Negativity

I've been thinking a bit about negativity in the last couple of days. We have a very negative society here in Australia. It is a very common thing to put ourselves and others down. Especially the "tall poppy syndrome" where if anyone gets too high up or big for their boots, they deserve to be put back in their place and brought back down. I know that I'm guilty of being negative towards others as well as myself, which is something I am trying to change. I was having a chat with my friends Tim and Carly last night and we had a bit of a discussion on negativity and trying to change ourselves to be encouraging and building up instead.

Let no unwholesome word proceed from your mouth, but only such a word as is good for edification according to the need of the moment, so that it will give grace to those who hear.
Ephesians 4:29

Tim was explaining how at his work , they were all learning how to use a new, difficult piece of equipment. His boss has created a positive environment where no one is allowed to say statements such as "I'm never going to be able to do this", putting themselves or others down in any way.

If you don't like something, change it. If you can't change it, change your attitude.
Maya Angelou

I heard about the above woman, Maya Angelou earlier this year when I found another quote of hers that I quite liked. However, I hadn't ever actually looked into who she was, and what sort of life she had, beliefs and things. I googled her today. Don't you love google? ;) I discovered that she is a black American woman who has led a very interesting life and written a few different books. I read an interview between her and Oprah, where she talked about where her confidence came from. Very interesting interview. Anyway, at one point she says the following:

"I believe that a negative statement is poison. The air between you and me is filled with sounds and images. If that were not so, how is it that I can turn on a television right now and see what's happening in New York? That means sounds and images are in the air, crowded, jammed up like bats. I'm convinced that the negative has power. It lives. And if you allow it to perch in your house, in your mind, in your life, it can take you over. So when the rude or cruel thing is said—the lambasting, the gay bashing, the hate—I say, "Take it all out of my house!" Those negative words climb into the woodwork and into the furniture, and the next thing you know they'll be on my skin."

Maya won't accept negativity in her life or others, in any form. She will leave people's houses, or ask them to leave if they are disrespectful, are rude or put people down. An extreme approach? Some people might say so, but I think she has a valid point with what she is saying.

Anyway, I guess a challenge for myself and others is to be less negative towards ourselves and others - building up and encouraging more instead.

So encourage each other and build each other up, just as you are already doing.
1 Thessalonians 5:11

No Regrets

Funny, isn't it? How such "big" decisions are so easy? Or is that just me? I mean, nearly 6 months ago, with a click of a button, I made a split-second off-the-cuff decision to buy a ridiculouly cheap ticket and go to vietnam. One of the best decisions of my life I'd say!

Well, now I've done pretty much the same thing. I have just purchased another ticket. This time cold wet England is the destination I'm heading off to. The only difference is that, this time I am actually letting people know that I am going 2 months in advance rather than 2 days in advance....

At the moment in my parents house in Springwood, there is a piece of paper sitting on the coffee table, with some details about a prophecy that we all individually received while living in Africa. I remember this particular day, I was told that I was fearless in crossing nations and boundaries, instant in and out of season. I guess that is true. Moving is easy, its staying thats hard.

So, back to where I started.. let me fill you in on how this all eventuated. I am interested in working in developing countries as a dietitian. I've applied to a few different NGO positions over the past year or so, but most of them want more experience, or further qualifications. I've been thinking about doing a masters in International Public Health and because I didnt know where I'd be located, had planned to do it by correspondence. I had actually filled out most of the paperwork before I went to Vietnam in February, but forgot to send it in the end! I'd been looking at Curtin University, but the 4 years FULL TIME masters put me off a little bit... So last week I had a look at what Sydney Uni had to offer as a friend last year had told me you could do public health at USYD.

Syd Uni did have a MSc Int Public Health, but because I'd be starting mid-year, there are quite a few subjects I wouldn't be able to do because the pre-requisites are in the first semester. Then, mid week I had a random thought about studying internationally. I hadnt really ever thought about that before. I had always wanted to do an exchange at either school or uni, but it never really happened at any point. So I did what any good uni student does... I googled what uni courses there are in the UK!

I came up with a list of about 24 different degrees around the UK. But, the first and most important and definitely the most relevant that I found, was at the University of Westminster in London. They have a 1 year MSc in International Public Health and Nutrition. Perfect! Its even focusing on the area that I work in and am interested in. I'm applying there, and if I get in, thats what I'll be doing from September. But I am moving in July and working in the hospitals there for a couple of months first.

