Thailand April 2008

I’m loving this free time now in Thailand. It’s a great chance to look after number one. I am exercising every day- even stretching, catching some sun action, also loving the Thai cuisine. Thai food is great it is so easy to eat healthy over here, at the moment I have not eaten meat at all for about a week, I am not a vegetarian but I’m just not missing it at all.

I have also got my chores around the house to do. There are fish and a tortoise to feed, pools to clean and lots and lots of wood to sand and teak oil.

I have got a few weeks now till my friend Petra arrives. She is staying for 3 weeks and I’m sure I’ll get a lot of touristy things done in that time- can’t wait!

Till next time xxx 

AUSTRALIA

G'day mate.

Land of Kangaroos, Vegimite, 'rad' surfing, Steve Irwin and fish 'n' chips- I bet Aus as got nearly as many chippys as the UK, I would actually like to find out the numbers and compare.

My parents were out in Aus cruising around in a campercan so I arranged for them to pick me up at Sydney airport.

Australian immigration is probably the strictest in the world. I timidly stepped in to the 'something to declare' queue with my 'Cadburys fruit and nut' bar. Apparently I needent have bothered as it was processed and packaged but the form did say no fruit or nuts so i was only being honest. Anyway, after my escape from the law, I then bought a bottle of  water with a $50 bill to get some change for the phonebox and I called my Parents to let them know that I had landed. The Campervan couldn't make it into arrivals because of an height restriction so I trecked down to departures and awaited them there. 

The airport official outside departures, incharge of watching people drop off holiday goers, was obviously hired straight from a physciatric institute. He sported an elluminous orange vest and continued to inform me that I couldn't be picked up from there, only dropped off. I asked what was the difference, told him my situation but eventually decided to ignore him and stay there anyway. He hung close to me, I guess waiting to pounce on me the second my lift arrived. Lukily my dad pulled up just as he was distracted by a double parked taxi, I saw that as my get away and dived into the kitchenet shouting "drive, drive, drive!".

I was planning on spending two weeks in Australia and had already spent the last week with the 'Lonely Planet' planning an eventful trip up to 'Fraiser Island'.

We headed up the coast, kind of beach hopping. We spent most of the time on the road stopping every other night at a campsite to refill water, do laundry etc. The other nights we just slept by the road troubled with my mums fear that we were going to get crashed into by another vheical whilst we slept. 

The beaches in Aus are beautiful, they continued the whole of the coast almost, 20 mile long beaches in areas. We would stop off at various 'must see' places like, spectacular beaches, national parks, nice towns and so on. A few places that I had down as 'must sees' were, 'Mcleans' which is a small town that is very proud of its Sottish heritage, all of the lamp post are decorated with a different clans tartan. You could also get 'Hagis' there. I just thought that it sounded like a quirky place. After going there I decided that I really liked it and think I may of found my future retirment place- Scotland with Sunshine- but then again Aussies are just like English with a worst accent, so I'm still searching for my place to live. 

Another stop along the way was a small place called 'Ainsworth'. We stayed on a campsite there right next to 'Lake Ainsworth'. The lake as got natural tea tree oil in it that drips off the trees around the lake. After a swim there our skin felt great. I also enjoyed a long run on the beach there- I did go running everyday but that one was my favourite.

We set off again heading north bound for Australia Zoo, made famous by Steve Irwin. It was a great zoo, the animals were just roaming around free, no cages- just barriers. It really hit me that this should be the only way zoos are. We were there for the daily show that was hosted by Terry Irwin, it was a good show of elephants, crocs, birds, snakes and humour. After the zoo we headed up to 'Noosa Heads' were I met up with a friend I used to work with, I stayed there for a few nights whilst my parents headed up to 'Fraiser Island' via 'Harvey Bay'.

The next day my friend had off work so we ventured out for the day. We first went to a waterfall and trekked through the forest until we thought we had best turn around and head back before we ended up getting lost and spending the night in the Aussie Outback. On the way back we sopped at a few places in the car, first being a huge market on the outskirts of a town that I can't quite remember the name of, there were stalls selling all kinds of new, funky, handmade little trinkets and clothes. Throughout the market were bands playing all sorts of music and instruments- off-course the 'Didgareedoo'.

After the market we stopped for lunch in a lovely little town- really old english kinda feel, then headed backed for the night. 

My parents picked me up the next day and we drove the  miles back to Sydney. I'm now heading back to Thailand via Singapore.

