is there poodle in my noodle

Bags packed and ready for the off! It’s been a wonderful last few days here in Tonsai, punctuated by climbing and backgammon. Our stellar luck in avoiding travel-related sickness caught up with me this week; there’s nothing like spending your last day in paradise shuttling between the toilet and the bed during a nasty bout of food poisoning 🤢 Luckily for me Jem is extremely forgiving as I was supposed to belay him on his climbing project  ❤️ 💙 💜

Jem has otherwise been busy honing his new teenage wardrobe, I think perfectly capturing that Love Island circa 2018 vibe.

This week saw an awesome kayak/climb adventure to Ao Nang Tower, a sea stack located about 30 minute’s paddle from Ton Sai beach.

Navigating through the longtail shipping channel to reach the stack at dawn was a hair-raising challenge, with the main aim of not throwing all the climbing gear into the sea. Embarking and disembarking the kayaks were similarly nail biting, timing the climbing perfectly so we could access the platform over high tide.

The route is about 100 metres long and entails three pitches of easy/moderate climbing up the western face, before abseiling back down to the kayak. It was pretty exciting and Jem smashed the hard sections like a sponsored hero 💪 💪 💪 

We are flying to the Philippines today via Bangkok, including a 10-hour layover in Manilla before arriving on Siargao Island in a couple of days. Siargao is famous for its waves, laid back way of life, and golden beaches. Jem is really excited to do some surfing (there’s a famous break called Cloud 9) and we are going to start training again after entering a 3-day race in March over the Jurassic Coast which I hear is quite hilly.

We are sad to be leaving Thailand and its glorious humans, climbing and Pad Thai (classic noodles), it has been awesome!