So I am now stepping out in faith a bit. I have no money (ie I am currently selling the few things I do own), and no definite direction about what is happening next. But I know God is in control and he is watching over everything I do, He will make the most of it and use whatever happens to his glory.

There are many things wrong in the world. But things will never change if no one actually does anything about it. I want to make a difference with my life. I'm not sure exactly how I'm going to manage that, but that's what I want to do. I saw this quote somewhere the other day and thought it was pretty cool:

Be the change you want to see in the world
Mahatma Gandhi.

Coincidence... or not?

I haven’t written any thing in a while.. This blog is a big of a amalgamation of random thoughts and things that have occurred in the past fortnight.

For the past 2 Sundays since arriving back in Australia I have attended two different churches who coincidentally happened to both be working on Exodus in their sermons. I ironically happened to hear the Exodus 3-4 message preached two weeks in a row! There were some slight differences in the main points brought up during the sermons, but still it made me wonder about signs

Last week I had 2 different friends ask me to move in with them. I know I shouldn’t particularly be looking for signs about what to do with my life, but it still makes you wonder doesn’t it? Is this a hint that I should stick around for a while??

A couple of years ago I felt a bit of a prompting to start up a young women's bible study amongst some of the girls I know and love from the Mountains. At the time it didn't end up happening because I got a job in victoria and ended moving abruptly.. anyway the thought came back to me again today. Like all things, we will see what happens.

I have spent the last week up the coast at Forster helping Jon, a friend of mine who is building a house up there for his parents. So I’ve been spending my days sanding, oiling, varnishing and doing all the odd jobs related to finalising a house. I was asked if I wanted to go to Gilgandra next week to help with the restoration of a church out there, but I’m not going to go on this particular trip. I might go on the next one if I’m still around. If. I don’t know what i’m doing. I don’t find that particularly all that frustrating, but I guess it would be good to have a little bit of an idea about what is going on! I'm debating some further study in international health, think I will have a chat with the uni coordinator tomorrow about that while I'm in Sydney.

I”m still reading this book “Don’t waste your life” by John Piper. I’ve just read about Louie Giglio’s “268 Declaration.” The number comes from Isaiah 26:8—“Yes, Lord, walking in the way of your laws, we wait for you; your name and renown are the desire of our hearts”

“Desire that your life count for something great! Long for your life to have eternal significance. Want this! Don’t coast through life without a passion.”
But whatever you do, find the God-centered, Christ-exalting, Bible-saturated passion of your life, and find your way to say it and live for it and die for it. And you will make a difference that lasts. You will not waste your life.
What is the one passion of your life that makes everything else look like rubbish in comparison? Oh, that God would help me waken in you a single passion for a single great reality that would unleash you, and set you free from small dreams, and send you, for the glory of Christ, into all the spheres of secular life and to all the peoples of the earth.

I am passionate about alot of things. I was thinking about this a few days ago as I was chatting with Sandra, Jon’s Mum. She was diagnosed with diabetes last year, so we were chatting about that, ways it had impacted her cooking, and a couple of other nutrition related issues. She was telling me about a lady she worked with who had been diagnosed with a hiatus hernia and diverticular disease and how there were all these foods she’d been told she couldn’t eat. As we were talking, I found myself getting quite worked up and annoyed at GPs and practitioners who tell their patients and clients inaccurate information. That can really get my back up. One of the many things I get passionate about.

I also get passionate about music, singing, dancing, injustice, segregation and people being left out. Just to name a few things.

colour my life with the chaos of trouble

I am so ridiculously happy right now. Have you ever been so happy you could cry? It is extremely bizarre. I can't quite explain how it works, or the reasoning behind it (no there is no boy involved in this happiness). I think that I am just at total peace with myself, and thats why I am happy. I am happy with who I am, happy with God, happy being wherever I am, happy being single, happy whether I get to see people or not. I'm just happy :) Side note, I've now written the word "happy" so many time's I am questioning whether I am even spelling it right... weird hehe...

I've thought this a few times, but the thought came out loud and clear on thursday night after I had been hanging out with some old friends of mine Erin and Jared. It was great hanging out with them again, and good to see that some people in life don't change and are always there regardless of how long it has been since you last got to catch up. We chatted and also watched the movie 500 days of summer, which is where my blog title came from - it seemed to adequately describe my life in general!!!

