Koh Tao, Thailand

Ahhhh, Paradise!!! We have finally arrived at the beach with our cute beach bungalow on a quiet little bay at the south end of the island of Koh Tao. The picture above is the view from our bungalow which is raised up over the beach. It really is lovely, pretty much perfect, well almost...

What you can't see in the photograph is the ANTS! Argh! We spent about 4 hours this morning clearing out thousands of little red ants (with black bums) that were swarming through our backpacks and clothes. We finally got rid of most of them and then talked to the guy at the front desk who came in to our bungalow and nuked them with some seriously toxic spray. Anyhow, that was about 10 hours ago and we are happy to report that all is well, no ants, in fact no bugs at all. Hmmmm.

So, we are just getting our selves settled in here and slowing down to an island pace. We have been looking around for some snorkeling gear to go out and explore some of the many reefs around the island. The island is surrounded by dozens of dive spots. We read a fact that states 40 percent of the worlds divers now get certified on Koh Tao, hard to believe seeing the size of this 21 square Km paradise. Starting on tuesday we will go out and do some proper diving, beginning with a dive spot called the South West Pinnacles. The dive begins with a decent to 35 meters and then you slowly climb up while you swim around the pinnacle of your choice. The peaks of the pinnacles sit just 5 meters below the water. It sounds like there are plenty of great things to see in the water, we are keeping our fingers crossed to see one of the whale sharks (that thankfully prefer plankton to people), and they can grow up to 12 meters long! Steff is a little less excited about seeing one than i am, she is a bit more interested in the clown fish (the 'Finding Nemo' type fish). Hee hee!!

Well that is our quick update, we will post some photos of the island once we get a few together. In the meantime we will be kicking back, taking it easy and enjoying life on the beach...

...Lots of love to all our family and friends and we hope that you are all ding well. Justin and Steff oOo