We Were Up Early,

as we were going to the coral island,

 so off we went, first a quick picture on the jetty,  

 if you want to travel to the island a ferry like this one will take you, the trip takes about one hour and costs 30 baht each way,

 Kai and Diana settle into the trip,

 as we leave harbor,

 a reminder that things can go wrong at sea,

 the new marina is taking shape, I guess anytime now it will be open,

 we meet a couple of boats heading in to Pattaya on the way out,

 the first one a small fishing boat this one just a touch larger,

 there are faster ways to travel to the island, speedboats can cut the journey time to just 20 minuets, but cost 300 baht each way,

 one of the ferry's parked near the island,

 another speedboat flies past,

 although there was not much wind the crossing was a bit lively, I think that the girls were happy that the crossing was nearly over,

 happily no such worries for Steve and myself,

 before we docked a long tail boat pulled up alongside,

 and took a number of people ashore,

 next a jet ski came out to give us a look over,

 and then we were on terra firma, 

 as you walk off the jetty there is a small beach to the right,

 which looks quiet nice, but we prefer the large beach on the other side of the headland,

 but if you do decided on the smaller beach this is the walkway to it,

 walking on the beach we go to you pass lots of food venders,

 plus a few souvenir shops,

 back to food, bar-b-qued chicken from this one,

 and naturally lots of seafood on offer,

 Steve and Kai getting settled,

 taking the 08.00 ferry we were pretty much the first visitors that day to the island,

 so the choice of where to sit was a difficult one,

 at the front,

 or at the back?

 after a coffee the food arrived,

 and there was lots of it, so eyes down and tuck in!

 all washed down with a beer or two,

 we then had a visitor,

 one of the local cats that lives on the beach,

 turned it's charm on Diana,

 who then fed it some left over chicken,

 all to soon the day just drifted past,

 and it was time to leave,

 but even when we left the beach was not that crowded,

 and our boat was in,

 as we stated our journey one of the many speed boats past us by,

 on the way home we decided to call into one of the markets, we needed some potatoes,

 and Steve wanted to buy a durian,

 now here is a tip,

 if ever you get into a fruit fight chose a durian, the spines on them are wickedly sharp,

 Steve just loves them, I am afraid I do not, having tried them 3 times I now leave them alone,

 getting into the fruit is a fight in itself,

 after cutting the top and bottom off of the fruit,

 it is time to put the glove on,

 and not just any glove,

 it is made of thick leather,

 then  the delicate part of removing the fruit itself,

and here it is for Steve and the girls to eat later tonight, this is the first part of today's post, as there are so many pictures I have split it into two, so just scroll down or hit the 'older pots' button if you are at the bottom of the page.