Day 3 - Don't want to leave PARADISE!

Once again Luke called us all at 7am, we had to have our tents swept out and everything packed for our ferry at 1pm. We made toast, jam and coffee and set off on our daily adventure. This time it was to Lake Wabby, which was a lake full of catfish and surrounded by steep dunes. Stunning. It took us 30 minutes to hike in there through the jungle, through deep sand, an absolute work-out but it was worth it. I even got chatting to two old guys who were on a stroll, both retired, one from the Navy and one who was the Chief of the Australian Air force, very fancy! They were both very nice and told me more history about the island, how a dingo ripped open one of their tents and how there used to be wild horses on the island before they were all killed off by sand colic or hungry dingoes.

We stopped for lunch but didn’t have enough food left in our coolers for any decent meal. Instead Luke pointed us in the direction of a bakery on the Island that sold the most gorgeous beef and cheese pies.

We drove back onto the ferry, arrived back at the hostel, unloaded our coolers, collected our belongings, said our goodbyes and checked back in at Pippies down the road with our caravans. We enjoyed a $2 BBQ there, of sausages, garlic potatoes, salad and gravy. We then had much needed showers as the ones on camp I think made us dirtier, and had a great nights sleep tucked up in our campervans J Frazer Island was amazing, I cannot recommend it enough!!! Next stop, the loooong drive to Airlie Beach for the nest leg of our adventure – The Whitsundays Boat trip! This is the life!!!

(Here's our Frazer Family on Indian Head!)

Paul the Octopus

Luke called everyone at 7am, we dragged ourselves out of our tents and reminisced about Winki’s over our scrambled eggs, toast and orange juice breakfast. I made the champion scrambled eggs!

We packed ourselves back into the jeeps and took off down the beach again, singing our hearts out and being thrown around on the uneven sand, as usual. First stop – The Champagne Pools. Since you cannot swim in the sea, there was rock formations which waves crash over forming pools with wavy foam, like natural jacuzzi’s! Brilliant! We all got it, but the wind had picked up and the sea was crazy choppy, so the cold sea air pelted sand off our legs when we got out. Nothing could wipe the smiles off our faces though! (Champagne Pools, below)

After our swim we went to Indian Head, a high part on the Island, overlooking the sea and lots of the Island dunes and forests. This is where you can usually spot whales, sharks and dolphins but the sea was too choppy to see anything unfortunately. The view was magnificent though! (Panoramic from Indians Head looking inland)

(Looking out over the sea, below)

We made wraps for lunch and then Luke brought us to Eli creek, which was the lazy river. He gave our team, obviously the best team, a blow up octopus he named Paul. We all hung off Paul as we floated down the river twice together. The people not swimming that waited at the end said they could hear us before the saw us. They also spotted a huge snake swim through the water before we got to the end, AHHH!

Also, earlier we saw a group of people trying to push a tour bus out of the sand and later that same bus overheated, caught fire and blew up. Don’t worry everyone evacuated the bus. We stopped to get pictures though! CRAZY!!! Do the self drive, NOT the bus tours, apparently this is not the first tour bus explosion on the beach! (Before & after pictures - crazy)

We were all exhausted after our day of adventure, so we asked Luke to bring us back a little early to camp so we could get a head start on dinner before everyone else arrived back and the kitchen was teaming with people. The self-drive is only a 2 night, 3 day tour, so we were no longer the newbie’s on camp, we ruled the place now and knew how it all worked J Asian Chicken Stirfry was on the menu for dinner which was so nice. I chopped the chicken and Eimear chopped the vegetables, as she said Ger, her Mam wont let her at home, she’s afraid she’d cut off her fingers. She did quite a nice job Ger! Ha, ha!

After dinner, it was goon and Winki’s ROUND 2! 

Dangerous Dingoes, Lots of Sand, Crystal Clear Lakes, Absolute Paradise = Frazer Island

It’s a long one, but a good one, promise!

Our orientation began at 7am, it was a 40 minute video from the 1960’s about the dangers of the Island and how to drive in the sand. Apparently if a dingo stalks you, you are supposed to back away and cross your arms over your chest, seriously?? It was hilarious, 40 minutes of my life I will never get back and Aine fell asleep during it.