On Friday I helped out a friend, Wendy Konemann at her scripture classes (year 4 and 5) at Glenbrook primary school. I hadn't really prepared anything and at last minute was asked to take my guitar to sing a song or two. I really enjoyed it, the kids were characters - some real attention seekers but they all had things to say and ask. Some of them have the most deep and theologically confronting questions, for example there was a question about whether when parents genetically altered their baby to look the way they wanted it to (eg blue eyes, blond hair), did that mean they ruined the 'perfect' child that God had designed, or was the one the people designed the right one?!! One kid answered in a way that nearly made my jaw drop there was so much thought in it (I guess even I am guilty of understimating how smart kids are these days...)!! I sang a couple of songs for the kids, and they also sang me a couple in return - actions and all! They all really got into the songs! I love how music brings people together. Our society values music so highly, however there is such a limited amount of singing that we do in our culture - it is not the norm. All in all, it was a fun and challenging experience, thinking on the spot and reasoning why I believe what I believe.

I've also been able to catch up with Justin a musician from Katoomba who I met in Chiang Mai. We got together yesterday with his producer Laurie out in Lithgow and made a bit of music which was great fun. We stayed up to the early hours of the morning, singing, drinking lots of cups of tea, eating cake, playing guitar, watching youtube clips of people exploding, hurting themselves and failing to drive properly and writing random silly funny songs. Loved every moment!! :) I also discovered that they are both Jehovahs witnesses.

So at the moment I am still figuring out what to do. I had an interview for a job in Geelong the other day and also have an option of a job up in Cairns as a community dietitian working with Aboriginals. I haven't really had much to do with that population, and the job would involve a fair bit of health promotion and flying around in little cessna's and things. Not really the clinical stuff I have been doing. It sounds good... But... Full time PERMANENT job = scary. I think I may have mentioned something about this earlier, but I am pretty sure i am scared of commitment. At least I definitely shy away from it alot.

I think I decided today that I don't want a permanent full time job because I don't want the restrictions it imposes. I like chaos (ie: my quote title). I like spontaneity. I like freedom. I like being able to make decisions on the spot, and change my mind just as quickly. However, I still want to be reliable - is this a total contradiction? I want my 'yes to be yes and no to be no' where if I say I'll do something then I'll do it. For example, if I have told someone I will meet them at a certain day/time or whatever, actually following through and doing that. But still, I want freedom, complete freedom..

I know that one time I will probably have to settle down, but at this point in my life I am definitely not ready for that. During a chat with Wendy after the scripture class, she brought up the fact that the continual restlessness could be either me running away from things (which I have been accused of alot), or it could be a blessing and a gift. I'm not sure. Any thoughts???

life in suburbia

is very safe, sanitary and overly comfortable, I have noticed. ie. vaguely boring, if I am allowed to say that which i'm going to be indulgent in doing so since this is my blog and all... I went to a wedding over the weekend (the main reason why I had returned to Australia) and found it a bit disheartening in one sense as I watched the lack of mingling between different groups of guests. I don't mean to put any one down by any means, it was just an observation i made that people very much kept to their distinctive groups. Ther was no interaction at all, or attempts to meet people from other circles of life. Why are we such an inwardly looking society? I don't understand some of these things. But I doubt i particularly think (or act) in a 'normal' way of our society.

I find that insanely frustrating, how cliquey and exclusive people are. Me, well I feel a bit lost (as usual) trying to find where I belong (or most likely, don't) and am willing to chat with anyone and everyone. I realise that alot of people who are in these exclusive circles have no idea that they are being so exclusive, but sometimes I wish peoples' eyes could be opened and their "blinkers" as I put it, taken off. I feel for people when they are excluded from situations. There were 3 young adults at the wedding who I spoke to, who knew no one else because they were old family friends. I tried to include them as much as possible in the small dance circle where we met, but there is only so much that you can do.

Since I've been back in Australia, there have been a couple of random things that I've had to remind myself or check myself about. Simple things that most people wouldn't even take a second thought about. For example, the fact that toilet paper is in fact actually allowed to go inside the toilet (rather than in a bin next to it), that I can drink water straight from the tap (and shower) and that I should probably check the road BEFORE I cross it - rather than just crossing without looking.

