... and it's back to Thailand

I'll bet you thought I'd disappeared of the face of the proverbial, but the truth is I've been busy. I'm not sure quite with what, but the time has truly zipped by.

My time in Perth was fantastic. The weather wasn't brilliant, but it didn't mar anything.

I was picked up on my arrival by my friend, Jim, and whisked off to his place to have dinner with him and his wife and then we went out to a jazz club. As I had been 2 hours ahead in Sydney, it turned into a very late night. I really enjoyed myself, though the table next door to ours and I were rocking the music and in the end we all decided I would have been better off at their table!

The next day Jim took me on a tour of South Perth where he lives and to his office and from there into Perth itself. We walked across the Narrows Bridge to Kings Park and amazing views of Perth, South Perth and down the Swan River to Fremantle. A lovely lunch in the park and then a wander round town, a stop at a pub and a good catch up with all that we'd both been doing since we last saw each other and finally took a water bus back over to South Perth. Then it was out to dinner at a restaurant on the jetty, Mister Walker's, which was ok... not brilliant, but it was a lovely location looking out over the lights of Perth. Of course I forgot to take my phone, so no pics of that!

The next day I went on a 6 km walk down the Swan River foreshore. It was just amazing. Flat parkland flanking the river and quite beautiful. Then Jim and I went off for a drive to the Swan Valley wine region for lunch, where we had a wine tasting at Jane Brook Winery and a picnic lunch out on the porch. Then Jim decided we should go on a wine crawl and he wanted to go to Sandalford. Ok, this sounded great. We got in the car and zoomed off. This would have been fine except we'd travelled quite a long way and couldn't find it. Jim put his phone on and asked Siri where we were. The voice came out saying, 'You are in Brigadoon'. I'm sorry, but at that point I was in hysterics and almost pissed myself laughing. We turned around and then Jim spied some lemons on a tree at the side of the road and he encouraged me to get out and pick some. I was still laughing from the Brigadoon gaff and lemon picking just made me laugh even more.

Picking lemons from the side of the road in hysterics!

And of course Sandalford turned out to be just down the road from where we'd started! Jim was pissed off and I just couldn't stop laughing.

We eventually got back to South Perth, 8 lemons to the good, feeling very mellow from our day out. Then it was out to dinner at an Indian restaurant along with one of Jim's sons, Ian, and his lovely wife, Kate and their 2 boys. It was a very companionable evening.

On the Friday I went off to Fremantle on my own. I sailed down the Swan River on a Captain Cook cruise. That day in Perth it was raining, but by the time we got to Fremantle the sun was shining and it was just brilliant. I took the free bus to orientate myself and then decided on a walk along the beach by the Indian Ocean.

On the beach at Fremantle

Then it was off to look at some exhibitions. I went to the Shipwreck Museum, which was fascinating and then met up with an underwater photographer and went to see his exhibition, which was great. Then it was time to head back to Perth on the cruise.

Perth in the distance from the Captain Cook cruise on the Swan River

The sun was shining, the dolphins were playing, lunch on board with wine and all in all it was a great way to spend a day. I loved Fremantle.

Looking over to Perth from South Perth

That evening was Jim's CD launch for one of his bands, Jimjam. It was a fun night and I got involved with a crowd of guys who plied me with wine and kept me laughing all night.


The next day was my last in Perth and Jim and I took a long walk with his wife's dog, Jyoti. All along the foreshore are exercise machines and Jim insisted on showing me how good he was... I made no comment at all!

Jim doing his thing, or in this case posing, though I think Jyoti did a better job of that!

On the way we passed a whole jetty full of pelicans... what a delight!

'Pelican city' South Perth foreshore

And then we had a final lunch together at Mister Walkers, which was lovely. After that it was back to Jim's house to watch him make his bean chilli hotpot for the musical soiree that we were going to before I got my plane back to Sydney - which was leaving at 11.55 pm.

Jim cooking up a storm in his goggles to prevent an onion attack!

My final evening was spent at the musical soiree, where a whole bunch of bands get together and have a half hour slot to play their stuff, while their fellow musos drink and eat and don't dance... no sirree... far too cool for school! One of the guys who'd plied me with drink the night before and had taken a shine to me plied me with drink again and then it was time for me to go get my plane.

