Hi all,

Having a wonderful and relaxing time here on Ko Samui. Been here for 4 days now and planning to stay until Friday. The beach is wonderful as you can see from the pictures and we have spent most of our days laying on it or swimming in the sea. It is pretty hot though - about 40 degrees - so have to duck out for some air conditioned time in the middle of the day which is what we are doing now!

The people here are wonderful and so kind. The bungalows we are staying in are run by a Thai family who all live together and is headed by the "Big Momma" something which is aparently very traditional here. It's nice though as the whole family are involved in the business - apart from the cutest little boy who spends most of his day asleep in a hammock between to coconut trees!

Had a traditional Thai massage on the beach infront of our bungalow the other night which was truly something else!! It cost us 3 pounds fifty for an hour and was well worth every penny. It's amazing how such a tiny little Thai lady can pull and strech you until you feel literally two inches taller! Anyone who has had one before will know that this is not your traditional English relaxing massage, you get twisted pulled, stretched and pummelled for the whole hour but at the end we both felt amazing.

Spent a few night with some Irish diving instructors that we met on the boat on the way over which has been alot of fun, but trying to keep up with them in the drinking stakes is something Jemeela has decided should be avoided in future!! Jon is however still giving it his best shot!!!

Planning to head to Phuket on Friday, it will probably take about 6 hours on a bus but is very cheap. We are thinking once there we might do our Open Water diving certificate which is apparently alot cheaper here than in Australia and will allow us to dive the Great Barrier Reef (and anywhere else) for less money. All this kind of depends on my ears but we will do one dive and see how it goes. Thanks for the inside info on Mick Dad, we will give him a call later and see what his plans for next week are.

Am thinking we will stop watching Fox News before we go to sleep, there seem to be lots of sad things going on at the moment. Very sad to hear of the death of Anita Rodd*** (and of course Pavarotti) and feel horrified at the way things are developing with the McCanns.

Thanks again for all the messages we have received, great to hear from everyone and good to know you are all well!!

Lots of love J&J xxxx