I fear that I am going to be too blunt for society here, too open or abrupt or seem uncaring. I don't mean for that to be so. I think I've just gotten to a point where I'm happy to say pretty much anything to anyone without reservations (but I'm sure there is a limit to that). Some of the people I have been interacting with are rough characters and you just get used to it. We'll see how I go.

I've just looked back over some of my earlier entries where I mentioned some of my aims or hopes from travelling through asia. One of my major goals was to find some sort of conclusion towards what I want in life. I still don't know entirely what I want. I do know however that I love meeting and interacting with people, exploring new places and music. The last 2 months especially I have become more and more addicted to music, playing guitar and singing. I think I mentioned something briefly in my last blog how i was being approached on the beach every night by random people telling me I needed to do something with my music, recording. It is amazing how you can reach people through music. I am seriously addicted. I was going to bed between 4-6am every night in phi-phi islands and since getting back to australia I have been getting distracted in the exact same way by my 'real' guitar and playing playing playing until the early hours of the morning. Subsequently I have suffered a bit more jet-lag than I probably should have, as Thailand is only 3 hours difference to Australia! I do love music and wonder what I should do with this. I did make some contacts with people who want to record with me over there, and what people said to me reflected what other friends and family said to me before I left Australia. I guess it is another option of something I can branch off into. I just dont know if its the right one or not!!

"I just want God to move me, change me, grow me, make me more than what I am today. Somehow I think this might help." This was a sentance I wrote before i had left Australia. I can't say for sure how much I have changed, but I can tell that I have in at least some ways. I have become so much more sure of myself, more confident in letting others know that I am a christian and for standing up for my values, not letting people influence me in ways I don't agree with. This trip has definitely opened myself up to being more free in expressing my christianity which I think is a major bonus!



I got to go to church last night for the first time in 3 or 4 months which was great! Travis is an awesome speaker and easy to listen to. They were speaking on Exodus 3, the story of Moses and the burning bush. The point that most stood out to me however, was how often we need to act in faith before getting a sign of what we should be doing - stepping out in faith and God will confirm later that was what we were sposed to do, and if not, something else will eventuate. Other points that stood out to me were to not doubt the word of God, and not denying the abilities that God has given me.

All these points are quite relevent to me at the moment as I am at crossroads yet again. I am not a person to settle down, that is quite obvious and clear to both myself and others. I struggle being in one place for a long time. I was speaking with a friend from church last night about what my "plans" and where I was going to be over the next while and she told me straight out that I wouldn't stay (in the mountains that is). Right now I have many options or possibilities of what i should or could do and I am at a loss as to what to do with any of them, whether to branch out into music, get into a ministry in the backpacking scene(something I felt a definite call towards while I was away), return to vietnam to complete an internship at a dive centre I have contacts with (as I really really really loved diving) or to work full time in australia for a while. I'm not sure! But I do know that God will help me work it out and be there supporting me 100% of the way regardless of what I choose or what paths I take.

And my last day arrived :(

This sad to say, will be my last post from my trip here in south east asia. I am currently in Phuket wasting the next 10 hours or so until my flight. I thought it was either at 4, 6 or 8pm (and forgot to actually check) so caught a 9am ferry over this morning, when I could have easily caught the 2pm ferry and spent some more time on the beach! ah well. Its all good!

I'm heading back to Sydney tonight. I can't say that I'm particularly excited or looking forward to it... I am looking forward to my friends wedding and catching up with friends and family, but I have been really loving travelling and would like to continue doing so.... And once again over the past 4 days while at Phi Phi islands I got that same feeling/incentive like I should stay, that there is a definite ministry opportunity there amongst the travellers and other permanent/temporary residents on the island.

anyway, to recap the last few days......

