The next few days were fairly calm and unremarkable. Joe went off to successfully collect his phone, we were all going to go but the ferry was full so he went alone. Ellie and Tom went off on various little jaunts, we all spent time in the sea, by the pool and in various beachside restaurants and I looked after Rob and leant an ever sympathetic ear to his continuous lamentations.

On Wednesday we heard that a storm was on its way, we only had a few days left so, determined to try and fit all of the things we wanted to do in before the storm hit, we went down to try to book a boat trip for Thursday to Angthong Marine Reserve. Our plans were immediately thwarted when we heard that the islands were closed for at least three days as the storm was building. It was now predicted that it would hit us Thursday afternoon so on Thursday morning we left fairly early to visit Na Mueang waterfall. This was the one we were supposed to visit New Years Eve before Rob sustained his injuries and spoiled our plans.😩

Rob and I drove in the car while the others came on their mopeds. Joe started off by following us but soon got bored of our pace so overtook, he then missed the turning resulting in the rest of us waiting until he realised he had gone too far and turned back.

Our first impressions were unfavourable as it was much more commercialised than the previous waterfall we had visited. There were many stalls selling clothing and souvenirs and numerous attractions such as elephant treks, monkey, tiger and cobra shows, and ATV trips. Elephants are definitely one of my favourite animals along with pigs and dolphins as they all look like they’re perpetually smiling. These elephants were definitely not smiling, their front legs were chained together so they could only take small steps, they had carriers for people strapped to their backs and had tiny enclosures where they waited for their next fare. After seeing so many elephants in the wild in Africa, how happy they looked and how far they would travel throughout their day, to see their Asian cousins in this setting was extremely upsetting. Until the demand for elephant rides stops then these beautiful creatures will probably continue to be kept in these unnatural conditions. We didn’t go near the monkey or cobra shows but can only imagine that in terms of welfare and contentment they fared no better. I really can’t believe so many tourists continue to support this situation.

Back to the waterfall, Na Mueang 1 was a short walk from where we had parked, it was lovely but there were lots of people and it wasn’t as picturesque as we’d hoped. After driving slightly further up the road to visit Na Mueang 2 we were again faced with further commercialism and animal welfare concerns. Ignoring this we started up the steep climb to the waterfall. There were truck rides up but we all decided after a few inactive days we needed the exercise.

After about five minutes of steep inclines I did look longingly at the passing trucks, my calf muscles were starting to feel the burn but I trudged on to keep up with the others. After about ten minutes we reached where the trucks stopped. This was again a lovely part of the waterfall but was also very busy so seeing the path continuing we decided to follow it………The path went onwards and upwards, the good news was there were no crowds or commercialism here. The bad news was that it was reminiscent of all of our hardest walks so far rolled into one. It was steep, slippy, there were tree roots and loose rocks and in places it was fairly unclear which way the path went. It also went on and on and on……Every time we reached another little plateau with various levels of waterfalls we thought it was the top. We would stop have a swim(or not in Rob’s case)before finding another barely discernible path and continuing onwards and upwards.Eventually, after so many false alarms, only meeting one crazy man in flip flops for about the last thirty minutes of the climb and after any signs of commercialism being very distant memories, we reached the top. It was everything we hoped for, stunning scenery, nobody else there and a beautiful place to swim, so we did.😊It is so difficult to swim against the current of a waterfall and after doing so for a couple of attempts I was exhausted.Joe obviously still had energy to find the biggest rock to jump offand on the way down find the most crazy place to perform a handstandbut he’s barely my responsibility anymore and I hardly ever worry about him so it was fine.🤔

The way down, as usual, was just as tricky as the way up but in a different way. Although I no longer had to stop to catch my breath or grab a drink I did have to pause to assess the route and judge my best methods of descent given my dodgy knees and advancing age.

I was so glad to reach the concrete path which, although extremely steep, did not require the same level of intense concentration that the root ridden, slippery, rocky, previous path had. Unfortunately, as is my way, just as I’d relaxed my guard and thought the worst was over I stood on a loose pebble, lost my footing and slid gracefully (in my own mind) to the gravelly ground beneath.

Obviously I got lots of sympathy! Rob wanted to know why I bled so quickly, he’d taken ages to bleed, Tom looked a little concerned but said little, once Ellie had checked on the seriousness of the situation she could no longer contain her mirth which Joe was quick to point out and Joe blamed my weakness, apparently if I had stronger leg muscles I’d have managed to avoid the fall. He also (not for the first time) wished Paris was there as he was sure she would have used the expression, ‘You ate s**t!’ This made us all laugh and as I am fairly used to my family’s unique brand of support we continued happily to lunch.

On her moped travels the previous day Ellie, ever on the lookout for cute places with twinkly lights, had spotted a place nearby called Vitamin Sea so we headed there.It was right on the beach and we were able to watch the waves building and the wind increasing as we chatted to the French proprietor and his Thai wife who both had very good English and produced excellent food. The main was lovely but the highlight was a chocolate mousse, the last one available, which I had to have. Equally as good, better the others said, was a Granny Smith sorbet which Ellie chose. The balance of sweet and tangy was definitely a treat for the taste buds but I’d still choose anything chocolate anytime. Tom decided this was his favourite meal so far and I would definitely recommend it if your on the south coast of Koh Samui.

Rob and I set off to get enough food to last us through the storm whilst the others went, in trepidation, to return their mopeds. The reason for their, actually just Joe’s, concern was the marks on the moped sustained in its two crashes, I’m not allowed to mention the first one but in Rob’s one he wasn’t the only casualty. The moped had also sustained serious injuries and unfortunately they were not as cheaply repaired as Rob’s. Apparently the motorbike man started by asking for 6000 baht (£150) for the damage but, pleading poverty and a total lack of knowledge of how the damage had happened, Joe with Tom, whose passport was being held to ransom, managed to agree half that initial sum. Rob, once told, agreed to pay it all finding this much less painful than his weeping wounds and injured pride.

