New Year ... New Beach ...

Day 85 ... Our last breaki at The Secret Garden this morning before we were picked up for the boat to Koh Tao at 10.30am. I'm not going to lie, after the boat trip to Koh Samui on the high speed catamaran, I was not looking forward to a trip which was double the distance. We got to the pier and the boat was delayed an hour until 1.30pm, so we had a couple of hours of waiting around. That's when series on Netflix comes in handy to keep us entertained! We finally boarded and off we went, and as I guessed, the ride was as bumpy as ever. I didn't feel great the whole way across, so I was so happy when we arrived, even if it was still throwing it down as it had been since yesterday morning! The skies were as grey as they were in Koh Samui and the rain and flooded roads just as bad! So it looked like we were having another lazy afternoon/evening. Although, by the time I got them to move us to another room it was 4.30pm because the room smelt of stale urine and there was a black bucket under the sink and water all over the bathroom floor. The mood I was in, there was no way I was putting up with that, not after the stinky bathroom in Langkawi! We relaxed for the afternoon after some lunch at 4.30pm and dinner at 7.30pm. Got rid of the moth and huge mozi in our room before we could think about relaxing to watch some more Netflix. I won't lie, I'm quite glad we're only here for 2 nights! The next place, which is only 5 minutes walk up the road looks amazing! Fingers crossed we at least get some sunshine by the time we move there as the views from the room look stunning!

Day 86 ... Well, it started off okay, we woke up to sun shining through the super thin white curtains, but by the time we were up and almost dressed ready for breakfast, the rain had started again. it was so heavy at some points during the night and the cockerel wake up calls at 4am and 5am and again and again after that didn't really help with a good nights sleep! After breakfast we decided to go for a bit of a walk in the rain as it had eased off slightly. but after about 15 minutes, we decided it was no fun getting drenched even in our pac a macs! So we headed back to the B&B. Another lazy day in the room it looks like. Unfortunately, this room hasn't even got a TV so it's laptops and phones to keep us entertained! We ventured out again in the rain for lunch to Black Garlic, which was average. So we treated ourselves to a Magnum, had a little wander around the area while the rain stopped for all of 5 minutes and then headed back to the hotel when the rain started again. We ventured out again for dinner to an Italian, we didn't get too wet but wet enough!

Day 87 ... Fourth day of torrential rain! This is not what we signed up for!! Thankfully, we move to our fancy new place today for New Year, The Plantation Boutique Villas. The guy came to pick us up from where we were staying as Adam had ventured out after breaki to try and find the place and how to get to it, but about 3 minutes after he set off the monsoon rains started again. There are flooded roads, and the one we need to go up is almost washed away. But by the time we had been picked up the road was being filled in and repaired by a digger. After we settled in to our new digs, which are amazing! We went out for some lunch and to stock up on some food bits so we can cook our own breaki's in the mornings which will be nice for a change. But of course, the rains started again and we got soaked to the bone walking back. we had to wade through a puddle on the way back to the villa which was calve deep in

muddy water. Thankfully, in the distance, the view from our balcony (which is stunning, even more so when it's sunny I'm sure!) looks like the clouds are lifting and it's getting a bit brighter. But it did do this yesterday so we won't get our hopes up just yet! At dinner time we headed over to the Koh Tao Cabana resort beach restaurant which was recommended by Robert, the owner at the Plantation Villas. The view was nice and it wasn't raining so we were happy.

Day 88 ... We've woken up and there's no sound of rain...still cloudy but at least it's dry for the first time in 4 days! We got up and I made us scrambled eggs on wok toasted toast, which wasn't actually too bad, compared to some pathetic efforts at toast we've encountered on our travels so far!! After breaki, we went for a walk along the beach (with our brolly and pac a macs in hand!) to scope out some places to eat and where we might go tomorrow night for NYE. It looks as though most beach bars/restaurants will be having a party so we'll just have a wander down! As we found a place for lunch we could see the low, dark grey clouds coming in over the top of hills. So we ate up and set off back for the villa after stocking up on some more supplies. We were not up for getting drenched again like yesterday! We watched Cast Away, which might not have been the best choice but we hadn't seen it in years and just relaxed for the rest of the afternoon. Hoping the sun will shine a bit more tomorrow so we can

go off to Koh Nang Yuan which looks amazing but probably not quite so much in rain!