Saturday I left KO Phangang (via multiple modes of transportation) at the early hours of 5:50am in a mini bus which took me about 2 minutes drive away to a truck taxi where another 3 people were waiting. The truck took us to the pier where we did the typical thai ticket shuffle. I seriously do not understand why the receipt you get from the travel agent is not sufficient to get you from your initial to your final destination. no. instead you swap that for additional tickets along the way which usually say the exact same thing! strange. got the freighter ferry to a town on the mainland where we piled off the ferry, waited in the sun for about 10 min then jumped on a coach bus that took us the 1 hour drive to surat-thani. My talent for being occasionally clumsy (and bruising like a peach) shone again when I slipped down the stairs climbing out of the bus and bashed my arm against the wall. We then waited at the next travel agent with our stickers indicating where our final destination is (I always lose mine though) for the next hour. A mini bus arrived and 3 of us headed to Krabi/Phi Phi jumped on board. It was a very cruisy and comfortable drive. I played guitar most of it, and slept the other half (or at least attempted to). We arrived in Krabi and then I had to wait an hour and a half for the ferry to get to Phi Phi islands. I was informed that we'd arrive at phi phi at 3pm, but that was actually the time that the ferry was going to leave. hmmm. ah well.

Made it to Phi Phi about 5pm, found myself some accommodation after a bit of wandering around and then hit the beach for some chill time. In the evening I happened to stumble past 2 of my old friends, Martin and Raphael from my vietnam days - the french boys who convinced me to buy a guitar!!! It was great to catch up with them. They were working at a cool chilled out roof-top bar called banana bar. Every night afterwards we would go and play guitar when the music stopped (after 1-2am) till the very early hours of the morning. I was really hoping to go diving, but had unfortunatly caught an ear infection while on Koh Tao, so was dosing myself up with antibiotics and ear drops in the hope that it would be clear by tuesday for a dive or 2.

Sunday
On the advice of one of the diving guys I'd chatted with the night before, I hired out a kayak at about 11:30 for 3 hours and took off for a solid 3 hours of kayaking. By the time I made it back to sure I was pretty much wrecked! I stopped off at Monkey beach to watch the monkeys for a while, have a bit of a swim and then cntinued going around the coast line which is all cliffs. It was quite rough at times and part of me was thinking that it probably wasn't the smartest move in the world as a) no one knew where I was if I went missing b) the people i hired the kayak from didn't know who I was! But I enjoyed getting out on the water and exploring. I actually went all the way up to the other end of the island (the end where phi phi lay of maya bay "the beach" is) before turning around. And I got to see a turtle!!! Not up close, but he was there about 20m away poking his head up for a bit which was cool.

In the afternoon I decided to go the opposite side of the island in the opposite direction with the aim of reaching Long beach. I happened to stop randomly on the side of one beach to take pictures of the boats in front of phi phi lay and who do i spy sitting on the beach? none other than Scott! So funny how we keep bumping into each other randomly. We went out for dinner with some other people he had met on the buses and ferries across from ko tao and all organised to go on a boat trip for the next day. At night I ended up playing guitar with my french friends till 6;30 in the morning... oops :)

Monday
After about 2 hours sleep I was up and at again to move rooms into a place sharing with scott so i had cheaper accommodation and he didn't have extremely bizarre habits of other dorm mates impacting his sleep and memory. The group of 6 of us started the boat trip around the two islands that comprise Phi Phi islands. A little hiccup to start with where our driver was pulling apart the engine but other wise no dramas - especially since he was smoking weed pretty much the entire time we were out on the water. We had been informed upon booking that we would get breakfast and lunch, but unfortunately all we got was a very small container of fried rice and some water. So I was pretty much starving hungry when I got back to land!! We stopped at monkey beach to watch the monkeys (obviously), at mosquito island to snorkel (and be stung by a jelly fish and bashed on the head accidently by the pole the rudder is attached to ) at Bamboo island (which ironically is covered in pine trees) to eat lunch and then Maya bay aka "The Beach" on Phi Phi Lay for a couple hours of snorkelling, exploring and chilling in the sun. It got quite rough at some stages while we were out on the water in the long-tail boat, then it rained a bit and we all got wet. The monsoon season is approaching which means that the seas are often a bit more choppy than normal.

At night we went out for dinner, had some good food and then headed to banana bar where we did our usual body painting (there are black lights everywhere which makes the paint glow in the dark), dancing and lounging about. The streets are emptying out quite quickly at the moment as most tourists head to Ko Phangang at the moment for the full moon party on the 28th. On Monday there were 2000 people that took off on the one boat with that destination in mind! I was provided with some education in more music styles and decided that I really like dancing to 'dubstep' an english style of music that is very distinctive. fun fun. :) "early night" whre i ended up getting to bed at about 3, as I was going diving in the morning - had decided my ear was well enough!

