Ok, this report will cover the next 10 days up until yesterday which is the end of our first month here and also when Angie and Brett left. So I will start with our fishing trip.
Megumi came on this trip with us as Richard was tied up with work and we had 5 Americans (Alaskans) on board (sorry guys I’m bad with names). This trip does not compare to last years fishing trip due to the weather conditions and amount of fish caught. But it was still a good day out.
About 9am we headed for Racha Noi Island and had not gone far before the black clouds came in, the rain started and the waves started getting bigger and bigger. The photos do not do the conditions justice. It was pretty hard to walk around the boat as she was rolling around a bit.

It didn’t take Angie long to start feeling sick so she laid down in the cabin area, our Alaskans were on the top deck, some sick, some drinking haha. Gary, Brett & myself perservered with the job of trying to catch lunch!! Megumi was sitting with us relaxing and enjoying her much needed day off work.
Brett caught a tuna, then Gary had a double header and pulled up 2 tuna, ok so we are right for lunch, we are not going to starve!

Meanwhile Angie has decided she needs to vomit – no easy feat in a toilet a quarter the size of a normal one on a boat rolling from side to side. But she is a champion and came out really proud of herself, her aim was perfect and she felt 100% better.

I am munching away on yummy sandwiches and fruit that is supplied with the tour, (water, soft drinks and lunch is also provided) but not happy as I haven’t caught a fish yet.
We moored just off the island for lunch and some snorkeling, while we were there we were lucky to see a school of sailfish about 200metres away, you can just see one of them in the photos if you look hard enough.

The deckhand cooked up one of our tuna which was delicious, we also had fried rice & chicken. But the big treat was Megumi making us sashimi, Ive never had it before and loved it – that girl certainly is a wiz with the knife, just watching her clean and slice the tuna was an experience.

Anyway after about an hour it was time to head out for more fishing, this time we used handlines for bottom fishing!
No easy feat when the sinkers weigh about the size of a small car and you need to let enough line go to reach the bottom (about 50 feet) It was great fun though and didn’t take long for me to catch a fish. I only tangled the line once (pretty bad though) lucky Megumi was there to help me sort it out. Meanwhile Gary & Brett are at the other end of the boat pulling in fish as well. Angie is just laying there on the deck with her eyes fixed on the horizon telling herself she feels great.

All up between Gary, Brett & myself we caught 11 fish, so nowhere near our 68 from last year, though we still enjoyed the day (just not as much)
Photo are below
Picasa Web Albums - Cathy - Fishing Trip

We have been to Surin Beach for a couple of meals, really enjoyed Pla Seafood but I didn’t take photos of the food – sorry, have also tried Nok restaurant where I did take photos. Our meals were delicious and cost 150baht each.
Though that night Gary and Brett were severely vomiting from both ends for about 5 hours. The only thing they had in common over the past few days was a squid dish from Nok, so we are guessing NOK stands for Next of Kin, eat there you may need them. Though Angie and my meals were fantastic – so who knows, this sort of thing can happen at the best places.
Picasa Web Albums - Cathy - Eating Out at...

One day Gary drove us to the Worlds Biggest Jewellery Store haha, its great going there just to have a look, masses of beautiful jewellery and just as much over the top revolting chunky sparkly goodies. Had no intentions of buying anything here but Angie wanted a gold chain so of course I walked out with a beautiful pair of 18k gold earings, the price was 6,800baht but ended up getting them for 5,600baht – about $200 which I was happy paying.
Must say though we were disappointed that they never gave Gary any coupons or petrol vouchers for taking us there.

Tattoo,s
Gary Brett and Angie have had tattoo’s, this year we went to Patong Tattoo near the Beach Restaurant. Gary had an old 30yr old tattoo he wanted covered up with a koi, it’s a big tattoo which wraps around his forearm and cost 8,900baht, Brett had an old tat recolored which cost him 4,500baht, looks like a new one now and Angie had a big bird on the side of her leg going down on to her foot, her bill was 3000baht plus 2 Heinekins.

