Last week was a week of goodbye drinks, dinners and lunches with our friend Shannon, which made the week go very quickly.It was all very sad, but we did inherit several things from her, as she had collected a lot in her time in Korea.I now have a new wardrobe, so you won't be always seeing me in the same outfits all the time!We also have a fish, named 'Nancy' and several items for the kitchen, and Graham has a pair of animal feet slippers!They're not going to be that useful in the heat and ridiculous humidity we have at the moment, but apparently the winters can get quite cold here.

At the weekend we went camping with our friends Katherine and Pete.The plan did not quite run as smoothly as we had thought it would, but it all turned out to be quite an adventure!We had decided to go camping on the beach of an island with very few residents.None of us had been there before, but Pete had instructions from a friend who had.The weather had forecast possible rain on Sunday, so Graham and Pete went out to buy tarpaulin and ground sheets, so we would be prepared.Very early on Saturday morning we took a taxi to the bus station to catch a bus to Jindo.This is a large island on the south west coast, which is accessed by a long bridge.The bus station is in the centre of the island, so we then needed to get to the ferry port at the far south.Initially we bought local bus tickets, and then stocked up on food and drink, as we knew there was nothing on the island we were going to.As we waited for the bus with our entire luggage (which was quite a lot by this point), so did many elderly Koreans, all with lots of luggage.The queue got longer and longer, so we decided to return our bus tickets and pay for a taxi, as we feared not being able to get on this bus (as it was not seat ticketed) and elderly Koreans are known for their pushing and shoving, and general rudeness.

The taxi took us to the ferry port, were we found several people waiting in a ticket office with the hatch closed.We tried to speak to a few people, but no-one knew enough English to be able to tell us what was happening, and our combined Korean was not good enough to understand them.Therefore I called a Korean friend of mine, and asked her to talk to one of the people waiting, so she could let us know what was going on.This was successful; however, the result was that there were no ferries running to the island we wanted to go to today.We think it might have been due to the fog, as there seemed to be many angry Koreans, so they obviously wanted the same ferry that we did.Whilst we were planning our next course of action, along came the local bus (the one we would have been on) and it was heading back to the bus terminal, so we decided to get on it and head back to find another bus.This took us around the island, the opposite way to which the taxi had brought us, so we did get a nice sightseeing tour of Jindo Island!

Once back at the bus station we decided to take a bus to Wando.This is a popular beach town, further south, which our friends had been to before.We took a bus, and then had to change onto another bus, and then take a taxi to the beach.So, after 5 buses and 3 taxis, we eventually arrived at the beach and quickly set up our tents.You cannot camp on the beach, but there are a few woodland areas just behind the beach which are perfect, and have many stone circles which people have used for fires.The beach is long, and although there were many Korean tourists, there was plenty of room, and they tend to stay at one end of the beach.Apparently in beach season, which will soon begin, the beach is packed with umbrellas, as everyone likes to go to the beach but no-one wants to get a tan!

After setting up camp we went for a swim, and relaxed on the sun loungers. We had a small gas cooker with us, so Pete made chicken, bacon and cheese sandwiches and then Graham lit a campfire for light.Luckily the rain held off, and there was a bit of a breeze by the sea.This was very much welcomed, as where we live in Gwangju, we are surrounded by mountains, so there is little breeze and intense humidity.This breeze, and the wine we had drunk, made sleeping in a small tent bearable!It was a fantastic, relaxing evening, just chatting and drinking whilst listening to the sound of the waves on one side and the crackle of the fire on the other.

The next morning we went for an early morning swim in the sea, which was great as there were even fewer people around.There had been a little rain during the early hours, but this did not last long.Pete made bacon sandwiches for breakfast, and Graham decided to make a fishing rod out of some bamboo, some string and a safety pin!There were many fish jumping out of the water, but Graham had no luck trying to catch one.He did provide amusement for the lifeguards though, who said he was an interesting man to watch!For lunch we brought the cooker down onto the beach and Pete made homemade burgers, which were fantastic (it was great to have our own cook with us!)There was a Korean man near to us with his two sons, playing in the sea with an inflatable dolphin.It was nice to see a Korean family enjoying the sea so much, and actually wearing swim suits, not just their everyday clothes!Late in the afternoon we took the bus back to Gwangju, and then a final taxi home.It had been a real adventure, one we won't forget for a long time.

Maggie x