We’re almost out of here, and you can tell that I’m running out of things to do because I’ve been researching tsunamis on the internet. Here’s a picture of the tsunami barrier that’s supposed to “save us”. Yeah, it’s that small reef-like structure to the left of the picture.

Chris is wanting to use the internet so I’ll have to finish my post later. There’s a Wildcats game on, so if he thinks he’ll be on for a long time, he’s sadly mistaken…

err… Wildcats lost, so less said about that the better. There were free cocktails later that night so you can be sure I took good advantage. Although when I have a few drinks, it doesn’t always end well for Chris – this time it was his lack of support in organising bushwalking excursions *lol* The term long suffering comes to mind.

I also found out that the water huts, where we are staying, were wiped out when the tsunami hit. Chris was trying to reassure me that we would be safest on the water! Thank goodness I found this out towards the end of my stay.

We’ll be leaving around 11.30 tonight, but won’t get back until 3.30 Friday. Next holiday looks to be New Zealand – but it is going to be an adventure one – just have to get in shape for it. Peru was on the cards – until I saw how expensive it is to get over there. I am, of course, working my way up to get to Europe… baby steps… 🙂

No, the honeymoon isn’t over, but the weather has turned from tropical paradise to tsunami stormy. Nice for staying huddled in a hut, but not so great for swimming. At least I won’t come back with sunburn! Down side is there is not much to do other than get on the internet (price has now gone to just $15 a day – woohoo!) and watch dvds. I’ve also found that drinking cocktails whiles away a fair bit of the evening 🙂 We went to the Lighthouse restaurant last night – this is not a restaurant we would be frequenting every night as it is the top end spot at the resort. Definitely a superior quality of canapes.

I’m still quite bemused at looking into the sea and seeing sharks swimming close by. We have a few little friends near us who always swim together and we’ve gotten quite used to seeing them as we go to breakfast. They’re black tipped sharks and I’ll try and get a picture when the weather clears up.

We might not have had internet access today, but by god, we did have satellite TV. How fortunate to be able to watch the final day of the test match. Unfortunately I fell asleep and missed out on the penultimate over victory. Oh well…

After a lazy morning doing pretty much nothing at all we picked up some snorkelling gear and planned on swimming around the house reef. Well, that was the plan. Alas, we went at low tide and couldn’t find a way back through the reef that didn’t involve scrambling across coral (sharp!) and the further we swam, the less likely getting home looked. In the end we had to navigate our way through and put up with cuts and grazes. Not the most pleasant introduction to snorkelling. Before then it was pretty amazing; masses of vibrant fish and fortunately no sharks. The picture shows Chris doing a Steve Irwin and following a stingray, circled in red – at a safe distance of course! Chris later admitted that he spotted a meter long shark when he went swimming yesterday but was afraid to tell me in case I refused to go in the water altogether. Now why would he think that? Doesn’t he know I have enough to worry about with the tsunami possibility? Apparently they have constructed some sort of tsunami defence which appears to amount to nothing much more than a pile of caged rocks on one side of the island forming a barrier of sorts. Hmm…

Evenings involve going for cocktails at the bar, then heading to the restaurant for some culinary delight or other. The whole system is a bit of a rort – if you want a glass of water, they charge you for a whole bottle ($6) but I have discovered a secret (and free) stash of mini bottles at the gym (also free) which I plan to misappropriate for future dining incursions. We are still waiting for them to deliver our half drunken bottle of wine to our hut. I don’t see why we couldn’t have just taken it ourselves – but that’s the way it’s done around here apparently.

Which has just made my day. Now I can go off drinking. Actually, I was going to go off drinking regardless so it’s a win-win all round. I’m expecting to drink a cocktail out of a coconut. Life’s pretty relaxed over here. There’s not really a lot you can do but relax so I relax. I’ve already checked out the one and only shop and I think it’s safe to say that I won’t be buying from that one! They really have you over a barrel because it’s the only place you can buy anything, without spending $55 to get a ferry into Male. Anyway, I’ve done my shopping in Singapore and of course there is still duty free on the way back via Singapore in case I feel the need – or if I really feel the need – I could order something over the internet so it’s waiting when I get home!

Breakfast had about everything you could possibly want, including a chef who would cook your eggs to order or cut your fruit up for you. The morning was spent swimming out to an sand bar. Sharks (babies) feed at the edges of the ocean and rather large fish swim underneath the hut. I’m a little concerned that I’ll meet the mother of the little ones while I’m snorkelling, but a tsunami is probably my greatest fear. Other than that I don’t have anything to worry about other than what to wear 🙂

…but it is. You would have to consider this the ultimate holiday. We’re at www.baros.com if you want a look. This must be one of the best resorts in the *world*. Of course we got in at around 2am our time so all was darkness, but have a look at the view from our hotel – or hut, as I perhaps should call it in the dim dawn light. I was too excited to sleep so I was up at 6.30 in the morning having a look outside. You can walk into the ocean from our room and fish, sharks and rays swim around you. Quite a sight. You must be extremely jealous by now and I’m sure the best is yet to come. Did I say I would be desperate for internet accesss? Well at $20 a day I’m not. If you want to email – we’ll be checking every second day!