Arrived on Gili Trawangan after a crazy boat ride! Huge waves plonking us back into the sea each time we went over one. I was quite glad to leave Kuta and head for some island life once again!

Once we managed to get off the boat and were passed our backpacks down a long line of tired looking Indonesian men we were approached by an even more tired looking old man who wanted to take us to find somewhere to stay on his horse and cart.. he charged way too much but we got in anyway, we didnt know where to go so it saved us hauling our bags in the sun. There are no motor vehicles on the island, just pushbikes and horse and carts. Its so peaceful without the constant hum of a moped in the background.

We were surrounded by crystal clear waters and white sand, it is fairly built along the front strip of the island, plenty of restaurants, loads of places to stay and we had been told out of the 3 gili islands, this was the party one!

We moved bungalows because the first one we ended up in was right next to a mosque and the singing, i mean praying, was soo loud they may aswell have been in our bungalow so we moved down the road bit. It was nicer in general so we were happy with our new home!

We lazed on the beach for the first two days then we decided to find out about doing a PADI diving course. We asked around about prices and then signed up for a Discover Scuba session at Trawangan Dive Centre. This is a half day course where you get shown all the basics in the pool then you go into the sea for a short dive, basically to see if you like it or not. And we did, we loved it! So that afternoon we started on the theory for the Open Water Diving Course. our first dive was a nightmare, huge drift which meant we were basically horizonatal trying to decsend rather than vertical! I was like whats going on!? so Neil our instructor aborted the dive, with it being out first time in the water there was just no point!

So the next 4 days was all about diving... enjoyed every second of it apart from two moments. The second dive i had to abort because i couldn't equalise, i was soooo annoyed but luckily Neil had an assistant that day so i didnt interupt the dive for the others ( there was lucy and two canadian girls), Lea came to the surface with me and we bobbed around for about 20 minutes waiting for the boat to notice out safety sausage (big long inflatable orange thing)... i had a bit of trouble with my ears, so much water in my left one at one point it was painful but only once did it affect me in the water, it was mostly afterwards. And then there was the time i got seasick for the first time in my life! There were 3 groups of divers on the boat and we were the last to get in the water, the sea was pretty rough so we were just bobbing around waiting for the groups to get in the water.. i started to feel a little sick but i thought it would just pass and i would feel better once in the water but no... i threw up, while bobbing on the surface trying to do the skill which entails you taking your BCD (jacked you wear with all the gear on) off and putting it back on again while in the water, it was not fun or a pretty sight! poor Neil holding on to me while i threw my guts up!

Apart from those incidents it was AMAZING, you cant describe the feeling of being on the sea bed with so many beautiful creatures. We saw so many huge turtles, they come pretty close if theyre are swimming.. saw lots of Nemos in thier enenmies! So many amazingly coloured fish, big and small, sharks! One of the best things i have done in my life and i hope to do some diving in Australia now im certified!

After we completed the course we gave oursleves two days to recover, chilling, beaching, drinking!As Soon it would be time for our Asia adventure to end....

Next Stop New Zealand!