I arrived back in Sydney at 6.15 am Sydney time - which is 2 hours ahead of Perth time, so it was 4.15 in the morning! I made it back to my hotel no bother and spent the day with my friend Su and recovering from my early start. Then it was out being sociable in the evening to a place called The Camelot Lounge, where Su and I and everyone else in the place danced non-stop to a fantastic Columbian band. I was adopted by these gorgeous young people at the table next door. 2 of the women were Columbian and one from France... the 2 Columbians married to a German guy and a guy from Iran. They were a fantastic bunch of people and I had a ball.

My lovely adoptees

Me with my girls!

On my final day in Sydney, I wandered around for the day. The guy who was supposed to be taking me to lunch had got the date wrong (I'm saying nothing!) and so I had the day to myself. I went all the way to Mrs McQuarrie's Point and sat in the sun watching a plane write 'marry me' in the sky.

How romantic!

I also had my last photo of me and the bridge and opera house.

Final Sydney photo call

And then for my final evening my friend Su and I went for a slap up meal at The Gantry, an upmarket place on the waterfront near Darling Harbour.

The next morning was an early start (5.45) to get my plane back to Thailand. I was a touch disappointed that I didn't get a second pair of Quantas pyjamas (which are really very nice), but I think they only give them out on a night flight. But the wine and food more than made up for it. I arrived back in Bangkok no problem and was met by my driver and aircon limo, which was just as well as it was 38 degrees and we were stuck in traffic trying to get out of Bangkok. I eventually arrived in Hua Hin at what would have been midnight Sydney time, so was exhausted and pleased to get to my bed.

I had a day off before starting work again. The last few days have been pretty low key as there are renovations afoot and so there's only about 28 guests in the place. So I've spent my mornings going on long walks along the deserted beach, which is fab. I aim to do 6 km a day and so far am on track and feeling pretty fit.

The beach at Hua Hin. On the hill at the end is the golden Buddha statue

And here he is

Then in the afternoon I get a bit of sunbathing in and doing a bit of work with the staff. I still have my morning class twice a week and my talk once a week, but it's all pretty low key.

One of the lovely things is though, they're having the annual staff party - a bit like a Christmas Party, but because it's high season at Christmas they have the party in June. Everyone's very excited and get dressed up to the nines. Although I brought a couple of dresses with me, I didn't really have anything suitable, but I bought a dress off a friend who comes from Chiang Mai before I left for Australia, so at least I have something to wear. It's a bit on the short side, but is pretty glamorous... ok, well maybe glamorous isn't quite the word... I think 'sexy' was the one they all used when they saw it!

So that's me for now. I'll report all from the party in due course, but I thought I'd leave you with this photo of a herd of goats that just leaped out from a side street when I was out walking the other day and I think thought I was herding them. They negotiated the traffic far better than most pedestrians do in Hua Hin!

The goat herd trotting down the pavement!

Last day in Sydney.... for now

After the storm weather, it cleared yesterday. Su and I decided on a visit to the zoo as I'd not, as yet, seen any indigenous Australian animals.

We had a really lovely day. Of course a lot of the animals were sleeping midday, but we still managed to see a lot of them, even if they were sleeping!

At least the kangaroos were active!

We managed to time our visit pretty well for the koalas though, who woke up for their feedtime.

Time for dinner!

And then there's my absolute favourites, which were the meerkats. There were 2 adults and 2 youngsters. They had a cardboard box to play with/hide out in. And they were making the best of it. But even better, was one of the meerkats, which was standing stock still under a heatlamp. It was so cute!

A cardboard box is a source of endless fascination

Well I certainly would, wouldn't you?!

After the zoo (we were there for about 4 hours) we took a boat across the water and had dinner at Darling Harbour. And then finally back to my hotel for a glass of vino and then bed.

Today I had to get up at 4 am as I had a webinar about my book. I was invited to do this a while back and the timing wasn't the best for me. It was 8 pm in the UK, but here it was 5 and I thought I'd better get myself showered and dressed rather than being on webcam in my pj's!

It actually went a whole lot better than I expected and I'm really pleased I've done that now. I'd be very happy to do one again, which is just as well as I have an interview to do on Thursday. This one will be via Skype. Fascinated to see how that one goes.

