It’s been over a week since we arrived back in the UK.    Si’s joined the gym which he’s been going to daily and I’ve been out and about on my bike which I’ve found a lot harder, especially in the cold & wind.  So different from the heat of Koh Tao.

Simon’s been working continuously on various projects  ..he’s never really off his PC with one thing and another.   He’s been editing footage from our Komodo trip back in April.  It seems such a long time ago but what great memories 😀  We’ll be posting some links soon 😀

We’ve managed to catch up with most of Simon’s family which is brilliant. They’re all well and it was really lovely to see them all.   I need to arrange to meet up with my big sis Jan & family in Sussex and hopefully meet my new great niece, Emily Rose 🙂

The weather has not been too bad  …wet & windy but it’s been mildish …compared to when we first got back.  I think we’ve adjusted.

My sister’s tea room reopened on the 26th, so I’ve helped Rosie out with a Costco & Macro run and Fiona and I have done some tidying outside if the Tea room, cleaning windows, brushing up the moss etc  …it’s looking much neater and more inviting.  Fiona took me shopping to Basingstoke for an hour or so the other day. I really enjoyed the novelty of being able to shop for anything you wanted but after a couple of hours, I had my fill.

This afternoon we popped to the ‘Lock up’ (storage place) as Simon had to locate tapes that he needs to work on.   It’s been 6 months since we last open up our unit. There were a load of dopey old flies on the ceiling but apart from that, all’s well.

Our last few days on Koh Tao seem a distant memory now  ..I miss the heat for sure but it’s great to be home and see all the family.

Our journey, even though it was very long, went pretty well.  We left Koh Tao on the afternoon Seatran ferry to Koh Samui, then caught a taxi to Samui Airport.  

We had a slight delay with our flight to Bangkok but I entertained Simon by playing ‘eye spy’ which he truly enjoyed.    Our luggage was checked in all the way to Heathrow so that was good.  Thankfully we had not forgotten to put a change of clothes/warmish clothes into our carry on luggage as when we arrived in Vienna, and had to disembark for a couple of hours, it was minus 4 degrees  …ONLY 39 degree temperature change.  

The last leg of our journey to London went pretty quickly, both Simon and I were in and out of consciousness and couldn’t wait to collect our luggage and collect the hire car to go home.  Unfortunately we had to wait around in the freezing cold for a bus, then wait in a chilly car rental office for what seemed like forever.  All turned out well as even though we’d (Si) had booked the car ages ago, they hadn’t got the right car, so we got a free upgrade  ..Peugeot 308 😀

Finding it a little odd to see so much traffic, driving, frost everywhere, proper roads etc we made it home and sat down to a refreshing cuppa where we were greeted by Charles (bro in law) Jim, lovely old boy who regularly visits ‘Rosies’ my sisters Tea shop and reminds me so much of Dad and then a little later, my sisters, Rosie & Fiona, 🙂 

After unpacking, a few more cuppa’s, we all went for a lovely walk to check out all the newish calves and later on, Simon played with his new drone

The time is flying and we both can’t wait to see everyone but we’re not looking forward to the extreme temperatures that are forecast in the UK 😀
Nathan who used to run Eco Koh Tao & his son are visiting Koh Tao until the end of Jan.  They’ve been doing research on giant clams and biodiversity of marine life on an artificial versus natural reef. Fortunately for Nathan, I’ve had 2 Eco interns that have been around to help with the research, which has been brilliant as he’d so much planned and I think without help, he’d have had a huge feat. 
I’ve also arranged for some of the DMT’s (Dive master trainee’s) to give a hand making cages for the clam transplants. It’s funny as Nathan has not changed one bit  …he’s the same ole Nathan but Kailash his son, has grown up a lot and I think proper schooling has done him the world of good.  

So, with only a couple of days left on Koh Tao, I decided to go diving this morning with Jenny (Eco Intern) Getting up at 6am was a little bit of a struggle but it was certainly worth it.  Both of our dives were lovely.  Great visibility, hardly anyone else on the dive sight and lots of marine life out and about.   We’re both going to miss diving  ..if only the UK was a little hotter 😀