We spent the rest of the evening in snacking, watching tv and being overly competitive at cards. Pretty much like a Christmas evening at home really.😊

Christmas is over, my birthday is over, what is next to look forward to? Definitely NOT New Year’s Eve.

It has never been my favourite night and in more recent years we have tended to be away skiing to avoid the perceived pressure of forced enjoyment. New Year’s Day is also the best time to go out to ski early, the lifts and slopes are always quieter as people catch up on sleep or nurse their hangovers. Anyway, as usual I digress, we are away, but I was dreading it as I knew Joe, Ellie and Tom were heading to Ko Phanang for an all night party and I knew I wouldn’t sleep until they were safely home. 😩

The feeling of dread started as soon as I woke up but determined to still enjoy the day I jumped out of bed with a plan. Today we were going to Na Mueang waterfall. Joe, Tom and Ellie had been extolling the virtues of moped riding for days. They waxed lyrical about the freedom it gave and how a journey on the moped didn’t feel like a journey at all. Rob had also been desperate to have a go so my plan was to bite the bullet and, with Rob as driver, hire a moped. It definitely also had something to do with me having turned 49 the day before but I decided not to over analyse that and instead to just go with the flow.

Once everyone was up I explained my change of heart. Despite my incompetency in Marrakesh and to give Rob a chance to have some fun I would, as Rob’s passenger, try riding a moped again. The young ones were very enthusiastic and impressed with my decision and although Rob looked a little nervous he was definitely up for it and set off with Joe, to practice before hiring our own.

Now, I don’t want to lay any blame at Joe’s door, it wasn’t his fault that on the previous day, my birthday, he’d told me that my shallow dive was like a belly flop and I needed to go deeper and push off more to improve the aesthetics, or that the result was me grazing my nose on the bottom of the pool.And it definitely wasn’t his fault that within five minutes of setting out with Rob they were both back with Rob’s limbs and digits looking a little worse for wear.He just always seems to be at the centre of near disaster.😩

I had tried to explain to Rob before he left that mopeds didn’t turn in quite the same way as a road bike. Apparently he’d been doing fine on the straight, it was only when he came to a turn and accelerated towards a wall that he decided it was better to bail out than to accompany the moped into the wall. A good decision I thought!

The above photos don’t actually show the full extent of Rob’s injuries. His knee particularly, had a few deep cuts and swelled noticeably and his toe oozed liquid when ever he stood up – but my children and Tom will verify, over the next few days he barely mentioned it.🤣

After Ellie had shown her nursing proficiency in cleaning out the gravel and reassuring her patient, Joe had broken into laughter whenever Rob described the fall or another sore body part (his hip was also grazed and swollen) and Tom had sensibly stayed out of the way, I settled Rob on the sofa, fed him arnica and sent the three youngsters out to play (on their mopeds). Rob needed the peace and quiet to heal and abandoned the waterfall plan preferring to lie and watch Netflix. After checking regularly on the wounded soldier I retired to the pool to recover from the trauma.

The rest of the day was fairly quiet, I did encourage Rob out for a stroll and he had a lovely, much needed haircut before we visited Maenam temple and a lovely little bar called Khun Anna.We got home just in time to say goodbye to the revellers as they set out on their visit to the party island of Koh Phangan. I might have also given them a little lecture about staying safe and not drinking too much, I don’t know why because I’m not sure they took much notice but it made me feel better.🤣

After relaxing for a little while in order for Rob to do some more healing we went out to dinner. We thought about trying lots of new places and looked at many on the way but, for the second day running, we found ourselves at The Treehouse.

We again had a lovely mealand enjoyed their facilities whilst strolling along the beach.We were home and in bed by 11 and asleep soon after, but not for long.

I don’t know why it is but when Joe is in London and Ellie in Birmingham, although I am aware that they go out, I can still sleep. Unfortunately, as soon as they are sharing the same roof as I am, this is no longer possible until they are safe in their beds. Even though I knew they had planned to stay out all night once I woke up at 2am, to Rob’s groans as he turned over, I was awake and there was no going back to sleep.

Luckily I had lots of WhatsApp company as 2am here was obviously only 7pm at home so I managed to catch up with lots of family and friends and get the Happy New Years in early. Paris, at home in Canada, was a whole twelve hours behind. As she shares some of my anxieties over Joe’s wellbeing we also exchanged messages. By about 8.30am, after many anxious hours, my chickens were at last home to roost. I checked that they were all in one piece, messaged Paris to reassure her of this and was finally relaxed enough to think about sleep.

I must have very temporarily slept but was awoken suddenly by knocking and shouts. I rushed from my bed in order to locate the source of the furore to find that our cleaners had thought that 9am on New Years Day would be a good time to carry out their weekly service of our apartment. Through gestures and simple, whispered words I indicated that now wasn’t a good time and hurried them, with their fresh linen, mops and buckets quietly back out of the door. It was just after 9am, the sun was shining brightly and I knew for sure that I wasn’t getting any more sleep so might as well start my day.

It was a very quiet New Year’s morning. Rob joined me briefly by the pool before he realised it was too hot, he couldn’t cool off in the pool because of his extensive injuries and the air conditioned villa was far more conducive to effectively exhausting Netflix. At some point after midday Tom and Ellie emerged sharing stories and pictures of the previous nightBoth of them had enjoyed themselves and although Ellie had lost her purse and Tom some cash they agreed that they were glad they had gone.

When Joe eventually emerged around 1pm I realised how well he’d heeded my pre night out lecture. Although he had arrived home safely, through the course of the evening he had managed to lose his shoes, his phone and Tom and Ellie. He borrowed my phone to attempt to locate his own but we all held out little hope, apparently the beach had been extremely overcrowded and along with Tom’s money and Ellie’s purse it could be anywhere. Joe resigned himself to being temporary phone less and vowed to order a new one as soon as he got back home.

Once everyone was up, showered and had come to terms with their various losses we decided to head for Central Festival for an early dinner. This is probably the biggest shopping centre in Koh Samui and as well as having a large supermarket, various department stores, gift stores and many restaurants it also has an extremely large outdoor market with an abundance of street food stalls, these were the main attraction.

