Goodbye Fiha, and Happy Birthday Dad!

28th September - my Dad's birthday.

Going home day. I didn't sleep well and was up at 6.30am. We had more or less packed the night before and didn't have much to do. Had coffee on balcony - weather not so great today. We chatted about how 2 weeks of sun and doing nothing is probably not our dream holiday any more, but had been exactly what we needed this time, after the events of this year.

We went for breakfast and then waited in reception as the boat wasn't due to leave until 9.30am. At 9.25am they (island staff) came running round calling our room number. Looks like we were keeping the first boat waiting! No matter.

Took an hour to get to Male - quite choppy. Boat 2 over took us. Check in was fast but I think our island was the last to arrive and so none of us managed to get seated together (i.e. with our partners).

Long, boring flight. Got a bit upset halfway home thinking about Dad - it being his birthday, I was thinking that he should have been here to celebrate it. He'd have been 69, by the way.

Landed early, at 6.30pm and Paul picked us up and took us to my sister's house for a Chinese meal. This was a send off for Joe, my nephew, who goes away to University in Lancaster tomorrow.

Nice evening. Had a great sleep. End of holiday.

Our last full day on Fiha

Up early and in for breakfast just after 8. A record! Too hot for sunbathing so we prowled around the deck again, snorkelled and did a bit of packing.

Sausage in mash for lunch, yes, in this heat! Followed by choc sponge and custard.

After lunch we did our last snorkel and I was thrilled to see once again, the school of surgeon fish. I followed them down the reef for ages. And now you can follow them down the page.

Our final massage was at 5pm. How can these tiny girls be so powerful?

We then got ready for sunset, drinks and dinner. Dinner was American theme. Poor Mohammed and all the other waiters were dressed up in jeans, checked shirts and cowboy hats. How demeaning. Not to mention hot. The food was good - grilled lamb chops, bbq chicken, creamed spinach, pumpkin mash, burgers - just to name a few things we tried.

After dinner we had a drink with Becca and her mum in Fishermans Bar and listened to live music. It poured with rain on our way home, we got drenched!

It's very embarrassing - but we don't know Becca's mum's name and after knowing them for two weeks I don't like to ask!

Starting to think about home

Hotter than yesterday. Woke at 7. After breakfast we bought some tat in the shop - pictures for our bathroom at home. Then we sunbathed. I'm now in the shade already. Tracy Chapman is on the ipod. Life is good.

A quick snorkel before lunch (apparently the turtle was out but we didn't see him).
Lunch was good - fishfingers and salad cream, sweet and sour chicken. Bread and butter pudding.

Back massage at 2.30pm. Really good -s he really finds those evil knots in between my shoulder blades. I had a bit of time to reflect whilst massage was being done. I started thinking about how Dad told me he'd never had a massage. I remember being surprised and wishing I'd bought him one for a birthday present as he said he'd have liked to try it. Then I started to ponder on life after holidays - back to a job, a normal life. Earning money! I wondered about coming across all of Dad's stuff that we kept - medicines, his Blood Sugar testing kit, etc). I wonder if they'll just become harsh reminders of bad times - should they be thrown away?

After my massage I walked to the sunset viewing platform at the end of the water villas and had a ponder about life and the future. I watched Geordie Boy snorkel across the lagoon in front of the Water Villas. Now there's a guy who lives life to the full.

After Roy got back we sat mostly in the shade and then went for a late afternoon snorkel. Loads of tiny tiny fish in the water. Some more new fish. The house reef here really is very impressive. We came back and showered, watched another near perfect sunset and walked down to Blue Lagoon where it took us 40 minutes to get 2 beers. So we had a moan about that and then headed to dinner. It was Maldivian buffet night and was really tasty. I had no idea what I was eating but it tasted great. Lots of rice puddings, too.

After dinner we watched Wiggy on the jetty for ages and also two Rays. Met Rebecca and her mum (our neighbours from room 63) and went for a drink with them in the Fisherman's bar. Didn't get to bed until after midnight, which is late for us!

Let the pampering commence.

