Wow, a busy couple of days - both with early starts as we left the pier at about 7.30 in the morning on Monday and Tuesday for more diving. Weather was beautiful and the sea very calm both days; after our first dive on Monday, we had to swim 200m and then tread water for 10 minutes as part of the course - honestly thought we were going to die/sink/both; it seems neither of us are very fit but we managed it somehow. Saw some amazing stuff on the first two dives; hawkesbill turtles, lionfish, box fish, leopard sharks... awesome but still getting used to the whole breathing underwater/floating/sinking thing so didn't get to look at everything too closely.

We were back at our hotel by about 2pm, and spent the next few hours sunbathing and doing the last bit of homework before our exam in the evening (easier than we were expecting). One of the questions made us laugh - What should you do if you run out of air in the water? a) Signal to your buddy b) Ascend to the surface as quick as you can c) Wait for your buddy to go and get you a new cylinder. Like I said, not too difficult an exam and we both passed fine.

Tuesday was our final day with two more dives and this time they were even better because we were a lot more comfortable with all the equipment and everything and could really concentrate on what we were looking at. More turtles, loads of really cool fish, even a squid and a stingray. They made a dvd of our dives on the last day which we watched yesterday evening with everyone back in the shop but they were selling them for 1800 baht which is about 35 pounds (there's no pound sign on these Thai keyboards!) so we decided not get one (we could have had an extra night at the hotel as well as lunch and dinner for the same price!

Up early again this morning as we had to pack (too tired to do it last night), have breakfast and get down to the pier for our boat at 9 o'clock to take us from Phi Phi to Phuket where we'll be staying for a couple of days before catching a plane to Sydney. We enjoyed Phi Phi; very beautiful and a very laid back vibe - all the locals are friendly too. Saw the occasional lady-boy and had a super-camp guy working at our hotel who was great (he eyed Simon up when we left though...)

The boat journey was just over an hour and a half and even out at sea the sun was blazing hot so lots and lots of suncream. We're both (slowly and sensibly) trying to get tanned so that we don't look too 'new' to all of this. The scenery is beautiful, and very peaceful. Less than 10 minutes' minibus journey into town from the pier and we've found a hostel which is really nice - we've paid quite a bit to have our own room and air conditioning (still not quite acclimatised to the heat; hopefully we will be soon) so we've paid about 20 pounds for the night but there is free internet in the living room and free WiFi everywhere else, and the food and drink in this part of the world is cheaper than on Phi Phi too.

We haven't decided what we're going to do tomorrow - think we need to rest a bit after the past few days, think we've been overdoing it a bit! It's a bit of a way to Phuket airport where we need to be by Friday evening so we might head on up towards one of the beaches nearer there tomorrow and find a place to stay to avoid a long journey all in one go. Probably a nap this afternoon and maybe hang out in front of a film with the guys here tonight, then up and off to explore tomorrow. Still doesn't feel Christmassy but Vix assures us that there are lots of decorations all over Sydney and carols on the radio :)

Still having a great time, can't quite believe that we've been only been away for two weeks as we've done so much and it feels like much longer!

Hope you are all well,

Simon and Jane xx