Gideon op reis

Final posting

2008-10-08T16:52:00.001+07:00

Amsterdam I - 24th September 2008

I am now back home and won’t be seeing the girl again I mentioned in my previous post. Love comes and it is great when it does, but can also fade away and that’s what happened on her side. I have no regrets and would have done the same, even knowing this outcome. As they say: “Better to love, then never have loved at all”.

I have already been here now for three weeks and it is good to be back. I got to see family and friends which I had not seen for almost a year. As my own apartment is not vacated yet by my tenants, I am currently staying everywhere and anywhere, and seeing my friends and family at the same time. It is like making a full tour of Holland, going from the center to the west, all the way to the south and back north to Amsterdam. Seeing everybody is a bit weird, it has been over 11 months that I saw them the last time, but it also seems very recently. I guess mainstream lives do not change that much within a year. Everybody goes on with their normal activities, such as work, social life, and just going around with daily stuff. Regardless of this, it is great to reconnect and have them much closer with me then before.

In that sense, having been away for almost a year, life might not changed that much, but it is really up to what you make of it. These past 11 months have been a great experience. I am glad that I had decided to become a scuba diving instructor, rather than backpacking during such period. Initially staying at Koh Samui, where I did my training and made a home. After Koh Samui, I went for a month to Koh Tao, the island where all the diving takes place in the region. I finished up my training as part of my MSDT program and conducted several team-teaching courses together with some of the more experienced instructors. It enabled me to pick up a lot of experience and pick their brain for tips and tricks on how to conduct fun, easy and efficient courses. Obviously, being much closer to the dive sites, rather than spending two hours coming in on the ferry, was a great benefit as well.

In between, I got the opportunity to travel a little bit, with visits to Hong-Kong (amazing, crazy place) and do a live-aboard of a few days at the Similan Islands.

After that month, I flew to Sydney, Australia, to meet up with a very nice friend, Brenda, and to start my discovery of this huge continent all the way on the other side of the world. Seeing the great city of Sydney with bridge climbs, beaches, some salsa dancing, and spending much time on the West Coast of Australia and seeing other friends, has also been a great experience. Driving around in my camper van, was a lot of fun, but also at some point in time, boring. Luckily, I got to spend a few days at this station close to Ningaloo reef, together with this great Scottish girl, Jacqui, who is already considering going back to Oz, whilst she is back in Scotland now. Australia has been a great experience which I would not have liked to miss out on, but it has been a very dear undertaking. Maybe, somewhere in the future, I will visit again and see other parts of this huge continent with its great, tough, but harsh, and off course beautiful nature.

After two months, I returned once again to the island of Koh Thailand and do some serious teaching. As I had finished my MSDT training, I know had to go around to all the dive shops at the island. As it was just before the high season, business was initially slow, but it was good to make introductions with them. As the season picked up, I got to work with various dive schools and ended up working regularly for a few of them. I’m glad that I have reasonably good language capabilities and got to teach in pretty much all of them, including German, Fren-glish and Span-glish. Yes, although my proficiency in French and Spanish are not really up to a high standard, I was able to work around this. Students were using video and books in their native language, and I had the localized answers as well. In the end, the key thing is that they understand the theory, but most of all, learn and practice all the skills required for scuba diving in the water, where there is no need to speak!

All in all, I believe I certified over 50 people for various courses, but mainly people doing their open water PADI course. It was really great to see people with initially some fear and excitement for diving in the underwater world, becoming a really excited about that. Not all students which start at a course with me, we’re able to complete the course. This was a due to physical or mental problems. I had only a few students who got really scared, close to panic sometimes, while being on the water, but I managed to handle them okay. The situations got a bit anxious and I’m glad I was able to keep my cool and keep control of the situation, which could be potentially dangerous and even life threatening. After all, when you are at 10 m deep, bulging for the surface at high ascent rate is not a healthy option.

I met some great people and made some great friendships of which I hope several will last beyond this period!

Amsterdam II - 2nd October 2008

Since the beginning of this week, I am finally staying again in my own apartment in Amsterdam. The handover with the tenants took a day longer than originally planned, but was relatively easy to do. The apartment is in a pretty good state, and could have been much worse. I still need to do some stuff, like maintaining the wooden floor, but should be easy, as I have not put all my stuff back in the house, so plenty of space to work with.

Thanks so much to everyone who let me stay at their homes, while I had to wait until my home became available again!

Walking around in my home, with so much space, an excellent bathroom and kitchen and my own bed, is strange, but feels really good. It does feel like home already, and will become more and more in due course.

As I will be making my apartment my home even further, I am still looking for a job. There are some good opportunities out there, but I want to make sure that my new position will be something I want to do for a longer time. I have good confidence that I will succeed in finding it pretty soon!

This post is the final post for this blog. I want to thank everybody for reading it and your nice and sweet responses.

Take care!

G.

Koh Tao 3

2008-08-24T13:56:00.002+07:00

Koh Tao is enjoying one of the busiest times of the year, now that various countries in Europe are enjoying their holidays. As a result, I have been able to teach quite a lot these past weeks. My efforts to talk to various diving schools, which I called doing some business development (LOL) have resulted in working for a few of them and even had to turn down others because I was already teaching with another one.

I got the chance to see how different schools operate and also gain a lot of experience in teaching scuba diving. I am now a Master Scuba Dive Trainer (MSDT) which requires a certain number of certifications of students and being certified as a specialty instructor which I am in several ones. To become a MSDT was my diving objective when I started out this adventure, so that’s another tick in the box.

Now, only one week left on Koh Tao before I make my way back to The Netherlands, it all seems to have gone by rather quickly. Don’t worry, I am not yet reflecting on these past 11 months; will do that some time later. ;-) I guess remembering all the things which happened during these period seems always a bit difficult and making these time to seem rather short. For now, I can already say that this year has brought me many things and I am not only talking about the chance to get to dive so much. Personally, it helped me to get a better understanding of my life and what I want. And that has become much simpler and easier.

However, Koh Tao brought me something more as well which was totally unexpected. My neighbors at the time where I live where organizing a diner party for friends they had met on the island. As James & Emily are an Italian-Canadian couple, pasta was obviously the choice of food and in this case, home-cooked pasta! It had been a long time I had eaten it. Anyway, they had invited several people from yoga, diving and other occasions where they had met people. Early in the evening, a friend of theirs had just returned from staying in Krabi and came to the party as well, the same day as she had arrived. When she entered, I was stunned by how she looked and who she was. I was immediately very interested in her and wanted to get to know her. Apparently, she had the same feeling about me as well. As from the first moment we hit it of with each other. We got to talk to each other and had a great evening together and with everyone else. In the end, Sophie, as her name is, spent the rest of her holiday with me and we had the greatest time. We developed these great feeling for each other in a very short time and it was very sad to see her go home.

However, we want to see each other again, so I changed my return plans and come back to NL a bit earlier. I will be spending about a week back home getting things organized, but after that, I will see her again. We are both very exited about that and want to see of our feelings, despite the short time we spent together. are still there and then who knows…

Right now, I am so exited about seeing everyone back home and spend face and quality time together. It will be great! I also have been working in the meantime on finding a job. Yes, I will stow away my diving gear for professional use and find something else to do in NL. I already have several options including interviews lined up when I am back. But before I get to those, I will have 2 relaxing days in Samui, fly directly from there via Bangkok to Düsseldorf, get the train to Utrecht and stay with Patrick and his family, so I will be finally back on the 3rd of September!

I cannot wait to see you all!

Big hug,
g.

Koh Tao II

2008-06-17T08:33:00.002+07:00

As it turned out, my wound got infected after all and with the climate in Thailand, I had no other option then to take anti-biotic pills to stop the inflammation. It also meant that I could not go into the water for several days more.

It was also good to see my friends again on Samui, so that was very nice. I just was able to catch up with 2 of them, Bas and Simon, who were about to leave for the Perenthian Islands, off the coast of Malaysia, where they would teach. I pondered if I would go that way later on, but for now I wanted to go to Koh Tao. It was very good to see them though.

After about a week, I made my way to Koh Tao, taking the Lomprayha catamaran ferry this time, as I had been plenty of times on the Seatran ferry, as part of my diving whilst living on Koh Samui. A relaxing journey, while sitting on the front of the boat in the sun, brought me back to the Turtle Island, as Koh Tao translates from Thai.

At Planet Scuba, where I was to finish up my MSDT, I met up again with my friends on Koh Tao, and it was great to see them again too. It is great to have friends in various locations!

I initially got a room at the same place where I stayed on KT the first time, but I now have moved to another, nicer location. This time, I got a bigger room and a large balcony from which I can see the sea partially. Also my Dutch friends Shirley and Ties live in one of the apartments, so that is good fun too.

The wind has turned in this part of the world, coming from the West instead of the East, resulting in less waves usually. It is supposed to be a great time of the year with sunshine and the occasional rain shower. The west-side of Thailand with Pucket has got now its off season with the monsoon rains coming in from the Indian Ocean. However, after some warm and humid days, I rained quite a bit with overcast skies and waves. I was able to dive again, despite the fact that my wound is not fully healed yet, but as such the diving at the various sites is less good with not so good visibility.

There aren’t that many tourists yet on the island, but all should get better after the full moon of the 18th of June and all the way through July and August. By that time, I will need to do a visa run to extend my stay in Thailand. If I will stay here is then to be seen. It is still quite some time away.

Apart from diving, I have made another investment in myself and have taken up yoga which is absolutely great. The last several years, my body has tensed up more and more, possibly due to age (LOL), less sports activities, driving cars and working in an office possibly. There are almost daily 2-hour sessions at this amazing location with fun, but tough exercises in a great atmosphere. After only doing this for 10 days or so, I already feel my body loosening and opening up. Hopefully, this will bring me more relaxation and physical well-being. If all goes well, I will most definitively continue this when I get back to Amsterdam.

Yes, I have made a decision and am planning to stay in Amsterdam for a while, with no immediate plans to go to some other place in the world. I will move back into my own apartment and need to find a new job. As it seems, that should not be a big problem, as I even got a call from a Dutch headhunter on my Thai mobile asking if I was interested in a position at some company!

So, dear friends and family, I will return the end of September to The Netherlands for an indefinite time and am already looking forward seeing you all again!

Doei, doei!
g.

Goodbye to Oz, hello to Thailand (again)

2008-05-27T10:51:00.001+07:00

After a smooth handover of the van, I had a full day to get all my pictures uploaded to the internet. The upload speed was the best I had so far, so you should be able to see all my pictures online now. It might seem quite a lot of pictures, as I also use the internet as a backup. As you can see, I use Picasa and increased my available disk space to 10 GB total for only US$20 per year. With the current exchange rate, a steal for having it as a way to show my pictures and as a backup!

I rented a car to get to Dunsborough again, to see Nicole & Co a last time before returning to Thailand. After all, I don’t know when I will see them again, although they have some vague plans of coming over to The Netherlands and show her little strawberry to her family and friends. It was really nice to see hear again. The weather was very wet and much colder and with no central heating in buildings, quite chilly.

On the 23rd, I left Dunsborough very early for Perth, as I had to return the rental car at noon at the airport. After a smooth 3½ hour drive, I was on time, but had to wait for another 8 hours at the airport before my flight would depart. I could of course have gone later and extended my rental, but it was okay to stay out there for that time. Tiger Airways had several options to limit cost for excess baggage, such as a sports equipment option and pre-pay further excess baggage, so that was not too painful.

I arrived in the middle of the night in Singapore, where I had to wait again several hours for my connecting flight to Phuket. And in Phuket, I would have to wait again several hours for flying to Samui. It was okay to travel so extensively, as it was the cheapest option and I was in now hurry.

So, after a total of 36 hours of travel, I got back to Koh Samui and it feels good to be here. Leaving Oz and be back to this island does feel a bit like going home. I will be staying here for a few days to sort out some business and I already got my stitches in my leg removed. It will take several days before I can jump into the water again. That is fine, as it is currently very quite down here. I am now thinking of moving to Koh Tao by the end of the week, so keep an eye out for further postings from Samui or Tao!

Sawadee Krab!

Road Trip III

2008-05-19T09:22:00.004+07:00

Snorkeling with Manta Ray, Coral Bay

I had seen a manta ray before. Only once, when I was at a liveaboard in the Similan Islands, Thailand. It was a beautiful site, to see such a graceful and large animal glide through the water. And now, I was looking forward to see it for the second time.

Our boat took us to the inner reef, just North of Coral Bay. Soon, the spotter plane was up in the air, on the look-out for these gentle creatures. After we did a bit of snorkeling to test the water entry in 2 groups, we had to wait until the pilot would see one from the air. And we were in luck! Close-by, a manta ray was cruising from shore to the reef at a steady pace and in a clear pattern. We all got ready to enter the water to see it with our own eyes. As the pictures on Picasa show, the water was murky, due to the strong winds which had stirred up the sandy bottom, but we were able to see it. Regulations state that we had to keep a certain distance and not disturb the animal, but I got quite close, as close as it was allowed. For some time it swam along the bottom below us, but several times it came up all the way to the surface. It was a magnificent site to see it glide through the water so effortlessly, while we had to snorkel at full speed.