Another RED HOT day. "Sunbathed" after breakfast, which involved the pair of us prowling in and out of the shade all morning. Snorkelled for an hour and then dried off for lunch. After lunch, more relaxing on deck before our massage at 3pm. We had a wonderful back and indian head massage at the Spa. We've booked some more.

This afternoon's snorkel was nice, nothing majorly exciting but I am still amazed that we see new fish every time we go out. Roy finally saw the clown triggerfish today.

Tonight we had the first perfect sunset all holiday - where we saw the sun disappear behind the horizon. Beautiful.

Drinks at Blue Lagoon and then dinner. Theme was Oriental Buffet but it was a bit rubbish. Not much choice. Beef in sauce, noodles, rice, egg custard tart, fruit and nut sponge and custard.

After a jetty walk we came back to Blue Lagoon - it was packed full of people! Not used to that.

Full moon lit the beach up beautifully but the atmosphere was somewhat ruined by there being no lazy chairs available and a loud English girl behind us bleating on and on and on....

Had a beer and came back to the villa to shine our torch into the lagoon and sleep. It's good to stargaze here - seeing the Plough upside down is quite amusing!

A new home

Wow, today is sunny AND hot!

We picked up the keys to our water villa after breakfast and moved straight in.

It's gorgeous - very private and with fabulous decking area outside.

As I write, I am back from lunch (egg salad sandwich and chocolate gateau) and just sitting in the shade on our deck watching the island maintenance men building a new groyne on the beach near to the Blue Lagoon Bar. It is a shame they have to put these in but they help slow down beach erosion and so are necessary. They look ugly though. This picture shows the beach BEFORE the groyne goes in.

My morning snorkel unearthed the black eel asleep in his rock, and the Clown Triggerfish. He's tricky to photograph - the best I could do is on this page but take from above so you can't really see his beautiful markings very well. Not much else. Will go out later. The second picture is a big Titan triggerfish with poppy eyes. These things bite if you go anywhere near their nests.

It is so hot on our deck. We last a short while in the sun before retreating back into the shade. Spent all afternoon chilling on deck and watching the rollers coming in over the far reef. Tonight, Roy went to pick up a bottle of wine from the bar which we drank on deck and watched the best sunset all holiday. A perfect first day in our villa.

Dinner was a "no particular theme" night but good. BBQ beef and sausages. After dinner we watched a Dive Team slideshow in Fishermans and then came back to our villa for coffee and star gazing/lagoon torching on deck. Bedtime.

And now we find the downsideds to an ocean villa. We left doors and curtains open in hope of getting some breeze into the room. After a while, the heat was still stifling and the noise of the ocean on our deck was becoming unbearable. At about 4am we tried closing all the doors and windows up and letting the fan and air con cool the room. Problem is, it's a wooden room with 2 tiny air con units. The wood absorbs all the heat and won't let go of it - kind of like a sauna!

Eventually we slept. Woke just before 8 with the light coming in to the room - something else we weren't used to in our bungalow, which had black out curtains.

Hot, humid and overcast.

Sort of overcast today - but very hot.

The sun is strong through the cloud cover.

Breakfast early (for us) at 8.45am. Then we went to look at the notice boards near reception. I like to check daily to see if anything new has been pinned up. Invariably it hasn't.

We came across Geordie Boy (we now know that his real name is Mr Foo) looking at the excursions. We note with interest that he has booked on another night fishing trip - this time the long one which lasts till 11pm.

Hot Hot Hot.

Snorkelled and found the black moray eel swimming along on the reef. Then back to sunbed.

After lunch (yummy ginger/nut egg custard) we walked a bit, despite me being afflicted with a severe case of snorkel-foot. (Pain in my foot, I think caused by my fins). Then we had another snorkel. Saw a fantastic sight - a school of powder blue surgeon fish were eating on the coral - there must have been 200 of them. Cue typically idiotic Russians diving into their midst.

Back home. Lovely red skies tonight so here's hoping for a clear day tomorrow.

Dinner - Fiesta Mexicana - was very good. Fajitas with chicken in pepper and coriander sauce. And Coconut Flan.

Eel excitement

The sun came out today! At 9.30am. Yay.