Just as we were all ready to leave Ellie received a short face book message, from a lad called Nick, asking her whether she was travelling with Joe as he had his phone. Although Ellie didn’t recognise his profile picture Joe did and vaguely remembered drinking with him before asking him to look after his phone while he went to the loo. Inside his phone case Joe had also left his monzo card which is how Nick had discovered his surname and traced him back to Ellie. Thank goodness for our unusual surname and lovely people, like Nick, who was willing to put himself out to return the phone. Delaying dinner slightly Joe exchanged hurried messages with Nick and arranged to collect his phone the next day. Although this involved a return trip to Ko Phangan it seemed a small price to pay for being reunited with his main means of communication.

Feeling relieved, we all set off in the car for Central Festival, or more accurately its neighbouring food market. We spent a happy couple of hours there exploring the market and sampling various local dishesbefore heading back for an early, New Year’s Day, night.

Happy 2019 to you all. Xxx

After Christmas Day this was the next day I was really looking forward to, partly to make Rob suffer like he had made me suffer on his birthday but also, since I have started planning my own birthdays, I always have a really good day.😊

The morning started very well with lots of presents and a trip to a lovely Catholic Church service in Bophut. The congregation was a very welcoming mixture of Thai people and Westerners and although most of the service was conducted in English there were some lovely Thai touches, for example the sign of peace was hands together as if praying and a bow. The songs were all lively Christmas ones and the highlight of these was the end one which was Feliz Navidad. Rob had never heard of it until we had to explain what it was when his brother sent him this. We then heard the song everywhere we went, it was a question in both quizzes that we took part in and was now being sung in our church service. It will definitely be our theme song for this Christmas.🎅🏼

When we arrived back to the villa we had Birthday cake🎂. Since I left home in October I am pretty sure this is the first piece of cake I have had as neither Africa or Asia are particularly au fait with gluten free cakes. Ellie had mostly made it but had left Tom and Joe in charge of its baking while we were in church. Despite it being slightly burnt on top and gooey in the middle it was delicious and much appreciated.After a play in the pool, to help burn off the cake, we went to my favourite place, as I think I’ve already mentioned, The Treehouse. We had a lovely late lunch before Joe and I went for the most amazing massage on the beach. It was extremely relaxing and the chilled feeling carried us along as we walked a beautiful stretch of the beach from The Treehouse to W. We were heading here for their happy hour cocktails and to enjoy the sunset.W is a very exclusive resort. If you want to go and use their facilities in the daytime you can for about 3,000THB (£75). For this you get a towel and use of their sun beds, swimming pool and seated areas. Rob and I found all of this out on our first evening on Koh Samui when we visited here, admired the facilities, location and sunset and were charged nearly 400THB (£10) for two cokes. We also discovered that if you come after 4pm you can use the sun beds and seating areas and enjoy their lovely location while drinking 2for1 cocktails during their happy hour. So on my birthday that’s just what we did.After walking back along the beach we hurried back to the villa to watch Charlotte’s web.A pretty good end to a perfect day!

Thank you for all of the birthday wishes and presents. Xxx

As I explained previously, time is continuing to fly by and life is definitely busier, more expensive, more stressful but mostly, even more fantastic with our offspring by our sides.

There are many reasons for the increased stress but one of the main ones, since Joe and Ellie’s arrival, has been their insistence that they need mopeds. Rob and I had hired a car big enough for all of us for the whole time in Koh Samui but this wasn’t to their satisfaction. We managed to put them off until Ellie and Rob picked Tom up from the airport on the 27th but as soon as he’d arrived and settled in, the three of them set off to procure their chariots.

I knew that all of them had ridden mopeds before in various countries. I’d even had a go myself with Joe and Ellie in Marrakesh but soon gave up when I realised I was woefully bad at controlling one. Despite their experience and proficiency we still felt worried every time they set off and evidence showing that 60 tourists a month are killed in motorbike accidents on Koh Samui did little to allay our fears. It did give them a little more freedom and so each time they set off we just encouraged them to wear their helmets and drive safely and I prayed copiously for their safe return.

The next few days was a mixture of culture, food and relaxation. We visited the big Buddha and a lady with many armsas well as many other Buddhas and templesWe enjoyed lots of time by the sea and the pool and spent our evenings trying out another quiz, not quite as successfully this time, at one of the worst bars in The Fisherman’s village,and went to watch some Thai boxing in Lamai, not really my thing especially when the first fight was just children but it was well organised and officiated and is a massive part of the Thai culture.

More entertaining by far than the competitors were their mothers. We arrived about one minute before the start of the first match but managed, purely by chance as it was totally packed, to get front row seats right next to the fighters’ trainers and families. One mother in particular mirrored every movement her son in the ring made, adding excited sound effects and amazing facial expressions. It was difficult to concentrate on the fight when she was providing such compulsive alternative entertainment. Her jubilation when her son was pronounced victor was contagious and you couldn’t help be affected by her unbridled enthusiasm and support. It won’t be something I’ll rush back to but it was interesting to see how popular the sport is amongst all ages and both genders to tourists and locals alike.

These were a lovely few days and as we went to bed very late after the Thai boxing I was very thankful for the time we were having together as a family and quite excited as the following day was my birthday.😊🎉

The days after Christmas have flown by much too quickly and with Joe, Ellie and then Tom as added distractions it has been more difficult to keep up with writing about our adventures. The days have started to merge in to one another and I’ve got so far behind it’s hard to remember what happened when. I’ll try to remember and summarise the many highlights.😊

After a lazy start to the day Ellie and I left Joe and Rob relaxing by the pool and watching downloaded movies to go and explore Maenam. We needed to get more water and a couple of other necessities, Ellie also needed a float for the pool.🤣

We walked down the Main Street, on the way passing a beautiful sleeping pig We bought most of what we needed but couldn’t find a suitable float for Ellie. After walking for over an hour we gave up and decided to walk back along the coast.This route was definitely more scenic and more successful as we met a man selling just the right floats🤔and after bartering for a little while got a bargain price.