After the snorkeling, I went for a dive on the reef. It felt great to be in the water again with diving gear. I feel now much more comfortable in the water diving, compared to snorkeling. I saw a turtle again and several sharks. Great to see these animals in their natural habitat.

After this water adventure, I drove up to Exmouth, a few hundred kilometers North of Coral Bay

Diving @ the Navy Pier, Exmouth

Exmouth is a very popular destination, due to the vicinity of a national park, the Ningaloo reef and therefore great snorkeling, diving and surfing. My reason for going to Exmouth was to go diving at the Navy Pier, supposedly one of the best dive sites in the world. The Navy Pier is, as it says, a mooring point for military purposes. It was built by the Americans for transporting all materials for their ultra-low bandwidth radio station which is one of three they use for communicating with their submarines. As it is a military installation, no mooring of private boats is allowed nor fishing. As a result, marine life is available in abundance.

Between the pylons, large schools of fish can be found, Sometimes in such great numbers, you almost need to push them aside to make your way through the water, resulting in very nice pictures where the light from above shines through the pylon and the school of fish. Many creatures are there to be found, such as box fish, frog fish, moray eel, trompet fish and others. Also various sharks can be seen. The white tip reef sharks were just resting on the bottom. I got so close as to be able to touch their tale, after which they swam away. No, they don’t attack you. All the fish were quite docile and easy to approach. Some giant cod fish were observing us as much as we did with them.

The pictures are only a limited reflection of this great dive!

Warroora Station

Warroora Station, Oz

I had decided in Exmouth not to drive up to Broome and cancel my trip to the East coast. It is much more a party area and very touristy. Also, Australia has proven not to be my worst case budget scenario, but my worst, worst, worst case scenario, so money-wise it is a better decision. I have decided to return earlier to Thailand and work there a month longer. My return flight to The Netherlands (via Düsseldorf, Germany) is still set on 22nd of September.

After Exmouth, I drove back South again, as I wanted to go to Warroora Station, located just South of Coral Bay. I had to go back as it was the best thing to do time-wise. My friend from Koh Tao, Jacqui, is working over there, and I wanted to visit her. Obviously, the best time would be when she would have time off, hence the detour.

Warroora station is a relative small station of approximately 50 x 35 km (about the size of the province of Utrecht (?) but with hardly any people living there), located along the coast, South of Coral Bay. It is a typical Australian station with wild bush land, sheep and some cattle, run by a great family. It is not only a farm station, but tourists can enter it for going to the coast and camp right at the beach and fish, all for a small fee. The landscape is absolutely beautiful and the sunsets gorgeous. The pictures give an impression of it. As the buildings of the homestead are located far from other sources of light, the stars and the Milky Way are incredibly clear to see.

The beaches are also magnificent and usually completely deserted. Kangaroos and emus can be found walking around, usually around dawn and dusk, when it gets cooler.

I also had to go back to Coral Bay one day, to go on my second (free of charge) attempt seeing a whaleshark. Again, I saw several people throwing up on the side of the boat as they were seasick, but again no whaleshark. I did see a Minke whale. Apparently, it was not meant to be for me to see a whaleshark. Hopefully, they might be still around Koh Tao when I go over there.

Jacqui works over there as a temporary hand, currently mainly in helping to build the fence of barb wire right next to the highway. This needs to be done, so there will be little chance of cattle crossing the road and causing an accident with possible fatale ending for both people and animal. With temperatures of over 35 C during the day and lots of flies around to buzz around your eyes and ears, this is not always a lot of fun. I went out with her and her boss, Marty, to check it out what they were doing, shoot some pictures and give a little bit of help. Unfortunately, this help resulted in a nasty cut when the barb wire cut across my skin in my lower right leg, as the pictures show. The nurse in Coral Bay did some thorough stitching with 5 of them in total, so I will also have a Ozzy tattoo. As a result, I could not do much walking for a few days and we therefore watched almost the complete first season of ‘Heroes’ on DVD which I had brought with me from Thailand. And now, we are both very much hooked on this series! :-)

I had a great time on Warroora station, most probably one of the best times in Oz. As such, I decided to stay a few days longer and drive the van back to Perth in two days.

Before that, I got bogged once with the car and had to be towed out. Also, we tried a bit of beach fishing Ozzy style - casting the rod and sit down and wait, while drinking a beer, we watched breath-taking sunsets and lighting a camp fire, barbecued on the fire and drank some beer and Margaret River champagne. Also not to forget, drinking some shots called ‘Mad Dogs’ as Jacqui had learned from some Polish guests who were staying there the week before. These shots comprise of ¾ part of vodka, ¼ part of raspberry syrup and 3 drops of tabasco and taste absolutely fabulous, apart from looking great in a picture!!! ;-)

On Saturday morning, I packed up my stuff and made my way back to Perth, driving for 2 days. I am glad that I have got my ipod and FM transmitter with me, so I could listen to my own music on this long drive. On the way South, I came across some special transports going North, delivering giant vehicles and vehicle parts for the mining industry. Some of these, took up the whole width of the road, so we were forced to stop and wait on the shoulder of the road until this impressive transport had passed.

I also got pulled over by Australian police, who wanted to check if my van was in good order, as they had seen several (wicked) camper vans before who were in less good condition. As mine is a fairly new one (2007 model), I had no problems, but gained an extra paragraph of text for my blog. ;-)

End of road trip

I arrived in Perth today, Sunday 18th. I am staying again in the YHA, this time for 2 days. Tomorrow, I will return my camper van. I have to say, a next time, I might consider renting from another company such as Britz, as they seem to have better equipped vans for the same price, as learned when talking to fellow travelers.

Also, tomorrow I will upload as many pictures as possible, as I can have access to some decent internet speed. On the 20th, I will rent another car and go to Dunsborough again and see Nicole again for 2 days. After all, I will leave Oz after this and I don’t know when I will see her again.

See'ya, maties!

Road trip II

2008-05-08T12:33:00.001+07:00

28th of April

Tonight will be my last night in Kalbarri town which is (logically) located in Kalbarri National Park. You might already have seen the pictures I took and posted on my picasa photo website, but things have been pretty tranquil down here. Friday was ANZAC day, a public holiday for all Aussies. A lot of them went out in the country, so this and the earlier camping sites were busy, but everything has become a lot quieter. I expect it to be like that the further I go North, as the Australian school holiday has ended as well.

Kalbarri National Park is approximately 120.000 km2 and it takes over 60 km just getting from the highway to Kalbarri town. It mainly consists of bushland and some nice river areas as you can see in the pictures. The special thing about it, is that a major part of the river runs underground, thus preventing the water from evaporating and provide fresh water to the people how live in this dry land. However, today was not so dry as it has been raining on and off. Apart from a slight drizzle several weeks ago apparently, they had not had any rain for months. It was therefore very much welcomed by the local people. You don’t see it that often back home that people have big smiles on their faces when it rains!

The national park has some stunning views with nature looking at its best in a dry area. However some local fauna can be very annoying, such as the many flies which keep on buzzing around your eyes and ears. I resorted to buying a head fly net and a hat, so the flies can not bother me around the head so much anymore. It might look a bit silly, but is very effective! Luckily, they all disappear during the night and hardly any mosquitos are present on the camping site.

I had a in total 3 nights here and took my time to see the national park, watch a Aussie footy game in the local pub and just chilled out while meeting various people as well. Almost every traveller I meet is slowly making his or her way up North. Some also up to Broome, other go beyond that to Darwin and even after that go to the East coast or straight down through the middle to Alice Springs and Adelaide. I already saw some these people at earlier camp sites and will probably see some later on again!

Tomorrow, I will have a long stretch to drive; all the way to Denham, in total about 400 km. I will try to make an early start, so can spend some time on the journey seeing some interesting sites. I am planning to make a stop at the Principality of Hutt River, which is a very small state of a disgruntled farmer who was appalled by new government quotas o wheat production and seceded from Australia in 1970. The government has tried to overturn it, but failed so far. Yes, Australia is therefore not a single country continent. It is suppose to be some sort of attraction, so I’ll see what it is about.

Also, after the exit from the highway to Denham, I will pass the stromatolites, only one of four locations where these pre-historic organisms can be viewed. More on that hopefully later on.

Denham is very close to Monkey Mia, where wild dolphins can be closely observed during feeding, so should be very nice. Also, it has also parts of the Ningaloo Reef, so am planning to do some snorkeling and possibly some diving as well.

29th of April

I arrived today in the small village of Denham, named after an English naval officer. It is a town with gone glory, as the pearl fishing is not there anymore. It is now within the Shark Bay National Park which is a world heritage site. This is due to its unique nature of hyper-salin bay with the Stromatolites as mentioned before, its intersection of tropical and desert-like environment and its unique seagrass beds, the largest in the world.

On the way driving up, I did not see the sign or anything for the principality, so had to miss out on that one. Would have been nice to exit and enter Oz just briefly within this continent! ;-)

Also, due to the heavy rainfall of the last few days, the road to the stromatolites was closed and might only be reopened again in 2 days or even later. What I did see, was another special site, called Shell Beach. These shells have adopted to the higher levels of salt in the bay area and have washed up to shore thousands of years. This has resulted in an unique beach of shells - as the name says! The water is about 1.5 times salter than normal ocean water, so when taking a jump into the water, it was very easy to float! The shells have been used for building houses, as the example of a wall on one of my pictures shows. This picture was taken in the Denham information center where an excellent exhibition of the Shark Bay area is on display. I went there this afternoon.

I am planning to go to Monkey Mia tomorrow and leave the day after, after the feeding of the dolphins. Hopefully, the road to the stromatolites will be open again so I can check these out as well!

Monday 5th of May

As you can see, it has been almost a week since I wrote the earlier paragraphs. It has been a busy time with driving around, seeing and doing nice things and also spending time with friends I made while traveling. Many people follow the same route up North (or South), so I saw several people at the various camp sites and locations. There are all sorts of people, like the young backpackers using a second-hand station wagon or campervan to drive around Oz, or the senior couples, taking a few months off to do the same. As you can see, Oz is for the young and elderly! ;-) (What makes that me then…?)

I went to Monkey Mia and was able to see the last feeding of the wild dolphins of the day. They are only fed a small portion of their daily feeding requirement, so they are not depending on it and loose their natural hunting skills and behavior. I was very lucky to be chosen to feed a fish to one of them, so got to see it very close. Seeing these amazing mammals so close, is an incredible experience! I was wondering who was checking out who, when they were swimming by and rolling over a bit so they could have look at all those humans with their digital cameras!

For the afternoon, I had booked an indigenous walk of a few kilometers with Daren ‘Capes” Darewell, a native aboriginal and ex-Aussie football player. He is quite a character. He took us (the group) just around the area of Monkey Mia and explained what the area means to the local aboriginals and the names for it. He also told us to listen to the land as it talks to you, and that you should introduce yourself when entering new land as you are a visitor. He showed us ‘bush-tucker’ food from the land, which was surprisingly widely available in an area that looks like a harsh and desert-like area. We tasted various fruits including bush bananas and nuts. It was amazing what you could hear, see and find when you now what to look for. Very interesting and I can recommend it to anyone to try it, should you have the opportunity!
The next day, I left Monkey Mia to make my way up to Coral Bay with a stop-over in Carnarvon, where I could do some last-time decent shopping as that is only limited available further up North. I did pass the stromatolites, but the road was still closed, so had to miss out on these unfortunately.

I have plenty of storage area in the van under the bed, so got a decent supply of pasta sauces, soup and other stuff, including some drinks to take to my friend Jacqui, who is currently working at a station near Coral Bay. As that is located in the middle of nowhere, I have to bring all of my own food, before going over. As she has only time off on the weekend, time wise it made sense to first go to Coral Bay and Exmouth and then drive back South again for approximately 200 km to go and see her for a couple of days. Although it will mean extra driving, it is not that bad, as I would have had to drive a bit South as well, if I would have stayed in Exmouth. Anyway, that is for some time later.

While I was in Carnarvon, I did some local relaxing stuff as well; I went to a local plantation to hear about their produce and try some delicious home-made dips and jams, had a drinks at a very nice cafe right within a plantation along the banks of the river and went to see to blowholes at the coast, which are a spectacular site to see and hear!

Coral Bay is, as it names says, located on a bay, right at the Southern End of the Ningaloo reef and only a few hours driving from Carnarvon. Ningaloo Reef might not be as widely known as the Great Barrier Geef, but it is the biggest reef that close to a shore in the world. Basically, you can just walk of the beach, swim 50 meters and snorkel with the current to see some very nice corals and wildlife. And that is exactly what I did. The water is also warmer then further down South (26 C), so that makes the snorkeling more comfortable. You can see a lot of hard coral and various reef fish. I even got to see an reef octopus and a juvenile white tip shark.

