Good Friday

Pretty uneventful day as we left Coron airport, with a delayed flight, arrived in Manila with a dodgy taxi man. 'Where 2 Next' hostel had no water and the overtly Gay receptionist pissed us off. Then to top it off, our day activity was shopping/cinema and due to Good Friday holiday everywhere was closed! Everywhere that is expect for MacDonald's so we stocked up on a bundle meal and watched a film in our room.

WHAAALEEE

Woodland's beach resort did not disappoint, it was our best accommodation in the Pines yet. The swimming pool had water in (and about 100 Filipinos celebrating Easter), we were right on the beach, the restaurant was great, Mr Boots (the lovely dog) provided great company and the toilet had a flush!

James made some 'camera friends' called Jared, Swedish guy and taller Swedish guy. We buddied up with so we could share a boat on the hunt for whale sharks. Our guide, Jose was a great guide; he stuck to the environmental rules and managed to spot whale sharks without other boats getting in the way.

The adrenaline rush when hearing the lookouts shout 'Butanding' was an exciting moment, every time. Kirsty enjoyed our entry style as we all just piled off the side of the boat as soon as we got the go ahead from Jose (well almost every time we got the go ahead-JAMES!) Limbs went flying as we dropped like heavy artillery into the fast flowing water. You jump/flop into the sea whilst the boat is still in motion so we were all dragged under the current and gradually popped to the surface; it must have been an entertaining sight!

Our animal spotting luck continued (let's hope it doesn't run out in time for Africa) as we totalled SEVEN whale sharks in three hours. This must be some kind of record as the day before people were bragging about seeing four..oh please four is nothing. At one point Kirsty even let out a sigh when Jose told us to get back in the water, 'but we have only just got out!' That is how quickly we were spotting the whale sharks; we were like men in a front line battle! We didn't do much in the afternoon but we did make a grand discovery that changed the way we viewed chocolate forever-the awesome, the delicious the 'four taste in one bite'

Beng Beng. You got all of this for 6 pesos and over the course of the day we ate four each! Well, it is Easter Sunday after all.

In the evening we ventured further afield to see the fireflies. The fireflies are seen as a side trip from the Butanding and true, they are not as impressive and it doesn't have quite the same adrenaline rush but they are pretty magical in their own right. Yaan joined our boat to bring the cost down and we had Bernard as an informative guide to answer all of our questions and more. The sky was also beautiful tonight, so clear and scattered with stars. We couldn't tell where the fireflies ended and the stars began.