LAST MESSAGE
24 April 2001
Hiya all,
Have managed to climb out from under my duvet to catch up with everyone.
Have arrived back to sunny Livingston! Can't believe I am back but it
is good. Got a mountain of reading and letters to catch up on. I think
I'll start with the AGM! Going into hybernation for a few days
until I acclimatise and feel brave enough to venture out. Thinking of
buying some earplugs and some ProPlus to keep you awake while I bore
you all to death with my tales, then you better hurry. Probably
see you soon when I've managed to scrape together my levy money, in
whatever manner I can (Ha! HA!)
Look forward to catching up soon
Lots love
Angela
Message 5
04 April 2001
Buenos dias!
Buenos dias everyone,
(Impressive or what, you should be its all I know but am learning fast
because not many people speak English!
How is everyone, hope that you are all well and enjoying the start of
summer, hope the weathers doing better now, although its probably not
good to be too hot with all those dead cow carcasses around aye!! How
was your hols Martin? Did you go to the Coral Sea on Rumrunner??
Onto the boring stuff. I'm in Costa Rica now which is fab, loads of
Ricky Martin look-alikes and merengue! I love the atmosphere here during
the day or night its like carnival, and I have to stop myself from grooving
down the streets!!! Mikes desperate to head out to the jungle and I'm
a bit scared about snakes and the likes, I just want to go to a nice
beach and chill out and Maybe do some more diving; though we've spent
the last few weeks doing that already.
Last stop Los Angeles, very scary. I went on an oldies' bus tour of
the sights, the Hollywood signs and of course all the stars' homes and
didn't see anyone famous! Before that Tahiti which was beautiful. We
went to the island of Moorea because it was cheaper and had a great
time. We threw caution to the wind and blinked really hard as the credit
card was swiped for diving (about 30 quid a go!) Diving with the sharks
which was pretty scary at first but soon got used to it and by the end
thought they were actually pretty graceful the way they glide around
and I can reason that I wouldn't be that tasty with a huge tank on my
back.
We met this couple again which was really weird we met them in the middle
of the desert in Oz and then they stayed in the same place as us in
Tahiti - there weren't any other tables in the dining room, so I strolled
up (not recognising them) and asked if we could join them, then walked
away to get my food, then noticed her really staring and of course realised,
how much of a coincidence is that then? They were really nice though.
Before that the Cook Island which is my favourite place, loads of big
muscly Maori men. They are all so friendly and we were soon invited
into their drinking sessions and parties, sitting on the beach at 3am
spaced out on beer eating freshly speared fish and lobsters is definatley
the life for me, and felt quite emotional when we left there, and wanted
to extend our stay but couldn't. We only did one dive here which was
beautiful though the coral was completely bleached and dead, though
could imagine that it must have been amazing at one time because there
were huge stumps everywhere the visibility here as well was amazing
so a nice relaxing dive. The guide was really keen as well which
made a big difference and we were down for ages.
I think the last time I wrote we were heading up to the Poor Knights,
well the weather was a nightmare and we were cancelled. A few days later
eventually managed to get out in 3 meter swells - spew city - and getting
knocked around everywhere. Spent the first dive thinking I was going
to heave, so needless to say didn't enjoy that too much. The 2nd dive
was much better, it was a bit like home, not quite as cold though, 22
degrees but after what were used to it felt really chilly! Loads of
kelp to explore around although there was still a swell down at 20metres!
Yeuch. Lots of caves and gulleys and great visibility, found lots of
nudis Jim, hiding away everywhere, green and yellow and blue and black
and gems, and lots of peachy and yellow ones.
Did another 1 day here which was much of the same and really enjoyed
it though its so expensive,
having to restrict ourselves a lot. They have recently sunk 2 ships
and we wanted to dive them but it was too rough still.
Been trying to get to Belize but is proving really difficult and expensive,
so the latest is to try to go to coco island by liveaboard, which is
also looking expensive so fingers crossed.
Anyway got to go now. Be home on the 30th April at the latest.
Take care, see you all soon
Lots of Love
Angela
Message 4
27 February 2001
Greetings from Steamy New Zealand
Hiya Folks!
