The Gilveys are missing all day while Cece and I sunbathe.I check my find friends and see they are in Hadrin. Logan wanted to go back to purchase her bracelet. They also purchase some gorgeous earrings my sister had her eye on. They checked out the beach for tonight’s Full Moon Party and decide it’s ok and safe to go. We stroll down to FlipFlop for lunch around 2pm for a delicious Caesar Salad, Burmese meat balls and hot cashew nuts, a couple of Leo beers and a chat with an Irishman called Chris about island life – we then return to our beach house for more sunbathing. Later that evening we all get ready for supper that P-Kum is cooking us at her restaurant. Celia and Mike decide to go to the little local Italian. The spread that P-Kum and her daughters have cooked is amazing, delicious, real Thai food, fried chicken, barracuda, tiger prawns, squid, chicken & cashew stir fry, sticky rice, black rice heaps of salad enough for 20 people not eight! Then she serves a fabulous desert made from coconut, evaporated milk and sticky rice…..we are well and truly stuffed!!! We are pleased to see Dong back from his office in Hadrin, so nice to catch up with him. Roger & I manage to convince Joolia we would rather stay at the beach. Having already experienced one Full Moon Party I do not wish to do another and the thought of thousands of teens knocking into me for six hours is not inviting. So the guys go off and we stay a while and chat to the Thai family, such cheerful smiley people despite being hit hard by the Covid 19 pandemic with no tourists for two years. They have very little and are extremely poor but they laugh continuously. We walk back round to our bungalow for a quick pee stop then on to Flip Flop bar where we manage to get a great table at the front facing the beach. Flower and Hey the bartenders are pleased to see us and we quickly get served. The bar is hopping, music great, Celia and Mike join us. I am not really in the drinking mood having had several strong gin & tonics then that huge meal but we order mojitos and Roger & Mike have a beer. We continue the night with a pina coladas. We watch the beach fire being built and gradually people start congregating on the beach, the bar fills up and towards midnight we wait patiently for the fire to be lit. Suddenly fireworks go off, little children have hand held fireworks !!! Mike and I are horrified, it’s an accident waiting to happen. However all is well and the party continues. The fire pyramid grows and grows, people constantly bringing wood to pile on, then the bar furniture goes on. I ask the bar owner is this normal and he assured me it’s all old broken stuff. At midnight fireworks go off along the beach. We can see them from Thong Mai beach and all along our beach. They light the fire after the fireworks. The wind blows sparks our way, I would be really worried if I owned the bar. Wishing everyone happy new year both physically and on Facebook, texts and Snapchat. Celia and Mike leave at 12.30 as a spark has caught Celia’s eye and she wants to check it out , we stay on for one more drink enjoying the atmosphere and the fire. I love people watching especially happy drunks, even if they are nearly all German! Badger and I stroll back along the beach, the tide is way out now, the stars are twinkling in the clear sky. We reflect on how lucky we are and wonder if we can come back soon. We FaceTime son James to wish him happy new year but it seems strange that with the time difference he has only just got up on 31st. We also speak to Michael Gold James father in law to wish him happy birthday. As my head hits the pillow around 1.30 pm, my phone is off and on charge but my ipad rings. It’s Joolia, I guess to wish us happy new year. No, I have a very stressed daughter telling me Gary has lost the keys to the truck, Aspen is being violently sick , they can’t get a taxi, there is wall to wall people everywhere & she needs daddy to walk into the village and wake up Dong to drive to Hadrin & pick them up! It takes a few seconds to realise this is not one of Gary’s pranks. I am not letting Roger go round there on his own in the dark so we both dress, lock up and walk to the village. It’s only 10 minutes but it’s very dark, we use the torches on our phones. We reach the house where the family live and bang on the windows, we wake dogs who start barking and lights start coming on but no sign of Dong. We bang on the metal shutters and hear P-Kum asking in Thai “who there”, we try and make her understand the problem and she goes to wake Dong. This takes a few more minutes and poor Dong appears half naked rubbing his eyes, we think he’s probably still drunk but he cheerfully looks for his phone which he has left in the shop front.. he phones Joolia who now says all is well they are in a taxi and on the way home!!, So we need not have got up and woken these poor people up at all. We walk back muttering to ourselves wondering if we will still be needed when we are in our 80’s, so thankful we didn’t go to Hadrin! As I attempted sleep for the second time the phone goes and it’s baby girl again, all is well we have a taxi, on our way back, Aspen is still being sick overboard but we will be home in 30 mins or so! I attempt to sleep for the third time and am just about to drop off, wondering if they are all ok and suddenly Joolia and a drunk Aspen bang on the windows shouting merrily “Happy new year NooNoo and Gdad”. You couldn’t make it up! It’s now gone 3am. Finally we sleep.
Liquid Tales 