Meeting old friends

Upon returning from Bangkok, we were invited by our friends, Neville and Tish, to spend a couple of days with them at their house in Phuket.  Another wonderful bus-man's holiday!

They picked us up in the morning, took us for coffee and delicious apple pie (such a treat) before taking us to purchase our meat provisions for the Indian Ocean crossing.  Now this may not sound like much to landlubbers but for us, wow.  I bought the meat, took it to their house, repackaged it all in meal-size portions and placed it in their freezer.  Within the day, it was solid.  If we had attempted to do the same aboard Calypso, considering it takes a minimum of two days to barely freeze a small tray of ice cubes, it would never have frozen before it all went off!  What a godsend!

We loved their house, a fabulous combination of practical design and beautiful decor.  They built it and moved in about eighteen months ago after having lived in Australia for over thirty years.  The two days literally flew by with a tremendous amount of reminiscing; catching up on the years since we last all lived in South Africa.  Great company with many good laughs.  We spent a wonderful evening at friends of theirs who invited us along to join them for dinner.  It's interesting to meet so many expats and to hear their views on the lives they are leading in foreign countries.

Neville and Tish threw in another bit of absolute luxury by treating us to an hour-long foot massage.  Now that's what I call being spoiled!  

Thailand is definitely the place for massages and we kept thinking we should indulge but somehow just never got around to it.  What a pleasure indeed.  When the time came, we were sorry to say farewell.  Who knows if and when we'll meet up again.  I hope so. 

 



 





















Back on the home front, we have a major problem with our modem which allows us to send and receive emails via the SSB radio.  It no longer works and this means that we cannot receive weather information or send out our position as we are underway.  Paul's been trying everything and is still not sure if it's the modem itself or the cable which is faulty.  Neville took him to a marine electrics shop who felt the cable could be the culprit but could do nothing about it.  In the meantime, John, up in Bangkok, has pounded the streets trying to find a replacement.  It appears that this is an archaic museum piece so no luck but a million thanks for your efforts John.  I'm not sure what the next step is going to be but...... bit worrying to say the least.

Time is matching on now, we'll soon be moving southwards again to head towards Sumatra.  The good news is, Paul's Australian visa to visit Coco Keeling has finally been approved.  What a mission that was primarily because he's a South African citizen applying for the visa outside of SA.  As its all done by computer these days, the 'answer' blocks don't allow for explanations so he didn't fit into the norm.  Anyway, it's done thank goodness!  We can now stop at Cocos.