Photo: a Christmas dinner in front of me...

As it is a special day, we decided to go around the island in the opposite direction today and boy am I glad we did. Our little change in routine made the sun come out. We met a family of coconut pickers who we asked for a coconut, they discussed this and eventually pulled 3 off a tree to give to us, hacked a big hole in one and we drank it on the scooter as we went. It was a bit messy but how fresh is that?! Monty broke the shell so we could eat the flesh - it was all very surreal. Then we saw a snake dying in the middle of the road but mouth to mouth was clearly out of the question. We are staying at the Admiral Nelson English pub at Cheweng Beach and it looks as though the Christmas dinner will be pretty much like home as they run a carvery every day (except of course Mom is much better 'cooker' hehe). I will almost certainly be asleep by the time you all sit down to your family dinners but I will be thinking of you as I tuck into my prawn cocktail. I am going to have a look around the beach and maybe have a massage before then.