We spent 40 minutes on the jetties doing "Dolphin Watch" as a guy had told us they swam past every morning between 9.30 and 10.30am. We gave up just after 10 - we're impatient like that.

Plus we never see sodding dolphins!

Sat on the beach this morning before heading out for a snorkel. I couldn't see the eel in his usual home so we decided to go turtle hunting further down the reef. As we got to the "fallen tree corner" of the beach, I heard Geordie Boy telling some other Brits that he hadn't seen the turtle today. They said there was a Moray Eel out though, so I headed back off toward the reef in the general direction in which they were pointing.

Sure enough, a few minutes later, our eel swam past me. I looked for Roy but he'd got out of the water by now. I swam on, still determined to find the turtle. I was on a part of the reef I don't much like as it gets really choppy and sand swirls up making visibility not so great. I decided the best thing to do was to snorkel on to the next bay as I was too far out from the beach and going against the current if I swam back to our sun beds. I glanced down and was amazed to see a huge Honeycomb Moray right below me in a rock. Wow!

I took some photos and then looked up to see Roy on the shore about 20 metres away. I swam over to him and told him to come out and see the eel. Incredibly, I managed to find the exact spot straight away and the eel was still there. He didn't like it though, when I put my flash on the camera - he snapped his head up at me, mouth wide open! Oops. I swam off, a bit freaked out by this!

So, a highly successful snorkel.

After lunch we sat in the shade and read and then had a short snorkel. Then more reading. Followed by a game of travel scrabble on the patio and a quick session of stalking Wiggy along the beach.

Before we knew it, it was dinner time. BBQ Buffet theme tonight, which was a bit odd. But ok.

After dinner we chatted with our next door neighbours who had been on the sunset fishing trip. As had Geordie Boy - again. Then we headed to Blue Lagoon where we pondered on a huge black cloud shaped like the UK. We watched it roll in from the sea and pointed out Kings Lynn, Bristol and Liverpool. It didn't bring rain. Bed by 11.

Rain stops play...

We had a pleasant time on the jetty after breakfast watching a needlefish stalking a bunch of small fish (unsuccessfully). Then a small Ray came in to help, got his breakfast and retreated back under the jetty.

It is raining today. During a short break in rain we ventured out snorkelling. The eel is still there, wrapped around a coral outcrop, and this time we got a good look at the back of his body. Unfortuntely, a bad storm blew in while we were snorkelling so we got out of the water fast!

We're now in our room listening to music and the rain.

It cleared up a bit at teatime, so we took a long walk around the island. It took us one and a quarter hours to circumnavigate it - surely this is a record? This did include a beer stop at Blue Lagoon (well we were exhausted after walking up and down the water villa path way) and a long search in the trees for fruitbats. Once again, we found none. Just a big gecko. Sitting on our balcony later, we listened to the noise of the sea, the wind rustling leaves and every now and then, the soft "pat" of flowers falling to the sand off the trees. It's a great sound - so relaxing. And the beautiful yellow flowers decorate the pathways (until they die in the heat). I don't know the name of this flower. When it is dry, the flowers are orange, when it rains, they are yellow.

Back to room for a read and then out to dinner at 8. It was "Food from the Region" which turned out to be a cross between "Curry Night" and "Chinese Night" - i.e. very good. With a beautiful rice, nut and fruit pudding on the dessert tray.

Lots of new arrivals today - the Manchester flight has come in which means that we have been here for one week already.

After dinner, we were deciding whether or not to take a jetty walk. "I'm not going on there is Geordie Boy is on it" I said. There was no sign of him so we sauntered down, wondering where he was. We'd seen him and Mrs Geordie Boy charging out of dinner at about 8.30pm. We were also wondering what the fairly large crowd of people lining the edges of the jetty were looking at. "hmm, must be some Rays about " we said.

Something MUCH bigger than a Ray was in the water - yes, it was Geordie Boy! He was out snorkelling with a male companion and with the same torch as us! (It's an underwater torch). Roy was horrified. I was massively impressed and had to struggle to suppress a fit of laughter.

Geordie Boy - not content with monopolising the jetty at night - had picked the busiest jetty walking time to take a night snorkel. Brilliant! Genius, in fact.

He and his pal were taking lots of photographs of sharks and fish.