Carrying our float and shopping we continued along the shore until we reached a river flowing into the sea. Rob and I had crossed here on our first evening so I reassured Ellie that it was only knee deep and she confidently strode ahead. Unfortunately I had forgotten that Rob and I had crossed in the evening at low tide, Ellie and I were crossing at lunchtime in what quickly became obvious to be high tide. As Ellie tucked her dress into her bikini I followed suit and we both placed our shopping bags on our heads. By the time Ellie was halfway the water had reached her waist, feeling that we had probably conquered the worst we decided to push on. We had also attracted quite an audience by now plus it was a long walk back so we really had very little choice.

A very helpful Thai man obviously felt he could help us and started to shout incomprehensible instructions whilst gesticulating wildly as to which way we should go. A three meter river crossing turned into at least a one hundred meter walk as we ventured further out to sea and as the waves reached our shoulders we resigned ourselves to a long, wet walk home. After much giggling and our little Thai man coming out to meet us to try to save our shopping we eventually reached shore. We expected some congratulations, at least a round of applause but were disappointed when our small audience dispersed quickly and we were left to wring out our clothing and continue, dripping, on our way. I’d managed to keep my shoulder bag containing my phone, purse and passports dry but apart from that we were pretty much saturated and were very happy, half an hour later to reach home and dry clothes.

After lunch and a relaying of our story to Rob and Joe, Ellie and I decided we needed some pampering so again set off for the Main Street where we both enjoyed pedicures and I had a manicure. The two ladies who gave the treatments were lovely providing bottles of water and bananas for refreshment and encouraging us to sit back and relax. The finish wasn’t the best, they didn’t really understand the whole French manicure concept, but for 500 baht (£12.50) and considering how lovely they were we didn’t feel inclined to complain and left quite happy. The toe nails weren’t too bad, maybe because they were further away but my fingernails were painted white from about halfway with the wiggliest line I have ever seen. Every time Ellie and I caught sight of them we again dissolved into laughter so for entertainment value they were worth every penny.

Our afternoon was completed with a massage on the beach, there is nothing as good as lying, totally relaxed, apart from when they pummel you or bend you into unnatural positions, listening to the waves, definitely the most relaxing part of the day. For dinner we decided to try out Bao Bao Cafe and Eatery. I had no idea what these were and for those of you similarly ignorant they are strange, little, Chinese, streamed burger like buns with numerous fillings. They’re not very good for coeliacs but I enjoyed the fillings with sweet potato fries while the others all enjoyed the complete Bao Bao experience.

Another lovely day and worth the walk when I saw Ellie enjoying her flamingo float.Obviously she wasn’t the only one, at least I think that’s Rob’s happy face?🤣Before I go, just a quick mention of a very important event that happened on the 27th. My friend Charlotte married her very lovely partner Jamie. I met Charlotte when I first started teaching at Kingfisher, she is an amazing teacher and in the last three years we have supported each other through various personal and professional crises. She has very quickly become a very important friend and I would love to have been there on her important day. We wish her and Jamie love and happiness together forever.

The big day arrived and although it started with the usual present giving it then proceeded very differently to previous Christmas days.

After a cereal and fruit breakfast we all spent a couple of hours by the pooland in it.Before heading for our Thai Christmas Lunch at the Beach Bar at Chaweng Noi to enjoy our Christmas Day Lunchand spend some time on the beach.

The weather wasn’t quite as sunny as we’d hoped for, we even had a few drops of rain but it was still very warm. After we’d let our lunch go down and Joe and I had annihilated Ellie and Rob at Volleyball, Joe and Ellie had marginally beaten Rob and I (largely due to my badly injured, probably broken, ring finger on my right hand) we were very relieved to cool off in the refreshing sea. Once we’d had a little while to relax and dry off we headed back to the villa for chocolate😊, showers and to get ready for the rest of the evening.

At about 8.30 we headed into The fisherman’s village for dinner and a fire show on the beach.It was a relaxed and lovely meal and although the fire show was good we were slightly disappointed with how quickly it was over. Feeling a need for further excitement, we wandered to the far end of the village to Coco Tam’s. I’d never heard of this bar but Ellie assured us it was one she had heard of and despite the slightly inflated price of drinks it had lots to entertain us. There were various, lovely seating arrangements, a continuous, spectacular fire show and most excitingly, a pool table!

We quickly realised that Ellie’s forte was not pool – she barely knew which end of the cue to hold so to save her from her brother’s wrath we allowed her to retire to the hammock early.Rob was nursing a summer cold so he also retired to just watch as Joe and I battled for pool table supremacy. As it was Christmas and we always let our children win games at Christmas, I allowed him to beat me🤣but did take it to an exciting black ball finish. I then joined Ellie on the hammockbefore she went to join Joe for another Chang and Rob and I had a half an hour to relax and practice (we need lots more practice) our selfiesand enjoy the view.It was a really lovely day and although I wouldn’t change any of it, as pictures from home flooded into my phone (at my request – a bit like torture) of all of our friends and family, especially nieces and nephews, great and otherwise, I did get a slight pang and made a decision to be at home, in the bosom of said family and friends, next year.

Hope you all had a lovely Christmas and have a happy and healthy 2019. Xx

At last the time arrived to go and collect Joe and Ellie. I had hardly been able to contain my excitement throughout the day whereas Rob had remained fairly controlled and impassive. On the way to the airport however it became very clear that his emotions were running high. As we met unexpected traffic and took a wrong turn he became extremely irate not admitting, until we’d arrived safely, in plenty of time, how worried he was about not being there for them. His pretend indifference fools nobody and as he waited and paced alternately checking the arrivals board and his phone I found I was surprisingly the more relaxed.

Both of us were equally delighted when they came into sight. It was great to be reunited after our longest break ever and in no time at all it felt like we’d never been apart.As usual their first need was food and they soon found their way around the villa’s kitchen. It was so lovely to have them tucked up in their beds that night even Ellie’s collapsing bed didn’t mar our joy and Rob and I slept soundly for the first time for a little while.

