We finally got off the coach at 5am and were dropped in the middle of nowhere! It was only when the coach had driven off that I noticed the mini-bus on the other side of the road waiting for us! Again it was raining and the journey to the island was surreal! We drove for about 20 mins to the waterfront and then boarded the boat over a rickety wooden walkway! At the island we were given a temporary hut until breakfast so we could get a couple of hours sleep. All the food on Whale Island was amazing! There were 3 courses for both breakfast and lunch and 4 for dinner! There was also a lot of seafood so I am now officially converted to squid! Our proper huts were two rooms joined together - i had the double bed and the boys were together in the next room! It was idillyic - with views out the door of the sea! It was just a shame it rained the whole time we were there! I spent the whole of the first day there (christmas eve) sleeping! Waking only for meals! The place is run by some French so following their traditions we had the main Christmas meal that evening. We went to the bar early for some aperatifs and met a french guy and a swiss guy who we got chatting to. We ended up eating on the same table with them and ordered some wine - we left them in charge as one of them was a wine trader in Singapore!!!! The meal was delicious - seafood, more seafood and a chocolate log!

Christmas day was raining! Although late morning it cleared up just long enough for me and Sam to go on a walk of the island. We climbed to the top and got magnificent views!!!! We got back just in time for lunch and it started raining!!!! In the afternoon I treated myself to a massage, manicure and pedicure!!!! All for 9 pounds! After that I spent rather a long time trying to work out how to phone home as my phone wasn't making or accepting calls! In the end I managed to get a very poor reception via wifi on Karl's PSP using Skype. Not the best but at least I managed to speak to my family on Christmas Day!!!

The weather on Boxing Day was better! It was not raining in the morning so Karl and Sam made the most of it - swimming in the sea and sunbathing! Karl got burnt! (although we will not admit this!). I was feeling rather ill (I think down to the malaria tablets we are taking) so I spent the morning in bed. When I felt better at lunchtime I put suncream on following karl's burning incident, but no sooner had I done this it started raining again! typical! So I spend the afternoon reading in my room.

The next day we left the island just after lunch and got a transfer to Nha Trang. We had booked ahead so got dropped off at the door. We went for a walk but it started (surprise surprise....) raining so hard that we went back to the hotel room!!! I made the most of the phone in the room and got my family to call to have a proper conversation - rather than having to wait 30 seconds for delays!!!! There was so much to catch up on following Christmas that we were on the phone for over an hour and a half! We went out to dinner and as it was raining (!!!) went straight back to the hotel for bed! We were due to catch the bus from Nha Trang to Dalat early so had an early night!