Today, I had planned to take the snorkeling a step further by going on a whaleshark snorkeling tour. This is quite an expensive thing to do, but suppose to be worth it (you get a discount if you are a YHA -Youth Hostal Australia - member). They take you out on a boat, outside of the outer reef and get assistance from a spotter plan, who will look for a whaleshark. By the way, yes, these creatures are sharks and are the biggest fish in the world (max 18 meters), but are absolutely harmless as they mainly feed on plankton and like small sea food.
So, we took of in the morning for our tour and had practice snorkel on how to enter the water once we get to a whaleshark. When we got out on the ocean we had to wait quite some time before the airplane spotted one. It was then time to get there as fast as possble, before the other boats did. We all got ready to jump in, in groups of max 10 people, when the whaleshark went to dive deep again. They can stay at the surface for a long time if they want to feed, but obviously can also decide to go again. After all, these are wild animals. It did not come up again, so we were unlucky with this one. Later, they airplane spotted another one, but it turned out to be a manta ray, so we did not go in the water again. In the end, we did not get to see any and returned back to the dock, after another free snorkel dive. There, I got to see some green turtles and again some sharks, 2 white tips again and a normal reef shark. Very nice, despite the disappointment of not having seen a whaleshark. Back at the shop, we all got vouchers to make it up on another day for free and I will be doing that next Tuesday, when I leave Warroora station and before making my way further up North to final stop of this road trip, Broome. Tomorrow however, I will go snorkeling with the manta rays and make 2 local scuba dives, so hopefully, they will be there to watch!

Road Trip

2008-04-23T14:44:00.012+07:00

21st of April

As from today, I am traveling along the West coast of Australia, from Perth in the Southwest to Broome in the Northwest. Yep, this is indeed a road trip which is to last for about 1 month. This morning, I checked out of the YHA in Perth and will catch a plane from Broome to Brisbane on the 19th of May. The period between these dates will be marked by making slow progress up North in my new temporary home, my wicked campervan!

From Road trip Per...

I went down to the depot this morning to collect my vehicle. As you can see, it is paint-brushed on all sides and in this case the name of the van is ‘Metallica’, after the metal rock band. And this is a type of music which I absolutely don’t like, so I am not sure if it will be a bad relationship between me and the car, but we’ll see. I almost forgot my groceries from the hostel, as I had done in Sydney (yes Bren, I did, including the bottle of wine…), but obviously I could turn around and collect them after all.

The drive today was very relaxing, through the suburbs of Perth, along the coast. I am now in the small town of Lancelin (population 800 according to Lonely Planet), where I have found a spot at the local caravan park. Luckily, it is still dry after strong rainfall the past 2 days. Hopefully it will stay this way, so I can enjoy a relaxed, although a bit chilly, evening outside of the van. The park is really close to the sea and I can smell it in the air. Its good to be staying outside for a while, as I had enough of the city by now. Especially last night was not a good one, with people heavily snoring in my room. Apart from the train tracks running along the YHA building, even my ear plugs could not prevent me hearing that ‘tree-cutting’ sound. I believe a whole forest was timbered last night. Anyway, apart from that, it feels good to have a bit of privacy again, all may it be a very small space and sleep calmly with the sound of rolling waves in the background.

Right now, I have to start cooking on a single fire, truly like camping which I have not done since the age of 10 or so. It’s going to be some nice pasta with cucumber salad, so not too bad!

22nd of April

My journey continued to the area of the town of Cervantes, close to the Nambung National Park with the famous Pinnacles. These are limestone rocks, shaped by nature over a very long time. The area where the Pinnacles are, is actually a desert. It is possible to travel through the park by car or you can go by foot, as the path is only 3 km longs. The site of the Pinnacles is amazing. Seeing just a bunch of rocks together might not mean much, but the combination of shaping, the yellow/ red sand, the plants who are trying to survive in such a harsh environment and the quietness, make it a very nice place to visit.

The crowds were thin, so I could really absorb the landscape and its magnificent natural sculpturing. In that respect, having left Perth behind now for only a few hundred kilometers, the vastness and ‘emptiness’ of this continent is enormous. I am traveling along the coastal area which is supposed to be the more densely populated region, but already long stretches of land as far as the eye can see are in view. Also roads have become quieter as well, making it easy to cruise in a relaxed pace along my route.

I have not determined the route in detail, but will do so as I move along. As said, I only need to be in Broome by the 19th of May, so plenty of time to cover the 2200+ kilometers from Perth. I am considering making a detour to the East and see some of the mining area. However, I have been warned today that this region (Mount Franklin) might be dangerous due to Aboriginal upheaval. Unfortunately, such issues still occur in Australia. I will try to find out more when I get to Geralton, the town where I will be traveling to tomorrow.

For now, I have made camp at the local caravan of Cervantes and had a nice diner with cray fish, fresh from the sea.

23rd of April

I packed up this morning, after a relaxing night of sleeping. I did wake up of the heavy rainfall, which was good. Good, as it is such for the land after a dry summer and also because it is during the night, so I won’t have any rain during the day!

Fortunately, there was little rain during my drive up to Geraldton WA, where I am now. It is a town of about 44,000 when including a close-by village, so a decent size for this region. They also have internet, so am now able to upload this post and some more pictures. It has been really worthwhile driving at a moderate pace, so I could really take in the stunning countryside. The pictures only do it partially justice.

It already seems quite a while ago that I left Perth, but it has only been 2 days. Being out here in nature and relaxed areas really is really nice. It is still a long way to Broome, but I have got so much time, that I don’t need to worry about getting there in time. I will have plenty of opportunity to fully enjoy Australia’s natural parks and wonders. Not going to Mount Franklin has given me some extra days. I might see some of the mining region further up North, south of the towns of Karratha and Port Hedland, half-way Exmouth to Broome.

But for now, there is still plenty of beautiful stuff to see ahead; Kalbarri National Park, Stromatolites and wild dolphins and more at Shark Bay Marine Park and off course hopefully, whale sharks, manta rays, dugongs and beautiful fish and reefs at Exmouth/ Ningaloo Marine Park. I will also see my friend Jacqui just South of Exmouth, where she is enjoying her working holiday at Warroora station.

So, plenty of more posts and pictures to follow!

See’ya, maties!

Perth WA, Australia

2008-04-17T14:30:00.006+07:00

I am currently in Perth, Western Australia and checked in the local hostel yesterday. As Perth is currently very busy, I was unable to find some cheap accommodation the day before. In the end, the next cheapest, believe it our not, was at the 5-star Hilton hotel, which was offering a Friday night special at a very low rate on a very good website www.wotif.com. So quite a big change yesterday - from 5-star hotel to budget hostel. It is fine, although I must say that I very much enjoyed my stay at the Hilton in terms of sleeping. On the other hand, the YHA (youth hostel australia) is much more down to earth and there is much more interaction with other people, but the sleeping is much less with several people in one room. Anyway, this is going to be my home for just over a week, as I am waiting for my campervan to become available, and a special van it is! Check out www.wickedcampers.com.au on the web. It comes with everything included, so should be good. Will tell you all about it when I am on the road. I have never done such a road trip before, so am excited about it. Should be okay though, another new experience!

I rented a bicycle as another means of transportation for checking out the city. They have an excellent city center bus system which is free to use. You can just hop on and off where you like along the route, e.g. to Northbridge, an area just north of the Perth City train station where you can find lots of bars and restaurants. I used that system for going out and having some diner. But today I went on a cycle tour, from the city to the City Beach to be exact. As only a few Ozzies cycle, there are few dedicated bicycle pathways. To overcome that, you are allowed to bike on the street, these dedicated pathways, on shared pedestrian & bicycle pathways and even just on the pedestrian footpath. Can you imagine that being able to do in Amsterdam? People would go crazy and very angry. Another thing you need to do down here is where a helmet, or risk a AU$ 50 fine. With the strong sunshine, it is actually comfortable to wear one, so no complaints there.

Today I went on a suggested cycling tour, the so-called City to Beach tour. It would take me from the Perth City train station all the way to the west, to the City Beach. There are various beaches, but this one is the closest. As it was another lovely day with lots of sunshine and temperature around 30 C, it was great to do this tour. Soon after departure, I found myself in some lovely suburbs of western Perth, with low traffic and lots of green and beautiful houses. There are good markings for the route and the Ozzies are very cautious about traffic, e.g. everywhere there are signs like “end” for end of the pathway when you cross a road, with another sign marking the beginning of it. Another example are the stickers on the traffic lights for pedestrians. They state that you should not cross when the light is red, cross with green but be very cautious and do not start to cross when the red light is blinking. I must say, there is quite a bit of traffic, but not as aggressive as it sometimes can be in NL.

The beach itself was very nice with a nice breeze coming from the sea. I decided not to stay too long and go back, probably jumping on the bus or train if I did not want to cycle all the way back. Not having cycled for 6 months much, does have an impact on my cycle fitness! ;-) I rode the same route back and came through the suburb of Subiaco. It is also the location of the local Australian Football teams. Apparently, this day a big game was on were Freemantle (port of Perth) was playing Richmond.

I decided to grasp this unique opportunity to see this typical Australia-only sport and bought a ticket. I found myself surrounded by season ticket holders of Freemantle. Luckily I was wearing a purple T-shirt, the same colours as their team. Seriously, they were quite fanatic, but without any verbal abuse. Actually, one of them was spoken to when he used the ‘b$st$rd’ word when shouting at a player, not to use strong language and he apologized! Can you imagine that happening in the football stadium back in Europe? However, I could appreciate his frustration as his team lost almost with double figures, even though there had been considered to be favorite for this game. I am not going to explain the rules, as I hardly know them myself, but enough to understand the scoring.

On Monday, I went fun diving at Rottnest Island, ‘Rotto’ as it is called locally, just off the coast. I had booked 2 fun dives and had a great time. There were few people on the boat and the water was a bit warmer again, around 24 C. I made all sorts of pictures which you can check out by clicking the picture below.

Fun diving @ Rottnest Island, WA

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I had rented the bike for another day and decided to take a tour around the Swan river, going from the city center, along the south bank, all the way around to the west side of the city center. As it was again a lovely day, it was a really relaxing ride along the banks of the river Swan. The river was named by the Dutch, William de Vlamingh, who were one of the first westerners to arrive here when crossing from ‘Kaap de Goede Hoop’ (South Africa) due West to short-cut the route the East-Indies (Indonesia). That is why you find some Dutch name around, like Cape Leeuwin and the river Swan. One of the parks on the South bank is an heritage park, with all sorts of historical items, such as a statue of William - revealed by Willem-Alexander van Oranje, back in 1997.

I also went to the Mint of Perth, one of the leading Mints in the world regarding processing precious metals. They have all sorts of jewelry there, but I was much more interested in seeing the gold nuggets and the story behind them. These guys in the old days really suffered some hardship in search of fortune and only a few succeeded. There was also a demonstration of gold melting and pouring with explanation of the unique characteristics of gold, e.g. the gold bar being poured was the same one for over 10 years, every day being melted, poured and cooled down without the gold loosing any of its uniqueness. This is unlike e.g. metal which can only be processed as such a couple of times before changing its characteristics.

Last night and today it is raining since a long while in Perth. The Southwest already had lots of rain showers and still have, but Perth had been dry until last night. I am just chillin’ out and waiting for my camper van to become avaiable! So for now, relax, don’t stress and enjoy the start of Spring in the Northern hemisphere! ;-)

see’ya, mates!

Southwest Western Australia

2008-04-07T18:00:00.003+07:00

I flew down from Sydney to Perth to see another friend of mine, Nicole. She lives down there with her Ozzie boyfriend and her newly-born baby girl, Annabella. I had not seen her for over 8 months, so was quite excited to see her again.

The journey by plane was a bit cumbersome as my initial direct flight was changed into a stop-over in Melbourne. It meant a very early start of the day as well. We left with quite a delay due to high winds and arrived in Melbourne right on the moment my connecting flight left. Luckily, there was another flight later that day, so we all (all passengers connecting to Perth) got transfered onto that one. While waiting at the airport, I wanted something to eat and went down to the Boost Juice bar store. They have some excellent fruit juices and smoothies, but don’t take the Mediterranean pasta salad! It was absolutely tasteless and I ended up getting my money back for it.

Anyway, the flight to Perth was smooth and easy although quite long. I truly experienced the vastness of this country which is huge! Perth was nice warm and sunny and I got a taxi into town for picking up my rental car. I had decided to rent a car, so it would be easy to get to Nicole’s town and also for mobility the following days and checking out the region. After all, it is wine country were she lives. The rent is quite low (only AU$ 30 = appr. E 18) with unlimited milage and a good car too; new Toyota Corolla automatic, really good! Should you be in Oz and want to rent a car, check out www.nobirds.com.au. They are really good and cheap! (No I don’t get any commission…)

I made my way to the village of Dunsborough, all the way in the southwest corner of Western Australia and as such Australia. The countryside looks a bit like country side in some states of the USA, should you have been there, for comparison. Long roads, with hilly countryside, life stock grazing, trees here and there, quite nice.

