My new job...

Had a bit of a problem with my camera lately which sucks. Went off round the Hilton Hotel (where i work) to take some pictures for you all and when i uploaded them to the computer they were all messed up and corrupted. Will try again at some point but just to let you know where I'm at now after 19 days back in Phuket...

With the manager of Sub Aqua Dive Center (Phuket) away in Italy on 'sabbatical', I am currently base leader. It's great to be part of the Sub Aqua project here in Phuket. To help you understand, let me give you a bit of history of the company i work for. Is this the historian coming out in me again?!

Anyway, for over 35 years now Sub Aqua Dive Centers have been established around the world - Sudan, Maldives and Galapagos to name just a few locations! The Sub Aqua Dive Center based at Hilton Phuket Arcadia Hotel is the newest project (began in September 2008). Our Head Office is in Germany but with Sub Aqua being setup in a number of Hilton Hotels around the world it was a great opportunity for my manager and friend, Annalivia Cercarelli, to set one up here in Phuket. Sure, i was working on MV Philkade in the initial stages but with Annalivia now in Italy, i've stepped in to keep things running in her absence... and i love it!

To find out more you can see Sub Aqua's Official Website. But here are a few pictures that did turn out alright until the rest come along so you can see roughly where i'm at and what i'm up to.

Don't forget, if you come to Phuket, come diving with me!!!

Eurotrip!

We did it. It only took me 5 and a half years but i finally ventured across 6000+ miles of airspace arriving at London Heathrow on 6th March. With pretty much 30 hours passing without sleep there was only one thing for it... Down the pub with our mates! So we hopped on the London Underground (a frightening experience in itself), got off at London Bridge and by 6pm we were sat supping pints with our mates Gary & Lindsay!

It was bloody freezing! Really didn't think the cold dry air would make me feel so rubbish. I was constantly shivering. But that weekend we did manage a bit of the tourist trail with a walk around London visiting Tower Bridge etc and buying myself some warm fluffy gloves at a genius 3 quid!

But we didn't have time to relax for too long. By the end of the weekend with our bodies just about adjusted to the horrific time difference, we were off on our 'Sleezy Jet' flight to Alicante bound for Mik's parents.

We had a lovely time in Spain and while it wasn't exactly what i would call 'warm' the sun did come out to shine and if you wore a jumper and sat in the sun on the roof terrace, then yes, it was quite nice :)

It felt more like a 'proper' holiday in Spain too. We became the ultimate tourists with Mik taking pictures of everything as Mik's parents were kind enough to take us to Mercia and Elche. Beautiful cities. And we even joined
in on one of Mik's dad's classic car runs. Hugely entertaining as we had a police escort around Villajosa (visiting a chocolate factory... mmmm...) and then the most amusing lunch i've ever had. Rather like a scene from Faulty Towers, everybody's order got messed up and Mik and i nearly fell off our chairs watching the carnage ensue. Think 50 pensioners all waiting on food, drinking wine in the meantime - unorganised chaos!

Among other things we drank cerveza in a sunny square in Mercia, we took a train, we visited old towns and churches, we ate a lot(!), we enjoyed many a menu-del-dia and we had a great day out to Cartegena to 'the guns'.

Up until the late 90s these guns were still in use but now they are abandoned and Mik's Dad did a great job of guiding us round... even inside the guns themselves!

After a good relax in Spain, on March 19th we were on our way again, this time to St Athan in Wales to see Mik's brother and finally meet his lovely wife, Bev, and children Kieran, Kelsey, Jamie and Jessica. It was a bit mental but only because we are not used to having 4 kids around us but it was fun too. I hung out in the tent in the garden and played for a while (awesome!), and we went to the beach and had a carton of chips with mushy peas at Barry Island.

I loved it - more of playing the tourist since 'Gavin & Stacey' is filmed at Barry Island. For those of you who don't know it, Gavin & Stacey is a brilliant comedy/drama series from the UK. You should all watch it!

But again it was time to get moving and on March 23rd we headed 'up north' to Leeds. Dad picked us up at the bus station and we were soon settling back into Yorkshire. Great to see my Dad and to see his house. He moved their a few years ago now and with us never visiting England i had yet to see it. Bless him, he's kept all my things in perfect condition and he's really well which was good. Won't leave it as long next time!

No trip to Yorkshire would have been complete for me without two things: reuniting with my family and having at least one crazy night out with Linz! Thankfully i managed both. Unfortunately i didn't have my camera on any occasion that i met with my mum, Sheena, Charlotte or Daniel but i am glad that i finally saw them again and smoothed things out so that we can communicate better in the future. Huge shock to see how grown up all my siblings are these days but so so happy to be back in contact with them all.

It was actually all very overwhelming and since it had been my birthday, we had one night to let off steam. Huge thanks to Rich and Linz for allowing us to do just that. We had a lovely day at Bolton Abbey complete with pub lunch and obligatory ales before meeting with the Mennells in the evening and finishing up with a ruby in Rich and Linz's kitchen. Next morning there was rice everywhere and i'm sure they are still finding bits of it now. I blame the alcohol and these pictures say it all. No regrets... It was fantastic to see everyone again and just what i needed.

