So, as you can see from the photos, the fishing trip to 'Top Cats' was very successful. What was one of Jim's most memorable days of his life, was a 12 hour slog for me being on camera duties!

The lake amongst anglers is well known as it stocks some of the biggest species from the Amazon and Asia, all of which were on Jim's wish-list. After almost losing a rod and taking an early plunge into the lake with what the guides thought to be a huge Arapaima, Jim finally caught one as the sun had gone down and it didn't stop there, banking 3 in total!

All in all a great day's fishing and even Caroline recommends it!

To sort out our visa issue, the next day we had to head to a town called Ranong on the Burmese border. Taking a step back in time, the 30 minute boat ride into Burma was smelly, dirty and a million miles away from the Thailand we were used to, so first impressions weren't great but we haven't written it off completely.

Whilst waiting for our entry & exit stamps at immigration, right underneath a 'clamp down on Narcotics' sign next to the police station, we were ironically offered every drug under the sun at 'very good price for you'! The locals seemed most annoyed, and surprised, when we politely declined!

Heading back in to Thailand with our new 15 day visa we were planning on meeting up again with Russ & Shelley before they went home. The plan was to go to Koh Lanta, but the guys had already done a reckie and the nightlife was pretty much closed down for the season. Luckily our old favourite Koh Phi Phi was just a boat ride away so that's where we ended up.

Phi Phi was unrecognisable when we arrived. Since the tsunami they've completely re-developed the island, and although it had plenty going on before, it's now got some really upmarket resorts and restaurants, but still retains the 'wow factor' and great atmosphere.

The 4 of us had a great time there, helped by buckets of cocktails which have now become 'chalices' in some places, and plenty of dance space to party till the small hours. The downfall of this being the 'heat spin' trying to like down on the beach the next day!

Russ & Shelley left to go to Phuket and we then had a couple more days to detox and catch-up with sleep...much needed!

Although Koh Lanta was very quiet, we decided to go and take advantage of the low-season rates and managed to get a lovely hotel with swimming pool right on the beach for next to nothing. It was nice and relaxing doing nothing for a few days, but the weather was turning and island fever soon set-in, so we headed back to the mainland to Ao Nang.

Our second visa was almost expiring and Australia was at the forefront of our minds so we decided to get moving. We had a lovely final day in Thailand taking a long-tail boat to Railey Beach once again where the sun shone for us, then the next day started the long 16 hour bus journey to Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia.

This was just a pit-stop en-route to Singapore, but good to do a bit of shopping at the night markets and enjoy some Chinese food once again!

So we're now in Singapore and we fly to Darwin, Australia on Thursday night which we're both really excited about. New experiences, challenges & hopefully work (!) which we'll tell you about soon....