After Hamish suffered through the humidity and rain of the half day tour, I thought it might be a good idea for us to each pick an activity we might like to do for the last three days of the trip. Hamish chose Andamanda Water Park – Rod and I didn’t really choose anything other than getting in as much beach time as we could (weather dependent).

Tickets to the water park were not too expensive, but I decided $75 for me to blob around the wave pool was probably a bit unnecessary, so Hamish and Rod went. I found discounted tickets with transfers for them which dropped the overall cost of the day and reduced some stress for Rod re: finding transport.

I ‘suffered’ at the beach for a few hours, before returning to the room to watch a movie on my laptop in the aircon before the boys returned.

Rod and I went for a walk to the Kata Seafood Restaurant and Ska Bar, had a few beers and shared some “spring rools” before walking back along the beach and up the steep hill to the resort. Hamish stayed in and talked to some friends online. At the Ska Bar, we decided we would return for dinner on our last evening – which we did last night.

Andamanda Water Park, by Rod

Belinda has arranged for discounted tickets to Andamanda, the giant water park. The communication with the ticketing agency is a bit hit and miss; the download of the emailed voucher vanishes, as does the email itself, but I luckily took a screenshot of the voucher. Needless to say I lose some sleep worrying about the arrangements before our pick up at 9 am. Howver, everything went smoothly; they arrived on time, drove at the usual breakneck speed, to arrive at the amusement park just as it was about to open.

We arranged a locker and headed to some of the scariest slides, before the crowds arrive. I do not have a great head or stomach for such adventures these days and was most surprised to find I had stumbled into a “drop slide.” I did not know such things existed. Feeling like I was in a spy movie, I looked suspiciously at the floor beneath me as the attendent closed the door. Whoa! I plummeted to what felt like a certain death before I felt some form of wet plastic behind me. I’m still feeling queasy whilst writing this and mentally revisiting the death scene.

I do not want to burden Hamish with my failing health, but surreptitiously try to slow the pace down and suggest we try to explore some of the other “lands” of this park. The lazy river slows things down suitably, as does the wave pool (before the waves kick in at 2 pm.)

Some lunch and gentler slides (and the arrival of the 2 pm waves for Hamish) see out the day before our pick up (again a smooth transition) at 3 pm. Hamish has had a gtreat day and I still have a (slightly elevated) pulse.

Last Day.

The weather has been just gorgeous the last few days and we’ve taken advantage of this by spending lots of time at the beach. I am a teency bit sunburnt today, or as Rod elegantly puts it “there’s just a hint of red” At the beach there are a few street food stands, which we’ve utilised in the past few weeks. We are keen for a fruit shake and Hamish orders two: one mango and one coconut. The lady making them is very sweet and after he’s paid, calls him back: “Hey boy! Here – for you boy!” and gives him a banana. Cute.

We have lunch in the hotel with plans to head to the Kata Seafood Restaurant and Ska Bar, which we found yesterday. We have also found another café called “A blanket and a pillow” which is just 500m from our hotel. Rod and I go for a little explore in the afternoon and find this beautiful place. It’s a multi-tiered, bamboo platformed, bean bagged paradise and it is not lost on anyone there. We order a chocolate frappe and enjoy sitting with our legs dangling over the edge of the bamboo structure. Gosh we’re lucky. I still don’t want to go home! Home is appointments, treatment, work, responsibilities…we have none of that here. I’m feeling a bit emotional sitting there with Rod and just give him little pats every now and again. Life can be unfair.

We head back to the hotel and relax a bit before heading to the restaurant for dinner. The views and the food are incredible and we talk about how much this meal and ambience would cost back in Australia. We pay a total of $55 for our entire dining experience: 3 x main courses (2 of which have seafood) 1 x mango sticky rice for dessert and a couple of rounds of drinks each. The trip home is a fun ride in a TukTuk – the first since we arrived here (we have hired a taxi, an uber, ridden in mini busses and done lots of walking!). The trip is about $10 – we’d hardly make it home from The Gateway in Wangaratta for a tenner!

We travel well together. Hamish has ‘lost it’ twice in nearly two weeks and he apologised both times for that (he said he was hangry). There’s not much to get upset about over here. Our pace has been slow and Rod has reminded me a few times it’s OK just to “read your book” – which I have. Over the past few years I’ve really struggled to read, so I hope this is the start of my quiet mind again.

I am currently sitting in the lobby of the hotel, having checked out at midday for a 2pm transfer to the airport. Our flight to Singapore leaves at 615pm (or 915pm AEST) and we have a bit of a long layover in Singapore before our flight leaves for Melbourne. We are due to arrive just before midday. Thankfully it’s coolish today and has rained a few times. Hamish is spending the last of his hours in the pool with Rod supervising. There’s an outdoor shower which he can have before chucking out his old rashy and baggy swimmers before getting dressed.

Thanks for following along on our winter getaway. Whilst I know you guys enjoy reading the blog, it’s such a good thing for our family to look back on. We often re-read it and talk about our past travels. I’m sure Hamish ‘remembers’ more than he actually does because of our reminiscing. We’re planning some more extensive European long service leave travels from September next year, so we look forward to writing for you (and us) and having you along for our trips.

Much love xx