While Elaine napped Roy had another look at our dinghy engine to try and determine why it had started to splutter on starting; this after it was serviced, had new spark plugs fitted and a new fuel-line, deciding to replace part of the fuel-line hose to begin with. Unfortunately that didn’t change the outcome, so an inspection of the spark plugs today revealed that our brand new plugs had started to rust! Unbelievable! However, after changing them out again, we’re now convinced it’s the entire new fuel-line which Roy had installed. Guess we have another purchase to make!
This morning our New Year’s Eve started with an early morning walk along Panwa Bali and Ao Yon beaches. We were, however, surprised to see the number of tourists walking around without a mask, illegal in Thailand, and making for a far less enjoyable outing, given that we now know that the Omicron variant has been spreading on Phuket Island for some time without the public being informed. In fact, earlier reports were to the contrary!
Back onboard, while Elaine continued her reading efforts, Roy baked a batch of delicious muffins, something we haven’t had in a while, given the heat and humidity and not wanting to turn the oven on.
But, as the day rolled on, our attentions turned to New Year and the associated celebrations.
Like many of our sailing adventures over the years, when we have absolutely no expectations about a place or an event or an outing, we are always pleasantly surprised and New Year in Thailand was no exception. Wanting a low-key celebration to avoid the crowds, we’d decided on sundowners and an early dinner at At the Beach restaurant, this time opting for a Thai feast, which had to include two of Elaine’s favourite dishes; Gai Pad Med Mamuang Himapan (Stir-fried Chicken and Cashew Nuts), as well as Khao Niaow Ma Muang (Mango Sticky Rice Dessert), accompanied by a spectacular setting; sitting on the beach, looking out over the bay at sunset. Before returning to Paw Paw, we also bumped into Jim and Richard, off Charon, who had dinghied ashore for their celebrations and enjoyed a nice chat to them.
Then the most unusual New Year’s Eve unfolded. Fireworks were set off every hour or so and at different intervals in various parts of the bay, making for a very festive night leading up to midnight. Then, on the stroke of midnight, a spectacular display erupted all around the bay. With land on almost all sides of us, we were basically in the middle of a circular display, not knowing where to look to enjoy the show, while Auld Land Syne played in the background. It certainly put a smile on our faces and cheered us up immensely, bringing in 2022 on a much brighter note than we had expected. A video call to Justine and Paul swiftly followed; our annual tradition of speaking to each other at midnight on New Year’s Eve no matter where in the world we are. That meant setting the alarm to call again tomorrow morning for their New Year’s in England.
While we’d hoped 2021 was going to be a far better year than 2020 with this dreadful pandemic, it most certainly wasn’t and, in fact, we feel it was worse in many ways; vaccinated up to our eyeballs and still not safe! As a result, just as with our New Year’s Eve celebrations, we have absolutely no expectations for 2022, except that, by hook or by crook, we will kiss and hug our loved ones again; three years has been far too long! Our grandsons are double their age since we last saw them and our granddaughter has become a young lady! We do, however, wish everyone health, happiness, peace and joy for the year ahead and “may the best of your past, be the worst of your future!”. “To staying positive and testing negative!”. Happy New Year from Thailand!
