Hello all, hope your well and enjoying bank holiday! I am currently sat on a bunk bed on a train from Thailand to Kuala Lumpa, the over night train is actually one of my favourite ways to travel Asia its really comfortable and you get a little bed to relax on. I'm currently on route to Bali to do more diving (possibly work) and / or do a Liveaboard trip, but who knows, Im following my nose this time, enough of planning!

I am actually feeling a little sad today though as I've just left Koh Lanta after almost 3 months on the island, still it has been brilliant and the last month has flown by with a lot of celebrations going on. It was Thai New Year on the 12th of April which is called 'Songkran', traditionally Koh Lanta doesn't celebrate it as its a Muslim Island (no I don't understand why Muslims don't celebrate NY either), however since the tourists arrived 10 years ago the island has started to accommodate new traditions. Songkran is a water festival and it really doesn't matter whether you want to take part or not, your going to get wet. The WHOLE island gets involved and everyone has water pistols and buckets and you literally cannot walk for a minute without getting soaked and there is no way of not getting involved, unless you lock yourself in doors.

So the Hidden Depths crew (my dive centre) got together and we did one long pub crawl up the island with water pistols, it was great fun and needless to say we were all saturated and drunkered by 6pm! I did have a sense of humour failure though when I got an ice bucket over my head...but I got my own back ;) We ended the day going out for dinner in our wet clothes and discussing bigger and better water fight tactics for next year!

A week later there was another party on the island, my 29th birthday celebration *cough*. A friend offered to host a pool party with BBQ for me which was really lovely, a few of us gathered and had food, drinks and wine / beer was consumed. It was really fantastic to get all my new dive friends together and made me realise how welcoming the community has been , people turned up with gifts and cards and they also got me a huge chocolate cake, I felt totally spoilt and the centre of attention which obviously I loved ;) However I did end up being thrown in the pool fully clothed by my Instructor /mentor Gary!

By mid April I was starting to finish off the final few tasks on my DMT course, it was strange getting to a point where I was nearing qualified and I did have a crisis of confidence asking myself am I ready? Do I know everything???? But the turning point ended up being assisted on a Junior Open Water Course and Rescue Course in which my instructors allowed me to play a key role in demonstrating and guiding skills, this really boosted my confidence and made me feel like a true dive professional.

It was also around this time that I completed my 100th dive..now at this point Ill let you in to a couple of insights in to the dive community, there are a few 'traditions' or tests which take place when you reach milestones in your diving career. The first is the 100th dive tradition which is... to do the dive naked. I have no idea who makes these up but as you know I take my diving seriously and felt I should comply to such traditions! So once the coast was clear on the dive i.e customers were out of sight, my buddy (Steve) and I whipped off our costumes! Ha Ha! It was rather liberating, even if the Leopard Shark was shocked and swam off!

The second tradition / test I have had to comply with is the 'Snorkel test' my final test as a Dive Master Trainee (Not in the PADI guidelines). This is where you drink a bucket of alcohol (in my case Samsung, Whisky and Coke) through a snorkel, whilst wearing a blacked out dive mask, ALL.IN.ONE.GO...no stopping, dribbling or spitting of alcohol allowed! I think most would find this difficult with a soft drink let alone a bucket of alcohol!

In the build up to the 'Snorkel Test' Jo & The Hidden Depths crew also added in some games such as rude fish charades, dive site briefing bingo, piggy back races and so forth and if I got any of the answers wrong I had to down a shot! By the time I had the Snorkel test I was already quite drunk! Still I am proud to say I did it and didn't spill a drop!!! Which is a big deal in the I've community, still I felt not too special later that evening and for the next day or two...arggghhhhh!

So the Snorkel test was the last task on my course and I am now very proud to say that I am a Dive Master! It really has been challenging, exhilarating, fun and empowering course and I am now ready to start working as a diver. It does feel strange cutting the apron strings from Hidden Depths and I am really sad to leave them and the island but at the moment I am planning to go back and do my Instructor course at the end of the year so its most likely not goodbye but 'see you later'.

Im getting ready for the final leg of the trip with a friend Michelle, knowing its the final part makes me feel sad but I know its not the end, the plan is to come back out and do my instructor course but who knows where life will take me and what will happen next...I have Bali to visit first!

Hope your all well and missing you xxx