Thailand - Ko Tao (27 June - 6th July )

On a beatiful tropical island in the Gulf of Thailand. Caz has finished a 4-day open water diving course, where she did 5 dives, including one at 18 metres. All went well bar one dive where the boat got to a dive site just as another did (reef sharks had been seen here the last few days, that haven't been seen since the Tsunami so obviously everyone wanted a piece of the action). About 50 divers from the other boat jumped in after us (about 15 from our boat) so it was a mad scramble to get down the anchor rope and stay in our groups, and throughout the dive there were as many people as fish (lots of both). We didn't see the sharks because we are only allowed to go down 18 metres and the sharks live at 30 metres. As diving is an addictive sport, Caz is signing up for the advanced open water course (night diving, navigation and shark spotting), so we are are staying here for now!

Rory is still lounging around on the beach all day............
So England lost in the quater finals - again; on penalties - again; against Portugal - again. England never seem to go out without a bit of controversy and it was a great exciting game. We found a good place to watch it in the company of plenty of England fans. The night before the barman wound the German fans up by playing 'Vindaloo' at tense moments of the game - great.

Update - Caz is now an advanced open water diver, having seen reef sharks, scared herself doing a Blair Witch Project style night dive, and a total of 11 dives, we are finally ready to leave Ko Tao.