Thailand

For the benefit of those of you not on Kelly's email list or face book I have copied her description of our Thailand holiday as she as covered it all here, saves me the typing and she is the communication professional anyway. Also attached a few pictures.

Hi everyone

I had such a great holiday in Thailand catching up with mum and dad and the rest fo the gang. As always it went too quickly...

I arrived the day before M&D and had a quiet night with Steve and Jeanette who showed me the ropes around Phuket. The Thai people are so loveable - very friendly and smiling and some can do very convincing Aussie accents!

Our resort was mega - perfect location overlooking Patong Bay in Phuket. All rooms had ocean views from the balcony and it was heaven to sit around the pool and soak up the sunshine. Despite being the wet season, we didn't have one drop of rain in Phuket - so lucky!

Mum and Dad (and co) arrived early on Tuesday. I was so excited to see them and raced up to reception for a teary embrace. It was mum's birthday too so we all caught up and celebrated round the pool all day. The whole gang went out for dinner and I managed to score a birthday cake for mum. It was a really nice night.

Wednesday was the big one - Christine's 50th! We met the boys at the beach and hired jet skis! It was so much fun, although I was a bit of a scaredy cat! They can really fly over the waves - I was airborne a couple of times but freaked out when I saw my petrol on empty. The scariest part was when I turned around to head back in and I couldn't find anyone on the beach!

To celebrate Chris's 50th we had a massive seafood banquet at the hotel - it was delicious and there was so much food. There were probably about 30 of us in total and it was such a great party vibe. Chris looked fabolous at 50 in a new dress that Dennis had made for her from Thai silk. We ate and drank the night away and ended up dancing to the hotel band overlooking the ocean - what a night!

We all felt a little rough on Thursday and it didn't help that we had an early start to go kayaking around Hong island. But the sea breeze certainly woke us up! We caught a boat about an hour away from Phuket and then kayaked into some caves to a lagoon in the middle of the island - it was spectacular!

At high tide it was pretty scary cause we had to lay down in our kayaks to make it under the caves. Mum nearly died cause the tip of your nose almost touched the ceiling and they had to let air out of the kayaks to make it through! Once we were in the lagoon though - it was great. We saw bats in the caves and monkeys swimming in the lagoon!

We finished the day kayaking past the area where some of the James Bond films were made and stopped off at a beautiful beach for a swim. It's such a picturesque part of the world.

On Friday, I took M&D to a thai cooking class for their birthdays. It was a full day of yum! We each chose 4 dishes to cook so ended up eating all day. I made a coconut milk soup, thai green curry, veges and cashews and fish parcels. Mum made satay chicken, penang curry, phad thai and fish cakes; and dad made hot and sour prawn soup, beef in oyster sauce, fried rice and a mango dessert with sticky rice. It was all so delicious and surprisingly easy to make. We learned all about the different types of herbs and spices used in traditional thai cooking, plus the local ingredients we can use in both Australia and the UK. They also took us to the colouful market with fruits, vege, meats and all kinds of exotic delicacies. We saw whole skinned frogs, dead cockroaches and an entire live seafood section. What an eye-opener!

Friday night was a big one. We started at the Aussie bar in the main party strip of Phuket. I followed Mart's advice and drank the local Thai whiskey - sangsom - and red bull - rugged stuff! We then all headed on to a ping pong show!

The ping pong wasn't that impressive but one girl also put a dart up there and fired it out to pop some balloons! Somehow I ended up with the best seat in the house - practically on stage! I even rubbed body lotion all over one of the girls' fake boobs! Scott enjoyed himself and Mitch danced on stage wearing a borat bikini - you should have seen the look on his girlfirend's face! We left M&D as the last ones at the show and the boys and I headed to Rock City to dance the night away. It was a big one and I stupidly ended up loosing my mobile phone along the way!

On Sunday we all caught a speed boat out to Phi Phi national park islands in Krabi. This is where films like Jurassic Park, Pirates ot the Carribbean and The Beach were filmed. I went snorklling at a coral island in the middle of the ocean - scary stuff! Too many fish for me!

Maya Bay (where The Beach was filmed) was a bit dissappointing. It's obviously been destroyed by tourism and both the beach and the water were covered in rubbish, cigarette butts etc really sad to see. Later in the day we went to the large Phi Phi island which was hit by the tsunami on both sides. About 3000 people died there - really sad. On the more positive side though, the tsunami really cleared some of the beaches and has made them so prsitine now. We went to Mosquito beach and Bamboo beach which were just like paradise in the middle of the clearest tourquose seas I've ever seen. It really was a lovely day.

Our last day in Phuket was spent relaxing around the pool. Most of use indulged in a massage and enjoyed bartering at the markets - it's so cheap! We celebrated our last night with drinks out on the jetty attached to our resort. We watched the sunset and toasted a great holiday.

It was hard to leave Phuket to head to Bangkok for my last night. Bangkok is so different to the islands - such a huge grotty city in comparison. We stayed at a trendy design hotel right in the heart of the shopping district. Got a few last minute bargains and had dinner at our hotel. We had planned on heading out but the rain poured down in Bangkok - quite spectacular to see! So we stayed in and listened to the band instead - they were really good.

There were lots of tears as I headed to the airport on Wednesday, but it's only 4 months til I see everyone again at Christmas - can't wait!