I arrived early evening at their home and got a warm welcome. It was really good to see her again and obviously the little ‘kabouter’, who is absolutely adorable. Nicole is really happy with her ‘little one’ and discovered that she really loves motherhood. More on that can be found on her own blog.

Autumn has arrived to this part of the world - weird to move straight from spring (okay, only limited on a tropical island as Koh Tao) to autumn. This part of Oz has got very much like a Mediterranean climate. Very enjoyable, with only few days really hot or cold, also due to its closeness to the Ocean. The beach is within walking distance of where they live and we went to check it out. There are no dunes, just hills running into a rocky or beach area. As it is low season, very few people are there, although I am told that even during the high season it does not get a lot of crowds. The water is around 20 C, so too cold to really swim in it. I did book a dive trip to a local wreck which is the biggest wreck of the Southern hemisphere with a length over 112 meters and height of over 20 meters. It is a former naval ship and sunk purposely to form an artificial reef. It is also a marine-protected area, so I am keen to see that too. Luckily the dive shop rents out 7 mm wetsuits, so I should be less cold than during the dives in Sydney. Unfortunately, my initial booking was cancelled due to insufficient number of customers. I am now booked for Wednesday. I saw that 3 other people have booked as well, so the number of people is fine (minimum of 3 required). However, the wind has picked up and that could prevent us going out, e.g. tomorrow will have the strongest winds, so it would not have been possible then. Let’s hope for the best and see.

I am planning to go back to Perth on Thursday. I want to check out the city, see Freemantle as well, and possibly do some diving at Rottnest Island right off the coast. More on that hopefully later.

The last couple of days, I chilled out down here and we went to the beach and forest, both magnificent places. Places are virtually empty with no man-made sounds to be heard. If you want to wind down and enjoy some great nature, this is definitively an interesting area to go to, should you be in the area. They also have Spas around, so you could take the more intense relaxation option as well. ;-)

Today I did a tour of the region by car. I drove down all the way to the south-side, the absolute Southwestern Side of Oz, Cape Leeuwin. The whole region is an absolute heaven for wine and other produce lovers. Numerous vineyards with daily free tastings can be found all over the region. And some of these wines are truly superb! I can now understand why the French have been worried about competition and this region is not the only wine producing region of Oz… They also have cheese (was okay) and chocolate factories and also some olive oil producers, which is very tasty too. All in all, a very nice, but tiring day!

As said, soon I will be heading north and I am thinking of driving all the way up, using a rental van. More on that later!

See’ya!

Sydney

2008-04-02T11:17:00.006+07:00

Leaving Thailand (for now)

I left Samui with now only 2 bags, but some very heavy bags. I did not want to leave anything behind as I had not made any definitive plans what to do after Oz. So I had to take everything with me, especially my dive gear and related materials, e.g. some instructor manuals weighing over 2 kgs in total! Luckily, I had pre-booked some extra weight allowance on the flight from Phuket to Sydney with Jetstar, so only had to pay a bid extra at the check-in desk after flying from Samui to Phuket. But still, it was in total quite a bit of money for stuff I absolutely need to take with me. I was hoping to scan my documents as much as possible in Sydney and get rid of the paper manuals, as I was unable to do that on Samui.

The flight to Sydney was quite comfortable with very friendly staff on board, especially, considering the price I paid. Getting into Oz - yes they let me in! - was painless as well and quickly I made my way with the train to the hostal, the YHA @ Central station. Brenda, my friend from Amsterdam, had made reservations there earlier, so it was the most convenient - and not too expensive - thing to get a room there as well. I had reserved a bed over the internet in Thailand, so check was easy as well, as most of the Ozzies are too. I have been staying in a shared room with 3 other guys which was a bit getting used to, after having my own home back in Amsterdam and my rooms in Thailand. But we get along quite fine, with 2 other guys staying for a longer period as well. As it is a hostel, I am sleeping on a bunk beds, so that is funny of staying there as well, although I definitively would prefer more privacy, e.g. now I need to put everything in a safe locker all the time.

I had 2 days before Brenda would arrive in Sydney, so took some time to check out the city and get some chores done. Sydney is quite a nice city, although truly a large city. It is very funny to see all those office people running towards their jobs in suits and ties, some quite stressed out. Also, like many other locations, few people smile in the street and seemed to be focused on the superficial things in life, like buying loads of stuff and worried a lot how they look like. I am only guessing this from looking at people in the street, but I think that it won’t much differ down here from anywhere else in the world. I am glad that I am not currently in an office job, fighting for my career and be as such highly competitive and superficial in life. Well, I don’t know what the future beholds, so might need to return to a corporate life somewhere down the line, but for now, not in the near foreseeable future!

Sydney sights

Yes, I did see a lot of the typical Sydney sights, so here in random order:

Sydney Opera House; this exquisite building and Unesco world heritage site, is as beautiful as it looks on pictures. I took a tour of the inside on the 1st of April which revealed a lot more details on its conception and development and obviously shows the inside. The main concert hall is awesome and I decided to get tickets for a performance. It is the Sydney Symphony Orchestra performing together with Martin Balton , creating a fusion of classical music and authentic Aboriginal digiridoo sounds. That should be exciting! I am going to the concert with a Scottish girl I met today at the tour, as Brenda left yesterday for Amsterdam, snif, snif...

Harbour Bridge; I saw this landmark inside-out, from the Opera House, along the harbour, from the ferry, walked over it and did a bridge climb to the summit at 134 meters. This last part is an expensive tour, but very much worth it. We did it during the twilight hours, so were able to watch a beautiful sunset and see dusk fall over Sydney.
The Rocks; this area around the south-side of the Harbour Bridge is one of the old parts of Sydney. It is completely renovated - maybe a bit too much, as there are no ‘rough edges’ anymore - with some very nice views and nice bars and restaurants. Brenda and I had a very nice diner on our last night together in one of them.
Royal Botanical Gardens; this big park is located right next to the Opera House and is a beautiful location with nice plants and trees and lawns to lounge on in the warm sun. Apparently, it is also a very popular wedding locations as many parts of the park were reserved for wedding parties or newly weds running around the park for having pictures taken. The park also houses a large population of ‘flying dogs’ bats (?) which hunts all over the place for fruits to eat.
Queen Victoria Building; a grand-old shopping building with very nice architecture with a letter of Queen Elizabeth II on display, only to be opened in the year 2085.
Paddington Market; we went to this market on Saturday and is located outside of the city centre. It is a bit of an ‘alternative’ market with typical clothing, eco-products, tarrot card reading etc, a bit of a ‘Noordermarkt’ as Amsterdam people might know. Mainly aimed at women, so Brenda had a great time checking everything out, while I had a coffee and a typical Ozzie breakfast of raisin toast with butter.
Manly & Bondi beach; these beaches are located to the East and especially Bondi is quite known. It was very relaxing to stay there for a few hours and enjoy the sight - including Oz ‘fitties’. ;-)

On the Sunday I went to do a less typical Sydney tourist activity and went for diving. There are quite a number of dive sites around Sydney and I was very much interested in how the diving would be. My first impression is: COLD!!! Being used to water of 29 C and wearing a 3 mm long wetsuit, a local water temperature of only 21 C is very cold, despite the 5 mm long wetsuit I was wearing. I was already shivering after 5 minutes, but continued the dive and felt a bit less uncomfortable on the second dive. Obviously, Sydney is not a tropical region, so I was not expecting to see lots of choral and tropical fish.
The dive was great, seeing a leopard shark (quite unusual in the Sydney waters) and 2 reef nurse sharks. Also some other nice sea creatures were in the area, like a big blue grouper, slugs and a sea dragon which I had never seen before. After all, 2 very nice dives!

Salsa

I finally got to dance salsa again! It had been months since the last time I went dancing in Amsterdam, as there weren’t any venues to do that on Samui or Koh Tao. The salsa calendar on the internet stated two locations in Sydney. Not having been here before, I found it quite difficult to decide which one to go to. Luckily, when having diner, I overheard some people on another table talk about salsa, so I went over to them and asked there advice. It seemed that the one uptown was the best choice, and indeed it was. The Entertainment Bar (what’s in a name?) was big, very nice atmosphere, full of people, an excellent live band and beautiful women to dance with! After a bid of a rusty start, I got really back into it and had a great evening, meeting some nice people too! I am very glad I went and danced again to some great tunes with some great dancers as well - so another ‘tick in the box’, salsa dancing in Sydney!

Tomorrow I will fly off to Perth, Western Australia, and rent a car to drive down to the little town of Dunsborough, south of Perth. I will stay there with Nicole and her little family, so that should be really great to do!

See’ya, maties!

Koh Tao

2008-03-31T18:04:00.006+07:00

I am writing this item while already being in Sydney. I will write an update on that part of my adventures right after this item, but first follows an overview of my 1 month experience on the turtle island, as it translates from Thai.
Koh Tao is the 2nd biggest dive area in terms of numbers of diving certifications. As such over 1 million dives occur around its waters. This was the principal reason why I decided to move over for a month to this island; gaining a lot of teaching experience and having plenty of opportunity to do so. So, I packed up all my stuff in Samui, gave away all the household stuff I did or could not take with me and got on the ferry to Koh Tao, the same ferry I have been many times when diving. This is the second reason why I decided to stay in Koh Tao; I did not want to spend each diving day 2 hours on the way up to Koh Tao and 2 hours back.
I also wanted to experience Koh Tao as I had not really checked out and, as it is pretty close-by, it offered me as such an easy way of change of scenery. With 3 bags of all my stuff, I made my way from the ferry to the diving school which is located right in front of the pier. Yes, 3 bags, but with stuff I need. Let’s not forget, one bag is dedicated to diving gear and I also have all sorts of instructor manuals with me.

The diving school, Planet Scuba (a sister company of SIDS), were aware of my arrival and helped me find a place to stay. I checked out a couple of them, but found a nice room up the hill of Mae Haad only a few minutes away from the diving school. Despite that, I decided to rent a moped as that would enable me to make my way around the island a lot easier.

Teaching Diving

I checked and could start teaching straightaway the next day. I would do a couple of so-called ‘team-teaching’ courses, where I would work together with an experienced instructor. Not that I could not teach on my own, but this would enable me to get a a quick insight of the tips & tricks that I did not learn on the IDC course and gain as such very valuable knowledge in very little time.

I was very exited to start my first course. After all, this was about what I learned and went to Thailand for. Luckily, it was a very relaxed group all though all sorts of stuff went wrong; going down to the swimming pool which was being being emptied, alternatively going into the bay, where, due to everyone’s moving, the stirred-up sand minimized visibility, but we managed to get everything completed as planned. The next few days were dedicated to the open water dives part of the course and that was also a pretty smooth operation. I must say, I felt excited about teaching but did not feel very nervous, not before the course, nor during the course. I felt actually more and more relaxed as we went along and had more and more fun!

My decision to start with team teaching was a good one in hindsight, as I received many very valuable tips which I apply now myself as well. As one can say:”better to have something properly copied, than wrongly invented...”. Tips I received are about things like which points to elaborate during the knowledge development sections, the order and combinations of skill practice, easy ways of conducting certain skills etc. After all, the course is scheduled over 3.5 days, rather then various days during a couple of weeks, so everything is very time sensitive and must be conducted efficiently and effectively.

I taught various courses whereby some were more challenging due to the lack of experience or the fact that these courses are not frequently requested. All by all, a great learning experience which I have applied in my current teaching!

Off hours

Koh Tao is not a very big island. It is a lot smaller than Samui and mainly dedicated to diving. Over 40 diving schools are offering there services. The are a couple of things you can do in the afternoon, as the diving would end at around 16hrs at the latest usually. You can watch a DVD, available at around Bhat 100 (E 2,00), go down to the bar, go on the internet and spend lots of time on Facebook (www.facebook.com - the international version of Hyves) and have some food in one of the many relaxing beach bars, full with bean bags, or lounge seats. I know, life is very tough down there having to eat your diner outside while watching a beautiful sunset over the bay at very nice ambient temperatures...

Fortunately, I already knew several of the colleagues of Planet Scuba and met some very nice ones too. I can definitively say that I have become friends with many of them and really enjoyed our time together over there. As everything and everybody lives quite nearby, it is very easy to meet up and chat, have a few drinks and have some fun. After all, Koh Tao is also a holiday destination with plenty of nice locations to go to, have fun and meet people (if I would state “do things”, then this could be considered PADI advertising ;-) ). I had great breakfasts, lunches and diners with all of the lot at Koh Tao, even a crazy St. Patrick’s day at the local Irish pub and a very excellent night after completing my instructor specialty training, right before I left for Australia.

So, thanks so much everyone at Koh Tao for having such a great time together!!! I will definitively be back to enjoy some more!

Departure for Oz

As I was to fly to Oz (Australia) on the 24th of March, I made my way back to Samui a few days before that date, so I could finalize some things I needed to do over there. I managed to bring down my luggage from 3 to 2 bags by scrutinizing each and every item on whether I truly needed it or not. Although having done that, I still had 2 hugs bags with a lot of weight, that would definitively cost me quite a bit of money when flying to other locations.

