August - Phuket Boat Trip

Sorry about the delay in posting. There was a slight delay due to a minor back injury. Details to follow in a later blog.

Phuket Thailand was our holiday destination straight after Singapore. We stayed at Kamala Bay, about a 15 minute drive out of the main strip. Peter and Chris (Nic's parents) joined us once again which was great. Phuket, as expected, was much more relaxing than our busy time in Singapore. A lot of time was spent relaxing in the pool and doing short 'day' trips. I haven't worried about 'dating' the Phuket posts, it is all blurred into one great time......

One day we joined a boat tour which included a visit to the 'exclusive' Maya Island just off the coast. It nearly took as long to find a parking spot as we got to walk on the beach. Note to self: Don't visit Phuket in the peak season if this is what it is like in the off season.

Signs similar to this one are up all over Phuket resulting from the tsunami experienced a few years ago. A reminder of how paradise in quickly lost.

Shot from Maya Beach looking out to sea. Without all the power boats it is quite scenic.

So this is what sand feels like. We don't have sand on Pohnpei, its all mangrove swamps so the kids love playing on a beach and getting sand everywhere.

Viking Cave. I can't remember the story behind this, but I do remember it stank of bird/bat poo.

A quick stop for some fish feeding and a snorkel. It definately isn't the Pacific but they definately were very colourful

Next stop Monkey Island. I'm not exactly sure about this place. Wild animals being hand feed watermelon and bananas. People everywhere. Kids everywhere. This place has tourist disaster written all over it.

Oh Yeah, I'm just looking for some little kid's leg to climb up.

Oh well, If you can't beat em, join em. Jaxon was smart enough to be wary. Such a strong boy, hiding behind Daddy.

Did I already mention lots of people feeding wild animals. Do they have rabies in Thailand?

Air Shikira. Our SHIM acting as the guide. Not exactly sure if this is a pre or post op. Either way the novelty soon wore off. Fake high pitch squeels and fake female gestures soon had me wanting to throw it over the side.

The lunch stop was on Pi Pi Island. Another beautiful place, and lunch was definately good. We got about an hour here so of course the girls went shopping as soon as we finished eating.

Our last stop. I can't remember the name of this island but it was a great way to end the day. Tremendously crowded, nearly to a comedic level. Not a bad bar though. This view is looking out from the beach towards a rock that the bars has just 'grown' out of out. Pretty cool.

Did I say it was crowded already. The umbrellas get moved in or out with the tide so there isn't a whole lot of sand to sit in on this place. And guess what, the umbrellas aren't free and you can't leave your stuff on the boat. Yep these Thais have got the tourist trade worked out.

Nic drinking a cocktail out of a coconut. Doing it tough.

Jaxon and Indi drink loads of coconuts on Pohnpei so as soon as they saw Mummy with one, they had to have one as well. Definately better than being addicted to softdrinks I guess.

Sand, glorious sand. Jaxon and his creation. Loving the beach.

Maya Island Tours in Phuket; what can I say. Over priced and very over crowded. We got it for just under half of the advertised rate, the beauty of being there in the off season but I definately won't be rushing to do it again. A good day but not great.