Sunday 23rd

We decided to go to Lamai Beach which Rob and I had explored a little the previous day. The weather which had been bright sunshine early in the morning became slightly overcast so when we saw a sign for a waterfall we were easily and fortuitously distracted from our destination.

After a treacherous drive along an unsuitable road (Rob is used to it now) we decided to abandon our slightly battered vehicle and set off on a trek. At first, along the car track, this was simple and even when we left this and reached the walking path this was no worse than previous treks. The only downfall was that we had dressed for a day at the beach and our flip flops weren’t really suitable footwear for the uneven terrain. Despite the sun having disappeared behind clouds it was also extremely hot and we were very much looking forward to the cool of the water.

On arrival to this totally unspoilt or commercialised natural wonder we were delighted to find ourselves totally alone. Joe and Ellie, after a quick explore, wasted little time before sampling the waters. I didn’t take too much persuasion whereas Rob became the responsible adult and after his own explorations decided to guard our possessions from the hundreds of other tourists? It was lovely to have two new playmates but did feel a little like Rob was handing over responsibility.🤣

Once we’d exhausted all risk potentials and ourselves we set off on the trek back to a bar we had passed on our descent. Although the walk back up was probably easier from a slippy, slidey, in flip flops, perspective it was definitely harder on our temperatures and by the time we reached the top the coolness of the waterfall was a distant memory. The walk up had also done nothing to dry off our swimwear the only difference was we were now unsure if the drips were water or perspiration. 🤨

The bar we reached was set amidst the jungle like landscape almost totally at one with its surroundings. We enjoyed a beautifully cold drink and a play on the swing before returning to the car and our original planned route.

We had a lovely lunch and afternoon at Lamai before a walk around Maenam – our nearest town and beach before an early night.

Christmas Eve

After a morning of Christmas shopping in the Fisherman’s village and the local supermarket we made lunch together

before spending a lazy afternoon by the pool and meeting some more of our neighbours from the other villasExcitement was rising as we headed to The Treehouse for Christmas Eve celebrations. Rob and I had discovered this lovely little place on our first full day. We had considered it for our Christmas Day celebrations but when the German hosts had explained that their traditional celebration is Christmas Eve we decided to join them for this instead. It was an excellent decision and if you are ever in Koh Samui, at any time of year, I highly recommend The Treehouse.

When we arrived to twinkly lights and Christmas music we realised there were three main events. Firstly a Christmas quiz, secondly the opportunity to singand thirdly a visit from Santa.

We ordered food, Rob filled in the majority of the Christmas quiz before handing it over to the rest of us to complete and we played a round of nomination whist to see who should be the first to take to the stage to earn a free Mojito.

The very tasty food arrived and we put our game on hold whilst we tucked in to our, not so festive fare before resuming play. Obviously I am not one to boast but I can usually hold my own in cards and although I don’t always win I can never actually remember coming last – that position is usually reserved for Rob. Tonight however was my night. Maybe Rob’s aversion to public attention helped him in his game or maybe my free Cocktail on arrival followed by a happy hour Mojito had dulled my usual card shark skills. For whatever reason I lost the game and had to accept my agreed forfeit. My public shame was delayed by the arrival of Santa. After he’d visited the many children and delivered presents to all he was happy to pose for a quick photo on his busiest of nights.There was a further delay while the quiz results were relayed. We couldn’t believe we’d won and didn’t let the fact that most of the contestants were performing in their second language dull our feeling of achievement. Riding high on our success I immediately took to the stage and Ellie, to protect me from myself, decided to join me in an attempt to rescue the total murder of, ‘Santa Claus is Coming to Town’. I’d love to show you a clip of our dazzling performance here but Rob and Joe find it hard to video when they have their heads in their hands whilst simultaneously covering their ears. I thought we were great, what I lack in singing ability I make up for with enthusiasm and Ellie can hold a great tune so when I allowed her to sing the occasional line the assault on the audiences ear drums was relieved momentarily.

The applause was rapturous, helped by the flowing alcohol and the general Christmas spirit and we started a fleeting trend as two more acts followed us to the stage for their moments of glory. The celebration continued with a Russian version of the Congo which I readily joined in ahead of my German host. Despite his shouted encouragement that we would continue our meandering line until everyone joined in, many, including the rest of my family, though clapping and chanting enthusiastically, stayed firmly routed to their chairs. On our fourth or fifth circle of the bar and beach tables, when we were starting to get a little tired and dizzy, he finally admitted defeat and we were released from our chain to return from whence we came. After a stroll and relax on the beach we decided to call it a night.

It was a really lovely family evening enhanced by the diversity of age and nationality. We returned to our villa in full Christmas spirit which was further magnified by a video call from Amelie and Iris. Our beautiful great nieces could not contain their excitement as they were following Santa’s progress on some clever app on an iPad. They desperately urged Joe and Ellie to bed as Santa was, according to the app, in Thailand. To be honest, it was late our time, Joe and Ellie didn’t take much urging and Rob and I, after performing our duties were quick to follow.Although the rest of us were quick to settle Rob had discovered Amelie and Iris’ app and followed Santa’s progress long into the night.🤣

So, so typical that the very shortest flight, out of the many flights we’ve recently been on, should be the only one where we have half decent seats. We were in row one which meant slightly more leg room and nobody in front of us to lean their seats back in to our laps, bliss! As the flight was less than an hour long we didn’t really have enough time to revel in our relative comfort before we were landing and being ushered from our seats into the cutest little airport I’d ever been to.The transfer driver was already waiting there for us and with a complete lack of customs or security we were soon on our way to our home for the next 16 days.

Before leaving England this was one of the only places that we had booked as we had wanted it to be somewhere special to spend Christmas with our children. We had therefore, despite having heard how cheaply you could stay in Thailand, paid more for this than any previous place of stay. We were consequently so excited to arrive to get the villa ‘Christmas ready’ and our expectations were riding high. What a mistake!