We then met our team, we were Team 1 - us six, a tall Dutch guy called Stef, a Dutch girl called Charlotte and a strange English girl from Kent called Rachel. There was our Jeep and then 3 others, 33 people all together on our Frazer Island adventure – some English, Dutch, German and Swedish. Each group was given a list of food, a menu for the trip and cooler boxes. We had to make sure everything on the list was packed. Each group had to cook their own food at camp on Frazer. Steak and Potatoes was our first dinner, a long way from spaghetti in a can and pot noodles, haha! We were also given coolers and ice for our goon – they thought of everything!!!

Our guide was Luke, an English Aussie, who has lived in Australia since he was 13, blondish dread like long hair, holes in his work shirt (which had his name embroidered onto it) and barefoot - a proper island beach guide. He introduced himself and gave us all a prep speech, which was hilarious, lots of rhyming – “Turn that frown upside down” “Teamwork makes the dream work”  “Attitude of gratitude,” etc.

We had checked in last so we got Luke as our driver, all the other people drove and took turns to drive the Jeeps, we had the option to swap out and drive also, once we had a license J but to be honest, it was brilliant being in Luke’s Jeep, he told us lots of awesome facts and let me play whatever music I wanted. We all felt a lot safer in his care, as he has been driving on this Island for 7 years, plus sometimes he would do crazy swerves and skids, haha! We loved it! (Check out the video below)

Luke drove out of Rainbow beach from the Hostel, down the road and onto a thick sand beach where we waited for the ferry, which literally just drops its ramp onto the shore, and everyone drives on. The ferry ride was 15 minutes, so we all got out and watched the hundreds of blue jellyfish float about the surface of the water. Gross! We also were on the lookout for whales, dolphins and great white sharks which frequent the sea around Frazer. This is why you are not allowed to swim in the sea, GREAT WHITES, AHHHHH!!!!

Once we arrived at Frazer, we drove at high speeds down the beach, swerving to miss sand banks and racing against incoming tides. Sometimes Luke would stick his fist out of the window to indicate to the rest of the cars, who were in a convoy, to switch to first gear and rev through the deep soft sand. We even spotted our first dingo, sunbathing on the beach, minutes after arriving. (Check out my amazing picture I got of a dingo chasing a bird - a new found talent of fluke photography! haha!)

So the deal with the dingoes is that you are not supposed to feed them, but they are scavengers and will sometimes attack for food, rip into tents and steal your children – it has happened. Long story short, some stupid drunk guy walked the wrong way out of the campsite, stumbled across a dingo den and fell asleep with his goon in one hand and salt & vinegar crisps in the other, the dingoes ate half of his face and arm skin. Gross. Then some people came to the Island and killed lots of the dingoes and some were the remaining four aborigines pets, they were not happy. Moral of the story = dingoes are bad, stay in groups, don’t wander away, especially with salt & vinegar crisps!

Luke drove us to a picnic area where we made lunch – beef, cheese, mayo and salad sambo’s, yum! Then we drove about 45 minutes down the beach and through the jungle (where we listened to jungle music – Chase & Status – which was very fitting) and we arrived at Lake McKenzie – absolute paradise. Crystal clear blue/green fresh water, with eucalyptus elements due to all the trees surrounding it and pure sand, which you could exfoliate yourself with, which we did. Our skin and hair was soooo nice after it. (Another Panoramic for you of Lake McKenzie, below)

After a swim and making some new friends we headed into the jungle with Luke for a walk and he told us lots of great history about the Island, I’m not going to go into it as it would take to long. You can google that shite, or take the tour yourself, wouldn’t want to spoil it for you, ha! (Here's Eimear & Myself swinging on tarzan vines in the Rainforest)

We headed for our campsite, K’Gari, which means paradise, which it wasn’t, but it was pretty bloody cool. Tents for each adventure group spread out and covered by tarps. A kitchen area, table area, fire pit area, toilet and shower area and even a nightclub, well actually it was a platform shack they called Winki’s, but after a bit of goon, it would do!

We claimed our tents and made dinner – mmmm steak, potatoes and salad– everyone took part, either cooking or cleaning up. A dingo walked up near our trailer where we kept our cooler boxes in and I made one of the lads from England, Drew, put our crate of bread back up in there, fair play to him!