It was good to be back on Samui. This time I stayed in Chaweng, as I had to do various stuff in that area. Ivo - a local Dutch friend - asked me if I wanted to join him to the Full Moon Party at Koh Phangan. I did, as it might be my last opportunity to go down there. I already went there in November, so this was the second time. I can only say from my own experience, the first time is a lot of fun, seconds and probably more are much like the same; same music, same type of party, same type of drinking, only the people differ, although they are the same drunk as before. It wasn’t bad, but I do know now, that I will skip a 3rd time.

The next few days, I was able to complete my several chores and catch up with friends. That was even more possible during a get-together over a Thai BBQ (an all you can eat buffet with a hot pot on your table (sort of “gourmetten” for the Dutchies) for only Bhat 89 (E 1,80) excluding drinks). There, I had the opportunity to meet everyone and also to invite them to some drinks at a bar the next evening. We had an excellent evening with a lot of fun! Also those drinks together the next evening was excellent, where everyone seemed to be enjoying himself as well.

And then, it was time to say goodbye to Thailand for now and leave for ‘down under’ and see some familiar faces from back home in Amsterdam. I was to meet Brenda in Sydney during her last days of her 2-month trip around Oz and later Nicole in Dunsborough (South of Perth, Western Australia) and her little ‘kabouter’ (baby). More on that in my next posting!

Sawadee kap!

p.s. 1 - only a limited amount of photos are there to see, as I lost many due to a computer mistake on my side... :-( Luckily, the memories are not erased that easily
p.s. 2 - You can see also a lot of pictures on my facebook page www.facebook.com

Mobile number update - Oz!

2008-03-25T11:06:00.004+07:00

Only a short message for now. I still owe you an update on my stay at Koh Tao, but that has to wait as I have a computer problem currently, so am writing this in an internet cafe.

Actually, not just an internet cafe, but one located in Sydney, Australia. Yes, I have made my way yesterday to this other side of the world and have moved from spring straight into autumn!

For now, I want to let you know what my Aussie mobile number is:

+61 4163 999 11

I will infrequently check my thai number, so please contact me on this number if you want to reach me!

see ya later, mate!

Koh Tao

2008-02-26T16:32:00.000+07:00

Today is my first day on the island of Koh Tao. Yesterday I left Koh Samui, after having stayed there for almost 5 months. On Koh Tao, I will hopefully teach as much as possible before returning to Samui on the 22nd of March, where I will depart for Sydney on the 24th.

For now, I can now start to discover this island more, a location, a location where I have already been many times in its waters, but barely on the land.

Yesterday, I left Samui very early to the ferry. I discovered that I still have so much luggage with me, despite reviewing everything whether I would need it or not. Still, I had way too much stuff. I will need to check that again thoroughly, before traveling again, or the excess baggage fees will kill me. I will most definitively have a lot of luggage, as the diving gear is quite a lot of stuff and I need to take it with me; fins, mask & snorkel, BCD jacket, wetsuit, boots, reel, torch and all sorts of small stuff. I already anticipated that extra weight when flying to Oz, by pre-book extra baggage allowance. However, I will need to bring the weight down even further, as I may still exceed that extra allowance. Well, I got almost a month to sort that out.

Yesterday was not a very nice day to arrive on Koh Tao. Skies were very much overcast and we had several heavy rain showers. As I had taken the early morning ferry, I had the whole day yesterday to get organized on the island. With some help from Planet Scuba (affiliated scuba diving school of Samui International Diving School - SIDS) where I will be doing the diving with), I found a nice clean 1 bedroom only room just outside of Mae Haad town, the main village on the island. Funny enough, I later discovered that one of my colleagues just lives 50 meters away and I can actually see her house. Luckily, I get along with her very well, so no problems there! I also got a moped again to take me around, but for the long run is not really necessary, as the island is quite small and most stuff can be reached by walking around. Maybe I am a bit lazy there, but it is only for a month and the cost is not that high.

After having sorted out my place to stay and a means of transportation, I took some time to relax and talk to some of my colleagues down at the diving school. I already knew several of them, as we have been on the same boat when I was diving with SIDS and again now whilst my stay on Koh Tao. I get along very well with most of them, so they made me a very heartedly welcome! We went for some drinks - had a great mango lassi (fresh mango/ yoghurt drink) - and had a good time catching up. After all, my last diving with SIDS was before I did my IDC, so that was around midst of January. The colleagues I was with are quite an international company, as they are from Thailand, UK, Netherlands (!) and USA. There are some more nationalities at the scuba diving school, so more to meet down the road. It was very good talking with them in this way, as usually there is little time when being on the boat. Equipment needs to be set up and disassembled, customers need to be attended to and obviously there is some diving as well. And as soon as we get back to the pier of Koh Tao, I usually had to go straight onto the ferry, back to Samui. Being able to talk to them in a very relaxing manner was very nice.

Later that evening I went for diner on my own to Mae Haad. I decided to go for some Italian and by coincidence I ran into some other colleagues. I could join them and we had a lovely evening with good pizza, some very nice red wine and lots of fun. Apparently, one of the people was leaving for a holiday today, so it was bit of a goodbye journey. Later he learned, that the holiday was cancelled, but anyway, it was a very good evening all together and a very warm welcome to Koh Tao!

Open Water Scuba Instructor

2008-02-13T21:19:00.002+07:00

I have completed the IDC & IE successfully and can now call myself an Open Water Scuba Instructor (OWSI)!!!!

I have to wait until the paperwork has been processed by PADI which should take about 2 weeks. So by end of February, I will be able to teach! For that reason, I will go to Koh Tao until I have to return to Samui for my flight to Sydney on the 24th of March. Koh Tao will most likely enable me to do many certifications, as many tourists go down there for dive courses.

But first things first. After a total of 2 weeks of training in the IDC (see also Camille’s blog with some pictures), last weekend the Instructor’s Exam (IE) came about. Four type of elements were tested; diving theory and PADI Standards & Procedures, Confined Water teaching, Open Water teaching and Prescriptive Knowledge teaching. Two days full of activities, but also waiting as the group was split in two and there was only one examiner.

Saturday was a day of introduction, Dive Theory and Open Water presentations. I felt quite confident about the theory as I had prepared it well. I managed to achieve 92% and above scores where 75% would suffice. The open water exercise in the afternoon was a lot more difficult, where I had to teach two specific skills and had to watch for possible problems and correct them on time and correctly. My fellow students were at that moment students and one an assistant. Earlier in the IDC, I was able to say everything seemed to be okay without spotting the actual problem, also referred to as someone may as well had a sigar in his mouth and I did not spot it. Mistakes are there for a learning purpose, so I was very keen to spot every step. Unfortunately, the visibility in the water was very bad (<1 mtr) so that did not help very well. I managed to complete both exercises successfully (pfff!!!) and also completed the rescue diver skill of ‘unconscious diver at the surface’ very well, although my fellow student Adam, who was playing the victim, might disagree as I pinched his nose quite hard while pretending give mouth to mouth resuscitation.

The evening of Saturday was spent on preparing next day’s confined water pool presentations and the classroom presentations.

The next day had a later start, as the first group was in the swimming pool. When they were finished, we all had to demonstrate 5 skills which I also managed to do very well within the minimum requirements. Then it was our group’s turn to conduct the pool presentations. With only a minor hick-up but with no impact on my score, also that one was done and over with successfully!

After lunch, the PADI Standards & Procedures was scheduled. This was a bit more nerve-racking as there was no remake option if I would fail, as the exam is an open book (and in print a very thick book!) exam. I completed this one also with very good scores, so it was down to the last part if I would actually pass.

This last section was the classroom micro-teaching session, where I was to discuss with the students a question which was answered incorrectly in a standardized way. The topic was Project Aware which is a very interesting topic as it has got very much to do with coral and aquatic life education and conservation.

The presentation went very well, also thanks to my bottle of bathroom cleaner (!), so after that, I had completed all sections successfully! I am very, very happy about this, as this was the principal reason for going to Koh Samui. Being an instructor will enable me to travel all over the world and work there. For now, that is still quite some time away, apart from the few weeks in Koh Tao. Right now, I am enjoying my achievement, but not too much as I have started today with Specialty Instructor training which will set me up for becoming a Master Scuba Dive Trainer (MSDT). I will do specialties such as deep diving, night diving, navigation and others which will increase my employability. But that is a later concern!

For now, I have got a big smile on my face and am looking forward to actually start teaching!

Thank you all for your support and interest in my current life’s adventure!

hugs & kisses,
g.

p.s. Plenty of pictures will be on the net as soon as I can be online on a faster internet connection as it is currently so sloooowwwwwwww......

IDC

2008-02-03T13:36:00.001+07:00

I am currently half-way through my IDC which is an acronym for Instructor Development Course. Today is a day of relaxation before the course continues tomorrow. Not completely though, as I had to do the PADI standards exam in my own time before Monday morning. This exam marks the last item of last week’s work which basically consisted of the Assistant Instructor Course.

This IDC is the principal reason why I came to Samui. After successful completion, I will be a PADI Instructor, or to be more exact, a PADI Open Water Scuba Instructor (OWSI) which is the first instructor’s level. However, I will continue straight-away to become a Master Scuba Dive Trainer (MSDT) which will allow me to expand on the type of courses I will be allowed to teach. I will hopefully complete that by the end of February.

For now, the first week was very exiting, sometimes a bit nervous, fun, enjoyable, some ‘death by powerpoint’-experiences, but overall a very satisfying experience with great supporting staff and other candidates. We are in total 7 candidates, coming from the UK, Sweden, Austria and, off course, The Netherlands. Completing this week successfully would make me already an Assistant Instructor (AI) but as we are continuing straight into the instructor’s course, this is only an intermediary step and not processed (application with PADI etc) as such.

The activities we did this week included a detailed insight of the PADI system, the vision behind it, how to conduct the knowledge teaching sessions and naturally training sessions in the pool and in the sea which was a lot of fun to do. This last part we did yesterday under difficult conditions, as there were 1 meter waves and a stronge surge. I managed to be a bit sea sick and 'feed' the fish, but completed the required tasks. Obviously, I made some mistakes, or better phrased, there was room for improvement :-) but overall the results gave me confidence that I should be able to complete the whole course successfully. I will need to show that during the Instructor Exams (IE) which will take place on the 9th and 10th of February, so please keep you fingers crossed for me!

Update

2008-01-19T20:39:00.000+07:00

I know, it has been a while since my last update, so this will be a long posting with various topics. So what did I do since the last posting?

Divemaster

The most important thing that happened is that I am now officially a Divemaster! It is the first step in having a professional career in scuba diving. I can do all sorts of activities; such as guiding tour fun divers around dive spots, support instructors in courses, inform customers about local dive sites and some other things. I will only be a divemaster for a short while, as I will do my instructor’s course the end of January 2008. Until that time, I can work a bit and a gain further experience leading other divers around and increase the number of dives I have logged.

Right after achieving Divemaster status, Simon, Jan Willem and myself decided to go for a short break on a live-aboard to the Similan Islands, located northwest from Phuket, on the west-side of Thailand. The Similan Islands are a national marine park and consists of several islands. A live-aboard is basically staying on a boat for a set period and do a lot of diving! We decided on a 3 days/ 2 nights period and booked it with South Siam divers for a nice price with a little bit of discount - always ask for discounts in Thailand or anywhere else for that matter. ;-) It sounds maybe a bit weird taking a holiday break from this holiday island, but change of scenery - especially the diving - is good at some times.

The trip to Phuket, where we would stay for a night before going to the boat the next day, was quite eventful, with multiple means of transport (mini van, bus, ferry, bus, minivan and another minivan) and one crazy driver (2 moments of death or alive), luggage dropping out of the back while driving, kicking people of the mini van, backing up into a lamp post, but we got there in the end in one piece.

The next morning, we were picked up to be taken to the port of Ko Lahk, where a speedboat would take us to the main boat in 1.15 hrs. The main boat was really nice with a great dive deck, relaxing areas and comfortable ice cabins. But most importantly, how would the diving be? We found that out pretty soon! In total 5 dives were offered every day, where you could do a maximum of 4 dives.

So the first day we did 4 dives, including a night dive. And to say it with one word; the diving was ‘awesome’! Jumping from the back of the boat with 30+ meter visibility was incredible. Nothing we had seen so far on Koh Tao which still needs to clear up. It felt like a parachute free fall; seeing the bottom straight away and just descending and descending!

The wildlife was really good too. On all the various dives, we saw all sorts of animals like sharks (!), turtles, trigger fish, glass fish, lobsters, lion fish, octopus and when we were about to finish the dive, a manta ray, with a span of over 4 meters! It was the first time I saw it and was just mind-blowing!

I can go on and on about it, but pictures tell a lot more, so check out my album by clicking on below photo.