After that we took a seat outside Fisherman's Bar and listened to the Crab Racing going on inside. They (largely Germans) were bidding for Crabs. The "owner" of the winning Crab got beer as a prize.

"My name is Fritz, and I name my crab: Speedy".

Enough of that! Off to Blue Lagoon for liquer coffee and lightning.

Sheet lightning finally drove us to bed at 11pm.

Ramblings about Fihalohi island and its inhabitants

Island Residents:
80%+ of holiday makers here are not British.
A Russian plane deposited about 50 new occupants a few days ago. Many of them are very tall and some of the women tower over the men and have very broad backs. Generally.

Next are the Germans. They politely say "good morning" if you can manage to make eye contact with them, otherwise they do not bother with anybody else at all.

There is a smattering of Italian and French residents. Then a handful of Brits - in only about 20 of the rooms. They don't mingle much either.

The Italians like to stand around in gangs, talking. They have a leader. A short bald guy who is always holding court in the centre of a group.

I think that some of the more sociable Brits are trying to emulate this. Geordie Boy has a Jetty Gathering of Brits going on every night after dinner. It seems to consist of him showing the entire contents of his digital camera to everybody who cares to look. I guess I am only jealous, cos last time I looked he had pictures of a turtle, fruit bat and exotic bird. He's always skulking around in the jungle and staff accommodation areas looking for wild life.

According to our waiter, Mohammed, the French and Italians are the biggest complainers - and he reckons that their English improves immeasurably when they need to complain. I observed Mohammed's response to a French woman's complaint about a chip in her coffee cup today. He told her "it is a 3 star resort, not 5 star". I found it all very amusing... chips in cups are, I guess, inexcusable in any establishment! Then he bitched about her to me when clearing up. "She's always moaning and it is her second visit here so she knows what to expect. All of the waiters were trying to avoid looking after her when she got here this time."

The Dining Room:
The dining room is our key source of entertainment here. All human life is there. It is fascinating and we've got the best seats in the house. Right on the edge of the room, near the main entrance and exit door. We see it all.
First off is the disproportionate amount of time that people spend reading the "notice board" at the entrance way. It holds two A4 sized cards displaying the events and food theme for today and tomorrow. It takes a maximum of 10 seconds to read and yet people stand there for several minutes gaping at it. Even taking into account "translation" time for non English speakers, it seems excessive.
Next, the feeding habits of people. Some rush in, bang on opening at 8pm and do not go to their table, do not pass go, do not collect £200 - but they head directly for the buffet as if all the food were going to be gone by 8.02pm. It isn't, they replenish it right up to end of service at 9.30pm.
They pile their plates (often more than one plate) and then soon after we see them going back for dessert. These people are usually exiting the dining room by 8.30pm.
I don't think there is a typical nation that displays this feeding frenzy habit - I was going to say it's mainly the Russians, but they are usually still eating at 9, having gone back for seconds and thirds.

Then there is the game playing at the buffet. Some people do not like to queue (although there rarely is one anyway) so they send one of their party up to "hold the serving spoon" thus stopping anybody else from getting into the buffet tray, whilst the rest of the group all saunter up in their own good time and pass the spoon. The spoon holder manages to maintain ownership of the spoon by adopting a vacant, disinterested look and dropping eye contact with anybody else who approaches them. Clever. Chief offenders here are French and German islanders.

Once we've dissected the group habits at the buffet, Roy and I then home in on individual tables. First we like to discuss who has gone home or is absent for other reasons (a trip?, an argument?, sickness?). Next, we give a quick update on the progression of peoples' tans. Then we debate our particular favourites or their idiosyncrasies.

Roy, for example, is fixated on "Fastidious Man". A person in his 50's who eats so tidily and neatly. Even his plate is arranged neatly, which takes some doing on a buffet. He is often found dining solo, sans wife (I'll come back to her later). We later discovered that she goes diving some days which explains her absence.

My personal favourite is Giant Jimmy Nail. A morose Russian guy in his 20's. I like to observe his rudeness to Mohammed, the waiter, and tut at him. Giant Jimmy Nail is about 7 foot tall. His girlfriend is stunning (she's only 6 foot tall) and he's with her on one of the most beautiful places on earth. And yet he rarely, if ever, cracks a smile. Why so unhappy, Giant Jimmy Nail?