We lit a fire, hung out with loads of people, there was probably about 4 different adventure groups camping there, we drank goon and then danced the night away in Winki’s barefoot! Amazing first day and night! The wind had picked up overnight and blew through our tents, along with a beach full of sand, not the best nights sleep, but the goon helped! Ha! Day 2 blog post on it's waaaaaay...... 

The Race to Rainbow Beach

Our plan was to head to Noosa and spend the day at the beach, but when we called to confirm our Frazer Island trip, which we thought, according to our tour guide calendar was on Tuesday, but they told us we were due to arrive for our orientation THAT DAY at 2pm and our trip was on Monday, AHHHH, we were 5 hours away. We had planned a possible night in Noosa, but had to drive through it quick to get to Rainbow Beach instead. We drove the coast road through Noosa and all the beaches were beautiful, we would have loved to stop there, reminded me a bit of Florida.

After a very long drive, through various towns AND through Cooloola National Park, which was incredible. Which APPARENTLY has Kangaroos, Koalas and wild horses, according to the warning signs, but we didn’t see one, it’s all lies I tell you, we checked in at a hostel named Frazer on Rainbow, which they requested we did before 7pm for our trip and then paid a hostel called Pippies down the road $10 to park and use their facilities, as not all hostels offer this. (Cooloola National Park, below)

(I saw some horses, and had to stop to take a picture, of course, haha)

We had a great night hanging out and chatting with our two caravans side by side, and we were all extremely excited for our Frazer Island adventure the next day. Our mandatory orientation was to begin at 7am. We packed our small bags, put all of our large bags in the hostel storage and our valuables in their security box. They also said we could leave our campervans parked outside on the road. There were about fifteen other campervans and cars abandoned there by Frazer Island travelers too. FRAZER ISLAND here we cooooome!!!! 

Sweaty Hippy Nimbin & Shark Infested Waters

We checked out of Art’s Factory at 10am, but not before I saw a huge lizard swimming around in the hostels swimming pool. We stopped off at Aldi to stock up on the essentials, like crisps, tea and cordial for our water, we are posh travelers. We then drove for an hour and a half to the hippy town of Nimbin. Sheila, that bitch on the GPS brought us through the mountains, apparently it must be set to – ‘scenic route/dodgy mountain roads’… totally worth it though as you get to see the real countryside, and Tara spotted a Koala in a tree. The rest of us are yet to see one, OR a kangaroo, although the other girls said they saw a dead one on the side of the road, I’m beginning to think these animals aren’t really in Australia and just a tourist trick to get us here.

Anyways, Nimbin, absolute hippy town, tye-dye and rainbows everywhere. Weird people everywhere, that have obviously had too much sun, strong smell of weed every now and then and it was absolutely swealtering (this is Irish slang for – VERY hot and sweaty).

After walking around for a while, Aine wanted to get outta there, the weird people were too weird, even for Aine, haha, so we got back in Sheila and Bruce, the campervans and headed for the small harbor town of Jacobs Well to set up in a caravan park for the night. It took another hour and a half to get there. We were all excited for a chill night, and good thing too, as it was a quiet family tourist park. There were lots of gorgeous parrots everywhere but they were so noisy.

Once set up at our sites, back to back, we walked over to the harbor to check out the fenced in swimming area. The park ranger told us, it’s fenced in because the harbor has a lot of sharks in it and you can’t swim there. He also ASSURED us that, the previous hole in the shark fence was mended last week, so it should be fine to swim in, AHHHHH!!!! Myself, Aine and Eimear took our chances and went for a swim anyways, haha! There were kids in there, so we made sure to stay shallower than them so they would get eaten first. (Panoramic view of the fenced in swimming area at the harbor below - My camera is brilliant! ha! Just figured out I can do this, so you'll be seeing lots more panoramics!)

We chatted to a few of our campsite neighbors, one in particular is retired and spends 8 months of the year in his massive – house like campervan with his wife. They had 2 televisions in their camperHOUSE.

That night, as we settled down for an early one, Tara’s bed at the top of the caravan fell through and she nearly squashed Liv, it’s hilarious now, but at the time they were both a bit traumatized! Haha! 