Similan Islands December 2007

Christmas

Upon return from the Similan’s, Christmas was around the corner; one of the busiest times of the year on Koh Samui, and it got very busy indeed as so many come for the holidays to Samui. Maybe avoid the annual bickering within the families about who and when gets to spend Christmas diner; own family or the in-laws? I met a few people who confirmed that and would always go on holiday over Christmas. One way of avoiding frustrating discussions! I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas time with the right people you wanted to spend it with. My Christmas day was filled with diving during the day and a joined diner at a close-by restaurant. We spent it with other diving friends and some family and friends of one of the guys. It as a typical English Christmas diner with prawn cocktail for starters, mains with traditional roast turkey, roast and mashed potatoes, vegetables, chipolata saucage in bacon, stuffing, yorkshire pudding, gravy and cranberry sauce. Desert was homemade Christmas pudding with brandy sauce. All very nice - yes English food can be quite nice! - but the restaurant did not have enough in the end, so that was a bit disappointing. And for the first time I got to eat Brussels sprouts in Thailand. I love these, but they were very much overcooked. The turkey was really nice, not too dry with lovely cranberry sauce. Overall, it was a good diner! I hope to get some pictures from one of the colleagues and will post them on my online album later on.

New Year’s Eve

I had a great celebration of the New Year and I wish everybody again a very happy and successful 2008, if you haven’t received my earlier wishes! I had to dive on that day, so was already quite busy, before the evening celebrations would start. We were supposed to have a BBQ at some friends’s place, but the rain made that impossible, We had some food indoors and a relaxing evening with loads of talk about diving, gossip and other stuff. Luckily, later in the evening the weather cleared up, so we went outside. It still feels weird to celebrate Christmas and New Year’s Eve in shorts and flip-flops. I know, it is a very tough thing to deal with. ;-)

After seeing only limited amount of fireworks and the dream balloons going up in the sky, I went down to Chaweng Beach with a Dutch friend to party a bit more. We went to the famous Green Mango club, where we stayed until late and met several friends. Was a really good celebration! Fortunately, there would be no diving on the 1st of January, so no need to get up early. I had loads of fun and danced all night! Unfortunately, no salsa which I haven’t done since I arrived on Samui. There is only one latin bar I know of, but it is very small and there are hardly any people. I do check it out regularly as I miss that very much. Well, maybe catch up when I am in Australia.

Gas

I just finished my Nitrox diver and Gas Blender course. Yes, more certifications! It means I can now dive with enriched air (e.g. 32% oxygen, normal air contains 21% oxygen) which will give me more allowable dive time and other benefits. I am also now a certified Gas Blender, so am authorized to fill the bottles with normal and such enriched air. After my instructor’s course, I will become instructor in both disciplines. Also, before New Year, I became also an Emergency First Care Instructor, both for adults and children. So, should I need to babysit you or any of your children somewhere in the future, you can be ensured that I will know what to do in case of a medical emergency. I found it very useful as it has a general application.

Plans

For the the upcoming time, I am looking forward to the IDC (instructors development course) which results into an exam for becoming a scuba diving instructor. It will start on the 28th of January and run until the midst of February approximately. I hope all goes well, as it is quite a tough course, intensive, with loads of presentations and stuff to work on. Also various practical skills need to be demonstrated, so we’ll see how that one goes. I am practicing some of these, as these photos can testify (click the photo to see more).

Skills training 19 Feb 2008

Camille, the course director, has an excellent pass rate, so that gives me some more confidence. I will do my best and will see where it ends. More on this in due course.

I also have booked my tickets to and from Australia! I will fly the 24th of March to Sydney. I will be staying for about a week and really hope to see my friend Brenda over there, as she will fly back from her 2 month trip through Oz. Only a few weeks left now, Bren! ;-) I hope you love your trip!
On the 3rd of April, I will fly to Perth to go and see Nicole in Dunsborough. And not just Nicole and her boyfriend, but also her sweet little daughter, called Annabella. She was born on the 10th and you can read about her and see her picture on Nicole’s blog.

That’s it for now!

hugs & kisses,
G.

Divemaster status

2007-12-22T15:24:00.000+07:00

Yes! I have completed my Divemaster Traineeship and am now officially a Divemaster. In this role I can take customers around dive sites for fun diving, assist instructors in limited ways etc.

In total, it took me a bit longer than anticipated, partially due to the flu I had for a week and my trip to Hong Kong.

I celebrated this milestone by going with Jan Willem and Simon to the Similan Islands, west of Thailand, close to Phuket. More on this in a separate posting with very nice pictures, so watch my blog!

I can work now until the end of January which is good, as the high-season has started over here. It is supposed to get very busy over Christmas and the beginning of January due to the holiday season. It will give me a chance to gain more experience as a Divemaster, increase my number of dives and make a little bit of money. The experience and the number of dives are most important though. I am currently on 70+ dives in total and need a minimum of 100 by the time I finish my scuba diving instructor training. As it looks right now, that should not be any problem.

For now, I want to wish you all a very, merry Christmas!!! Enjoy the food, drinks and hopefully the company! ;-)

Hong Kong 5-9 December 2007

2007-12-14T18:15:00.000+07:00

I had some complaints (!) that I wasn’t posting enough on my blog, so here goes. I most warn you to be prepared as this is a long one, so you might want to take some time for it. You can also find the pictures of this trip over here.

I am writing this message (partially) in one of the busiest metropoles in the world. Yep, while being in this region, I thought it would be very much worthwhile to visit this Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China, for a couple of reasons. First, obviously seeing this buzzing and crowded city with my own eyes and indeed it is very busy and full of Chinese people. Second, I wanted to by a new laptop so I would not need to carry the Scuba Diving Instructor Manual with me when traveling onwards and be able to take my time when editing pictures, going on the internet and call you guys on Skype. Hong Kong (HK) is one of the best places to buy cheap electronics. Lastly, I can combine this with a visa run, meaning I needed to renew my visa for Thai land. Although my current one was not up for renewal before the beginning of January 2008

So I had gone on the internet earlier and had booked a flight straight from Koh SamuI to Hong Kong. Bangkok Airways has got a direct connection, but I also checked various other routes, e.g. via Bangkok. Unfortunately, they were about the same price level, so it was not worthwhile to go the indirect route.

Day 1 - Wednesday 5

That morning, very early, one of my dive buddies, Rob, gave me a lift to the airport on his motor bike. Departing for HK on this day of the birthday of the king of Thai land and Sinterklaas eve - no “pepernoten” for me this year. The airport is just around the corner, so it was a short, but dusty ride. Dusty, as the rain season has now passed and all the dirt on the roads has dried up. Driving down Samui’s roads is better now, although with squeezed eyes...

I was a little bit nervous, but mostly excited, as I did not know what to expect and I would be there until Sunday. Going there on my own allows for quick decision making on what to do, but it is also nice to share that with someone and experience all impressions together. Little I knew, that it was to change sooner than I thought.

The flight to HK was relaxing and took only about 3 hours. That was about the same time it took me to get through passport control, as a major queue was standing in front of me. Seriously, it did not take that much time, as the airport is very well organized. It is the new airport on the western side of the region as they closed down the old airport in the center already some time ago. On the flight, I met 2 lovely German girls, Trix and Lara - a.k.a. LH girls (right, girls?), who would also be spending a couple of days in HK, before returning back to Munich after spending their holiday on Samui. They made the waiting time in the queue also a lot less boring. We decided to go on the metro train all together.

I had reserved my hotel, the Panda Hotel, through the internet and saw it is located in the North western side of HK in the so-called New Territories. This is mainly a residential, suburban area, with high-rise apartment buildings. The hotel was okay, although my room turned out to be a smoking room, while I had a non-smoking reserved. Apparently, they had only smoking rooms in my reserved price category and a non-smoking room would cost me 50% more!!! I checked the room and housekeeping had done a good job and cleared any smells of smoking. Although feeling trapped at the reception desk, I decided to stay, considering the price I got on my earlier booking.

After dropping off my luggage, I went into the city to go and buy my computer! I had checked the internet before and had been in contact with the reseller; that’s also how I new the price would be very good. so, within a short period of time, I closed the deal, got some discount and some free accessories and walked out the door with a new notebook. (the deal also caused my visa card to be blocked, but that’s another story - got it sorted out again in the meantime...). I have bought myself a new apple macbook pro and I am very happy with it! It works like a charm! The Mac operating system, together with Apple’s programs, work smoothly together and are major improvement over Windows. Although you might think that the transition to this new operating system might be difficult, in reality it is not and I can recommend it to anyone - and no, I do not work for Apple or own stock in them. So, now I can work in a relaxed manner on my email, blog, pictures etc and call you on skype from my small bungalow when I get back to Samui, as we have wireless internet over there. no need to go to the internet cafe anymore.

Coming back to my stay in HK, I spend the rest of the afternoon finding a canon camera repair shop for the camera of JW (Jan Willem, another (Dutch) dive buddy), checking out the city center (Kowloon) and getting used to walking around such a buzzing city. I can tell you that, it is indeed very crowded, loads of Chinese people, who are roaming the streets, eat everywhere in the zillion number of very small to larger restaurants and outdoor eating stands and buy, buy, buy a lot of stuff. It is truly an organized shopping frenzy!

In the evening I met up with the German Mädeln to go for diner. Getting together was quite a struggle. They texted me that they were closed to the Museum of Arts where I just happened to be in the neighborhood as well. However, my Dutch mobile provider blocks usage in HK as a standard apparently, so I was unable to text back as my Thai mobile did not work at all. In the end, I bought myself a pre-paid HK SIM card and am now the proud owner of a HK mobile number as well. That makes it my 3rd number! Luckily, rates are very cheap and via texting I was finally able to meet with the girls. we ended up somewhere on HK Island, eating some Chinese food in a place recommended by one of their city guides. the food was okay with sweet & source chicken, lemon chicken and some vegetables, but I was immediately remembered to the fact that I am not a great fan of Chinese food; most of the time it seems to be quite greasy. I don’t know what they do with it, but that is an after-taste I ended up with. Honestly, I prefer Thai food, that is for sure!

Day 2 - Thursday 6th

I decided today to discover the area around my hotel a bit more. Being on the New Territories, I expected to experience a bit more how the locals live in their neighborhood. I got some breakfast in one of the tiny bakeries and went on my way. Down the street, was a tiny park where some ladies - and ladies only - were practicing their dancing. Quite funny to watch! Further down the road was a local market for all sorts of produce, including the weird stuff from the sea. It is true what they say about the Chinese; they eat literally everything...

The rest of the afternoon, I went around the city again to do some more site-seeing and find another repair shop for JW’s camera (yes JW, I went out of my way for you ;-) ).

Down my the waterfront, the promenade was all set up in season’s lights and decorations. As a matter a fact, all around the city, the spirit of Christmas was reflected in loads of festive lights on the major buildings and along the roads. Truly a nice time to be around in HK! I met up with the girls and we got us some Christmas labels on which to write some wishes and hang them on the purposely placed decorations. Yes, you are all included in my wishes! ;-)

For diner we decided to try something different from the Chinese food and went for... Thai (-Vietnamese) food! It was a bit better than the earlier Chinese food, but I must say that I am a bit disappointed in the food. I was expecting tastier, but maybe I should have gone to a more upscale restaurant and try e.g. fresh steamed fish, what a local speciality is supposed to be (I learned this on the last day of my stay in HK).

Day 3 - Friday 7th

This was the last day of the German girls in HK as they were to catch a flight late at night. We decided to go around HK together again and checked out the biggest monastery of HK. There were many people burning ensence and saying their Buddhist prays and it turned out to be also a special day out for the elderly as they were toured around. This monastery is a small haven of tranquility, surrounded by high-rise apartment buildings, in a noisy and busy city.

After that, we went back again to HK Island to check out the 800 meters long escalators which is used by people living up in the hills at the so-called mid-levels to go to work in the morning an go back up again in the afternoon. The escalators are set to go down in the morning and logically up in the afternoon. It is quite funny to have such system in place to go up the hill, but it is apparently a great success and has minimized traffic in that part of HK. On the way up, we passed the cosy area of the Soho area with its small restaurants and bars which has very relaxed atmosphere. More people think that way, as cost of living there proved to be very expensive. Overall, the cost of living in HK is comparable to London, indeed a special region.

Lunch was again an a-typical Chinese meal, as it was a typical NY sandwich roll with turkey and sage dressing with cranberry, quite nice! The girls had a cheeseburger which was okay, although not as good as the one on SamuI at Quayside, close to Big Buddha. that one is deliciously home-seasoned with perfect fries accompanying it. the best I had so far!

I bought Jan Willem a new camera as agreed, as his old camera was broken and I was unable to find any repair shop down here. The discounted price was good; almost 40% cheaper than in Holland. Jan Willem was happy with it!

At the closure of the day we went for another coffee (and the girls for a smoke) at their favorite hang-out place Starbucks. you can find those coffee late guys anywhere in the world these days. Maybe time for a Starbucks index like the Big Mac index to compare prices. Doing so, HK is indeed a lot more expensive than Samui; a like coffee late costs here about HK$ 31 (E 2.71), compared to SamuI Bhat 85 (E 1.91) - a major price difference and the coffee does taste the same!

