We’ve been back nearly a week and its seems like only yesterday we were playing scrabble in front of the log burner and sipping on bubbly with Rosie 😀

The first few days back are always quite hard to adjust especially not seeing the family but I think we’re just about over our jet lag and back in the swing of things.
What’s lovely is that we have Simon’s brother here, Roy.   He arrived the afternoon of the 23rd Feb and we’re slowly easing him into island life.  

As I’ve been away, I arranged some ECO dives with the DMT’s (Dive Master Trainee’s)  A Drupella snail collection dive (coral eating snails) and then onto our artificial reef, Junkyard to do some coral transplants and cleaning. It was a great day as we used new tongs/tweezers to collect the snails and on just one dive we collected a record breaking 1186 snails.

Whilst I’ve been out diving with the DMT’s,  Simon has taken Roy in the pool for a Scuba Review to refresh his diving skills.  He’ll now be able to come out and help with ECO and do lots of fun dives.

While we were in the UK, Mae Haad pier collapsed in a storm, so we’re now having to be ferried to and from the Crystal dive boats in the longtail.  It takes a lot longer but it’s works 😀

Who knows when the new pier will be built.

So apart from diving and propping up the Crystal bar in the evening LOL we ventured out yesterday and did a gentle hike up to John Suwan Viewpoint, one of Koh Tao’s prettiest spots.  We’d prepared, well Simon had as he’d packed lots of water and made individual salads for our little picnic that we’d planned the night before.  Lunch was Delicious!!

Our first night back on the island was good.  We both slept until 2am and then we’re were up for a couple of hours (simon a few more) and then woke the next morning/afternoon, around 1pm  ..a first for Simon.  I remember slowly waking to realizing we’re not going to see Rosie and the boys, that’s when reality kicked in, also it was very hot! 😀

After being away a month, the gekko poo had built up  ..so we spent a good few hours unpacking and blitzing the whole house.  So everything is now spic and span!

After a cuppa, I went out for my first bike ride up to the reservoir which I didn’t find too difficult surprisingly enough.   It’s definitely better riding when the suns almost gone down.  It’s so much cooler LOL
While I was out, Simon decided to shave his hair and beard.  Isn’t he looking handsome!!! 
Here are  few shots of the house to remind you of where we’re living.

Tomorrow is going to be exciting, Simons brother Roy is arriving on the island 😀

It was a long journey back to Koh Tao.  We left the farm around 10.30 am and headed to LHR, dropped off the hire car and caught the bus to Terminal 4.  Check in was easy and we were fortunate to get our bags checked in all the way to Koh Samui.  Our first flight was to Doha (6hrs) with Qatar Airways. Having traveled business last time, we were dreading the journey but the airline was brilliant. The seats were very spacious, service was excellent and Simon even liked the food.

On arrival at Doha, we had a couple of hours to before our next flight so after walking towards our gate we passed various internet stations, statues and this little fella caught my eye.   Just a little too big to bring back for Iona 😀

After we’d freshened up, found a charging station for our phones, watched a little TV it was time to board Qatar Airways newest A380 plane which was huge.  2 decks fortunately we got upgraded to economy plus which was upstairs …YAY!!

Once we arrived at Bangkok, it was a smooth transition to our final domestic flight to Koh Samui which took less than an hour and then an erratic speedy taxi ride to the Lomprayah Pier to catch the last ferry of the day which was so busy, there was only standing room available.  A little too many people on board I think.
By the time we arrived in Koh Tao it must have been 7.30pm.   We dragged our bags back from the pier to Crystal and then had everything crossed hoping that the bike would start, which it did.

While Simon ferried the luggage home,   I popped to the bar to see who was around and had a refreshing G&T.