright ribbons hanging from the noses of the boats and we could see coffee shops, dive shops, restaurants and bars. There was the sound of the water lapping at our longtails wooden body and the faint sound of chatter and laughter on the breeze. We were optimistic that this would be a good few days.

We settled into our hut on sunrise beach before setting out to find ways to sit and while away the days, relaxing in the sun under a palm tree reading or watching the world go by while reclined on an axe pillow with a coffee, beer or shake. It’s amazing how you can do so little all day and still find a way to justify ‘unwinding’ with a cold beer. Although Jill and I are not the best at doing very little, on arrival I made arrangement for a days diving the following morning and soon after we lined up a days snorkelling.  I was keen to dive again as soon as possible, partly so that I could get some more experience, partly to make sure I hadn’t forgotten everything, but mostly because since my last dive I hadn’t stopped talking about it or thinking about it.

So the following day, after getting ourselves settled I headed out on a longtail with a dive master and a driver. We cut around the north of the island, passing beaches and jagged rocks, all overlooked by the thick carpet of forest beyond. Eagles soared above us on the currents and small fish leapt from the water in silver shimmering waves. We dropped anchor at a small bay near to top of Koh Adang and entered the water from the beach, not very gracefully it must be said. With a tank on my back and fins sinking into the sand I was a little unsteady, but I stumbled in and I think got away with making it look like I had intended to flop head first into the slightly too shallow water. Once in the water I was once again much more at home, we swam out no more than 50 metres between two large rocks at which point the bed dropped away into the black blue beyond. It was thick with coral and a metropolis of sea life, we dropped to 16 metres and let the current take us along the edge of the coral bank. It was beautiful. I saw giant puffer fish and a 2 metre long Moray eel, hundreds of fish of all different shapes and sizes. And for 45 minutes I watched the underwater world going about its business. I was transfixed by it all. After lunch I had another dive, again we rode the currents and again it was breathtaking.

Back on dry land and with the afternoon sun casting long shadows across the silver blue surface of the water, as still and calm as I have ever seen, I met up with Jill and we watched the sun set over the island. The sand between our toes and the warm dying light of the sun on our faces.

On our final day on Koh Lipe, and our penultimate day in Thailand, we went snorkelling. We were slightly restricted by where we could go as the Princess of Thailand had arranged to snorkel on the same day! But we managed to see a lot of the marine park and ate freshly caught squid on a deserted beach. It was a brilliant end to what had been a great detour. Koh Tarutao and Koh Lipe will remain two of the highlights, not just of Thailand but of our trip. We packed up our bags once more and began the longer than you’d expect, journey to Malaysia...

Relaxing at a bar on Sunrise beach Koh Lipe

Jill finds an enjoyable way to spend an afternoon

Snorkelling, it's anything but glamourous!

A perfect place to enjoy some lunch

LUNCH!

Jill enjoying the sunset

Koh with your heart part 1

It’s funny how the end of our Thailand trip unfolded. We had always planned to end our island hopping with a trip to the Andaman Sea Islands of Koh Lanta,  Koh Phi Phi and Phuket, this all changed with a quick glance at a poster as we were hurrying to the ferry as we left Koh Tao. The conversation went a little like this; “Oh, that place looks nice, where’s that?” “Koh Tarutao? Not sure where that is but it looks amazing, it might be worth looking into.” “Yeah, sounds like it could be a good plan.” and so, after a relaxing few days on Bottle Beach, and with a little research done, we were on a speedboat heading for Koh Tarutao National Park; a place that promised all of the island lifestyle, white sands, blue seas and dense monkey filled forests, without the tourism.  It was what we had been hoping to find on other islands and had not yet managed. We were hopeful that this would be the perfect end to the Thailand leg of our trip.

Our journey south from Bottle Beach to Koh Tarutao took us through a different Thailand to the one we had previously seen. We had become used to seeing the elegant, slender 3 tiered roofs with their scrolled wood edges of the wihaan and the bell shaped chedi’s, the monks carrying their orange umbrellas to protect themselves from the midday sun. But as we travelled through the Thai countryside moving closer to the Malaysian border we began to see more shimmering, golden, onion domed Mosques and women in head scarves. We heard the call to prayer echoing through the streets of Haad Yai. It was good to see, hear, smell and feel the culture of an area, something we hadn’t seen much of in weeks.

Our speedboat skipped through the ink blue sea passed the many small islands that make up the Tarutao archipelago and within 45 minutes we were alongside the jetty at the national park. They say that you only get one chance to make a first impression, Koh Tarutao took full advantage of the opportunity to impress. As we climbed from the boat our eyes fell upon the lagoon of the most incredible shades of blue green, a white sand beach at its edge and a thick forest that climbed the steep slope beyond. We exchanged a smile before our gaze shifted to the blindingly white sand of Ao Pantae, as wide as a football pitch and stretching out as far as the eye could see, waves breaking over a sandbank 100 metres out to sea before rolling onwards to shore. It was breathtaking.

We were staying at the next beach along and the lorry that would take us there was not ready so we walked on the beach, the hot sand squeaking under our foot, and we swam in the sea with no one else around. If only waiting for a bus was always this good! We arrived at Ao Molae, the beach we would be staying at, to a similarly stunning first impression. A half kilometre, crescent beach with rocky headlands at either end, forests all around and the sound of monkeys playing, a dozen little huts and hammocks in the trees. It was a perfect spot to spend a couple of days. We filled in our first day with swimming and relaxing, Jill had a run on the beach while I watched the sunset with a book. The following day we walked to a waterfall about 8km away, through thick forest and rivers. It was a beautiful walk, tough, but we were rewarded with a swim in the waterfall’s pool at the top, it was cold and crystal clear. The afternoon was spent in the same way as the first, running, reading and relaxing. But the following morning, and all too soon, we were off again, back on the boat and heading further from the mainland to the Island of Koh Lipe, part of the Adang archipelago, good for diving, snorkelling and sunbathing.

Koh Tarutao knows how to impress

Waiting for a bus Thai style

Sunset with a good book

Jill enjoying a well earned swim at the waterfall

Jill on Koh Tarutao

Not a bad spot!