Think that I was telling you all about traveling around NZ and how much
I love it, think I've probably said this before but this is definitely
my favourites place so far!
We've been here for about 3 weeks so far traveling around in our campervan
which we managed to hire at a knockdown price as a relocation package
but we feel a bit like Mavis and Maurice driving around at 50mph in
a campervan! Its worth it for the places we've been to and the things
we've seen though. We basically drove right around the South Island
starting from the east at Christchurch. Heading south we stopped at
a beautiful bay and went penguin spotting which was really cute, watching
them hop up a sand dune to get to bed and then nearly get to the top
and fall down and then have to start all over again.
Also got up in the morning and lots of dolphins were swimming in this
bay. We quickly donned wet suits and got into the water. After about
half an hour when I was shivering uncontrollably they came over to us
and played all around us. I had my mask on so turned over onto my front,
and one came right up to my face and looked right at me as if to say
what the hell is that on your face! I was so excited, running
and jumping around on the beach, all the locals must have thought I
had lost it (no comments please!)
We drove all around the south coast spotting blowholes, waterfalls
and petrified forests. The scenery was beautiful and the south pole
only 1500 kms away apparently. The west coast was nice but the glaciers
we went to see were a bit disappointing.
Next up to the Milford Sound which was really impressive, I'm dabbling
with kayaking and learning a bit so we've been doing quite a lot now
that I can go in a straight line instead of circles! Next to Queenstown
, the adventure capital. For some unknown reason I decided on an impulse
to do a sky dive. We climbed up to 12,000 feet and I was the last one
to jump (luckily) under the circumstances) there I was sitting on the
edge of the plane, gripping on and shouting "I'm not doing it let
me back in I cant do it!!!!!"
My tandem partner just laughed and said he couldn't hear me and pushed
us out. I have never been so scared in all my life and I'm ashamed to
even think of the words that May have escaped my lips (don't tell my
mother 'cos they were of the really bad kind!) Eventually I managed
to open my eyes and stop swearing (only 'cos I needed to breathe, which
was a difficult feat in itself) the view was fantastic, the freefall
lasted for about 60 sec but felt like 5!
Loved it though and would love to do it again now!
We are in the North Island now in a place called Rotoroa, which has
loads of volcanic activity and is weird to walk down the street and
see smoke spouting from peoples gardens and potholes in the street,
lots of mud pools and we went swimming in a big lake which was really
hot, We had it all to ourselves and wondered why it was so quiet but
got worried when my silver toe ring was black that Maybe all our skin
was going to fall off or something, but later read that that's what
happens Phew!
Anyway got to go.
My mum says that a video from our diving in the coral sea has arrived
at theirs, but she cant get my nephews to stop watching it, one of them
said that it was nice of his auntie Ang to send a video of herself,
that I must have known how much he was missing me! (The things they
do for pressies aye!)
I'm here for another 2 weeks and then The Cook islands and Tahiti for
about 3 weeks. Does anyone have any information on diving in The cooks
or Tahiti, specifically good dive sites they would recommend? The budget
is getting tighter and Id rather do the best dives than mess about!
Id really appreciate any info.
Say Hiya to everyone for me
Take care
Love Angela
PS The opera was fantastic.
I got all dressed up and felt great the only problem was I was slightly
inebriated the previous night, walked into a parking meter (contain
yourselves please before I go on), had a horrendous black eye and steristrips
holding the cut together, poor Mike was getting great looks!
Message 3
02 February 2001
Reminiscing of Scotland in the wind and rain
Hi everyone.
Greetings from the beautiful, sunny gold coast NOT!!!
We are stuck in the middle of a storm, floods, severe winds and loads
and loads of rain. I am so disappointed as I was looking forward to
some surfing lessons on top of the water and some good diving in Byron
Bay, which they reckon is one of the top ten dive sites in Oz. Oh well
I'll just have to save my diving pennies until New Zealand. Last diving
I did was around the Whitsunday Islands whilst we were on board a yacht
sailing around, well I managed to make that sound glamorous didn't I
when the reality was that we were in a boat that probably weighed about
20 tonnes with small sails and we managed to whip up to the whiplashing
speed of 3 knots!!
