About ten seconds after I pressed publish on my last blog post, where I said that I had seen little rain, the heavens opened up and it absolutely poured for the next three hours.  And here in Thailand, when it rains, it REALLY rains.  Almost a solid wall of water for a couple of hours, then it settled back to a sprinkle.  That didn’t stop the girls from swimming though, as despite the rain it was still quite warm.

I supervised from under cover, while Dan caught up on reading my blog posts about our holiday then went to the gym. And that was how the morning went from breakfast until our noon massages. Massages take place at a sala near the beach, so you lie there and listen to the waves crashing while you are pummeled, pressed, bent and stretched. We all had Thai massages, which I think are now my favourite form of massage. The pressure and stretching seems to be good for my anatomy. The holiday package came with a number of special offers, including 8 hours worth of massages (distributed in whatever way suits you – each of the four of us had one hour yesterday), dinners for two at each of the restaurants on site, a cocktail class and a cooking class.

Since we were so close to the beach, post-massage we headed down to the sand and around the corner to Peter Bar for drinks and lunch.

It was a much cooler day than the previous ones, especially down by the beach. The wind comes in from the ocean, and it has been strong and steady for the last day. I think that we have adapted to the groove of beachside holiday now. Sitting up at the bar watching the kids splash at the edge of the ocean, chatting to the bartender, listening to Linkin Park blaring. It all feels very beachy and tropical, and although it is still warm, it’s not as oppressively hot and humid. Although I could be getting used to it!

After heading back to the resort we decided that we would go to the market after all. Another group of friends from Australia had arrived at a different Khao Lak resort in the morning, and Stella in particular was desperate to see her little classmate. We decided to meet them there, and enjoy a bit of food and shopping. The market is on Monday, Wednesday and Friday, from 4pm to around 7pm or so (I imagine that it would much, much later during high season). The girls were excited because they finally bought some tourist clothing. Dan was excited because he finally got a haircut. And I was excited to eat freshly cooked banana and chocolate crepes, oh yum…..the woman making the crepes was extremely skilled! It was worth having them just to watch her swirl the mixture onto the hot plates, spread it around thinly, and add the toppings. She must have made thousands. There were plenty of culinary options at the market, as well as cocktails, clothing and jewellery. It’s back to bargaining for shopping, which I really feel uncomfortable with. I know that some people love it, but I’d prefer to just know what things cost before I decide whether I want them or not!

We had a great time catching up with our friends, who had only arrived in the morning after an overnight flight from Melbourne. Apparently while we have been away it has been incredibly cold and bitter, some of the chilliest winter weather Victoria has seen for a while. It’s hard to imagine that when we are here in the heat! The bartenders here are all very skilled at shaking up cocktails, and while the girls enjoyed yet another watermelon shake the adults enjoyed a cocktail. We were all home and in bed relatively early. All in all, an enjoyable day.