Not quite back 'home'

So that was that. Probably the fastest 3 weeks I've ever had in my life, and in some ways the most draining. No, that makes it sound too negative, which isn't right at all.

When I was planning to come back I knew it was going to be hectic, and it was certainly that. But what an amazing time. Arriving at Heathrow was pretty surreal, but thank you very much to Rory and Pia who picked me up with a 4-pack of cold Kronenberg waiting on the front seat. That kind of set the tone for the next few weeks - much cold beer was drunk and much kindness was extended by Rory and Pia whose flat we used as a base when in London.

Hopefully I managed to catch up with everyone who reads this so there's no need for a full run down. Some thoughts though:

I know we're incredibly lucky to be doing what we're doing out here, but those of you in England shouldn't forget how lucky you are to have family and friends around, or that England really is beautiful (in the sunshine).

Emma's family and friends are lovely, and made me feel so welcome. It was a little strange for both of us to suddenly drop in on everyones' lives as a couple but we needn't have worried about anything (not that we really were... well maybe a little bit)

My family and friends are the best in the world. Within an hour of seeing everyone it was like I'd never been away, which is what I've always said is a sure sign of a strong relationship

Not much changes in a year and a half. Births, deaths and marriages. That's all you really need to keep up with. Fags are ridiculously expensive, so is petrol.

Big Brother is brilliant. In fact, this is how sad I am. In between writing bits of this I'm watching clips from the Big Brother website. Lea's gotta go soon.

Lager is so much nicer in temperatures that actually keep it cold for more than 2 minutes. (sorry Emma, think I might have nicked that one from you)

More people than I thought read this blog so I promise to try and keep it a bit more up to date

Okay that's enough I think. Did have this big plan to write loads about what it felt like being home, and being back here but didn't seem to flow so will have to leave that. Anyway, gotta go and catch my train back to Kuala Lumpur (have been in Singapore for the day sorting my visa out). Getting very excited about getting back to Trawangan and doing some diving. Hopefully see some of you there soon.

PS have spent my day waiting for my visa in the cinema. Cars is good, not as good as Finding Nemo but sweet and funny. Superman Returns is rubbish. Okay, not rubbish but tedious in places (and those were the ones I managed to stay awake for).

Homeward bound..for a little bit

Never really sure whether anyone bothers to read this anymore, and am conscious it's hardly the most up to date source of information on my whereabouts but rather than email random people I thought this would be as good a place as any to announce my homecoming. It's only for 3 weeks but I will be in the UK from 4th June until 27th June.

Obviously I'd love to see as many people as possible so it's going to take some organisation, but will be mostly in Devon and London (ooh, look, the world cup happens to be on...that's a stroke of luck). Knowing how long it takes most of my friends to organise a piss up in a brewery, maybe someone could do a bit of planning? (Andy, I feel a spreadsheet coming on). For the family, a Surrey dinner is probably on the cards (Simon?) and the rest I'll catch up with in Devon.

I think it's going to be a hectic few weeks but am so looking forward to it. Emma's coming home too, so we finally get to meet each others family and friends. It's our year anniversary today - what a year, and it definitely feels time to be in England together.

So, hopefully see as many of you as possible in a few weeks. I can almost smell the roast beef and Kronenburg....

Finally, a huge congratulations to Dee who's just about to complete her singlehanded sail round the world the wrong way voyage. She's due to arrive in Southampton tomorrow, after 6 months, and if anyone wants to check out what an amazing woman she is (if you don't know already) take a look at www.avivachallenge.com . Be warned though - it makes you feel extremely lazy!

Thailand Tales

We knew of 2 diving destinations that are really popular with backpackers, and therefore provided the most likely chance of finding work: Koh Tao, in the Gulf of Thailand, and Koh Phi Phi on the Andaman side. From everything we knew and had heard, Koh Tao was a definite last resort. The diving's shit, most of the schools are like diving factories and it's very competitive between schools, so despite it coming towards the end of the season in the west we headed for Phi Phi.

The island was one of the hardest hit by the tsunami, but you'd hardly know it now. There's still a lot of building work going on but apart from that it's backpacker life as normal. I've never seen so many almost identical Swedes in one place, all sporting some sort of ridiculous head gear. I know we were looking for somewhere a bit more backpackery but our first reaction was 'oh my god, where have we come to?'. Identical people, identical conversations, identical restaurants, identical bars...amazing.

The diving however was excellent. We spoke to a few diveshops, and work seemed pretty thin on the ground but still a possibility, so we thought we'd do a few fundives and check the place out. After the Philippines, where fish life is pretty non-existent, we were blown away by the marine life. Nothing particularly unusual to see, but so much of what there was. Enjoying the diving was one of the prerequisites for staying in a place, so despite the work situation we decided to stay for at least a month and see what happened.

Freelancing is the life. Get up, eat, lie on the beach with phone close at hand, eat, beach, shower, eat, bed. Eventually the phone did go and I got my first course. At the same time Emma decided to do the instructor's course here so suddenly we were busy again! It felt good to be working, there really is a limit to how long you can enjoy doing nothing. Unfortuately Emma's course wasn't on Phi Phi, so I was on my own for 2 weeks. This may not seem like a big deal, but remember we'd spent pretty much every minute of every day together for the last 7 months so it did feel very strange. I mean, I had to carry my own money again and remember to pick the cigarettes up from the table!

The days passed slowly when I wasn't working so to fill a few I decided to take a quick trip down to Kuala Lumpur to watch the Grand Prix. Quick isn't really the right word - I left on Saturday morning, arrived KL Sunday, straight to the stadium, watched the race, then caught the overnight bus back. All in all a 56 hour round trip to watch a 1.5 hour race. Oh, but so worth it.

The day after I got back to Phi Phi, Barbara and Petra, 2 dutch girls we'd met on trawangan, arrived so I had company again! It's so lovely seeing people that you've met before and much tequila was drunk to celebrate. I ended up teaching Barbara her Rescue Diver course, the first one I'd taught so she was a bit of a guinea-pig, but luckily we both survived...just.

Then, at last, Emma came back, fully qualified and completely shell shocked by the real world. The instructors course is really intense and you don't realise until it's finished how out of touch with everything else you've become. It doesn't last though, and soon she was back to normal. We had some great diving together, with B and P too but then it was time to make decisions again.

Thai visas only last a month so we were going to have to leave the country whatever happened. What we had to decide was whether to come back and keep trying for work on Phi Phi or head back to Trawangan where the high season was about to start and hope we could get work there. Having Barbara and Petra there, and talking about Trawangan a lot, may have swung it, but that was only one of many reason we decided in favour of Indonesia. Gili Trawangan is such a special place for us, and feels the closest to having a 'home' out of anywhere in Asia. It's a lot cheaper to live there (Thailand was frighteningly expensive compared to Indonesia), and it's not so full of 18 year olds!

So, here I am, in Bali doing some shopping before heading to Trawangan tomorrow. It feels strange to be going back when we haven't got definite work there, and at the back of my mind is how different Malapascua was when we went back. So it's a bit of a risk, but one we're pretty sure is worth taking. Recently the need for staying somewhere for a few months has become more pressing, so work or no work we're going to stay put for a bit.

We learnt a lot form our 3 month stint in the Philippines and Thailand. We've got a much better idea of what sort of place we want to work in, and what is important in a place to us. The month in Thailand was particularly useful - Emma had an excellent instructor's course (which you don't get everywhere), we've made some good contacts with diveshops there, I got some good teaching experience, and I got to top up my tan. We learnt more about what we don't want in the Philippines but that's still useful.

So another chapter begins...