The phrase p--- in the ocean springs to mind. The diving however was
quite impressive, the visibility was not anywhere like in the coral
sea though and we just had to buy a video of the trip so I do have the
evidence! so was a bit disappointing (but I think most visibility will
be compared to that). But there was lots to see and the coral was amazing
with some of the biggest nudibranchs I've seen so far, unfortunately
when I ran out to brave the storm though I forgot my Glaswegian phrase
book to translate their names for you.
Have notched up the dizzy heights of 60 odd dives now, I keep persevering
with night dives but I'm not keen and not getting any keener either,
especially after my last experience when 2 big green eyes shone back
at me from my torch beam, not very brave! Its great that I have eventually
managed to find the website, to say that I'm computer illiterate is
an understatement but I am getting better with practice. Congratulations
Colin with your pics and I especially liked the Christmas dive picture.
I have considered buying a camera a few times but have always managed
to talk myself out of it, for the moment I'm making do with disposable
underwater cameras which work down to about 30metres but you only get
one shot at a picture!
Believe it or not I do miss the diving at home, and our Sunday excursions,
and I am still looking forward to diving when I get back, though my
membership fees might be a little late. Can I be excused? I don't want
to be blackballed because I am the last to pay.
Well its my birthday on Monday so tonight we are braving the flooded
roads to head down to Sydney (no point in staying here sheltering from
the wind and rain) We have booked tickets to the opera in the opera
house as my treat, so I'm looking forward to getting dressed up and
doing that.
Take care everyone, Missing you
Love Angela
Message 2
19 January 2001
Thought I would e-mail you to make you jealous that I'm in Oz now and
just back from the most fantastic dive trip ever out to the Coral Sea
on board a yacht (allegedly it was a yacht though we didn't actually sail
anywhere!)
The diving was the best ever, and sometimes I found that I had to remind
myself that we were underwater the visibility was so great. Lots of sharks
around, did a night dive but bottled it big style when my torch picked
out two big green eyes, I ascended pretty quickly after that. Did another
drift dive on a wall 1000m deep, I was at 38 metres before I knew it (bottled
it again) Lots of caves to explore and beautiful gullies.
Heading to the Whitsundays tomorrow on another yacht to do some diving
as well so excited about that. Did The wreck of Tulamben in Bali on Christmas
day which was really nice but quite difficult to work out what was what,
supposedly a big gun but to be honest it could have been anything to me!
Also in Indonesia we did some diving off Kimodo which was the most exciting
dive I've ever done. The currents were amazing at one point it knocked
my regulator out and my mask kept on filling up. Gripping onto rocks for
my life! scary at the time but afterwards on reflection I loved it!
I am managing to hand out lots of stickers to leave the clubs mark everywhere.
Missing everyone and Loch Fyne loads.
Take care Love Angela
Message 1
December 2000
Tales of the unimaginable!
Hi everyone, hope that you are all well and suffering the winter ok. Will
miss you all at the Christmas do but have a fantastic time and have a
few beers for me! I'm going diving in Bali on Christmas day, the wreck
of Tulamben so am looking forward to that.
Sorry its taken such a long time and that I haven't kept you up to date
but now I am going to absolutely bore you to death. We are both still
in surprisingly good nick and still no Delhi belly, Most of the hotels
we have stayed in have had real toilets in them, and its so cheap we've
managed to live really quite nicely. I really miss everyone but I am having the
best time. Delhi, which is definitely the worst place I have ever been
to.
The place is full of beggars and some of them even dislocate there legs
and things so that you feel more sympathetic for them. You wouldn't believe
the pollution either, my snotters were black, eugh!!! Not really much
to see in Delhi so we hired a driver for 5 days and headed out to Jaipur
which has loads of really old palaces and temples which to be honest I'm
getting a bit bored of now (once you've seen one you've seen them all
aye!) and we went on an elephant ride. Then we went to Agra where the
Taj Mahal is and looked around that and would you believe all these Indians
kept on coming up to me and asking me if they could take my picture! I
had a bit of an embarrassing experience here when I thought I lost my
camera and when I went back to where I last had it a girl was standing
with the same one, after I gave her a good tongue bashing and she was
adamant it was hers I looked into my bag and there it was oops!!!!
