This week we’ve been much more active; we now have a car (a Toyota Saluna) complete with essential air conditioning.

We’ve visited a few of our favourite beaches, and they’re still as lovely as ever. One beach up north, known for the statues in the sea and popular with locals at the weekend, has sadly lost some of its charm. A hotel is now being built there; while the beach itself remains fine, its uniqueness has been compromised, and it’s likely to become much busier. We’ve always loved its quietness and picturesque setting. There’s a spot nearby where we usually eat; they serve delicious food, but today they wanted 200 baht each to use the pool, so we opted instead for the ‘free’ sea next door. Jamie wandered off and reappeared half an hour later holding a Thai flag (he didn’t say where he got it). Sue and I have discovered a new passion for lime ice cream; we now scoff one at every opportunity. It might even be preferable to Singha beer!

We returned to our favourite ATV course (quad bikes), just up the road from our hotel. Sarah, Jamie, and I had a brilliant time tearing around the tracks and getting splattered with mud, while Sue chose a more sedate pastime of reading her book on the verandah of the booking office and apologising to the staff for our antics on the course.  Later, in Cha’am, we found a place offering foot massages; we all had one, and it was lovely. Afterwards, we hired some tyre inner tubes and floated about in the sea off a beach south of Hua Hin, followed, of course, by yet more lime ice cream. I don’t feel too guilty, I’ve been spending half an hour in the gym each morning to compensate!

The other evening we ate at an Irish bar called Crawford’s in Cha-Am. It wasn’t very busy, and we ended up chatting with the owners until midnight. They kindly gave us free drinks (Jamie got tipsy on a range of cocktails and was very cheerful). The landlord, Murray Mexted, told me he had played No. 8 for the All Blacks and later became their coach during the first Rugby World Cup. He went on to coach South Africa and then Italy. We swapped plenty of rugby stories (his were better), moaned about the state of English football (which was on the telly at the time), and debated the merits of drinking Guinness anywhere other than Ireland (there are none). He casually mentioned that his first wife was a Miss Universe winner from New Zealand. Meanwhile, Sarah and Jamie played pool all evening, and Sue had a long chat with Murray’s wife, covering every topic imaginable, but mostly focusing on the trials of being married to a rugby player.

Today, we drove out towards the Burmese border to a jungle waterfall called Pala-U, accessible only via a dirt track. When we arrived, the rangers informed us it was closed, too slippery and dangerous, they said. The track was certainly muddy, and although we didn’t have a 4WD, we pressed on regardless. The route was challenging, requiring us to weave around ruts deep enough to swallow an elephant, but we had a fantastic time. Sue especially enjoyed watching enormous, colourful butterflies flit through the sun-dappled forest glades, while the kids and I splashed about in the water and indulged in a bit of gully bashing.

Later on, Jamie and Sarah decided to follow the river back to the car, about a mile away, by gully bashing downstream. To reassure Sue, I promised to keep an eye on them, but as the river disappeared into the jungle, they quickly vanished from sight. Sure enough, an hour later, they reappeared, brimming with tales of near-drownings and river snakes (not quite what Sue wanted to hear).

On the way back, we stopped at a roadside market to sample some local delicacies. At last, I found some durian. I’ve been hunting for it since we arrived, so breakfast tomorrow is sorted!