Island Hopping

First of all commiserations to all stuck in the UK blizzards at the moment - I feel for you, I really do. At least people are being sent home from work to doss around at home, which can only be a good thing :-)

I'm actually suffering from the complete opposite weather problems at the moment - it's sooooo hot here. We went island hopping off Phuket yesterday, using our own private long boat to jump from beach to beach for only £7 per person. What a bargain - the sea was crystal clear, the fish and coral were amazing. If only I had remembered to put sun cream on at least once yesterday, it would mean I wouldn't be sat here this morning with a bright red back and horrendous BURNING pain whenever I remove the ice towell. Live and learn....

The first island was Budha island, which was inhabited only by monks and about 6 statues looking out over the sea. We managed to avoid the falling coconuts and got some good photos, but as the beach was tiny and not much else was there we jumped back on the boat pretty quickly to head off to the next one.

After a very choppy ride through the wakes between islands - which the boys loved but Katrina hated - we made it to the 2nd island which contained about a trillion crabs (maybe a slight exageration), and although I really liked these, I didn't come close the happiness Brennan seemed to be experiencing!! Cue 25 photos and videos of crabs on rocks, and multiple hermit crab nips from the baby crabs that he kept picking up.

The 3rd island was easily my favourite, a slightly more populated island but with the best snorkelling spot I have ever been to. Despite the fact we all had the cheapest gear on the island, it was well worth the pain to see the ocean wildlife. Briggs is considering getting his diving certificate out here and after yesterday it has put thoughts in my mind to do it too, although the £300 expense does put me off a bit - we'll see. We just about had enough time for me to eat a Barracuda steak on the seafront, then get buried in sand by Katrina (she took waaaaaay too much pleasure in seeing me motionless and stuck for my liking!!) before we headed back to Rawai.

Quality to get a day out and about in, and one more box ticked for the things I wanted to do out here. Still have Phi Phi island to do this week, then plan is to fly out to Angkor Wat in Cambodia before a 2 night stop over in Saigon before hitting Malaysia and our next base camp for poker.

Talking of which... I had my first small session this morning, winning $100. Was rolling along nicely at about $350 up then Brennan finished up his session and came over to shadow my play and give me some advice - leading to the inevitable $250 downswing!!! Seriously, it has been class to get his advice and he has shown me loads that has helped me on this holiday, which I can hopefully keep in mind for the next 2 months and when I get home too.

Good luck to all those playing and hope the snow thaws for everyone in the UK soon :-)