Then of course there is the strange carry on at the table right next to us. It is currently occupied by two French people - although not necessarily at the same time. Occupant 1 is a young pale guy with glasses. We only see him at evening time, usually early, and he's a quick eater who is gone by 8.30pm. He never buys a cold drink. He drinks only the free tea or coffee provided - usually has about 3 cups of it on the table. Occupant 2 is, we think, his grandmother. She is in her 70's - fit and sprightly looking - and also never buys a drink. She seems to appear only after he has left the dining room. One evening, to our amazement, she dashed in at 9.27pm (they're very keen here on clearing up as soon as the clock hits 9.30pm) and proceeded to fill three bowls with food. One for salad, one for hot food and one with dessert. Then she went back for 2 coffees. Goodness knows what time she got out of there, but the waiting staff did not look happy! Last night they surprised us by eating together. Still didn't buy a drink though! I guess they must drink tap water in their room.

I wonder who's got us under surveillance?

Wiggy and other predators.
We have spent many an entertaining afternoon watching Wiggy (our resident heron) hunt fish. He stalks constantly across the shore line, or he sits on top of the buildings (mainly the water villas) watching the shore. He likes to let other fish (baby black reef tip sharks in particular) scare the tiddlers into jumping out of the water - and then he goes in for the kill. After he's got his fish, he leaves it flapping, clamped in his beak, for a little while and then he eats it. Always takes a small drink of sea water afterwards.
Today he had three baby sharks doing the work for him... it was quite a sight. At one stage he went into the trees and brought out a twig, which he placed into the water. Then he sat atop a water villa for a short while and returned to the twig later on. I can only assume it was his market.
He also likes to chase crows through the trees, which is a noisy business.

Happy Birthday to me!

Last night we sat and watched a storm coming in from sea. It was quite sinister to see, as big black clouds covered the moon and stars and then our island. At 1.30am we were woken by THE largest thunder claps I've ever heard in my life. I thought our bungalow roof would come off. The rain continued for a while and then eased off. I could see it bouncing off the floor outside, presumably washing away the think layer of sand that covers the concrete in front of the bungalows. Rain woke us intermittently through the night and by 9am it had stopped but it is very overcast.

We had coffee on our balcony as I opened my birthday cards. I had a little cry when I opened my card from Mum. It should have been from Mum and Dad and that's all I am going to say on the subject.

After breakfast we strolled around the shop (again). Roy says I am only allowed a total of 10 visits into the shop and I think I've had 6 already. Then we looked on the jetty and finally back to our room.

After lunch - pasta, pizza, rice, chicken, black forest gateau - we went for a snorkel. How exciting - Roy spotted an eel resting in the coral! And I found two gorgeous clams, one with ultra-violet inside it.

We went fruit bat hunting in the jungle (interior of the island) this afternoon but didn't spot any.

We got ready early tonight as we'd booked to go on the sunset fishing trip at 5.30pm. There were just ten of us on the boat. It was fairly dull. Livened only by Geordie Boy's (more on him later) competitive fishing. He even brought along his own fishing reel. At one point one of the Maldivian boat boys took my line and wouldn't give it back to me for a good 20 minutes! Anyway, I caught two fish, Roy caught none. Ooooh he didn't like that!

Dinner was fish and chips (ironically). I was surprised by Mohammed (our waiter) having decorated our table and then he brought out a lovely birthday cake. They check for birthdays etc when you register. Nice touch. A few drinks in the bar and then bed. Roy refused to do a jetty walk - I think he was sulking due to

a) not catching any fish and

b) forgetting his flashlight

It rained again from 11pm to 9am.

It's just another day for you and me in paradise

You don't spring out of bed here. We usually just about manage to make breakfast by 9.15-ish. It finishes at 9.30.

Then we go back to read and cool down in our room. Then we hit the beach, usually under the shade of a tree and take a pre lunch snorkel. Today we saw this box puffer fish.

I forgot to mention lizards in my list of wildlife. And I've included a picture of the "bee tree" in today's blog.

