Bon Island and Phuket News

Not everyday at Bon Island is just another day in paradise, 

so we would like to share some of our news with you!

10th October 2010

Is it the date, 10/10/10, which some people say is unlucky 

or is it to do with a planet alignment between the 7th and 9th October, or is it simply all a coincidence?

Whatever the reason we arrived at the beach this morning to discover that due to an exceptionally high tide (full moon was on the 8th) and strong wind last night causing strong waves (storm surge?) the western beach of Bon Island had been hit badly. Two of our trees, which have been leaning over the beach for as long as we have been on the island (8 years) had fallen down, due to severe and sudden land erosion. The pictures here give an idea of the extent of the damage.

5th September 2010

A really windy start to the day today, but by early afternoon things were all back to normal again!

4th and 5th September 2010
Goodbye and Hello!

For the last four years they have been rebuilding Phuket's fresh food market and we have been doing our shopping at the temporary market near to Naka Temple. Finally all is finished and tomorrow the market will return to it's old location but in a new building. So we all say goodbye to the temporary market with some regrets as the parking is much easier there than it will be in the center of Phuket town!

And we start our days of shopping at the rebuilt market, with an indoor two storey car park and two layers of shopping. The new market has the advantage of being undercover when it's raining, but I think a lot of us prefer the airy environment of the Temporary Market.

31st August 2010

Not the best way to start the day! 

Yet another broken chain on our boat, this time half way between Rawai and Bon Island on our way to work! So urgent makeshift repairs were necessary and while that was taking place we tried a little 'sailing' hoping that a little wind and an umberella, accompanied by the rising tide would finally bring us to Bon Island. It actually took us beyond just as repairs were finished and we were (luckily) able to start the engine and drive back into shore. So thankfully it was a happy ending and we arrived in time to cook lunch for our visitors.

27th August 2010

We were lucky to make it back to shore today. 

This was not the first time that our boat has had problems, we have run out of petrol and had to use the wooden boards to row home, but today it was a broken chain. As it was low water we moored outside and repaired the boat while we were waiting for the tide to come in. The weather was perfect and I couldn't resist taking a photo or two while I was waiting for the boys to fix the boat.

23rd August 2010

Tropical weather can make life interesting, and we certainly have some exciting times!

Luckily Phuket seems to suffer less than other parts of Thailand, and flooding usually last a couple of hours and is gone as the rainwater drains into the sea. However rain usually means strong winds and that in turn means big waves! So having suffered the side affects of Typhoon Nargis in 2008 when we lost a couple of our beach huts, today we see Tropical Storm Mindulle is heading for Vietnam and it's raining in Phuket, the wind isn't too strong and the sea relatively calm. Not the best day for the beach but some people seem to make the best of it!

Then the next day the sun came out! That's Phuket!!