Day 89 ... NEW YEARS EVE ... We decided we'd rent a scooter after breakfast to try and see some of the island. Just as we locked the door to the villa and we're half way down the steps it started to spit with rain, great! We deliberated for a few minutes and decided to rent a scooter anyway as it was only light rain. We should have known better after the last few days! As we go 3/4 minutes away, the rains started, we almost got to the top of a hill and turned around as the winds were so strong and the rain was a lot heavier. So we turned around, stopped under a tree for some shelter, pac-a-macs on, visas down and we were off! We'd hired the scooter so we may as well go on a little adventure. We got drenched. We did a bit of a loop of the south of the island, took less time than we thought as the island is pretty tiny. We got back to the main village, parked up and went to find shelter and a diet coke. As soon as we did, the rain cleared up and the sun came out for a short while, typical! After a relaxing afternoon in the apartment we went to the Koh Tao Cabana across the road for dinner and then walked up the beach to where all the music and fire dancers were. It was fairly busy with plenty entertainment. We sat on the beach with a pina colada and a beer and relaxed for a while before deciding to head back up to the apartment to FaceTime the parents and then watch the fireworks from our balcony at midnight.

Day 91 ... NEW YEARS DAY ... After an evening of clear sky and stars, we woke up to yet more cloud and after about 4 minutes of sunshine, the rains came again. We had the scooter until 12pm so after we

made breaki we popped to the shops to stock up on breaki ingredients and then dropped the scooter off, just in time for another rain shower! We've decided to stay on at the apartment for an extra night as we have 4 spare nights between here and the next hotel we've booked at Bluerama in Koh Phanang and we'd rather stay in this place as long as we can than any of the hotels we've found on Agoda! And seeing as the weather is more than likely the same in Koh Phanang, we may as well! THERE'S SUNSHINE ... so we got change, packed a bag and jumped on taxi boat for the 5 minute ride over to Koh Nang Yuan, the 3 small island all connected by sand banks. We had been waiting for a sunny day to head over there to get some great pics, and we sure did! We arrived and hiked up the steps straight to the view point. It was a little precarious after the steps as there were huge rocks/boulders to climb up to see the view, but it was soo worth it! (I just wish I hadn't done my squats and lunges this morning as my legs were almost giving out at the top!) Once we'd got our pics, we climbed back down and headed to the beach bar for some lunch as it was 2pm. Then we relaxed on the beach for a couple of hours until the taxi boat ride back to Koh Tao at 5pm. All in all, a great day! Finished off with tea at our favourite Italian. What a great start to 2018!

Day 92 ... We woke up to sunshine which was great, after breakfast in the apartment we went for a walk around the village, booked a full day snorkel

tour for tomorrow around the island and the boat from Koh Tao to Koh Phanang for 4th January. We found a place on the beach for lunch. I think that we have to come to terms with the fact that restaurants on the beach tend to serve food which is bog standard to say the least. I had to worst chicken salad ever, I think the chicken must have been cooked about 10 days ago and left in the sun to dry out. I think I need to give up hope of finding a decent salad in Thailand! It's just happening, good intentions but it's just a no go! After lunch we just had a lazy day and back to our favourite Italian for our favourite chicken skewer for dinner. Now it's time to find a hotel for Koh Phanang as we get there the day after tomorrow.

Day 93 ... Snorkel tour day, so we had an early ish start. After breaki we walked down to the place we booked the tickets to be picked up for the boat. It was a huge boat with probably around 80 people on board. The first stop was Shark Bay, (I'm not gonna lie, I'm already put off getting in the water!) Apparently the sharks are blacktip reef sharks and aren't dangerous, so off we hopped into the water, snorkel gear on and nothing but dead coral, a couple of fish and terrible visibility! We have been well and truly spoiled (or lucky) with the Le Pirate boat trip in Labuan Bajo! Safe to say, no blacktip reef shark spotted either! Next stop was Aow Leuk, which was apparently the best spot to snorkel but the guy said it was too

busy so we skipped that one and off to Hin Wong Bay. I didn't bother going in for this one and let Adam jump in on his own, this one wasn't much different than the first stop in terms of coral and fish. Next stop, Mango bay, apparently another good spot for snorkelling, so we both jumped in but nope, not much to see here either, a bit live coral but all very dull and few more fish but as the visibility was so bad, there just wasn't that much to see which was a shame. Last stop was Nang Yuan Island which is the island we got a taxi boat to the other day. We had a couple of hours here but decided to just relax in the sun on the beach for a while. The whole ordeal for getting back on the boat at 5pm was worse than the other day, so much worse. It was like disorganised chaos. There is one tiny pier and sooo many people and boats, all lined up and you have to climb across all the long tail boats to get to the one you came one. This time we were on a huge boat so didn't have to go through that again and when the boat eventually got to the pier we all jumped on and off we went back to the main pier at Koh Tao. Lunch was extremely average, a lunchbox of some dodgy looking chicken, a partly fried egg and plain rice. So as soon as we got showered and changed we headed off to our favourite eatery in the village, Farango's Italian for our usual, chicken skewer! Now time to pack ready for the catamaran to Koh Phanang tomorrow morning.