She's HEALED!

We decided to book in for another night at Art’s Factory Hostel so we could use their facilities. It’s nice being a part of the hostel but having our own space in our caravans outside. The car park was packed with different types of campervans, backpackers and lizards. After we had showers and made grilled cheese sandwiches for brunch, we took the free shuttle bus into town. I’m surprised it made it out of the driveway, absolute dodgy bus with no windows. (Big lizard beside our caravan, below)

Byron Bay is a gorgeous small beach town, lots of surfers and hippys hanging out and skateboarding by. We headed for free internet at the local Travelbugs to do some research on a few options for our next stop off. Aine got her nose pierced; it’s her new backpacker look. Eimear also has a new backpacker look – these baggy trousers she bought in Thailand (hareem pants), her one long earing with feathers, lots of bracelets and her ‘wanky monkey’ necklaces. Combined with her unbrushed, long wavy hair, she looks like a right backpacker/hobo now, haha! Legend!

After interneting (spell check does not believe this is a word, stupid spell check) we followed the ‘salty air’ as some surfer dude directed us to find the beach. Byron main beach is beautiful and huge, lots of people surfing, kite-surfing and sunbathing. We joined in with the sunbathers, but it was crazy windy, no wonder there was lots of surfers, the swells were huge…. Haha…. That’s ‘waves’ to you city people, we are getting into the local lingo :p

On the way back to the hostel, we saw a sign that said ‘free BBQ’ in a small park in the town. So we took up the offer of course…. We are travellers of the world now and grab every opportunity, especially when it’s free. It was a Christian group who were running it, so they came through the line chatting to everyone while we patiently held our free buns in our hands waiting on free burgers.

One of the guys was going on about cutting his hand and it being healed or something, so Eimear decided to have the man, who was a tall ginger Christian named Kevin, to bless her Thailand scooter burn on her leg. The next day it actually looked a lot better, for once, go Kevin!

We had canned spaghetti on toast for dinner, which was exquisite and tickled the taste buds. Jamie Oliver eat your heart out.

We then started pre-drinking our lovely goon wine and headed for a club called Cheeky Monkeys in the town, where we danced on tables all night, not just us though, the whole dance floor was just tables, like everyone was on different levels, so bizarre and definitely not the ideal dance floor for a whole pile of drunk people. GREAT night though!

Campervans! BOOM!

We got our campervans - 2 of them and set off for Byron Bay! I drove our one, with Tara and Liv and Anna drove the other, with Eimear and Aine! The City was a little scary but once out on the motorway we were flying (keeping under the speed limit of course, there are speed cameras EVERYWHERE!)

 

We made our way, finally, to Byron Bay and parked up at Art's factory Hostel for the night where we payed $10 each to use their facilities - showers, kitchen etc. We had already stopped at Toombull shopping center to invest in GPS systems and also to stock up on some food in Aldi for our campervan fridges!  It's a tight squeeze but pretty hilarious! We love it so far! Although the other girls campervan is having trouble starting up so a mechanic is coming today to have a look at it!!! Fingers Crossed!

(This is us below on our first night of GOON - Australian cheap wine, actually quite nice)

AUSTRAAAAAALIAAAA

We have arrived and OMG is it expensive... absolute shocker after travelling Thailand at the price of this place. I guess when we finally get to working, our wages will be relevant to our cost of living?!

(Flying over the East coast - below)

We arrived into Sydney, hopped another plane to Brisbane and then got the Air train ($15.50 one way) to 5 stops away, Roma Street Transit Centre where we were picked up in a free shuttle bus to our hostel - Brisbane Backpackers. While we were waiting on the bus, Eimear and Liv played chasing with their backpacks on and then Tara led us in a work-out with our backpacks on, it was hilarious!

Brisbane Backpackers was okay, we met a few people, it was good fun, but we were all wrecked from Thailand, so after a few beers everyone passed out but not before I made some spicy noodles for dinner. I had to elbow my way through about 20 Indians who had taken over the kitchen, making what looked like a feast?!