So now it's goodbye Sydney and Perth here I come. I've got 4 days there with my songwriting pal, Jim and his family, and he's got his cd launch happening on Friday, so that should be fun.

Looking forward to seeing a different side of Australia... and it really is a different side as it's a 5 hour flight and a 2 hour time difference! I'll be coming back to Sydney on Sunday morning ready for 2 action packed final days in Australia before I head back to Thailand and a bit more work.

Sydney

Sydney has been fun. I've been sightseeing and meeting up with friends and just generally having a blast.

Currently in Sydney there's a festival on called Vivid. The whole city gets lit up at night and various light shows on iconic buildings are displayed. It's pretty cool.

My friend, Su, and I went on a night cruise last night to watch it all from the water. It was beautiful. And before we did that we went to meet up with a mutual friend, Alejandro, who we've been in contact with for a few years as we both buy his products. He's such an interesting person and I think it's fantastic that just because I've bought stuff off him, he wanted to meet up when I got to Oz.

I've been a very good tourist and done lots of touristy things. Today I went on a Captain Cook cruise, which was 2 hours of fun on the water. And then the rain set in. I was pretty lucky as it just started as we drew into my final destination. I was hoping to climb the Sydney Harbour Bridge, but I think that'll have to wait as we're due loads of rain over the next couple of days and I have no intention of doing that in the rain.

In the meantime I've also met up with another writer who I met online through the course I did to get my book done. It was so lovely to spend time with her.

So, a few more days here, where I'm spending time with Su. We're off to the Blue Mountains on Monday when the weather is supposed to be better and then I'm off to Perth on Tuesday.

Here's some pics for you of my time so far. Lots of the bridge, which I can see from my bed in the hotel.

The view from my bed with the close up lens

The same view with the Vivid lights on

Opera House and Bridge from the night cruise

The Opera House from the Captain Cook cruise

The Bridge from the Captain Cook cruise

And finally... the Opera House and Bridge as we were off on our way to Watson's Bay

Last full day

Today is my last full day in Hua Hin before I jet off to Australia tomorrow.

I've not had the best few days as I got bitten or stung by something nasty on my finger two days ago, which swelled up and the swelling was travelling down my hand to my wrist. Freaked out? Sure was! Thank goodness for the great worldwide interweb and the fact that I never travel these days without a whole load of meds of various sorts. The nurse here at the resort gave me some ointment to put on, but it was still hurting so I looked up online and I discovered that Ibubrofen gel is great for painful, swelling bites or stings. Thank goodness I'd packed mine, just in case I had a back twinge. It worked a treat. My finger is still a bit swollen and painful, but not nearly as bad as yesterday.

Also, we've had thunderstorms and as I'm a person of very delicate constitution my body seems to react to changes in air pressure by giving me headaches. Great!

My aircon was fixed pretty smartly the other day and, apart from trying to tell two Thai engineers a joke about how many engineers it takes to fix an aircon unit... ok, well never mind... I got the same reaction from the Thai guys who just looked at me completely nonplussed, I was super pleased that they didn't take too long to fix it.

I've still had very little work, so have employed my time by getting on with planning my next book. I'm quite excited about this one, which is about the menopause, but it's for men to understand what their women are going through. I don't think it's going to be as easy to write as Learn To Stress Less, especially as my holidays are now looming. I now have a desk completely covered in post-it notes and am thinking of sticking them to the inside of my suitcase so I don't lose the order. I'll see what writing I can get done whilst in Australia, but I have 2.5 weeks when I get back here in mid June to crack on with it as the guest occupancy here is pretty low (30%) as there are renovations taking place and half the place is shut down, so I don't think I'm going to be needed very much.

I've also been getting on with the poetry course I signed up to, which is 10 weeks long and we have a week to write a poem and then a week to critique everyone's and then back to writing a poem again. Now on week 3 and I'm up to speed so am feeling pretty good about that, even if my poems aren't of the best at least I've got something down on paper.

So that's me. Tan - ticked, 2.5 weeks of good food - ticked, 2.5 weeks of no alcohol - ticked, excited about Australia - ticked.

Sydney here I come!