Tuesday
Up at 6;30 as I had booked into doing a wreck dive which left at 7am. Unfortunately no one else had booked in for the dive as well, so my other option was to join in on local dives at 9am. I went and had some breakfast on the beach and then chose that option. Both dives went well, not quite as clear as Koh Tao, but we still saw plenty of coral and fishes - a massive puffer fish that was at least half of me!! we saw some dolphins above the water at one stage as well (not while we dove though). Lunch was at Maya bay in between our dives and we were back at our island by 2;30. I went exploring the island to meet up with the group at long beach, which is an extremely nice beach. we chilled out there by the water until the sun set and headed back for food. Had a great night out, chilling, painting people (getting my face completely covered in paint), playing guitar and singing till the early hours of the morning (ie, not going to bed....)

Its been interesting, how I've felt really comfortable here on this island, similar to when I was at Vang Vieng. I've made some good contacts and gotten along with so many people here, and had a great time chilling, jamming and making music. I have had a lot of people tell me I need to do something with my music, start recording. So, I guess we will see what happens when I get back, what further opportunities arise there.

Wednesday.

So, that brings us to today and my final hours of my trip in south east asia, well at least for now.... :) I'm counting myself lucky and hoping nothing drastic happens over the next 24 hours. I have managed to survive the last 10 days with no major incidents occurring which has been good as my travel insurance ran out on the 18th and I forgot to extend it so have had no insurance if anything goes wrong...

I am yet to have any proper sleep as I stayed up all night last night (having woken up at 6:30 am yesterday), maybe a 20 minute doze on the ferry over but thats about it. hopefully that forces me to sleep on the plane. i really hope so. I can't sleep unless i'm flat horizontal usually. When I stopped playing guitar (about 5:50am) I went back to my room, had a shower and packed some of my stuff then went and woke up scott to go climb the view point and watch the sun "rise". Awesome, tough walk that just keeps going up and up and up. From the top it is very clear to see how and why the tsunam i in 2004 wiped out the place so badly. It was a bit cloudy so in reality we watched it get light, chatted and listened to some good tunes. It has been awesome seeing how we kept managing to bump into each other on the last few locations without any planning - just sheer coincidence and God at work!!! I've enjoyed our chats about christianity and beliefs and reaching out to people, its been great. That hour or two on top of the mountain was a great end to my days in thailand, and a really chilled out vibe that left me feeling happy and refreshed and ready for whatever adventures are coming my way from now on.

now all there is left to do is catch my plane tonight at 10:20.. (note to self I should REALLY check flight times before catching a flight). It is slightly amusing though when I think about it, as I was early to catch my flight over to vietnam and now i'm extremely early to catch my flight back to aus!

Diving and island adventures

Since leaving chiang Mai, I caught a plane down to Bangkok where I had an 8 hour layover before heading down to Surat Thani. During my layover, I headed back to Khao San road where I wandered around the markets for a little while and chilled out at an internet cafe.

I arrived at Surat Thani at approximately 7.30 at night, caught a bus to the pier where I bought a ticket for the night boat over to Ko Tao. The boat didn't leave until 11pm so I had ate some dinner at the markets by the pier and waited until then. The boat itself was an interesting experience. I didn't particularly sleep all that much - even though I was lying flat! Think it was because the "beds" were physically just too small for westerners to fit onto , definitely designed with the thai in mind! They were mats about 30-40cm wide all jammed up next to each other, and max only about 1.6m long so if you had your bag up the end (which most of us did) then you ended up having your feet hang off the edge. On the boat I was sleeping next to 2 girls who were travelling on their own as well.

We reached Ko Tao at 6am and caught a "taxi" to Sairee beach. A taxi in ko tao is either a) a ute with seats on the tray or b) a motorbike with a sort of attached side car thing to sit onto. We got to the beach where main town is and had to wait a while until the shops started to open which was abit after 8 or 9, so we had abit of breakfast at a cafe. After 8 we went to a dive shop that I had heard about that was open and 2 of us ended up joining PADI dive courses. With that, we ended up with a nice little package that involved us getting 5 nights of accommodation included at a beach front resort so that was a definite bonus as well!

