Ok, so since we last blogged we caught a sleeper train & bus to Koh Sok National Park. We were there for 2 nights….2 nights too long!! We were in the middle of a rain forest…our 'shed' was literaly up in the tree's. Full of bugs, crappy bed, and bathroom! We wanted to spend as little time in our room as possible. The first day we went tubing in the river…that was quite fun. Just big rubber rings which you float down the river in. On the way back we stopped off at a place called "Monkey Temple". It was so cool, monkeys just living in the trees. They come down and you can feed them bananas and nuts. They were all there from Grandpa monkey to newborn baby monkey fighting with brothers & sisters. It was lovely to have a handful of peanuts and they just come up to you and take the nuts out of your hands with their own little monkey hands!! Was nice to see them in their natural habitat. After that, unless you wanted to spend a fortune on an elephant ride (which we had already done) or visit a waterfall (also already done) or walk around the National Park…there was not much else to do. We were in the middle of no where. There was no where to sun bathe. So we spent all day down by the restaurant/chill out area, eating, drinking and playing cards. I swear I have never seen so many bugs in all my life…and REALLY noisy ones too!! Would not stay there again if someone paid me too…I could have cried by the time we had to go back to our room!

After 2 nights there we caught a 2.5 hour truck trip to the Ferry which took us to Koh Samui. We arrived there in the afternoon, had a couple of hours on the beach, then went into Chaweng Beach for a look around the night market and some clubbing!! Lee had his first "bucket" here…vodka and redbull! We went to The Green Mango Club which was really cool! We weren't there for long, the next day we caught a catamaran to Koh Tao…which is where we are now. We spent 2 nights with out tour, at Seashell Dive resort…has to be the best resort we've stayed at so far!! Nice modern rooms, really nice pool. Right on the beach, restaurant did good, cheap food!! The first night we went out with Benton & Louise (the other couple) and Lisa (a Canadian girl we got on really well with) we went to a nice Italian restaurant. Was nice to get away from being in a big group all the time. The second day we just chilled on the beach, and in the evening the 5 of us played some crazy golf!! Probably the worlds worst put put!! Its no Disney!! That was a laugh anyway, then we walked to a place called Castle Club where we met the rest of the group!! A few buckets, and dance tunes later everyone was a little worse for wear!! As it was our last night all being together everyone enjoyed letting their hair down! After a 2am pit stop at the pancake man stall (the best pancakes you'll ever have!) we stumbled home, and woke up to say goodbye to our fellow travellers. It was sad to say goodbye, we bonded really well with Benton/Louise and Lisa. We are going to meet up with Benton & Louise in Brisbane for a curry and to go our clubbing, so really looking forward to that.

We later checked into Big Blue…our home for the next 8-9 days!! We started our SSI course in the afternoon…2 hours of videos and filling out forms. There are 5 in our group. There have been a few sightings this week of Whale Sharks, even though its not the time of year for them, so hopefully we'll be lucky enough to see one. We decided to do an SSI qualification rather than the PADI. A.) you get your certification card as soon as you complete the course. B.) You can use it anywhere in the world, just the same as you would a PADI qualification, and C.) there is more flexibility in the way its taught to you, so most of the group decided on the SSI rather than the PADI. Both nervous and excited about doing it.

Yesterday was our 2nd day of the course.The morning we did more theory, and in the afternoon we got to go in the sea to practice our skills. It was quite daunting, but once you get over the fear of breathing under water, you forget all about it and enjoy swimming under the water with the fishes.

Today we took our exam, and we both passed. We are now waiting to go out for our first 2 dives this afternoon, both at around 12metres depth. Lee is pooping his boardies!!! Im enjoying it more than i thought i would, and am excited to get back in the water again. Will let you know how we get on. We have our final 2 dives tomorrow morning...very early!! And at a depth of around 18 metres!!! Love & hugs Lois & Lee xxxx

-UPDATE

Its sat 19th Dec, havent done much since we completed our SSI course. Just chilled around the town, on the beach. The weather hasnt been great (infact, i cant see the sun right now, its been pouring with rain!) Going to check out the opening of a new bar on the beach tonight, then off in the morning to Bangkok (by boat & coach). In bangkok for 2 nights, then we catch our flight to Melbourne on Tuesday. Hopefully catch some sun in bangkok, and do a bit more shopping!!

xxxxx