All the photos and prices are on the link below. Great studio and tattooists. They are also designing a tattoo for our son, we spent a couple of hours there today with them as they have just had the internet connected and do not have a clue what to do, so Im giving them lessons haha, set up email for them and showing them how to put their photos on etc. They now call me the Teacher and asked could I come back every couple of days!!!
Picasa Web Albums - Cathy - Patong Tattoo

Parasailing
Nearly forgot this one, Brett wanted to try parasailing so off we went. He was trussed up like a chicken in the safety harness and attached to the parachute, then they told him there was not enough wind so he would not have the little guy with him who steers and they would also have to land him in the ocean as the tide was in and not enough wind to get him down on the sand.
They explained to him how to take off – Keep Running Towards Water As Boat Takes Off. Sounds easy hey, well this is what it looked like.

Brett is running for his life, he hits the water face first and has now turned into a human body board, bouncing across the waves. Finally after surfing about 20feet we have liftoff. Up he goes!!!! Out into the wide blue yonder. But, the wind drops again, the boat has turned back towards land, but wheres Brett, we see something moving much faster than the boat heading towards the ocean, then we realize Brett is coming down like a ton of bricks.

He lands about 500metres out and the boat picks him up. This experience cost him 700baht, he enjoyed most of it (not the take off or landing). Took some good photos of him, well they make us laugh!
Picasa Web Albums - Cathy - Parasailing

Natural Restaurant
One night Richard & Megumi took us out for dinner in Phuket Town to a place called Natural Restaurant. This place is amazing, different levels and sections to eat, unusual décor, lots of old things and tons of plants, fish tanks in tv sets and computer moniters, ponds, its very beautiful. Daj (pronounced Ded) also came with us and it was a lovely night.

I think we had about 10 different dishes, fish, loved the catfish dish) chicken, raw prawns (I had 2 and they were good with the dipping sauce) frog (the whole frog chopped up – Richard & Gary ate that) oysters etc. Megumi ordered everything extra spicy, my god, some of it was very, very hot. Prices are good as well and we will definitely be going back while we are here. (Took lots of photos here)
Picasa Web Albums - Cathy - Natural Resta...

We have been up Rang Hill, have to say was not that impressed, never seen so much rubbish in Phuket and the views are much better at Khao Khad. Had a quick look at Tunka Hill Café, would be nice at night with all the lights of the city but doubt if we would bother going back, theres just toooo many places to try.

Also had a quick look through the Weekend night markets, definitely worth another visit, prices very cheap, I bought a couple of pairs of polarized sunglasses for 400baht each.

Well this report is long enough, there are 2 more days out that deserve their own section, that is our sailing day with Mark, Richard & Megumi and a lovely American couple Jeremy & Krista (I hope that’s right). It was the most fantastic fun day so it will be a long report with lots of photos.

The other day is the 3hour Phang Nga ATV tour (Richard did this with us as well) Both these days were totally different but fantastic value with great company, seeing sights we would never normally see. I will get onto them tomorrow.

Angie & Brett have gone and should have landed in Brisbane a couple of hours ago. It was sad when they left yesterday. When they checked out she was presented with a huge box of flowers from Swiss Palm and Renee the manager told the bar staff to give us all whatever we wanted from the bar. He also said he loves having nice people like us here. (thank god he doesn’t see us after the Friday Night BBQs!!)
Sorry again this is so long but now I have caught up and can keep the next ones shorter.
Cathy

__________________
http://www.cathyandgarystravelpages.com

Excellent reports. Love reading them. Can't believe your first month has gone by already.

Happy holidays for the rest of your time. You are going to need a holiday when you come back to recover from your holiday away

Cathy

Really enjoying reading your reports, sounds like you are having a great time, look forward to reading more :)

Keep them coming--they are so enjoyable and the photos are terrific.
I have just sat here for a hour on a cold wet miserable day in Perth and was transported to Phuket.
Thankyou fo taking the time to compile all this for us.
Cheers laura

thanx your posts are great , im going later this year for my 1st visit