Saturday, February 7, 2009

Arrival of the Whirlwind

KAYAKING...DIVING..FISHING...The Whirlwind has arrived!!


Hi All....it's Sunday 8th Feb...and I haven't written up the blog for a few days. Anyone in Alderney reading this will understand why. Obviously, it's because Mr Mark Harding and Fiona are here. Those of you who know Mark will know it's impossible for him to just sit and 'chill'. The man is a bundle of hyperactivity......since they arrived just three days ago it's been 'full on' and if we ain't zooming around Phuket, he's here on this computer running his Fishing Tackle business back in Alderney!! But now he and Fiona and gone off elephant treking leaving myself and our other guests the opportunity to laze about without fear of being knocked over by the whirlwind called Mark!

So, what have we ('we' also includes Bos and Janine from Weymouth) been up to in the past 3 days??? Yesterday we were out on a full day trip kayaking. We went with a company formed by John Gray who is a very keen ecologist. He runs all sorts of trips from one day to several days and they all revolve around exploring the amazing Karst (limestone formations with caves) scenery in the Phang Gna area which is the very big bay to the north of where we live and on the eastern side of Phuket.

The formations ARE stunning and this is a trip that just has to feature in your holiday itinerary. The caves run for up to 300 yards into the heart of the Karst and then open out into spectacular scenery. You do get the feeling you are the first people to ever see this...it's beautifully unspoilt and very dramatic with sea eagles circling above and monkeys bouncing about below.

Photographs don't do it justice.

More about this in the next blog.



FISHING










Our skipper comes to get us.

The day before (Friday) saw us (Bos, Mark, Fiona and me) out fishing on a longtail boat. We have much to learn about the fishing here. It's another mystery to unravel and there's no end of discussion about the tactics and what we should be doing to improve our catch rate. The skipper (as do all skippers) always catches the most but it's difficult to fish as he recommends as he is using a handline with 40' trace. The baited hook it hurled away from the boat and then the 1lb lead is thrown away from the boat. Trying to fish with such a long trace on a fishing rod just doesn't work....the traces all get tangled with each other and themselves and it's very hard to feel a bite. If a fish is caught, it has to be pulled in by hand as the trace is so long.






We tried a whole range of tactics... most of which our skipper laughed at...but we did catch a few fish and Mark caught the biggest on a paternoster rig with a short 40lb snood to a 2/0 forged hook (the fish here are very 'toothy'; the traces and hooks need to be strong) whilst Fiona caught the most). So, Alderney won all categories except the important one...'smallest fish section'...which of course went to me. Bos meanwhile, quietly went about his business as the highly trained Weymouth Commercial bass fisherman that he is, and landed a selection of fish for the fish dinner planned for tomorrow night.





Fiona with a yellow snapper



Mark with a bigger yellow snapper











Master and Commander Bos with a red snapper



One of the delights of travelling is the different people you meet. On the Kayaking trip yesterday we befriended an American couple and as they live in Portland (Oregon) they just had to be invited to fish dinner tomorrow......should be a fun evening. Ditrik (yes, that's the chap's name) is a film maker and made a documentary on John Grey a few years ago, so no doubt we will learn much more about what the Kayaking trips offer.


SCUBA DIVING
Fiona has started learning to scuba dive and will be spending a couple of hours in the pool this afternoon after the elephant trek finishes. Bos and Janine, who are highly experienced divers, are taking Mark off to the beach to give him a 'Scuba Review' in preparation for tomorrow, Monday. Tomorrow, the three of them are off for a day's diving around Koh Racha Yai and Koh Racha Noi which are islands about a 2 hour steam to the south of us. Fiona has the pleasure of another pool learning session with me before we progress to the sea tomorrow for her first confined water dive. It's our aim to gently build her confidence so that she can take the full PADI Open Water course and then join Mark as his buddy on dives later into their holiday.



Fiona patiently waiting to be submerged.

Fiona's first scuba lesson




In between all this...we're at restaurants, in bars, leaping about in the pool and generally trying to avoid being knocked over by Mark!!

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