Not all is comfort and joy

I know I like it hot, but sometimes I just wish for a little cool. Last night for example when my aircon broke down and I had the most unbelievably sticky night at 35 degrees. I opened my windows for some air, but then there were so many trucks going down the road outside in the night that it was almost impossible to get any sleep at all.

I made the decision this morning that breakfast in the airconditioned restaurant was more important than 1) calling the engineer and 2) sitting outside for breakfast like I usually do. That, at least, was a good decision!

Now I have to sit in my hot and sticky room, by the window, wallowing in the tiny breeze that comes as respite and hope the engineer comes to rescue me asap. I have very little work today - more's the pity, but I'm heading on down to the pool for my exercise session at 11 and will enjoy the cool of the water.

It hasn't helped that I received my first mozzie bite yesterday too. So last night was not only sticky and hot, but itchy too. Not the best!

Next stop....?

One of the lovely things about working here is the amount of very interesting people who come and stay. Of course there's also the other side... the demanding and sometimes, downright rude folk. But the majority are great fun, fascinating to talk to and seem to be genuinely interested in what I have to say - ok, apart from the super rich guy who took a fancy to me and left me his hat to deliver to him over lunch in Sydney, but that's a whole other story!

The other day I was talking to a couple who'd come to my early morning Qiqong class and who loved it. They then told me they owned a spa place in Mauritius and would I be interested in coming over there and teaching Qiqong. Would I? Hmmm... let me think about it. Spa place, lovely climate, a country I've never been... yup, that'll do me. So I said yes.

Today I was doing a fitness class in the pool and at the end got talking to a guest who told me he hails from New Zealand. We chatted a bit and he has relatives in Scotland and I told him I'd never been to NZ, but always wanted to go. He then asked me what I did and when I told him he said, 'Well would you like to come over to Hawk's Bay and teach my staff stress management?' Would I etc etc? Sure as hell I would! I've always wanted to go to NZ (and in fact I actually have a practising certificate for there, though I'm sure by now it's out of date) but due to circumstances never managed to get to go.

I'm not sure if the Mauritius one will come off as I'll have to wait and see if I hear from that couple, but the NZ guy shook my hand and said, 'deal', so I presume a gentleman's agreement is a pretty sure thing.

How exciting. Next year is already in the planning!

Time in Thailand

Here I am in beautiful Hua Hin. It took me several days to get over my jet lag, but I'm well and truly past that now. I didn't have any work for the first few days, which might or might not have been a good thing, but I've been working on my tan instead!

It took me a day or two to realise that where I'd been put in regards to rooms wasn't great for me as it meant I didn't have access to a balcony, but that was remedied and now I have the same room I had last year, so that feels familiar and rather lovely. The new building where I was originally has no openable windows, a great shower room and very strong air con. The old building, where I am now, has windows that I can open leading on to my balcony, an old shower and pretty ropey air con, but I know which I prefer by far. Apparently when I do my second stint I'll be in a different room, but still in the old building, so that's good.

And the last couple of days I've had clients to see and classes to teach so I'm feeling much better about eating my weight in food and spending my liberal spare time on my balcony. One minor problem is that I only have a high backed chair to sit on out there so it means my front is getting nicely tanned, while my back is pretty white. This will, I hope, be remedied when I have my day off. Because I've suddenly become popular I discovered today when I went to book my time out that I had clients right up til Tuesday, so I got that in there pdq before I found myself without a day off at all, which wouldn't do.

The food here is just fantastic and very 'clean'. They cook with no oil, sugar or salt and just use herbs and spices to make everything very tasty and is probably one of the best cuisines I've ever tasted, but I'm sorry to so say I hived my arse off down to the local Tesco (yes there's one here - but called Lotus Tesco) to buy some rather tasty cheesy crisp things. It wouldn't do for my system to become overloaded with purely good food now would it? I don't think I'd be able to sustain that habit at home!

When I got here it was just like I'd not been away. All the staff are the same and I was greeted with hugs and kisses. Even the General Manager came to say hi to me, so I felt truly welcomed.

Here's a couple of pics for you... tho having a camera is not allowed, so I had to sneak them, which is why they're probably not that clear, but will give you an impression of what it's like here.

Looking out to the Gulf of Thailand over the courtyard

One of the beautiful trees that I can see on my way to work