Phuket - Thailand

Hello Again

Well we have been here in Phuket for nearly a month now and by first appearances we though the place was rather over-run with tourists and tourist things, but we are really enjoying the place now that we have had a good look around. One can either go with the tourist flow or it is very easy to go off and do your own thing. The climate is perfect at this time of the year with temperatures around 32 degrees during the day and dropping to about 25-26 degrees at night. We have a lovely breeze of around 10-15kts most days. The sun shines and the water temperature is perfect. We have had the odd shower of rain in the evenings which has been most refreshing. The people are lovely, the food is great and the place is a shoppers dream. I brought myself a lovely pair of silver shoes last night but have no idea when I will get to wear them, but could not resist them at only NZ$10!! The NZ couple who we were out with said I will just have to wear them when we have drinks in the evenings. They will look great with my swim suit!

Singapore to Phuket

Hello Once Again

First and foremost we hope you all had WONDERFUL CHRISTMAS with family and friends, and A VERY HAPPY NEW YEAR for 2010. Thank you all who sent us Greetings or those lovely cards and news of what you have been up to. We were out and about exploring new bays and Islands for both Christmas and New Year.

Now that you have received and read all your Christmas Mail and all that news which comes in for near and far, it’s back to those rather long and boring SHAMAL’S news letter which arrive in your inbox from time to time. I can hear you saying – oh it’s them again.

As I write this we are sitting on a mooring buoy in Chalong Bay - Phuket, having arrived here on Monday 4th January. So as you can see we have covered quite a bit of ground since our last post.

Nongsa (Batam) to Singapore

Hello One And All

We left Nongas Point Marina in Indonesia on the 25th November, a beautiful Marina come Resort with all the modern facilities one could wish for at a fraction of the price we would pay back home or for that matter in any so called western country. It was like arriving at a luxurious Resort on the French Rivera where “Mr Average” just could not afford to stay. From there we negotiated our way across the Singapore strait either crossing in front of or behind ships, with only one humongous, giant, enormous, super super size tanker bearing down on us with a slight threat to run us down, and that was one of the few times I am found yelling at Alex to step on the gas, which of course he was doing, before we ended up as a statistic of the Straits Shipping.