So most of my time at Ko Tao was spent diving and a little bit of swimming on the side. Ko Tao is a definite diving island to go to if you like scuba! The water is crystal clear and lots and lots of colourful fish and aquatic life. I did my advanced diving while I was there which means I can now dive to 30metres. It was alot of fun, I got to dive through a cave at one of the dive sites we went to, also did a night dive where there were barracuda fish hunting and stingrays. I did one of my dives with an underwater camera that I borrowed so got some pretty cool photos from that dive.

I managed to meet up with Scott again a couple of times while I was in Ko tao which was nice. We had some good conversations about travelling and ministering to others as a christian, being a good influence and role model of sorts. On my last day in Ko Tao I had some free time in the afternoon (as I had completed an early morning dive from 6am) so decided to go and explore a bit of the island. I ended up going on a bit of a bush walk, starting from sairee beach over to the main pier then finding random tracks to go (the long way as it turned out) to another little beach that I had seen on the map. It took probably an hour and a half to get there, going up and down hills through the jungle. I spotted quite a few of these squirrel-type looking critters which were having fun jumping through all the trees.

On the way to the beach I walked around the edge of the island for a bit and there were some thai guys building new bungalows and various resorts in different levels of construction. It was interesting to note the difference in the construction of the resorts compared to the way that the locals themselves were actually living. For example there would be this really nice resort with all conveniences, everything fancy and out the back living in the dirt and hut would be the people who actually ran the place. Interesting to observe.

When I got to the beach I was pretty hot so jumped straight into the water, which in itself was surprising. The beach at Sairee only goes about mid-thigh deep during the day d yu can't go much further than that without stepping on the coral. This beach was significantly smaller and the coral went right up to the sand. I walked out carefully over some of it (avoiding all the sea cucumbers and rocks) and was amazed to be completely surrounded by fish of all kinds - zebra fish, parrot fish etc etc. They weren't shy at all and came right around me. One fish didn't seem to like me and would nip me a bit if I got too close!!

I left there in the late afternoon -obviously just in time as I arrived back a sairee beach just as the sun went down for a beautiful sunset. I took a different route this time which took 40 minutes. I also got the biggest fright I've had all trip as well! While I was walking down the path I turned a corner and there was a MASSIVE monitor lizard walking away from me the same direction was going along the road! It must have been at least 1m long, but probably more. It was huge! I immediately stopped and started digging in my bag to find my camera which was hiding down the bottom somewhere. The lizard continued to walk down the road and around the corner. I found the camera finally and kept walking but only managed to get a photo of the lizards' tail as he walked into the long grass by the path. My next challenge was to cautiously walk past, but I didn't know exactly where the lizard was and if he was dangerous or not! I slowly started to walk past and the grass all started moving in a frenzy so I got a bit of a fright from that thinking he was going to charge and attack me. That definitely got the adrenaline pumping!!

On Wednesday I packed up my bags quickly and caught an early boat across to Ko Phangan with Deborah one of the girls I had been sharing with. We found ourselves a nice hotel to stay at where met a group of Israeli boys who treated us to lunch before we all went to the beach. The beach at Haad Rin (sunrise) is really nice - this is the beach where the full-moon party is at every month. The beach is long, white soft sand and its deep so you can actually swim. The only thing it lacks is surf! That night was the half-moon party which is in the jungle. Went to that with Deborah, 3 of her friends and the israeli boys. The boys had bought paint at the 7/11 so we all painted each other up (turning into a painting fight) and caught a taxi to the jungle. It was pretty cool - lots of black lights which the paint glowed like neons from. We stayed out there till the early hours of the morning until we were tired of techno trance music and headed home. I'd managed to catch up with my Finnish friend Aku who I worked with during the day at Vang Vieng, but unfortunately didn't find him again at the party at night before he went to Nepal.

Thursday I spent most of the time around the beach and exploring some of the town. I went for a long walk and watched the sunset on sunset beach which was nice and then had dinner with the girls before hitting the beach for some partying. I find that I continue to surprise people with the fact that I can stay out so late at night dancing completely 100% sober. Last night was great - dancing at the beach with one bar having a massive foam machine going off so we danced in the foam and also in the ocean. Pretty much drenched all night but its not cold at night still so you wouldnt get sick!

Today the girls and I went on a boat trip which took us the whole way around the island, stopping off at various beaches along the way. It is a massive island!! We did a bit of snorkelling which went alright (considering I often don't cope well when snorkelling). Lots of friendly zebra fish. Not as nice or clear as Ko Tao, but still quite good.