You’ve heard about all of the beautiful hotels and apartments we’ve stayed in. With very little research we have managed to hone our selection skills down to a few crucial basics with largely excellent results. Unfortunately Maenam Hills Villas had been chosen before our skills had been honed – and it showed. It wasn’t that there was anything obviously awful about it and when reading back through our booking details we realised that all of the information was there in black and white but there was more than just our enjoyment resting on this. Joe and Ellie had both been working really hard anD looking forward to their break. It definitely wasn’t the ‘perfect’ we’d hoped for.😢

Firstly, after driving from the airport passed snatches of beautiful views of the ocean, our villa was nowhere near it. Instead we were 2km away, slightly off of the beaten track up a strange little road, towards the hills and the jungle. Secondly, our villa that sleeps six only has two bedrooms, we must have known this but made an assumption that as it said there was room for six there would be room for six. There wasn’t, there were just two double beds and at 28 and 22 Joe and Ellie have definitely outgrown sharing a room. I wrongly assumed that the sofa would therefore turn into a sofa bed but it didn’t. This seemed insurmountable, especially as after a few days Tom, Ellie’s boyfriend, was also joining us.

Next, the fully air conditioned villa had air conditioning units in both bedrooms but only ceiling fans downstairs. Even if the sofa had been a sofa bed the extreme heat downstairs would have made sleeping there nearly impossible. All that we had taken for granted in every other place of stay seemed a problem here and as we sat, shell shocked, listening to our host Olga (whose unpleasant body odour was also adding to the feeling of unsuitability) explain that we had to pay extra for electricity and they didn’t provide beach/pool towels and if we wanted an extra bed it would be an extra cost per night I just wanted to cry. Looking at my disappointment mirrored on Rob’s face just added to my emotional feeling and I really couldn’t see a way forward. What were we to do?

Once Olga and Arthur, our Russian hosts, had left us and we had opened the doors to freshen the air and had another look around to try and formulate solutions we really felt no better. My suggestion of abandoning the villa and finding somewhere else was not really feasible as Olga had immediately put paid to any idea of a refund and our dwindling funds couldn’t stretch to paying for something else on top of this. If we had just been thinking of ourselves we know we would have been fine but we had wanted the absolute best place for Christmas with Joe and Ellie and this didn’t appear to be it.

After going over various unsuitable ideas we decided to walk into town to see if we could find a car to hire. We hadn’t thought this would be a priority but having seen our location realised it would definitely be an advantage. We also wanted to try to clear our minds and make a plan. Our walk proved fruitless, apart from grabbing a few provisions and some fairy lights we walked home carless and possibly even more despondent. The news that Gatwick had closed due to drone activity when Joe and Ellie were due to leave from there late the following morning seemed like the final straw and we went to bed for a restless, worry filled night.

By the next morning everything seemed to be back in perspective and we realised we have been totally spoilt, the villa was lovely and with a little compromise we could make it work. By 11am we were in possession of a hire car (courtesy of Arthur) and had heard that Gatwick had, albeit temporarily, reopened for enough time to allow Joe and Ellie’s flight to take off as scheduled. Things were definitely looking up.

We pretty much spent the rest of the day visiting supermarkets to buy some staples for the onslaught of two extra healthy appetites and trying to find anything gluten free. By the time we’d hung some fairy lights and wrapped a few little stocking fillers that we’d collected on our travels we were feeling a little more Christmassy and ready for the next days arrival of our eagerly awaited guests.

After another slightly restless night the big day arrived, unfortunately we had to wait until 9pm to collect them so filled our day researching the best beaches and restaurants to spend our festive days. We found there were an abundance of absolutely stunning beaches wherever we went and the last of our concerns about being disappointed with our Christmas location began to disperse leaving only excitement.We also managed to warn Joe and Ellie of the shortcomings of our accommodation as they waited at Shanghai airport. They were much less distressed than we had been and quickly came up with a suitable compromise for room sharing arrangements. By the time the sun was setting on silent beach that eveningwe felt much more relaxed and ready for the imminent arrival.

We actually had three nights but that’s not half as catchy a title so let’s just go with the above.

We arrived late evening after another long day of travelling. This time we went from Dubai to Bangkok via Bahrain, not the most direct route but we got there eventually. Rob had attempted to arrange a transfer from the airport with our hotel. They had given us a quote of 1300 baht (about £31.50) and not knowing how far it was we accepted this blindly. When we had searched every possible arrivals venue for a card with our name upon it and waited at each for an accumulated time of about half an hour we gave up and joined the taxi queue. Within five minutes we were on our way.

It is always a little stressful when you arrive in a new country, need to catch a taxi, have no command of their language, they show very little ability in yours and yet you put your fate in their hands. I also have an innate fear, inherited I think from my slightly paranoid (yet otherwise pretty perfect) father, of being ripped off. I needn’t have worried at all. Even though, in our haste to arrive as quickly as possible, we’d agreed (after much confusion and gesticulation) to take the highway and pay the tolls our whole ride, including a 20% tip, only came to 400 baht (£10). We don’t know what our hotel had quoted us for but, in retrospect, were delighted that they were a no show.

On arrival we had a quick explore of our hotel, a short wander around the hotel’s immediate vicinity and a futile attempt at extracting any useful information from our reception desk before retiring to bed with no fixed plan for the morrow. Our only clear idea was to get up early in order to maximise our time in Thailand’s capital.

I am not generally the best at switching off and rarely, in real life, sleep through a whole night. Since our travels have begun however, with no worries of work and few concerns beyond where to go or what to do next, I have found this much improved and have enjoyed many undisturbed slumbers. This night, for whatever reason, was not one of the best. I woke about 3am to go to the loo and despite many efforts to the contrary remained awake reading and catching up on writing our blog until about 6am. Then, confident in Rob’s ability to set an alarm, I fell into a deep and dreamless sleep.