And then it was time to say goodbye at HK station where the girls would take the train to the airport. I had a really good time with them and saying goodbye felt a bit weird. Somehow, I think this wasn’t a farewell, but indeed a goodbye and we will see each other again most probably! Trix and Lara, I had a great time with you these past few days and am very happy to have met you, thanks girls!

Day 4 - Saturday 8th

Today was a day of sleeping in and enjoying my last full day in HK. It was also the first day really alone in HK and took the advise of the mädeln to check out Lantau Island. Arriving with the MTR at Tung Chung station, I found another shopping mall and had a coffee while reserving a ticket for seeing the unique HK/ Chinese pink dolphins tomorrow, who live there in the wild. Unfortunately, the cable car to the top of the mountain with the Buddha statue was out of service due to maintenance. I therefore had to go by bus which took 45-60 min over steep and windy roads.

The Buddha statue on Lantau Island is the biggest sitting Buddha in the world - another Big Buddha! Should you want to see it someday, I recommend it visit it in the morning, as the sun shines behind the statue, so your pictures will come out less. Getting to the statue took a fair climb up the stairs. The statue is very impressive and used inside as a memorial for the dead.

I decided to return to HK City by taking the bus to Wui Cho and catch the ferry to Central (HK Island). On the way down, HK showed some of its nature’s beauty with very nice hills and entrances to apparently some excellent hiking trails. I did not have the time, nor the rested feet, but, according to the Lonely Planet, definitively worthwhile discovering that side of HK if you are interested in that and have got the time.

The smooth ride on the ferry was another relaxing moment and on the Star Ferry to Kowloon I got a text message from Trix that they got back to Munich all right after a tiring flight back, although being pampered by the purser (DLH privilege ;-) ).

Back in Kowloon, I went on the harbor tour, which makes a grand circle along the major sites on the waterfront. The tall buildings looked extra special with all their season’s decorations. Upon return, the 20.00 hrs music and light show was about to start. This 15 minute show is quite nice to watch and is apparently the biggest in the world. I made a small movie of it, so you can see a bit what it was like. After another tiring day around HK, I decided to go back to the hotel and a nice well-deserved Heineken beer in the hotel bar!

Day 5 - Sunday 9th

Today was an early start. I needed to be at the Kowloon hotel downtown at 09.00 hrs, so I left the hotel at 08.00 hrs. I already had checked out the night before and left my luggage for storage at the hotel during the day.

After the now quite familiar ride on the MTR, I arrived at the hotel and found the guide of the HK dolphin watch organization easily. We left the hotel for the bus which took as to Lantau Island at the back of the airport of all places. A small boat took the group around the airport in search for the dolphins. They should be easy to spot as they are white/ pink colored. This is due to the fact that they have lost their pigmentation through evolution, as the brackish water in that area is turbid and they have no natural predators. Unfortunately, their biggest threat today is human kind - who else... The construction of the artificial island for the new airport and the huge amounts of waist water flushed into the sea from HK and Chinese mainland have altered their habitat and almost extinguished this unique dolphin population. There are now only about 100 left, so they definitively need protection! (more information can be found on the HK dolphin watchers website, found here).

Half an hour into the boat ride we spotted the first group! They need to come up for air about every 5 to 7 minutes and they seemed to take turns in going to the surface. Seeing them in the wild and pretty close was an amazing site, with some of the other guests - especially the Japanese - releasing small cries of “oh” and “ah”! Later on, we found another group with some infants (recognizable by their grey skin) and the siting of these amazing mammals never became boring. I can truly recommend anyone to check them out when visiting HK.

Upon return to Kowloon, I made my way back to the hotel to pick up my luggage which got a bit more heavier. I bought also a little bit of Christmas decoration, so those will light up my small home on SamuI when I get back. A little bit of Christmas spirit while spending it on a tropical island! No white Christmas for me this year, that’s for sure, unless you count the sand on the beach between my toes as such...

Back to Samui

I am now flying back to SamuI after a very worthwhile visit to an amazing part of the world.

At first, it was overwhelming and really getting used to such a busy city after spending the last 2 months on relaxing Samui. Unbelievable, that so many people live in such a small area. The Kalverstraat (high street in Amsterdam) on Sunday is a relatively relaxed area compared to some areas and times in HK! It is not a city I would like to live in, but it was definitively worthwhile the visit and can recommend this overwhelming experience to everyone. Whether you are a city dweller, nature lover or a shop-aholic, HK meets your needs! As Chico might say: “Visit Hong Kong? Check, on my to-do list!”

Warm greetings/ hugs/ kisses!!!

Sun!

2007-11-19T17:27:00.000+07:00

Finally! After more days with long and heavy rain showers, we are now enjoying the warmth and sunshine usually associated with a tropical island! I am not sure if the rain season has now passed. The weather forecast still shows the odd shower and some sunshine, but today for example, has been a truely wonderful day.

I spent today at the swimming pool of a holiday resort, called Blessing Resort. No, not for just hanging around and getting a tan, but to go over the required skills you need to be able to demonstrate as a divemaster and later on as an instructor. Camille did the demonstration after which we practised them in the morning session and got them graded in the afternoon. I already had done them about a week ago with Jan Willem, but was not able to get them all completed successfully during that session. Skills we had to demonstrate are a.o. mask removal underwater and puttting it back on, pivoting on the buttom demonstrating buoyancy skills, using alternate airsource from your buddy and many more. In total 20 skills need to be mastered.

As said, I got them all signed off today, so now I only need to complete a few remaining tasks before becoming a divemaster. Hopefully, I have those done within the next 10 days. The key item is getting up to a total of 60 logged dives. I have now 48, so that will hopefully be completed soon by some nice dives.

When signing up for this course some time ago, I had planned to start with the instructor's course per end of November. However, I have changed this now to start with this course end of January 2008. It will give me a couple of benefits; I can now get my 60 logged dives more relaxed and possibly also get that number close to 100. This number is one of the requirements for becoming an instructor. Furthermore, December and January are the busiest times, so this period should give me plenty of opportunity to gain experience as a divemaster, without having the greater responsibility as an instructor. It will allow me to make some money too.

So for now, no major course developments on the short term other then finishing up on my divemaster and do some of the smaller, more 'isolated' courses, like EAN/ nitrox diving. EAN stands for Enriched Air Nitrox which allows for longer, but shallower dives, by using air with a higher Oxygen percentage than normal air. (More details on this in due course.)

For the remainder, I have settled in quite nicely now and feel relaxed about being here. I am not yet fully detached from NL yet, but that is just fine. Things are going well here, although I miss you guys and some of the comfi things from back home. I might just pop into the local Makro (a little taste from home ;-) ) and see if they have some proper cheese at a decent price. I already found a small place where I can get some decent bread, not the fluffy tastless bread you can get at the supermarket. No, this is the real, heavy type loaf of bread, baked by a thai lady at home. She also cooks and does needle work which came in handy, as the button of one of my shorts fell of. She put it back on for just 5 Bhat = approx. E 0.10!

I have not yet bought my new notebook, as the version I want is virtually sold everywhere in the world, but Thailand. I am now thinking of going a couple of days to Hong-Kong to get it there, as they have the cheapest prices and to see this super-busy city while I am relatively in the area. I could go to Singapore, but I have already been there and I might also make a transfer there when I may go to Australia in March next year. The money I save on the computer pretty much compensates for the additional travel cost. Also, as my visa is only valid for 3 months, I can combine this trip with renewing my visa, so I will not have to do a visa run end of December/ beginning of January, the busiest time down here. This visa should then be valid until I leave for Australia. That is the current plan!

Fijne Sinterklaas alvast iedereen!
g.

p.s. more pictures to follow soon! I will continue to write in English, so that my international friends can read this too, as they are not proficient in 'freaky deaky dutch'.
If you want to send me something via regular post (e.g. pepernoten!!! ;-) ) it is best when you send it to the diving school:

Gideon Rybier
c/o Samui International Diving School
PO Box 40
Koh Samui, Suratthani
Thailand 84140

Nieuwe foto's

2007-10-30T15:05:00.000+07:00

Ik heb weer nieuwe foto's geplaatst! Je kan ze hier vinden.

groetjes,
g.

Moesson

2007-10-24T20:23:00.000+07:00

Ondanks dat het vandaag wat opklaarde, blijft het erg nat hier op het eiland. Het lijkt er erg op dat het regenseizoen is begonnen. De afgelopen week was het regen, regen en nog eens regen. En dan niet van die lullige hollandse miezerbuitjes, nee, echt van die heftige tropische stortbuien. Van die buien waarin in je binnen 10 seconden compleet tot op je onderbroek doorweekt bent.

Het gevolg van al die nattigheid is dat de wegen op bepaalde plekken flink overstroomd waren, zelfs tot op heuphoogte. De lokale bevolking blijft er kalm onder en blijft gewoon vanaf 's ochtends vroeg tot 's avonds laat kip grillen en rijst koken. Tenslotte moet er gegeten blijven worden. Diegene die het meest er van balen, zijn natuurlijk de toeristen die een heerlijk warme, tropische bestemming hadden uitgekozen voor vakantiebestemming en nu letterlijk van de koude, natte kermis terugkomen. Met die kou valt het overigens nog best mee, minimum temperatuur is rond 24 C.

Door die overstromingen is er ook zand en grind op diverse plekken op de weg gespoeld. Met een brommer is dat dan wel goed oppassen om niet onderuit te gaan, maar tot op heden is het allemaal goed gegaan.

Het duiken gaat gewoon door, hoewel het aantal klanten beperkt blijft. Van klanten ben ik afhankelijk om daadwerkelijk op de boot richting Koh Tao te gaan. Daar wordt alleen gedoken als er andere betalende klanten zijn. Als alternatief blijft dan duiken vanaf de kant op Chaweng Beach, niet al te ver van mijn huisje en is ook de plek waar de duikschool is gevestigd.

Eerder deze waren we ook daar, om een student diver voor een rescue cursus te ondersteunen. De oefeningen op het wateroppervlak waren nog wel te doen, maar onderwater was er vrijwel geen zicht. Op een gegeven moment moest ik mijn duikcomputer aan mijn pols ongeveer 10 centimeter van mijn gezicht houden om deze nog te kunnen lezen!!! Wel een belevenis!

Het is dus vandaag wonder boven wonder redelijk droog gebleven. Gelijk de kans gepakt om bij 1 van de grote supermarkten nog wat te kopen, in dit geval een broodrooster! Het brood is namelijk niet echt bijzonder en dus met toasten wat beter te eten. Deze investering was een hele Bhat 245, oftewel ongeveer E 5. Nu maar hopen dat ie het goed doet!!!

De verwachting is trouwens dat het tot eind november/ begin december regenachtig zal blijven. Het dagelijkse weer kan je volgen op het blog van Camille. Hij heeft hier ook foto's geplaatst van de overstroomde wegen.

p.s. ik zal binnenkort weer foto's er op zetten. Had de afgelopen tijd weinig 'geknipt' maar er komen nieuwe aan!

Hersteld en weer onderweg

2007-10-14T21:36:00.000+07:00

Het herstel van mijn verwondingen liet toch iets langer op zich wachten, maar na enkele dagen kon ik alsnog weer het zilte nat induiken. En dat is tenslotte 1 van mijn belangrijkste redenen om deze kant op te zijn gekomen!

Voor Rescue Diver moest ik natuurlijk nog een aantal oefeningen afronden. Als eerste dus nog de afgebroken oefening van het zoeken naar een vermiste duiker. Ondanks dat het zicht nog steeds slechts enkele meters bedroeg, verliep deze oefening voorspoedig. In dit geval zwom ik rondjes met behulp van een touw, wat mijn buddy vasthield terwijl hij op 1 plek bleef zitten.

Na een aantal andere oefeningen, zoals vermoeide duiker slepen, waren de voorgeschreven oefeningen afgerond. De volgende dag zouden we naar Koh Tao gaan om daar onverwachte scenario's op te lossen. Tenslotte gebeuren ongelukken meestal niet met vooraankondiging.

Het meeste duiken in deze regio vindt sowieso plaats in de buurt van Koh Tao, wat circa 1.45 uur is met de ferry. Daarna was het overstappen al op de duiklocatie op de boot van de duikschool. Na de gebruikelijke briefing was het voor Jan Willem en mijzelf afwachten wat er ging gebeuren. Uiteindelijk viel het allemaal erg mee, met oefeningen met een duiker in paniek, vermiste duiker en deze ook weer op de boot te krijgen, waarbij ik eerst eerste hulp in het water moest leveren en de duiker naar de boot moest slepen. Onderweg natuurlijk wel mond-op-mond (via een masker) blijven geven...

Zowel Jan Willem als ikzelf hebben alle oefeningen goed afgesloten en zijn dus nu gecertificeerde Rescue Divers - zie hier ook een berichtje over van Camille.

Deze is ook weer in de pocket!

En nu gelijk al weer onderweg voor de volgende stap; Divemaster. Dit is de eerste stap voor een duikprofessional. Om dit succesvol af te ronden, moet ik weer meer kennis opdoen, meer duiken maken en 'on-the-job' verder leren van de ervaren rotten!