SINGAPORE MARCH '08

I am still on with the gym and the tan but I am venturing away from Thailand for a few weeks. First stop Singapore.

To Do List:

• get laptop fixed
• get Thai Visa
• shop a little
• board my flight to Australia

I booked into an hotel online before leaving Thailand. I thought I knew where the hotel was so decided to go there myself on the MRT (train), but it turned out I was mistaken. I ended up getting off the MRT at the wrong station and dragging my suit-case (with a broken wheel) around the busy streets of Singapore at 10pm- Luckily I was in the safest city in the world, at least it wasn't 'The Bronx'. I finally acknowledge defeat and jump in a taxi that got me there in two minutes. I crashed out for the night.

Singapore is one of the hottest cities in the world and I'm sure the most organized in Asia. Everybody walks in lines and crosses at the 'green man', J walking is illegal and i did get pulled by a police man once for doing it. People dress very formal and smart, in the heat this is quite a skill. The people are lovely- very friendly and the best thing about it is there are no 'Brits on tour'. Singapore does have a lot of British influence, they drive on the left, speak English for first language, it's like being in China town in London but a lot hotter.

I did a lot of walking in Singapore, I thought that by boycotting the MRT I would see more of the city and I was right. Not sure I had the correct foot wear though, my 'Slim Havianas' left quite the blisters by the end of the trip. I don't like to give Havianas bad press though, I take full responsibility for pushing their limits and they are still my favorite flip flop.

I dropped my laptop off and purchased 2 years further warranty on it. I also met a 'delightful' lady at the Thai Embassy who told me I couldn't have a Thai Visa because I were to young- Oh would this be the same Visa I got 2 years ago when, evidently, I were younger. This was all from the lady giving out applications and she sent me packing- no Visa.

I joined the gym there, did a little shopping- rude not to shop in Singapore and watched a few films at the cinema to pass the time. Four days later I picked up my newly working 'mac' and headed for the airport, this time bound for Sydney.

THAILAND MARCH '08

Arrival in Thailand, what to do now...

My Parents have a great place out here- not a bad half way house. 

I have got some stuff to sort out, my laptop crashed, I had  it all backed up but not organized, so i'll be spending many a hours sorting out all of my photos, music etc and backing it up properly this time. It won't be all desk work though. I shall be hitting the gym hard, I love training, I love the feeling of being fit and having a good body to show for it, thats one thing that makes me happy so away I go. Also a tan might help a little too- I seem to have acquired a great farmers tan after two years of shorts and T-shirt for uniform, so putting a stop to that is high priority, I'm thinking SPF30, on arms and legs, and SPF6 everywhere else.

I'll let you know if I decide to do something more eventful than this. 

MARCH '08

Long time no see...

The last two years of my Blog, pretty much all of it, has been a diary of my life whilst working onboard a Super-Yacht that as been cruising around the world. I have had a great time on this boat, it as taken me to places i didn't even know existed, places that the keenest of explorers would have a hard time getting to. I can't even explain some of the things i have seen, just so... "eye opening".

I am only recounting all of this now because i have left the boat after two years living and working on it.

I have seen so many beautiful views, done so many exceptional things and met some great people along the way- some of my best friends.

I can't believe how easy it would have been for me to stay in Bolton, I would have missed all of this. I wouldn't have been less happier though, just unaware.

Anyway I left that boat now, mainly because 2years seemed like a long time to be without... reality I guess- I don't know. 

I am off to Thailand now to stay with my mum n dad for a while, as of 2nd March '08. My dads thinking of getting a yacht this summer and I'm keen to get some sailing experience on that.

Dominican Republic & Swimming With Whales

I write a quick update whilst doing bridge watch from Dominican Republic to Fort Lauderdale. Don't worry I'm looking out of the window at the same time. 

As I recall the last I wrote was about the crew time in BVI's. Well we left there and headed to the Dominican Republic which, for my sake, will now be known as DR. The Dr was most definitely a great ending on this yacht.

We were moored in a marina with its own "Ocean World" and Casino. We visited the Casino as a crew a few times and whilst Hannah ended about £400 up, I was down, not happy. I've been to Casinos about 5 times and I've work out that from my winnings and losses I end up about even. So back at even I have decided never to gamble in a Casino again, they are the devil!

We also did the Ocean World experience, a Sen Lion Encounter and a Dolphin Swim. Sea Lions are actually quite scary, whereas the Dolphin still remains one of the cutest things on this planet. A guy on our boat actually dislikes dolphins for being 'too' cute, "cute and they know it".