From there we went to Varanassi where the river Ganges is and this was
some experience, They were all bathing in the water cleansing all their
sins away, meanwhile they dump people who die of leprosy into it! We were
lucky enough NOT to observe a cremation, standing there breathing in the
fumes of burning flesh is not my idea of a good day out, I was absolutely
disgusted, and wanted to get away as quick as possible.
After that we got on train which was supposed to be our own private cabin
but ended up in a sleeper with about 200 snorting Indians GREAT but I
think its supposed to be an experience aye!! had enough of India and made
it up to Nepal. We spent the first few days ant the national park and
went on a 3 day jungle walk which was great, while I was having a kip
in a hut, Mike went off exploring with one of the guides and ended up
getting chased up a tree by a rhino, so went back to see it, all the time
looking around me to see which tree I might manage to climb up to get
away, luckily didn't see any snakes but lots of crocodiles, turtles, elephants
and think we heard a tiger. After that we went to Pokhara where the Annapurna
mountain range is, we went on a 5 day trek which was absolutely exhausting
we spent the first 2 days climbing up stair after stair from about 600m
up to 3000m god knows how many steps but the Rosemary Conely workout video
is nothing in comparison, I now have thighs like Fatima Whitbread, no
Linford Christie, in total we walked for 90kms in the five days thank
god for pain killers. It was worth it for the beautiful sunsets and sunrises
and the amazing views of the mountains which are about 7000 meters higher
than Ben Nevis!! Went to a hot spring on the way and lay in that in the
open air with the river running by next to us. some of the accommodation
you wouldn't believe, they have windows all around and we lay in bed looking at the stars and the mountains.
Next we arrived in Katmandu which is a complete contrast and is much more
touristy, and much busier. The rooms cost about 2 pound per night and
a good dinner costs only about 2 pounds as well so the money is lasting
well. We went on a 2 day white water rafting trip on the Bote Khose which
is near the border in Tibet and was really fast moving we had to keep
on getting out of the boat and walking! and I've still got the bruises
to show for it too! We didn't fancy flying back from Delhi so we managed
to change our flights so that we flew from Katmandu to Bangkok. I wasn't
really that struck on Bangkok, a bit too busy really but loads and load
to see, more Buddha's and temples than a horse could ****! An overnight
journey then took us to Krabi which was a lot nicer. We spent the next
couple of weeks island hopping to Ko Lanta, which was beautiful and really
quiet and Phi Phi Don.
Found a great pub on the beach, with torch lanterns, great music and fireworks
and moonlight and stars, and really didn't think that life got much better!!
We managed to do some diving here as well which was quite expensive but
absolutely amazing and I don't think that Loch Fyne will ever
be the same again!!! Touched a leopard Shark and saw loads of fish and
turtles. We went to Phi Phi Leh where The beach was filmed which was quite
disappointing really and did some diving there too which was also amazing.
Then up to Phuket where we went on a liveaboard for 4 days to the Similan
Islands which turned out to be an interesting trip not only because of
the diving but also because of the people on board one German and his
"paid Thai girl" and 2 Americans and their "paid Thai boys"!!
Survived that okay though! The diving here was absolutely fantastic and
worth every penny. Saw so many different corals and fish but I don't have
a clue about all their names, need to get a good book, the visibility
was great though and so much light! Next onto Kuala Lumpur and did all
the sights there went up the twin towers. After that Singapore
which was really great and my first bath for 2 months which I took full
advantage of and had about 4 in the first night! Our hotel also had
an open air Jacuzzi so we spent our evenings in that drinking take-away
Jacobs Creek that I managed to find in a Supermarket. We went to Raffles
and gorged ourselves for hi-tea on smoked salmon and prawns and every
nice thing I could manage to eat and then 2 platefuls of cakes - only
because the chef insisted!!! (honest). We have spent the last 2 weeks
in Indonesia and are loving it so much we've extended our stay by 2
weeks! We spent the last week on Giliair which was really deserted and
we really felt like we had been marooned there!
Well sorry if I've bored you too much, just so much to say- I am going
to be a right boring besum when I get back! Yeah thanks so I was one
before as well!!
Hope that you have a fantastic Christmas and a great New Year.
Lots of Love
Angela
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