Then lunch. Today - salad, tuna and pineapple (!) pizza, yoghurt and coconut curry. After lunch, a little lie down and read (well it IS the hottest part of the day).

Then more beach, definitely under a tree in the afternoon, and one or two more snorkels. Depending on the weather (cloud cover or not).

Pre Dinner drinks will either be sundowners at Blue Lagoon before showering, or drinks at Fisherman's Bar after showering. Either way, we're in dinner by about 8.15pm and back out at 9.30pm for more drinks, usually at Blue Lagoon. If we're lucky we can stargaze whilst sitting on the beach in low recliner chairs, which are sooooo comfortable.

We're always in bed between 11 and 12.

And that is pretty much the daily pattern here.

Bill Bryson is very funny

Tuesday September 18th. Or at least I think it is. We have no idea what day it is.

We're laid like idiots on our sunbeds, on the beach, laughing hysterically out load at our Bill Bryson books. I am reading Thunderbolt Kid and Roy is reading Down Under. They are Dad's books - I took them from his room and decided they'd make good holiday reading. They do.

I can't remember the last time I laughed like this when reading.

It's overcast today. Lovely snorkelling though.

There are over 600 palm trees on the island. Ok, I know it's not THAT fascinating but it breaks up the bits where I say "went snorkelling" and "grilled fish for lunch". Back to the palm trees. They form a "ring" between the bungalows and the beach. Every morning a guy comes round and rakes up all the fallen debris from the palm trees and other trees. By night time, the ground is littered again. We haven't counted the trees - they are numbered.

Lunch: tuna and garlic butter sauce, butter couscous, salad, papaya. Roy: same, plus chocolate brownie and custard.

I never dreamed that I would become a beach walker. You know those couples who walk up and down the beach together all day. But sometimes it is the only way to cool down or to dry off.

Our afternoon snorkel was good despite the could cover. The visibility is excellent today. Seeing new fish every time we go out. Skipped sundowners (shock, horror) in favour of pre-dinner drinks at the Fishermans Bar. Well you've got to ring the changes, hey?

Dinner was a chinese buffet and was really good. Spring roll, special fried rice, noodles, beef in garlic and oyster sauce, sweet and sour fish. Then rice Congay which was yummy. Coffees in the Blue Lagoon whilst watching a storm out at sea. The lightening was weird.

Bed and Bill Bryson at 11.30. More LOL moments.

Sticky toffee pudding and custard... in this heat??

Woke at 8 and then dozed a while.

We had porridge for breakfast. Nice, but strange in the heat. After a cool down in the room we snorkelled the house reef near our bungalow. Saw shark, parrot fish, lovely yellow fish.

For lunch it was... wait for it.... grilled fish! In mango sauce and with butter couscous and salad. Followed by papaya. Well I had papaya. Roy had sticky toffee pudding and custard. I am amazed at the selection of puds at lunchtime. I do think the food is better at lunch than dinner some days.

Our post lunch snorkel was good - saw lots of new fish.

You would not think that an island so small (700m round) would have so much wildlife on it. We've seen rats - one ran through the restaurant during dinner last night - and Roy saw one by our trees this morning. There is a bird that makes the most annoying loud sound - usually just when you're dozing off. Two herons. Black bees, which we watch from our balcony getting pollen from the tree outside our room. Little mini roadrunner type birds. Or Silly Birds as Roy calls them. Ants - lots of them, and some big buggers, too. What else? I forget for now.

The noisy bird sounds like a howler monkey. I've never actually heard a howler monkey but it's how I would imagine one to sound.

Went for a late snorkel at 5-ish and was thrilled to see my first ever Clown Triggerfish. Amazing markings. It disappeared fairly quickly though.

Sundowners at Blue Lagoon. It is VERY windy tonight... what is going to blow in? Dinner was fish, lemon rice, butter lemon sauce - big yum, as my friend Carol would say.

Diplomat pudding and coffee mousse cake.

Watched a diving film in the Fishermans bar after dinner and then headed to Blue Lagoon for a nightcap. It is now blowing a gale and rained heavily just after we got back in to our room tonight.