I always try and start off each blog differently... but i notice i tend to repeat myself.... "wow what a week".... "what a crazy week it has been"..... "I am having the most amazing time".... and honestly it sounds like i never have a dull moment!Occasionally i do but why write that i sat and read paulo coelho's biography for 4 hrs!! Im just trying to put this week into perspective. I HAD A f***ING HECTICALLY AMAZING NON-STOP WEEK! There was certainly no paulo coelho, having a quite breakfast or more than a 20min nap on the beach... NO it was AMAZING!

SO im going to keep this blog as breif as possible even though i had one of the best weeks of my life.

1.0 - INTRODUCTION

I arrived in mabul on the 17th and sore the devastation of the February 26th fire that destroyed half of scuba junkie from the boat. It was alful! When Rikki and I were here in January it was gorgeous. Wooden huts with hammocks and varadahs... now one row is burnt to a crisp and the other is undergoing reno's. So it wasnt the same welcoming feel as last time. However the bar and dining area is the same and so is the beach! For the 5 nights on the Is. i stayed in arung hayat; a longhouse on the otherside of the island. It was really cute... the longhosue stretched out above the reefs and yu regularly caught turtles swimming around the stilts. i was stocked to get the best room of the lot; the one on the corner with lourvers looking out to the pararamic blue of the fringing reef.. oh plus a double bed! ha.... all for 80 ringit per night (~$27 a night)... that price includes 3 meals a day plus tea/coffee/milo any time! CHEAP HUH!

2.0 DIVING

1st day i headed off to Kapalai house reef, black ray channel and froggies with Simon and JoJO and my WICKED mulu buddy Alex. Sweet day underwater with 30+ visability av 29.8degree temp with sighting of frogfishes, ornate ghost pipefish, crazy unidentified crabs and a crocodile snake eel!

2nd day was at sipidan.... with no sleep i walked down to the jetty and got on the boat still very unsteady on my feet from the ginormous night we had just had! Jenny my partner in crime was there too, feeling exactly the same - thank god! ha. Dendy our fearless leader guided us around southpoint, turtle cave, barracuta point and mid reef! Sissy my buddy was a nearly qualified advance diver and was unsure of going down to 30m... haha. so she was keen for me to b her buddy... unbeknownst to her i was still pissed and sure enough i was fallin asleep at 36.6m and waking up realising im underwater... then feeling the combined effects of narcosis plus vertigo! haha! wow.. its called autopilot! anYWAY we made it through the day seeingthe vortex of barracuta, the herd of bumphead parrotfish, a bull shark, many many white tips and grey reefs, a hufe scool of jackfish, plus an eagle ray! great day!

3rd day was sipidan again... this time with Simon! Southpoint, barracuta point and midreef... 30+ visability... absolutely stunning day! different things I saw was a free swimming reef octopus and grey reef sharks feeding! great day!

4th day i had a sleep in and a relax and only headed out for a night dive with coco, PO and gloria!! NAKED! ha! thats right... full moon naked nightdive... no torches! Ticked that off my list :P

5th day once again i woke up late and jointed PO, coco and amigo on a dive at eel garden... 80minute dive.. gorgeous vis... really relaxed!

6th day joined jenny on her final dive of her advanced qualification and headed to awas where we saw ghostpipefish, cuttlefish and a wcked sea moth!! That night Barra and I decided to join tony and matt's night dive at froggies and ended up seeing some serisously cool stuff... 13 free swimming long armed octopus.. all different colours... tiny cuttlefish, painted crayfish, flatworms, huge cuttlefish, weird shrimp! great dive!

3.0 PARTY TIME ON MABUL!

To keep it short:

Matress jenga involves stacking matresses up on top of eachother to form a pile in which you then climb to the top and surf down... once the matress tower is destroyed feel free to backflip off the bar and give yourself a black eye (jo ;)..

Tandaway rum is a philippino rum which is rumoured to contain amphetamines... when drinking this rum it is advised to go swimming to sober up... keep a close eye your shorts... Americans tend to steal them!! haha (gloria)

The song "i love you baby... and if its quite alright i love you baby.. i wanna hol you tight" is to be sung at all times... day or night!

montako (local rice wine) and coke taste like creamy soda... and leads to matress jenga/ smashing tables/ dress ups!!

OATS are a 4am saviour... and if you are invited to eat oats it does not mean anything kinky!

4.0 THE PEOPLE!!

Thanks for a fantastic week.. you know who you are... but incase you dont I dedicate this week to (in no particular order)

Jenny, Sissy, Simon, Barra, Mel, Coco, PO, gloria, kev, LA, Rune!!

xxxx