We took a walk around Brisbane, which is a really nice City :) We sorted out our Australian Westpac bank accounts - the staff were sooooo nice and helpful! After that we headed to a few different travel Agents that we were recommended, and settled on 'Travelbugs', they were brilliant. We booked our 14 day trip on the East Coast, it goes something like this -

Thurs 18th - Pick up Campervans, drive South for 2 hours to Byron Bay for 2 nights - Stay at Art's Factory Hostel, where we pack up and pay to use their facilities :)

Sat 20th - maybe 2 nights in Surfers Paradise or Nimbim or Nooba (The girls are currently researching this)

Tues 23rd - Drive South, past Brisbane again to Rainbow Beach for Frazer Island trip (wont have contact for about 3 days) the trip consists of us driving a 4x4 Jeep all over the Island in a convoy behind a guide and other people's Jeeps. We camp, eat, sand surf, adventure, swim and there are no roads, only sand (we will definitely get stuck in the sand, ha!) I'm pretty sure it's on Frazer Island where you can only swim in the gorgeous salt lakes, NOT the sea, due to great White Sharks, AHHHHHHH!!!!!

Fri 26th - Drive to Airlie Beach, South for WhitSundays Boat Trip on the New Horizon Boat. (Wont have contact for another 3 days at least) The boat trips goes around the Whitsunday Islands, where all the food is included. We drink, sunbathe, swim, paddle boat, walk off the plank, snorkel and pass out in our cabins below deck!

Tues 30th - Probably spend the last night in Airlie Beach or we have been recommended waterfalls to stay at North of Airlie.

Wed 31st - Drop Campervans up North to Cairns(long drive), might spend a night or two there before flying down to Melbourne, then the house and job search begins!!!

We have also talked about going straight into fruit picking or farming for a bit of fun and to save a lot of money, but only if we can all get placed together or near each other, so we'll see?!?!

Anyways, there's our next 14 days - I'll try my best to keep you updated on how we are getting on :)

We miss you all x 

Last Days on the Islands :( Bye Bye Thailand

So Saturday 13th was our last full day on Koh Samui. We did our usual beach routine, and (pic below) Ross (Ireland), Vicky and James (UK) hung out with us all day.

The other girls weren't that hungry so Tara, Liv and myself went back to Gringo's Cantina for some Mexican food (I'm obviously feeling better now, ha!).

We met Aine, Eimear and Anna and headed for 'Our Bar', which is an Irish bar where we can choose our own music. We met two Australian guys who work in the mines in Perth and make $46 an hour.... they were minted! They bought us all rounds of 'tequila rose' shots (My new FAVE shot, Mam & Dad, you HAVE to try this, gorgeous!), they bought us laughing gas, flower necklaces and roses off the locals. Good friends to have, haha!

Sunday, which was our last day, Anna got a 'Heart' tattoo on the inside on her ankle, we ate baked potatoes with beans and cheese (YUM!) at Ark Bar, said our goodbyes and hopped in a taxi...

Samui Airport, which even more than before I confirm to be the most gorgeous airport ever - an open sided airport, like a canopy, quickest smallest security ever AND a complimentary cafe... yes FREE food and drinks... amazing! They even pushed us up onto an hour earlier flight as we were there early! Go Samui! (Here's the girls enjoying their chocolate milk, popcorn, chicken pies and cakes, while we waited at our gate)

We checked into The Great Residence Hotel once we arrived in Bangkok, which was 300 baht (like €6) a night, basic but nice, has a pool and restaurant and is only 10 minutes from the airport with a free 2-way shuttle to get us to our Brisbane flight :)

I am currently sat in their free wifi cafe, making sure you are all up to date on our travels before we start the next leg of our adventure - AUSTRALIAAAAAA!!!!! We are all very excited, miss and love you all xxx

The Barter Queen

So anytime we go shopping to the markets along the streets, or want to buy something from the locals on the beach, we always make sure to have Eimear with us... our personal barter QUEEN. She is brilliant!

Here are a few direct Eimear quotes while bartering:

She bought a monkey necklace, which the locals call 'wanky monkey', yes I know, classy!
"Hang on, how many Wanky Monkey's have you sold in the last week, actually in the last month? They're not the greatest seller are they? Go on, give me a good price."

"What. How much for that bracelet? Sure I'd have to buy insurance for that as well."

"I have to support a family too Mr."

