We spent yesterday finishing off our packing and tidying up the house before heading down to Crystal with our luggage. Simon had to make 2 trips, the first with our cases and then me.

After stopping at the ECO office to drop off peoples hard drives, full of tv series, we headed down to Crystal and had a coffee before we started our journey via sea and plane to Bangkok

I can’t tell you how excited we both are to leave.  We definitely need a break.  I can’t wait to get my teeth sorted (dreading it really) but to spend time together without any interruptions.  I know Simon still has UK work to complete, but to for him to have fast internet and quiet time …it’s just bliss.

Last night  was the first time in a long time that Simon said ‘I feel so relaxed!’  

We are staying in Matts (manager of Crystal) apartment which is brilliant.  This is where we stayed last year.  It’s so convenient for the dentist and a little oasis in the center of the city, with gym and outside pool. 

So, expect almost daily updates, since we are now back to civilisation, where the internet works for more than 5 minutes each day!

It’s been pretty mental here on the island.  We’ve been non stop with Open Water Courses  …going from one Open Water course to the next.  I’ve even taught Chinese, obviously not on my own as my Chinese isn’t that good yet LOL.

I (Jen) was suppose to finish on the 13th around mid day, after dives 3 & 4 but as one of the other instructors called in sick (very conveniently) I had to take their group  …so instead of an early finish, I was back in the water   ..joy!!!   

Not knowing the students is always hard   …you don’t know their strengths, weaknesses.  It was a shaky start as one Israeli girl refused to talk to me for the first hour or so and a Canadian chap was feeling sick after a late night out (I had NO sympathy)   ..so I was not in the best of moods.  Fortunately they were pretty good in the water, big equalization problems with the Canadian guy, due to congestion and being hungover  ..but all n all a pretty easy group, especially when Si surprised me the next morning and helped out on dives 3 & 4.  How lovely was that?!

Time is passing far too quickly for my liking.   With regards to work, I’m still off with a bad ear.  It doesn’t hurt but it’s still blocked and and my hearing is a bit disjointed (if that’s the right word)  I know that if I go diving, it’s probably going to get worse, so more antibiotics for me.

Simon has been off too but saying that, he’s got a massive amount of UK work to do in a very short time frame, so he’s been working his socks off,  It’s been really frustrating as the internet connection at home has been really slow, which has resulted in him going out to get a good, speedy connection.  I on the other hand have finally got around to clean my bike  …and properly too.  I cycled into Maehaad to the cycle shop where I meet my cycling gang and whilst scrubbing my bike clean, the guys in the shop fixed my brakes, realigned gears and tampered with a few other bit all for free.  I think I was there for a good 2 1/2 hrs.  How nice was that!!

The next day, funnily enough, our friend Linda wanted to hire a bike and go exploring, so I took her to my friends shop (he was very pleased) hired a bike for 24hrs and then took her on a guided tour.  Here are some of the places we stopped at.

A lovely afternoon spent exploring.   I just wish sometimes that it wasn’t so hilly!    For someone that doesn’t cycle every day, I must say that I was impressed with Linda’s stamina  ..I’m now trying to convince her to buy a bike 😀