Meer hier over een volgende keer!

Nu wat meer algemener nieuws. Vandaag kreeg ik het bericht van de makelaar dat er 2 geinteresseerden partijen zijn voor mijn appartement. Hopelijk komt het nu wel goed rond, want dat is wel mijn zorg. Hoe eerder en langer ik het kan verhuren, hoe langer ik op reis kan blijven - en jullie dus kunnen genieten van deze berichtjes. ;-)

Verder is het nu goed te merken dat het regenseizoen er aan komt. Vannacht en later in de ochtend kwam het echt met bakken naar beneden. In NL zou gelijk een noodplan worden uitgevoerd, maar hier rij je gewoon met je brommer dwars door de diepe plassen. Hopelijk trekt het snel bij! Camille houdt ook hier een blog over bij. Ik hoorde dat het vandaag aldaar een aardige dag was, het is jullie meer dan gegund! :-)

Afijn, morgen een dag met een bezoek aan de decompressiekamer. Daar kom je mogelijk terecht als je tijdens het duiken bijvoorbeeld te snel opstijgt of te lang onder water blijft. Interessant dus! Camille heeft ook hier al eerder een berichtje over geschreven.

Tot de volgende keer! Ik mis jullie!

p.s. Morgen (15 oktober) is het zingen voor Ellen (vriendin van Patrick en moeder van kleine kabouter Felix) - Hieperdepiep...!!!!

Respect!

2007-10-07T18:41:00.000+07:00

Dankzij de goede zorg in het ziekenhuis en de daarbijbehorende pillen, voelde ik me een stuk beter gisteravond. Aldus ben ik op stap gegaan met 2 collega-duikers. Na werderom voor zeer weinig geld te hebben gegeten, was het tijd voor het nachtleven verder te ontdekken.

Als inwoner van Amsterdam was ik al wat gewend natuurlijk met ons 'Red Light District', maar wat ik hier meemaakte was toch wel een grote shock. In de diverse barretjes zaten flinke hoeveelheden vrouwen en 'bijna'-vrouwen te wachten op de diverse toeristen om deze naar binnen te lokken. Dat was niet alleen vragen, maar gewoon ook te roepen, fluiten, voor je gaan staan of je aan je arm mee te nemen. Het aanspreken was natuurlijk niet alleen er op gericht om je een drankje te laten drinken, maar zeker ook om een nacht te regelen. Inderdaad, het sex-toerisme is hier zeer nadrukkelijk aanwezig. En ik moet absoluut zeggen dat er zeer mooie vrouwen bij rondlopen.

Sta ik dus rustig een drankje te drinken, non-alcoholico vanwege de pillen, staat er gelijk een vrouw voor me sensueel te bewegen en mij te peilen of ik interesse heb. Het lijkt hier wel de omgekeerde wereld tov het Westen. Daar worden de vrouwen juist besprongen en gejaagd, hier is het de wereld andersom. En ik maar denken dat persoonlijkheid en karakter erg belangrijk zijn en dat ik niet slechts een stuk vlees met geld ben. Respect daarom voor de vrouwen in het westen die soortgelijke dingen andersom meemaken! ;-)

Mogelijk dat het wat meer gewoon wordt voor me de komende tijd, maar er aan wennen en normaal vinden zal waarschijnlijk niet gebeuren. Wil dat ook niet...

Ik heb ook wat foto's online geplaatst van de aankomst en mijn huidige 'home sweet home'. Meer foto's volgen binnenkort!

P.S. En nee, ik heb gewoon alleen geslapen vannacht. ;-)

Duiken!

2007-10-06T18:56:00.000+07:00

Vandaag was het eindelijk zo ver! Na een dag wennen aan het tijdsverschil en gisteren de cursus Emergency First Response (EFR) succesvol te hebben afgerond, was vandaag het moment om eindelijk het water in te gaan als onderdeel van de cursus Rescue Diver. Maar eerst nog even over gisteren.

EFR is een vereiste voordat ik met Rescue Diver kon beginnen. De cursus gaat over het omgaan met noodgevallen, zoals deze ook wel wordt gegeven in een BHV cursus; een slachtoffer eerste hulp geven totdat de professionele hulptroepen er aan komen etc. Niet alleen volgde ik de algemene cursus, maar ook EFR voor kinderen. Ik vond het erg leerzaam, vooral het laatste. Het algemene eerste deel had ik al zo'n 14 jaar geleden gehad tijdens mijn dienstplicht, maar het kinderen-gedeelte was nieuwe voor mij. Erg waardevolle tips, die voor velen interessant zijn, zoals bijvoorbeeld ouders, kinderopvang en babysitters. Weet je bijvoorbeeld wat je moet doen als het blijkt dat je kind stikt door wat speelgoed te hebben ingeslikt? Erg goed om te hebben gedaan dus!

Vandaag was dus eindelijk de eerste duik. Ook gelijk de eerste mogelijkheid om mijn nieuwe duikspullen uit te proberen (Mares Dragon BCD, V42 metal en Suunto D6 voor de duikers onder ons). De lcoatie was het strand bij de duikschool, waar allerlei toeristen een beetje in de zon lagen te bakken, terwijl wij met de zware duikspullen op onze rug richting het water begaven. We, waren in dit geval, de instructeur Jamie, die zijn eerste EFR cursus zou geven, Jan Willem, die ook de crusus volgt, en Jeff die als ervaren instructeur een oogje in het zeil zou houden.

De eerste oefeningen verliepen voorspoedig, met o.a. oefeningen voor kramp in je kuit te verwijderen, een vermoeide duiker en een duiker in paniek te helpen en te verslepen in het water. De volgende oefening was het samen met Jan Willem een vermiste duiker opsporen. Het zicht onder water was erg slecht - minder dan 1.5 meter - dus konden we alleen contact houden met een draad, waarmee Jan Willem na elk rondje steeds grotere rondjes zou zwemmen terwijl ik langzaam het touw zou uitrolllen. Plotseling was er echter een vervelende tussenkomst. Ik voelde ineeens een stekende pijn net onder mijn knie alsof er iets in mijn been werd gestoken. Ik keek gelijk omlaag, maar zag niets, maar voelde wel gelijk een stekende pijn. Ik ben gelijk naar de oppervlakte gegaan en via het touw en armbewegingen gesignaleerd dat er iets aan de hand was. Uiteindelijk via de hulp van de anderen naar de kant gekomen en gelijk wat eerste hulp verzorging door hen ondergaan. Wel grappig dat eerste hulp nodig was tijdens de oefeningen voor rescue diver en na de EFR cursus. Zo kon gelijk de theorie in de praktijk worden gebracht. Daarna wered ik naar het ziekenhuis gebracht voor eerste hulp. Met wat spuiten (verdoving en tetanus), betadine, verband en wat pillen was ook dat snel geregeld. Het ziekenhuis was erg goed en ik werd gelijk behandeld - en moest ook gelijk afrekenen. De rekening stuur ik wel naar de verzekering! ;-)

Afijn, het betekent nu dat ik 1 a 2 dagen niet zal kunnen duiken. Genoeg tijd om wat verder de theorie door te nemen en dan maar later de praktijkoefeningen doen.

Dus, allemaal geen noodzaak om je zorgen te maken. Misschien hou ik er wel wat 'stoere' littekens aan over; "o, die littekens? die heb ik opgelopen tijdens een duik in Thailand toen er een enorme vis op me afkwam..."

Groetjes allemaal!

p.s. Allemaal even zingen voor Margaretha, die vandaag jarig is! :-)

Aankomst Ko Samui

2007-10-03T18:12:00.000+07:00

Reis

Na een lange reis van meer dan 18 uur ben ik heelhuids aangekomen op Ko Samui! Het is hier relaxt en heb een prima onderkomen gevonden, maar daarover later meer.

De dag van vertrek is toch een drukke dag geworden. De ochtend begon gelijk met slechts nieuws. De makelaar belde dat de verhuur zeer waarschijnlijk niet doorgaat o ten minste uitgesteld wordt. De aanstaande huurder had maandag een berichtje gestuurd dat ze problemen om nu het geld te betalen. Details laat ik even achterwege, maar het betekent dus dat ik nu geen verhuurd apartement heb. De makelaar heeft gelijk het weer op de markt gezet. Het is des te meer balen, omdat er in de tussentijd ook andere geinteresseerden waren. Afijn, ik kan op en neer gaan springen, maar dat helpt niets. Hopelijk kan de makelaar snel weer nieuwe kandidaathuurders aanleveren.

Na dit nieuws ben ik nog druk bezig geweest om de laatste dingen af te ronden, wat helemaal gelukt is. Om 12.00u was de makelaar er voor de sleutels en Jan om mij naar Schiphol te brengen - thanks again, Jan! :-) Voordat ik op Schiphol kon gaan inchecken, moest ik nog eerst wel mijn auto gaan stallen bij een caravan- c.q. autostalling in Aalsmeer. Dat liep wel aardig gesmeerd, maar kostte meer tijd dan verwacht. Het was inmiddels 13.40u dat we daar vertrokken en mijn vliegtuig zou om 15.00u opstijgen... Daarvoor moest ik nog wel even langs het postkantoor om mijn auto te schorsen, zodat ik in de tussentijd geen wegenbelasting hoef te betalen. Gelukkig viel de drukte mee op het postkantoor van Amstelveen en kon om 14.05u richting Schiphol. Met een beetje extra gas, was het 14.15u al daar. Snel inchecken en bagage afgeven. De grondstewardess heb ik wel even lief moeten aankijken, wat me goed gelukt is daar ze mijn 3 kilo overgewicht accepteerde, zonder dat ik hoefde bij te betalen!
Patrick was ook nog even op Schiphol om gedag te zeggen. Daar ik al richting gate moest gaan (rennend), was er maar weinig tijd voor afscheid (Misschien ook wel goed...). Ik was op tijd en kon zo nu echt aan mijn trip beginnen.

Via Duesseldorf met KLM, naar Bangkok met LTU en uiteindelijk met Bangkok Airways naar Ko Samui, zette ik dus 18 uur later voet op het eiland wat de komende tijd mijn thuis zal zijn. Ik was perfect op tijd met de vlucht, helaas mijn bagage niet. Gelukkig zou deze met de volgende vlucht, een ruim uurtje later, alsnog binnenkomen.
Camille stond mij al op te wachten en was het gelijk daarna richting behuizing.

1e dag

Mijn voorlopig nieuwe thuis is een klein losstaand huisje, wat helemaal geschikt is voor wat ik hier kom doen. Tenslotte is het niet mijn bedoeling om hele dagen binnen te door te brengen, maar vollop bezig te zijn met de cursus en genieten van Thailand c.q. Ko Samui. Foto's van het huisje en omgeving volgen nog!
In de andere huisjes zitten ook een aantal andere cursisten, waaronder 1 Nederlander en een paar Engelsen. Met de Nederlander - Jan Willem - ga ik samen starten met de cursus, als eerste Emergency First Response. Komt er op neer dat je eerste hulp kan geven bij vereiste situaties. Moet niet al te moeilijk zijn, daar ik ook al wat gehad heb tijdens mijn militaire dienstplicht.

Verder was Camille zeer behulpzaam en heeft mij o.a. diverse zaken van het eiland laten zien in zijn auto, een brommer en gsm nummer geregeld (zie mijn profiel), meegeweest richting supermarkt en zijn we bij de duikschool geweest voor wat formaliteiten en andere zaken. Het was al met al een drukke middag, wat goed was, zodat ik gelijk aan de lokale tijd kon aanpassen en niet zou gaan slapen of zou.

De eerste nacht heb ik ook echt goed geslapen en vandaag allerlei andere zaken geregeld, zoals eigen duikspullen. Ook dat is goed gelukt. De middag had ik voor mijzelf en ben met de brommer het eiland verder gaan verkennen. Het voelt erg goed om hier te zijn en dit sterkt mijn keuze voor Thailand en niet Egypte. Het is natuurlijk druk met verkeer op de weg en een aantal Thaien rijen als gekken, maar verder is het heel goed te doen. Geen files van Nederlandse proporties te vinden! Verder is het natuurlijk een heerlijke temperatuur en schijnt de zon zo hier en daar. Het regenseizoen staat te beginnen, waardoor het af en toe regent. Vanmiddag dus een enorme tropische stortbui, maar was zelf gelukkig op dat binnen.

Vanavond ben ik met een aantal andere cursisten gaan eten bij zo'n typisch Thais buiten eettentje. Daar een noodlesoup gegeten met een biertje voor Bhat 70. Dat is dus omgerekend circa E 1.55. Niet slecht voor een avondmaal!

Nu aan het einde van de 2e dag begin ik al een beetje mijn draai te vinden en wat te ontspannen. Dat is hard nodig na de afgelopen weken in Nederland te hebben gestuiterd! Misschien komt het zo wel helemaal goed.

p.s. bedankt iedereen voor de warme berichtjes en steun die ik de afgelopen tijd van jullie heb mogen ontvangen! Voel me een bevoorrecht mens met jullie in mijn leven!