Eimear also does her own work-out video's on the beach - Aine & Liv are her regular customers!

Myself and Liv didn't want to pay the full price to go out on Jet Ski's so we bartered the Thai boys down to nearly nothing to just bring us for a spin, finally then they gave in and let us drive, ha :)

Rent a Girlfriend in Thailand!

So we headed on a boat back to Koh Samui, our first island. We planned on 3 last nights there before heading to Bangkok and onto Australia. We stayed in the Coconut resort, which we recommended to our English friends from Great Bay Resort, which we met there :) We do our usual routine - breakfast at Khosan, head to the beach, float around the sea (with no jellyfish this time I may add), eat Corn on the Cobb, barter for bracelets and barter for bikinis!

Poor Anna is burnt badly :( I, who is usually the burnt one have FINALLY taken Triona's advice properly and BOOM, it has worked (of course, Mother's are brill) I use no lower than factor 20, mostly factor 30, and apply it a few times a day, and I have actually tanned and not burnt, ever.... YAY!

I am sick. I just have stomach cramps, nothing else, thank God, but a Thailand sickness has got me. I got some gaviscon and Eimear gave me some motilium, but I'm in THAILAND so the show must go on.... so I switched to Gin & Tonic buckets (Mam will be so proud, ha!). We headed out, as usual and ended up in Mango, our residential Koh Samui nightclub for another great night.
(This is us with a few of the Israeli boys)

(and moooore buckets below, haha!)

Okay so, in Thailand, you see a lot of old, ugly guys with Thai girls, everywhere. BUT there is also young, good-looking guys that can easily find a nice girl in a club etc, that's not Thai or paid for... apparently here you can RENT a girlfriend for your stay, whether it's a week, two or five. One. I wonder how much they cost. and Two. How does it work? Is it not awkward? Is it just like a holiday 'fake' romance? I am baffled at this idea. Oh Thailand!

Oh... and Mam.... they sell your favourite here.... the spinners (below) If I was just on holidays I would have bought you this really cool dragon one I saw!!!

Koh Phangan - Beach Life!

So we stayed in Koh Phangan for 3 nights at Great Bay - it was definitely away from the main town Haad Rin but it was actually quite nice to be a bit out from everything and only a tuk-tuk ride away. We made some great friends with everyone at our resort and hung out on the beach all day everyday. We were all excited to have Tara back when she arrived, it was like a missing link when she was gone!
(Here is an actual view from out our room window of Eimear & Myself on the swing - amazing!)

We got a tuk-tuk into Haad Rin and had some nice food, watched an awesome thunder & lightening storm, had several sunbathing naps, (Liv fell asleep mostly with her head buried in her puzzle book which she is addicted to, ha!) we also ate Israeli food (Hummus, falafal, pita, shasuska - recommended by Tara & the Israeli lads) which was beaut, and of course drank some more BUCKETS and DANCED some more. (Here's a bucket stand near Cactus Bar on Haad Rin Beach (where the Full Moon Party takes place) - in the buckets, we usually drink Vodka, M150(which is Thai redbull) and sprite.... and sometimes Samsung which is the Thai whiskey.

Stow-a-ways on a boat to the Half Moon Party!

I'm sorry, I'm sorry, it's been a while... we've been on the move a lot so I haven't updated the blog in a while and I apologise.

So I'm actually updating you on last Monday, the 8th and I'll try get you caught up ;)

We got a Catamaran boat (slower boat) from Koh Tao to Koh Phangan... it cost 300 baht, although it didn't actually feel slower than the boat last time?! Anyways, this boat had 2 floors, like the last and we sat up on deck, actually like stow-a-ways, no seats, just on the deck, sunbathing. There was a stow-a-way kitten on the boat that snuggled up beside my bag, we was obviously headed for the party island of Koh Phangan like we were :)

Tara stayed with her friend Grace for another night and was following us over after the Half Moon Party, as she had already done the Full Moon Party, she regretted missing it though, but did love hanging out with Grace, who is mental, as the Full Moon Party is on a beach whereas the Half Moon was in the JUNGLE... we were very excited!!!

