Wednesday 11 April

We tried breakfast at an alternative restaurant this morning and wished we hadn't! Clearly the menu / language barrier had been met and when we thought we were ordering Cornflakes and fruit - the waitress was telling us that they had run out of cornflakes and fruit…and so after waiting and waiting we eventually realised something was wrong. Ended up having the French toast purely because that was the only item on the menu we recognized that they had available…another lesson learnt. We had decided to visit Kata Beach today and so a 400 Baht tuk-tuk ride saw us arrive just before midday. Once again, the sun was belting down its rays and we tried to stay under the shade as much as we could with both of the girls desperate for a tan and me restricting them to 30 minutes in direct sunlight. By 2.30 we had just about reached our maximum Ray count for the day and so we jumped into another Tuk-Tuk back to the villa. We had booked an elephant trek for 4pm and so this gave us a couple of hours to relax and read before they picked us up. The plan was then to come back to the villa and dress up ready for a date with my 2 girls. June had booked a table at 7.30 in Mom-Tri's Kitchen - The trip advisor No 1 Restaurant in Kata Beach - hopefully this will be a very special evening.

I was lying on the bed reading and June was stood up drying her hair following a shower. Suddenly I feet the bed gently rocking from side to side. The curtains in the room also started to sway backwards and forwards and the metal rod that is used to pull the curtains was banging against the glass. I asked June what it was and she couldn't feel anything. Shelley was sat on the settee in the living room and she shouted that she could feel it. June sat on the bed and she could also feel it. The girls rushed outside to be met by the girls from reception and they all watched the ripples on the deserted swimming pool…shaking ! We all realised that we had been in a minor earth tremor but it soon stopped and so we carried on as normal. I had a strange feeling though and so did a quick Google search and found the US Geological survey web site which within 10 minutes had published details of a major earthquake off the coast of Sumatra - about 600 miles from us. There was a link to a Tsunami page but that didn't have any info on it. The quake had measured 8.9 but later in the day it was reduced to an 8.3.

As we walked out in our scruffy Elephant trekking the girls in reception sat watching Thai TV which was reporting the details of the Earthquake. I asked them about a Tsunami and they both waved their hands in a negative answer…"No Tsunami" they both said. Good - So the Elephant trek Taxi picked us up and off we went on the short 10 minute drive to the trekking centre perched high, half way up the hill. As we got out of the Taxi all of the trekking centre staff were transfixed with their binoculars and peering our to sea. We then heard the wailing, screeching sound of the Tsunami warning. Still, we thought. We are high up here on the hill and so no bother.

We needed 2 Elephants and so Shelley jumped onto hers and June and I found ours along with our Mahout. We had opted for the 30 minute trek which to be honest was just about bearable - In some countries Elephant trekking can go on for days. God knows how they put up with it. It is nice but it isn't the most elegant mode of transport. Anyway, Shelley must have impressed her Mahout as she ended up on the neck of her beast driving it down the hillside! When we arrived back at the entrance to the park there were hundreds of people there - all enjoying the view and a beer. It soon became clear that the whole of Phuket had been evacuated away from the beach. (I learned later that the Airport had been closed).

We managed to persuade our driver to drive us half way down the hill to the bar called the "After-Beach Bar". When we arrived the bar was packed with Holiday makers who had all be evacuated from the beaches and they were all sat at tables drinking cold beer and peering out to sea. We managed to grab a really good table on a verandah overlooking our resort and with fab views out to sea. If there was going to be a Tsunami then we had front row seats. We had arrived at 5.30 pm and someone mentioned that a Tsunami was due at 6 and so we grabbed a beer and sat (with Junes Binoculars !!!) peering out to sea. Military fixed wing aircraft and helicopters patrolled the seas up and down searching for anything unusual. First beer ran out and so we had another. We were now conscious of our attire and general presentation BUT everyone else was in the same position and the fact that we stunk of Elephants and were sweaty and bothered didn't seem to matter much. We tried to send text messages out but that proved difficult but we persevered and hopefully everyone at home knew that we were safe. We managed to get hold of Junes Sister, Rosie (A Geophysicist) who told us all about the "reaction of Motion" which essentially meant that this earthquake had been one where the motion had been horizontal and therefore didn't produce much of a wave. Vertical motion produces big Tsunamis but not this one. The BBC world service then came on the TV with a chap stating much the same that Rosie had told us. With that information in mind and the fact that it was now 7.20 we decided (against all the advice) to walk down the hill and see if we could get to Mom Tri's in time. The walk down only took us 10 minutes and so shortly after 7.30, 3 bedraggled, smelly diners entered the poshest restaurant in Kata and asked if they could fulfill their reservation. The staff didn't mind a bit but poor Juney was distraught that her Date evening had ended up with her in a very posh restaurant smelling of Elephant !!!! As our starters were delivered the sirens went off again and we heard that the Tsunami warning had been lifted and that everyone could return to their accommodation. I have to say that the manner in which the Thai authorities conducted this evacuation was most impressive. The meal was splendid - Really first class food and wine and this evening the bill came to £100. Once again though, fabulous value.

And so to bed.

Another day in the travels of June Jowitt.

Beach, Elephant trekking, Earthquake, Tsunami warning, Evacuated from the Resort, Posh meal in a fab restaurant !