Up With The Lark,

and off to the coral island for a day on the beach,

it is goodbye to Pattaya as we make our way along the Bali Hai pier, to the 30 baht ferries at the end,

the ferry totally packed with day trippers,

so many in fact there were 2 ferries leaving at the same time never seen that before, the second ferry left before ours, well our captain was having none of that, we had to be first to the island, after all we were on the scheduled ferry,

with rivets popping, the deck shaking, the mighty diesel thrust us through the water at nearly 8 knots as we slowly gained on the other vessel,

we soon overhauled the upstart and watched as the other ferry docked,

then it was a walk to the beach,

it looked so nice with the sun on the water, but taking shots into the sun is always going to be a problem.

we walked past the shrine next to the marine police station,

we sat in the comfy sun loungers, they are the plastic ones that have a soft cushions on them, as opposed to a normal deckchair, they were still 100 baht each though, I wonder if they will go back to 50 baht in the low season? our breakfast arrived,

and nice it was too!

followed by a coconut for Diana,

after a read and 40 winks Diana came back from shopping, ice cream and beer, what a result!

'Cheers!' from me,

and a self portrait from Diana,

a little later Diana telephoned her Mum to say Hi and have a little chat, it appears the family found the pictures of me hoola-hooping highly amusing!, as I mentioned before the ferries were really full, but it was sad to see so many ladies, I guess around 20 or so years old from Eastern Europe, that were so poor they could only afford the bottom half of their bikinis, I guess they were having a holiday on a g-string, sorry I mean shoe string,

we always sit back from the sea as the umbrellas are up at the chairs nearest the pathway, Diana likes the beach but does not want get brown, but we still had a good view though,

one small incident reduced us to tears - of laughter, throughout the day a young lady in front of us had a slightly defective lounger, after say 20 minuets or so it would with a large bang fall back to the reclined position, always accompanied by a slight scream of surprise from her, well after this happening several times she decided to sit up and raise the umbrella, no problems till about 20 minuets later as she stood up the umbrella collapsed engulfing her, mugged by an umbrella! I know one should not laugh at others misfortune, but it was so funny, I hid my head in my book as tears of laughter ran down my face, Diana who was laughing as much gave me a tissue to wipe away the tears, what luck, a faulty sun lounger and a collapsing umbrella!

we then started our way home, I mentioned to Diana one day we might take a speed boat, not that there is any hurry, just for the thrill,

by now the tide had started to go out,

we made out way to the ferry so it was goodbye Koh Larn,

and that was our ferry waiting for us,

not quiet as full as the way out,

then along to the end of the jetty to have a drink at the bar over looking the pier,

to get to it walk through the building and take a right at the money exchange, through the sales area, they sell sunglasses and clothes there, then it is on your right,

we settled down for a drink and watch the world go by,

Diana strikes the pose,

as we waited for our drinks crowds from the island make their way back to their hotels,

'Cheers!' from us,

we then went to Pattaya Central Road, Diana has a slight rash on her arms, so we are going to the skin clinic, if my bike is looking a bit strange the council decided to cut through the path where we had parked, all of the bikes around were covered in flecks of cement that the angle grinder they used cut through the foot path,

look at the state of that, I have to say it looks worse than it does in the pictures, still the rainy season will be here soon so that will clean it!

problem solved, cream, tablets and special soap,

this is the place to go if you have skin problems, it is next to the telephone exchange at the junction of Third Road and Pattaya Central,

next stop, soup stall for our evening meal,

whilst there I called in to the pharmacy for some Bonjela for Diana, as well as the rash she has a mouth ulcer,

the stalls were doing a good trade today,

with most pitches taken,

the chicken feet soup stall is where we buy our soup, just 30 baht a portion, then home to find a bill waiting for us in the post, one of the downsides of living out here is having to pay for private medical insurance, we use BUPA, for both of us 61,000 baht a year, (about £1,250 at todays rate), still the upside is our rates bill is only 480 baht, (£9.83) a year, yes a year! and we now get our bins emptied every other day, with no sorting our rubbish, one bin and it all goes!

then feet up for A Touch Of Frost, Dead Male One, a fisherman makes an unusual catch, a ded body, buy why does it have a live persons driving licece on it? followed by No Refuge, an employee is shot dead during an armed robbery at a local family-run glass works business, the villains are caught, but where is the money? then for us off to bed.