I thought it was about time i wrote another blog as i've been going through a bit of a dry-spell recently. Not the sort that involves me falling out with Rachel, you understand, but the sort that comes because we've been doing almost nothing of any interest recently on account of the cushy little number we've got going at Charlie's Hut Homestay! Sleeping, eating, sunbathing, drinking and slobbing in front of the tv just doesn't sell newspapers!

Anyhow, that all changed yesterday when we went on a trip to Ang Thong Marine Park - the first thing involving any great effort and a 7am start we've done in almost a month - so here I am! Fab day out. Great to have a change of scenery from Cheung Mon beach too, and was a nice reminder of the Krabi islands we visited with my mum and dad and sis and stu way back in January. Ang Thong is, surprisingly, less touristy than Poda, Chicken and Hong Islands near Krabi, which is weird given that it's only an hour or so ferry ride away from Koh Samui, which is heaving with tourists. Then again, it's heaving with the type of tourists who would rather put their speedos on and walk 20 yards to their beach-beds than the ones who are interested in seeing a bit of unspoilt Thailand, so maybe we shouldn't have been surprised at how quiet it was... Lovely little beaches and coves... glad we dragged ourselves away from CNN!

So what else has been going on... well, incredibly i seem to be getting back my old road-rage habit back, which is a bit frustrating! After nearly a month of scooting around Samui on a moped, my frustrations with the knuckle-headed, dopey, drowsy, dip-s*** local drivers is nearly at boiling point! I thought 6 months out of a car would cure me of my impatience, but as one local moto after another pulls out in front of me, stops without warning and turns without indicating, my good humour is hanging by a thread! I won't even begin to describe what happened when a 7 year old stepped out in front of me on a corner the other day... my mum would worry too much!

As for Rachel, she's fine and dandy and constantly fretting that she isn't getting a tan. Aside from her being nice and brown, this trip has been a good educational experience for her too. She's very into her animals and wildlife and travelling the world has really helped her get closer to understanding nature and the world we live in. The fact that all of this education is coming from Animal Planet on cable tv, which she watches constantly, is neither here nor there... how dare she write sarcastic comments about my footy-watching when i can't turn my back without that (dead) loser Steve Irwin or his hideous daughter Bindi coming on the tv?!! I leave the room usually with a high-brow documentary or a political talk show on the screen and i come back in to see crocodiles biting people's heads off!

That said, she did have an exciting wildlife experience the other day though... a local woman walked through Otto's Bar with her western "client" and Rachel was sure that the woman was (and i quote) "smuggling a sausage down her trousers"... i assume it was actually a snake she had seen...

Anyway, I sincerely hope that no-one is secretly enjoying the fact that we've now got less than 3 WEEKS of our trip to go... If you are, remember that we're all now 6 months older, but we've spent it seeing the world and lounging on beaches... what have you been doing?!?!? Only joking!!!

Can't wait to see you all soon!!! xxx