Thailand - Koh Samui

We arrived on Koh Samui, absolutely shattered from the sleepless flights - it was stinkin hot but raining and had been for 10 days, with major flooding in parts of Thailand. By the time we got to the hotel it had cleared to overcast but the effect of the rain was visible everywhere and the sea was still wild.  We were so lucky because the next day it cleared and we had beautiful weather for the rest of the time. 

That first afternoon we were all asleep on our feet so as soon as the room was ready we crashed. When we woke up about four hours later, the kids thought it was the next day. We headed out for dinner and found a few lizards on the way home...

    

The next day, there was high excitement about the breakfast buffet - and then we hit the loungers by the pool. It was a total fail because we were far too light on the sunscreen and all of us except Zoe got fully fried! Total rookie error given our pasty euro skin, not sure what we were thinking... that sun was just too tempting

      

  

Later it was time for sundowners on the beach, plus a cartwheel or two...

 

 

Then we hit the streets for a mani/pedicure for the girls and foot massage for the boys. Bliss!

  

The next day, we were a little more circumspect with the sun - everyone came up with their own strategy, Harv reverting to the Morroccan headdress, and me marching Amelia off to buy a full rash suit! 

   

Then it was time to get the long-awaited braids, while Mum and Dad had a massage & a cocktail, listening to the waves....

 

 

    

  

Meanwhile Bill and Harv were punishing a few perps at the shooting range....

 

 

  

Double Medusa

The next day was more of the same: beach, pool, shopping, eating (loving the Thai flavours) & general chilling....not a bad lifestyle at all after our very strenuous holiday...

    

 

 

 

Bill got a few suits made, I got some shirts made and the kids each had a shopping trip with one of us on their own to choose a few things. After choosing some shades and a hat, Zoe was all about the foot massage instead of more shopping....

    

On the last night we wandered the beach and hit the bars with the cool crowd (relatively), taking in some fire show action...

  

  

    

The next morning it was off to get the ferry to Ko Pha Ngan, where the kids found a children's zone while they were waiting..

     

Amelia says:  Thailand is so cool - I liked Koh Samui because it is really busy and it has lots of shopping. We stayed in a really nice resort called Ozo. I got braids from the beach but they already started to fall out by Ko Pha Ngan. I liked how it was different from Europe - I enjoyed the beach and the pool but I do not like Thai food. My favourite thing which I bought was my shoes.

Zoe says: I loved Koh Samui because I got a really cool donut for the pool and we stayed in this really cool hotel called Ozo. It had the best breakfast buffet ever. One day me and my sister got braids and they looked so cool. On the first day we all got really sunburnt, except me because I was smart enough to wear my rash top. It was so hot and I loved swimming in the pool.

Harvey says: Samui was awesome - for our first stop in Thailand I think we couldn't have picked any place better. The shopping was great. I really enjoyed the hustle and bustle of the Thai streets - our resort was amazing too. The pool was beautiful and crystal clear and we did 10 lengths in it every morning. The nightlife was great too. I really enjoy the food in Thailand and my favourite dish so far is red curry with pork.