Once in Phuket we decided to head to Hat Surin! The weather during our time here has been so nice...even had to resort to seeking shade a fair bit. Less backpackers here and the locals seem a lot more friendly....lots of fat white men with their Thai brides!

Managed to stay in a really nice hotel again, always a bonus to have air con!!

We had a couple of good days on the beach and on Monday 10th we went out on a boat trip around Phang Nga Bay. Our first stop was at Lawa Island, a really pretty island that we chilled out on for about an hour and played in the sea. Then we headed to Khao Tapu (James Bond Island) but as this Island is very small we actually stopped a few metres away on Koh Pingan Island... here was dedicated to tourists with loads of stalls selling rubbish but there were some cool caves with bats and some pretty good views. Pingan means Leaning...the Island gets its name from the fact that one side of it is a huge rock leaning on the other side. Then a Thai style buffet was served on the boat...was awesome. Next we headed to Koh Hong caves and lagoons. Our tour guide took us out in a canoe through some caves and out into some spectacular scenary surrounding the lagoons. Our last stop was another set of caves (Koh Panak) but these were much more exciting than the last lot. Our tour guide took great pleasure into trying to scare the crap out of us pretending to see snakes etc. We had to wait ten minutes or so for the tide to lower and then we headed into the caves to get to the lagoon (only one way in and out), these caves were a lot lower than the others so we had to lie flat whilst our guide swam behind and pushed us through (in the pitch black!) At one point Merryns nose was about 1cm from the top and our guide just said "you're going to have to trust me...close your eyes!!" and pushed us through. In order to get through the caves they have to deflate the canoes slightly...our guide gave us no warning and pulled the plug (right next to Kerrys ear) which made a huge hissing noise and scared the crap out of us! Kerry screamed and shouted some rather rude words at him and as the caves were so low almost knocked herself out in the process! Our guide just laughed...he was really funny and made the trip a lot more entertaining. Once through the caves the views were again amazing and we got to see some Rhizophora/Mangrove trees which roots grow out of the sea as if they are on stilts.

The next day we woke up to Merryn realising our flight was a day earlier than we thought...our plans for Patong couldnt go ahead as we headed to the airport instead. Getting to the airport was funny with some over friendly Thai guys, a rather amusing aussie and free beer! But we finally got there and crashed out for the night. Next morning there was more free beer from people not being allowed to take their liquids through to departures so we were drinking beer at 6am! Not a bad way to start your day.