Never had confidence been so misplaced and as I awoke, nearly four hours later, to Rob still sleeping soundly beside me my first thought was to hold the pillow firmly over his head. Luckily my murderous thoughts were only momentary as a much more pressing realisation usurped them in my list of priorities – it was now 9.52 and breakfast finished at 10!!!

Having lasted purely on aeroplane food the previous day I was desperate for real sustenance and jumped out of bed like a shot from a cannon. Although tempted to punish Rob by abandoning him to starvation my instinct to get my money’s worth over rode this and I ‘gently’ woke him ‘inviting’ him to join me.

Four minutes later (not a bad feat from bed to breakfast table considering we were on the tenth floor) we were hurriedly navigating the dining room having been told that all the food would be removed promptly at ten. Under such pressure we gathered an interesting array of culinary delights and sat in contemplative silence, Rob barely awake and me aware that I’d already nursed thoughts of murder and revenge despite only having been conscious for approximately nine minutes.

Thankfully the day did improve as we experienced our first tuk tuk ride, (mildly terrifying but also a great way to see everything),

enjoyed a lovely boat trip on the Chao Phraya river,and saw more temples and buddhas than I’ve ever seen in my life before (or need to see again).They were absolutely beautiful but there were just so many that by the end of the day they all seemed to have merged in to one and it was hard to know our Golden Buddha from our WatPhra Kaew or our Wat Pho.It was a lovely day finished off with a lucky discovery of a small food market with live music called the light festival. With food stalls all around the outside, a stage at the front and tables dotted all through the middle it had a lovely atmosphere and an extremely good selection of appetising treats. The tuk tuk ride home was again a little scarey but by the time we got back to the hotel, despite our late start, we really felt like we had maximised our day.

The following day, having had enough of sightseeing (particularly temples) we instead set off for Siam Park City, a theme park/water park about 45 minutes from the city centre.

Although the place is a little tired and Rob and I are getting a little old we had a lovely day. We spent the morning in the theme park where the boomerang ride was one of the scariest rides I’d ever been on. It totally surprised us by reversing the whole way before sending us hurtling forward (the clue might be in the name🤣). We were shell shocked for a little while so thought we’d spend a more relaxing afternoon on the water park side.

The first slide we went on gave me my first (and last I hope) experience of colonic irrigation. Never have I had to move so fast, firstly to adjust my badly misplaced swimwear and then to climb out of the water and find the nearest loo. We have been on so many slides in so many different countries before but I have never before experienced this. It was the weirdest feeling and not one I wished to repeat so we avoided that for the remainder of the afternoon.

Probably the highlights of the park were how quiet it was and a couple of hours spent by the worlds largest wave poollistening to the world’s strangest Christmas music and enduring the world’s most painful (but strangely relaxing) Thai massage.In Rob’s words the whole park was fairly surreal but still very enjoyable and a nice change from the previous few days. The journey back was a little traumatic right from the haggling with the taxi drivers who wanted to charge us more than twice as much as our earlier driver, to the endless traffic (this explained the inflated fare and made us feel a little guilty for having agreed such a low price). Eventually, once we knew we were within a few kilometres of our hotel, we abandoned the taxi to its gridlock and wandered back, stopping off to dine and enjoy the Christmas lights on our way.We left Bangkok the next morning very, very excited about the next stage of our journey.Bangkok airport.

Sorry for the delay but a very Happy Birthday to Noel (Rob’s Dad) on Christmas Eve and a very Merry Christmas to everyone. Xxx

Time is again running away from us, I can’t believe how many days behind on our posts we are but, although I love writing this blog (Rob not so much), being a full time tourist is an extremely hectic occupation and so finding the time is hard.🤣

The reason you may now get a few posts in a row is twofold. Firstly, I want to record everything as soon as possible so I don’t forget too much and secondly I have more time because I’m not really sleeping. I often get times like this when I’m anxious, maybe about school or things I haven’t done but mostly about my children. Through no fault of their own (this time🤣) they are causing me sleepless nights because they are supposed to be arriving soon and some crazy person at Gatwick is causing havoc with a drone! I’ll come back to this later!

On with the chronological order of things and so to Dubai.

The Airbnb in Camps Bay, as I have already made clear, was wonderful but I do also really love a hotel and I have now decided that I particularly love a Dubain (is that a word) Hotel.

The journey was long. To save money we were not flying direct but first to Addis Ababa and then on to Dubai. Our flight left Cape Town at 2.30pm and we arrived to our hotel 6.30am the following morning. The journey was particularly enhanced by 150 River Plate Football fans from Argentina on their way to Dubai for a semi-final in some club competition. They were full of hope and anticipation which they demonstrated through numerous rousing chants and songs. Their total journey was 22 hours long and although they were lovely and we admired their enthusiasm and stamina

we could definitely have managed without it in the early hours of the morning.🤣Excuse the poor videoing but you’ll get the idea.

On arrival at the Grand Hyatt, after quickly checking in, we fell in to bed too tired to notice or care about our surroundings. It wasn’t until after midday that we awoke and set out to explore. The hotel was enormous and included everything that I could ever wish for (and much I wouldn’t think to wish for) in a hotel.It had plenty of Christmas decorations, a windmill, an indoor/outdoor river, complete with fish,indoor and outdoor swimming pools, events gardens, a cardboard camper van, lots of really ‘helpful to coeliac’ restaurants, a running track, tennis courts and possibly the best spa I have ever experienced. I had been totally prepared to be unimpressed by Dubai, stories I’d heard about it’s lack of history, it’s bigger and better attitude had made me prejudge. It only took me minutes of exploring our hotel to fall in love.

Unsurprisingly, we spent the rest of our day taking full advantage of the amazing facilities. Having missed breakfast we ate at The Market Cafe, swam and lay by the outdoor pool planning our next days itinerary, played tennis, used the running track, briefly ventured into the gym, had a quick dip in the indoor pool, used the jacuzzi, steam room, sauna, various weird showers including an ice one and then sauntered, in our complementary robes and slippers, up to our room for the most important and eagerly anticipated part of our day – face time to intrude on the complete immediate Sturla family Christmas.

