Hello everybody,

Wow what a beautiful place this is. The ferry over here took two hours and went around Phi Phi Lay which is the next Island to Phi Phi Don. This Island was where the Beach movie was filmed. Its very beautiful and you cant stay on the island as its a protected National marine park so no tourism is allowed. We got to Phi Phi Don and didn’t have accommodation. A guy gave us a map and said we could leave our bags at the dive shop while we went to find accommodation. This was such a big help as they are heavy and in this heat it’s not very nice at all. It can easily take up to three hours to find accommodation as it’s very busy. We were so lucky, we did it in ten minutes and it wasn’t a horrible place either. It was the last twin room and it was actually very nice, a little more than we wanted to spend but had aircon, hot water, soft beds and even cable TV. We knew how lucky we were after seeing the same people still wondering around trying to find somewhere to stay around 3 hours later and getting very stressed. We were so glad it wasn't us.

This island is very nice. We went for a walk around and went to the different beaches. Its very backpacker orientated and lots of westerners around. We can defiantly tell the holiday makers from the backpackers :o) There is a lot of western food here and lots of pancakes, yummy, Gemmas favorite. We had banana pancakes, chocolate pancakes, peanut butter pancakes, ham and cheese pancakes. Not all at once mind!

We decided to spend one day apart the first time in over 3 months since we started traveling. This is because of the constant arguing......... no not really. Gemma decided to go diving and Darren went on a photo trek around the Island. Wow Gemma came back buzzing from it. It cost 30pounds for two dives including all gear hire, lunch and speedboat. Each dive was an hour and we went off Phi Phi Lay. She saw 4 Turtles, which she was very excited about. There were 6 of us diving and all girls bar one. It was great fun. She also saw a lot of different fish and a lot of Shoals. The coral is amazing and very colourful. Some of it was just like the bit in Finding Nemo movie but the fish didn’t talk. The visibility was about 20meters although a bit murky as the sun wasn’t out much. She went down to 18meters and saw some Octopus and Lobsters. We brought an underwater camera but it only went down to 15meters so it wasn’t used on this occasion. Bummer as she really wanted to take photos of the turtles. But we'll use it snorkeling and in New Zealand. After the first dive we came back up and had an hour for lunch then went back down again for an hour. Gemma's air was low after 1/2 hour so Jamie, the diver master sent her back up to snorkel. Wow she had a great time and defiantly will do it again. Hope you all like the photo of George. He desperately wanted to come but couldn’t as he hadn’t done his PADI course.

We went up to the View Point which we could see most of the Island from. It was a huge trek up a lot of steps but was defiantly worth it. We saw two cats sunbathing in the sun and played with them. There are a lot more cats than dogs on this island. The black and white one was pregnant (see photos). We then went down to the beach again and went to the Tsunami Memorial Park. This was very sad but tastefully done. Some people were never found which must have been awful for the families. Most of the people were backpackers and in their 20s or 30s. We sat on the swing bench for about 15 minutes taking it all in.

We defiantly had a great time here and this place is so beautiful but has defiantly been struck by the tourism bug after the Tsunami. We also saw photos of the bay we stayed in before the Tsunami and to be honest it was more beautiful then. Half the trees have gone, not as a result of the Tsunami, but as a result of tourism.

We are now back in Phuket and going to Ko Phangan on Monday morning, so will update again after we've been there. We are planning to have two weeks there and not sure if there is any internet so can’t check emails or update till back on the mainland. Darren will have his phone, if working, for emergency.

Lots of love Gemma and Darren xxx xxx