Also in the Dr is a beach called 'Cabarette'. This beach is world famous for being one of the best places in the world for wind/water sports such as kite boarding and windsurfing. On any given day there are about 50 kites flying and 50 windsurfers out there. I went there for a day and found out why this is. Apparently the conditions are perfect. There is a shallow reef off the coast which creates the perfect size waves for jumps, also the breeze blows across the beach, this together makes the best combination of angles for catching wind and wave. People come here especially for this.

Another day off we had myself and 3 of the crew went to visit the 27 waterfalls. We arrived at a v-small ranch and for a small fee booked the trek to the 12th fall. We were given a helmet and a life-jacket, on the 20 min walk to the 1st fall we wondered what they were for exactly. The walk to the 1st fall consisted of us wading threw a few rivers and sampling the face masks provide by the natural clay in the river, of course we just drew warrior marks on our face. Then we reached the 1st fall and it became clear what all the protection was for. We had to physically wade, pull and climb our way way up each waterfall. Going from fall to fall meant swimming up a narrow river with high canyons either side. The rock formation was beautiful. When we reached the 12 waterfall  I wanted to continue to number 27 but, as my crew pointed out, we were too late, it would be dark soon. So we set off but and this was where the real fun started. Twelve waterfall we had to make our way down. Some of them over time had smoothed out the rock to form natural water-slides and the ones that didn't have a slide, well we just jumped. I would say that the second to last jump was the highest, I am 1st to go, no problem- stand on the edge...look down... jump... scream... splash, I'm alive, all is well. Now its Hannah's turn- same as above without the scream (I think she was too scared to scream) and now it's mick's turn (our Aussie Engineer) and it goes a little something like this- approach the edge... look down... shake head... step back... approach edge... look down... fell the pressure form the 2 girls who just did it... shake head... climb down a few meters... shake head... say no... (after about 10 minutes of this)... jump... scream like a girl... splash, all is well. Then its Macca, no worries, even a back flip!

I went to the DR with my parents when I was younger. We all got food poisoning and I fainted whilst playing mini golf. All in all my mum didn't quite rate the holiday and tars the DR with the same brush. But it was a great place and if anyone goes, please to the 27 waterfalls, you won't regret it!!

We left the Dr and headed North for 7 hours to a place called 'Silver Bank' where we were promised a chance to swim with the whales. We had guest on for this trip, just 4 days.

I'm sure there is some scientific reason to why the whales come here but if you want to know it you'll have to google it, I'll tell you what I know. 'Silver Bank' is a bank (go figure). It is situated in the Atlantic Ocean, its closest land fall being the Dominican Republic. From 2000 meters deep in comes up to 200 then the bank is about 20 meters deep, with a lot of bogies. I imagine that a lot of vessels have met their demise here. There are actually 2 wrecks there that you can snorkel around. The whales come here around this time of year to give birth and mate. Mainly what you see is mother and calf, they stay here until calf is strong. we had a guide and he took us in the boat to go and snorkel with these giant mammals. We would have to slide in the sea as quiet as possible (like a seal) and hover above. Basically what went on was the mother would lie on the bottom, about 10 meters deep, and calf would tuck itself under her head. Then every 3 minutes the calf would have to come to the surface for air. He would come up right next to you, play around for a little, practicing his tricks I guess, then he would go back to mummy. The calfs we were swimming with were about 3-5 weeks old, small on the scale of things but still the size of a small truck. The calf would do this for about 30 minutes, until the mother needed to breathe then they would move on. I had a great time there and we had some great encounters with whales.

So like I said, when I started this I was on watched heading to Fort Laurderdale where I would be leaving the yacht. I am now sat in Bangkok airport after 27 hours of traveling, waiting for my connecting flight to Koh Samui where my mummy and daddy are waiting to pick me up.

Photos from the British Virgin Islands.

Pictures are all of our time spent in the British Virgin Islands. We did a lot there so I figured it needs its own page.

Photo *1: Me wakeboarding. This was the first day that I started doing jumps that cleared the whole wake. Had some pretty awsome wipe outs.

Photo *2: Me and the Chef, Pino. The smiles of winners before disaster struck.

Photo *3: Me and Hannah ready to go diving.

Photo *4: All the Pegaso girls, bar Hannah, at the Jumbies Bar, Virgin Gorda. We're the small ones.