As we sat on our bed, fresh from our various activities, waiting for the call to connect I expected to feel a little emotional with them all being together for an early Christmas celebration and us being so far away. Thankfully our de – stressing afternoon had left us both mellow, not even our rapid dismissal (as they were still eating) infiltrated our relaxed mood instead we waited contentedly until their meal was over and they called us back to share in the not so Secret Santa.🎅🏼

Our next day was our only opportunity to experience the Dubai outside our hotel so we got up early to make the most of our experience. After a buffet breakfast we caught a cab from the hotel to the Gold Souks. After wandering around those for a short while I became worried that Rob might assault the next person to offer him a cheap watch or me a handbag so rushed him to the 1UAE dirham ferry to the other side of the river and the Old Souks. These were slightly less manic and there was a slight shift in goods being offered but when a seller started to drape a (very nice) scarf around Rob to help him feel the quality I could see by Rob’s face it was time to escape. As we made for a riverside cafe I tried to reason with Rob that they were only trying to earn a living but he really struggles with pushy sales persons and especially ones that invade his personal space (he struggles if I invade his personal space), it took a coffee and a pastry to return him to his normal, only mildly grumpy self.

Once calm we did discuss our favourite seller. Many were approaching us from every angle and while Rob studiously ignored them and walked on with his head down, I tried to turn from side to side rapidly saying no thank you to each one. When one had offered me at least ten different items and I’d declined them all he enquired what I would like to buy. Ever polite I said, ‘nothing thank you.’ The next seller, grinning widely, quickly said, ‘Come into my shop I have nothing for you.’ Sorry that may have lost something in the retelling but it was very quick and funny at the time.🤔

After our sustenance break we made our way to the Dubai museum. Whoever said Dubai had no history should definitely pay a visit here. It cost 3UAE dirham to get in and was definitely the best 65p I’ve ever spent. I would happily have spent ten times that amount for the extremely interesting and informative experience. It is set in a beautiful, historic fort and all of the exhibits are presented in a way that capture your interest. Probably our favourite information concerned how historically they managed to air condition their summer bamboo homes. That’s all I can say here. Hopefully, now I’ve piqued your curiosity you’ll be determined to go to find out how it was done for yourself.Anyone who has been to Dubai (especially if they’ve been in excess of 40 times Steve and Trish) and hasn’t visited it is really missing a treat. We spent a great couple of hours there and found out so much we were unaware of. We also avoided any more pressure to buy unwanted goods which was definitely high on Rob’s list of priorities.

We arrived back at the hotel in time for a quick swim at the outdoor pool where Rob spotted Jason Leonard sat by the steps. We then went up to our room to get ready for our evening entertainment. Little did we know how early Rob’s entertainment would start.

As I sat in the bath reading my kindle while Rob shaved he asked me to pass him a flannel. I rested my kindle on the edge of the bath in order to honour his request and knocked my Kindle into the bath. DISASTER!!!!!!!!!

I have to say that after some of my family, friends and pets, my kindle is the most loved and cherished thing in my life. It helps me through sleepless nights, endless journeys, long waiting times and has been crucial in these travels to maintain my sanity and relationship when I need to escape. How would I manage without it? Can I just clarify that this wasn’t Rob’s entertainment. He knows how much I need my kindle and rushed to remove its cover, wrap it in towels and offer condolences as I sat, shellshocked, still in the bath. His entertainment came later.

Once I’d recovered a little I started to think about what could be done? We’d rescued it as quickly as possible, tipped out excess water and swaddled it in towels but the damage was done. The screen had frozen and although it responded to my administrations to turn it off it now sported a distinct line down the middle, grey on one side and a lighter grey on the other. It didn’t look good.

Remembering a successful trick that I had been taught for my iPhone I formulated a plan and placed a call to guest services requesting uncooked rice. After about ten minutes of explanation I was sure I’d been understood, unfortunately that wasn’t the case. I placed another call and was soon rewarded with a knock at the door. They had sent a young lad from the kitchen to try to decipher my strange request. This was where Rob’s fun began.

The language barrier was extremely apparent and as I showed him my kindle and tried to explain what had happened I increasingly had to resort to actions. At first Rob valiantly tried to help but as the young man followed me into the bathroom intermittently and inaccurately repeating various phrases Rob lost control and had to hasten back into the bedroom to bury his mirth in a thick pillow. I continued loudly to try to drown out the strangled noises that Rob was emitting and eventually, through a mixture of his determination and my desperation, I hoped we’d reached a level of understanding.

As our young helper left the room Rob gave full vent to his emotions and I couldn’t help but join in. He then placed a bet that I would not receive any dry rice that evening but he underestimated both myself and the subject of his mirth. Within five minutes there was another knock at the door and a new young man (we’d obviously traumatised the first one) handed over my rice with barely a quizzical look. For all of the good it did I could have saved myself and the Grand Hyatt’s staff a lot of time. It wasn’t in vain however because Rob insists, that for him, it was the funniest moment of our trip so far.

After burying my kindle in the uncooked rice and finding a warm spot (very hard in a highly air conditioned, no windows hotel room) for it to do it’s magic we proceeded with our evening plans and set out for the Dubai Mall. It was such a lovely evening.

We had dinner on a floating platform not too far from the famous fountains.We watched the Burj light up in time to the music and chatted happily – for a few hours I even forgot my kindle tragedy.🤣We then ascended the Burj and experienced nighttime Dubai from the highest heightand enjoyed the swings (not the most flattering of angles, someone needs to teach me to airbrush) before descending and meeting new friendson our way to a proper look at the fountains.

They are amazing! It was like watching a brilliant firework display crossed with some sort of synchronised swimming (nearly as good as the seals).

It was only 10.34 and I was very happy to (delay the inevitable kindle disappointment) stay for another half an hour and watch the next show (they’d been different each time) but knowing that we had an early flight we (Rob) decided to call it a day. You already know how the kindle story works out but apart from that major mishap we loved Dubai and could easily have stayed longer.