Other highlights from 'Up North' can be found below. Jeez, those fish n chips were gooooooooooood. I miss them soooooo...

After being up North and seeing everybody, we headed back South to London and to Gary. Much in need of a couple of day's rest before we headed back to Phuket, a weekend with Gary was perfect therapy. Walks in the country, ales down the pub and plenty of relaxing... At the airport while waiting for our flight back we even managed to sneak in an ale while watching the football, keeping England close to the point we left!

All in it was great to be back in touch with my family and to see some friends. Of course, it was impossible to fit everyone in and keep everyone happy but I've promised not to leave it quite as long next time. Thanks to all of you that seemed to go so out of your way to see me
(even flying into England from different countries!). It made me feel very special, was much-appreciated and great to see you. You know who you are and i can only apologise for time being so pushed this time.

Stay posted for my next post including our arrival back in Phuket and new jobs :)

Big changes...

You saw in our last post... Mik and i were fast growing tired of Philkade - not the boat, not the diving but the bosses mainly (don't get me started...) and we needed more time for us, our friends and our family. Sooo...

After our trip to the Andaman Islands, we quit. In this couple of pics, I'm cooking banana cake in the on-board Galley while Mik was taking his turn to drive the boat. It was non-stop cruising for almost 3 days and 2 nights to get from Phuket to the Andamans!

To cut a long story short though...we are now in Phuket out of work but enjoying a bit of time together on land. All this time means Mik finally has had some good opportunities to take some pictures of where we live! I went for a run along Chalong Pier at sunrise (yes, sunRISE!) the other morning while Mik took a walk with his camera to get these beautiful shots.

We leave for the UK on 4th March to make the much-needed worldwind European tour to see people! Family and friends, here we come...

So useless...

I really am quite rubbish at keeping everyone up to date but the internet is so slow here and i haven't had the time to play. I have been busy back on MV Philkade. Honestly, i have... Mik and i are both looking to NOT be on a liveaboard boat next year. It's tiring us out!!


Here are a couple of our Christmas and New Year pictures that were taken on the boat. Huge thanks go to my fantastic Dad for making our Christmas by sending Christmas Pud from Marks and Spencers and a packed to Birds Custard. The man's a genius!

Happy New Year Everybody!

Indonesia Pictures - 1st instalment...

Well, no great surprise to hear that i still haven't completely got my ass in gear but we have been back off holiday for one week now and i have been working for all of that! I know, excuses, excuses... Anyway, i didn't want you all switching off so here is a beginning...

Please note that all of these 'land' pictures were taken with Mik's new Digital-SLR camera he got for his birthday! I let him have it on the 2nd day of the holiday (while we were in Bunaken, North Sulawesi) so that is where our holiday will have to begin...

Here are my dive buddies - Mik & Gary (Mik's mate from England)...

And here i am... Oh yes, girl on holiday. Sooooo relaxed...

The place we stayed and dived at was called Two Fish Divers. Nice enough place but very basic so don't expect the Ritz! But then we were there for the diving anyways. Owned by an English couple Tina and Nigel. It works well and they offered us an amazing 50% discount for being working instructors in Thailand which made the holiday far more affordable!

Our cottage was basically like this on the outside... complete with hammock :)

And then it was like this on the inside...





The resort in general was very well maintained and Mik got some lovely pics of it for us... Here is general resort area, our diving boats, dining area and some randoms we met along the way (dogs at the resort, random Indonesian man complete with fish on an exploratory walk along the beach)...






Then we would dive...








And our dive guide, 'Bull' or 'Char-lez' depending on what you feel like calling him! He was called 'Char-lez' but then all the Indonesian's think that he looks foreign and not like a local indonesian at all. 'Bull' is similar to 'farang' in Thai, kind of meaning 'westerner'. He found us lots of weird and wonderful stuff on our dives!!
Then we would sleep...

Then we would drink...

And here are a few added others to show just how spectacular the scenery was in Bunaken... The water was knee-deep for a good couple of hundred metres out from shore but then with one step further the reef shelved away steeply creating the most amazing wall dives to hundreds of metres. (We did not go that deep! But it did give me vertigo on a couple of the dives!)



On the land here you may just be able to make out a church. Indonesia is always thought of as a Muslim country but on North Sulawesi it is predominantly Christian so you see lots of churches and crosses. Rather amusingly, the in-house instructor at 'Two Fish' was telling us about the local Muslim-Christian football match. It all went off and the one policeman on the island was drunk, didn't know what to do so just stood in the middle of the pitch and let his gun off. Genius - only in Asia!

With breath-taking views like this one of the local volcano, it is no wonder that they give thanks to God! So beautiful...

Stay tuned for my next post where i will introduce you all to our 2nd week of holiday in Lembeh!
Love to you all x x x