JBR-Sep 27th-Oct8th

Well sadly this is the last day of my Long Service Leave. Back to work tomorrow so I%26#39;d better write this before lesson plans, marking etc take over my time!

Day 1: Flew Singapore Airlines on morning flight from Sydney. Great service. Nut free meals for my son. Good legroom surprisingly. Quick smooth changeover to Phuket flight with Silkair. Nearly asphyxiated by a horde of young men on plane with very bad BO! Glad to arrive and kids were eagerly looking for our name on our van driver%26#39;s card. We laughed when we saw ';Mr Roslyn'; being waved at us. We were all excited to hit the hot balmy weather but after the 40 minute or so trip to Kata, we were all exhausted and longing for bed as we%26#39;d been up since 4am. However on arrival at Kata Gardens Apartments (see coming

Review) we came alive when we saw how beautiful our 2 bedroom apartment was. All my research had really paid off! Left the kids to settle in and took a quick 5 min walk to nearest 7/11for supplies for the kitchen.

Days 2 - ? : Swam every morning in the very long meandering pool. We were amazed that in the 8 days we were there, we had the pool to ourselves. No other tourists there, so very quiet and relaxing, just the way we wanted it. Had breakfast a few times at the Two Chefs. We all adored the Blueberry Jam Crepes. Excellent service and great food. Lots of walks along the beach. Amazed at how many crazy people were venturing into the surf. It was truly wild, I had read about it but didn%26#39;t believe it till I tried to go in for a ';paddle'; just to get wet!

Went to Kok Chang to ride the elephants. It was a very exhilarating experience, especially coming downhill. Kept wondering how that thin piece of rope was going to stop me falling out! I reassured my daughter that I had never read anything on Tripadvisor about elephants slipping in the mud or people tumbling down the mountain. Has it ever happened? My husband and son had a very docile elephant but ours was a bit stubborn and to our dismay the young mahout hit it with a stick a few times on the head. Wasn%26#39;t impressed ! View at the top was fantastic and would recommend the 1 hour trip.

Had a great (but painful!) massage at Tum Rub just near our apartment. Had an even better Aromatherapy one with my daughter at a new place next to Starbucks near Dinopark. It%26#39;s called Mook and is very new and soooo clean. Would thoroughly recommend it. Hubby and son had foot massages and raved too.

Had a discount card for Mom Tri Restaurants so had many cocktails at the Boathouse and Tapas Bar Happy Hours. My kids are now addicted to non-alcoholic Pina Coladas. I think they tried one in every bar or restaurant we went to. Had a beautiful meal at the Tapas Bar. As my son is allergic to peanuts we needed to be very careful of what and where we ate. We had some small laminated cards with his information translated into Thai and these were invaluable. All the waiters and chefs we showed them to were very helpful and understanding. If anyone would like them, contact me and I%26#39;ll happily send them to you as I have lots of copies.

Well this is turning out bigger than Ben Hur so will have to finish and continue tomorrow........blow the lesson plans!

Roslyn

JBR-Sep 27th-Oct8th

Sounds like a good trip Mr Roslyn! Certainly seems to be much more relaxing going in low season. The not being able to swim at beach seems a small price to pay.

I too thought about the elephant slipping down the muddy hill!! They seem to be surefooted for such a big creature.

cheers Mr Sharyn (I got it too!!)

JBR-Sep 27th-Oct8th

Hi Roslyn,

sounds like you a had a great holiday, look forward to the next installment.

I can relate to your story about not falling off the elephants,first time we went trekking it was on flat ground (very pleasant), so I convinced my frightened friend to take her two year old for a ride this year, telling her it%26#39;s not scary at all.

We did a different trek and we were on some pretty steep angles,due to the down hill slope and sweaty legs on a vinyl seat, I was struggling to keep myself upright,let alone trying to hold a two year old in my arms as well.I felt pretty bad about convincing her to come. My husband rode down the hill on the neck of the elephant and he said, every step he was convinced he was going to bite the dust.

Adrian-Kelli

Great report, Mr Roslyn. Is there a worse feeling than thinking about going back to work after a month or two off? Still, at least you will have the memories of your great holiday to sustain you until the next big trip!

Cheers

Phil