We arrived off the boat and were ambushed by a Thai guy called Buug, he convinced us, well actually he convinced Eimear that we needed to stay at a particular resort, he said "you come see, you no like, I bring you back". We were all a bit unsure, although it's pretty common to get your accommodation this way in Thailand for backpackers apparently. We hopped into the air-con taxi, YES aircon! We arrived at Phangan Great Bay Resort. It was actually beautiful, there was other Irish and English travellers there, our room we were offered was right beside the pool and looked out right onto the beach, I could literally step out the door and walk two strides to the sand. We booked in. After booking in we ended up walking for 20 mins down the road to find a shop, which apparently if we went the other way we would have found one in five. You win some, you lose some. We looked up our resort and the reviews were horrendous :( although all and all, we or none of the other resort people we hung out with had problems :) Thank God! (Here's Liv on Baan Tai Beach at our resort - Great Bay - Definitely all of our FAVOURITE beach so far, absolutely stunning)

Anyways, onto the juicy stuff - The Half Moon Party. We got kitted out in our new tank tops, had a party outside our door for all our new friends, from Ireland, England and Israel, all so nice and we all painted each other with UV paint.... That's Eimear with her pink wig, and with us in this picture is Philip, aka Pip, from Wexford, Ireland :)

We all hopped in the resort organised taxi which squished us in and they drove us up into the jungle.
The place was WILD. UV paint everywhere, crazy outfits, pumping dance & dubstep music, food stalls, buckets and of course DANCING! We had an amazing night!!!

It was definitely hard to keep a hold of each other, but we managed to find each other in the end to head home, except Eimear who refused to stop dancing so she stayed with some of the girls/guys. She eventually showed up from a moped taxi home and had burnt her leg off the exhaust. It was a pretty bad burn :( She's doing good now, got anti-biotics and anti-inflammatory over the counter at a pharmacy and cleaning stuff for it, as Thailand has a big infection rate! It sucked at the time, but thinking back, we were falling around laughing when she was screaming (and laughing herself, still drunk) that - "I can't afford a new leg if they amputate it, and as for my luck, I'll get a bogey Doctor that will give me two left legs, I'll be known as Eimear 'Lefty' Fagan!" Hilarious!!!

Rollercoaster Tuk Tuk

Thailand has wifi everywhere. Any restaurant you go into, they probably have wifi. I got up early to skype Mam & Dad. I was sitting at Seashells restaurant at 10am, with an orange juice, waiting for them to come online. It was great to be able to see them and show them the beach, as Seashells is a stones throw from the sea. They were in Florida, so they are not that jealous of my current beach life :)

After the girls came to meet me, we had breakfast and then went to meet Grace for a trip to a local beach.  We hopped in a tuk-tuk (Thai word for taxi), it was another pick-up truck with 2 benches in the back. To get to Hin Wong beach we had to go up and down the steepest hills, on the smallest roads, with mopeds whizzing at us and sheer cliff edges just off the road. We were all screaming. It was hilarious! Tara has a video of us which I took, I'll try get a hold of it to post up here, probs wont even do it justice though - was amazingly scary!

We arrived at a tiny stony beach with a wooden shack nearby, the shack was a restaurant that rented our snorkel gear. We all rented out some snorkels and went out in the little harbour area where we small over lots of coral and beautiful tropical fish. I brought a waterproof camera with me, compliments of my Mam, but I'll have to get it developed to post the pictures for you guys :)

After snorkeling we headed up to the restaurant to get food before the tuk-tuk came back for us at 4. Anna and myself ordered the Green Thai Curry - it was one of the most beautiful green curries I've ever had, was local, made from scratch, so tasty and sooo spicy! Tara tried it and gagged because it was so spicy! ha! Later, poor Anna felt the repercussions, just as my belly was rumbling I managed to calm it down with Imodium, thank God!!!

We got a tuk-tuk back over the treacherous hills to our huts on the beach and got ready to head out. We all got pizza at Cafe Lotus, as they were having a special deal. Aine, Eimear and Anna took it easy and hung out at the huts, while Tara, Liv and myself headed to the commune, SpiceyTao hostel for a few beers with Grace. A cockroach fell into Tara's hair and she screamed. All the hippies in the hostel thought nothing of it, while Tara was horrified!!! We make shite backpackers! haha!