The treat

 We were up at 8 am to waltz our Matilda's to Kho Libong. The long boat skipper was due to pick us up from our lodgings at  9am so that gave us an hour to get sorted. On the dot the motorcycle taxi picked us up and took us the short distance to the pier.  Our skipper was ready and waiting. It was a beautiful cloudless morning and already quite warm. He put to sea just before high tide. The tides are important with long tail crossings between the islands as most of the island coast lines are rocky at low water. We needed the high tide to get onto our beach at Libong.  He set off and made a detour to collect our in cruise breakfast. All the long tail skippers provide water and fruit mid voyage which is a really nice touch.  As he beached the craft at his village to collect said supplies I asked if there was a chance that we would see the Durong. He shrugged his shoulders as if to say if we came across one we would be very lucky. After a short stop he set off towards our new island of Libong. We had not been going but a few minutes when Crispy exclaimed that she had spotted one. It swam directly under our boat. The skipper immediately cut the engine and navigated the boat directly beside it. It was in really shallow water happily munching on it's breakfast of sea grass. We got a great look at it as it did what Durongs do. It seemed completely oblivious to us as it scouted the sea meadow. We were so very very lucky to get so close to this endangered creature. It was a rare treat.

After spending time with the friendly Durong the skipper gently manoeuvred us away and set off across the open sea to our destination. The crossing took about 1 hour through deep water and open sea. It was amazing as even so far offshore the sea bed was visible in the crystal waters  despite being very deep. I think these are the clearest and cleanest seas we have ever been on.

Eventually we spied the distant island and the skipper expertly navigated us safely onto the beach. 

Libong, as stated before is a local island and nature reserve. There is not a lot of tourism here apart from a couple of high end resorts. I have pushed the boat out, figuratively, and booked us in for three nights in a 5 star resort to celebrate Crispy's birthday. I hope she likes it. We were met on the beach by uniformed staff from the resort and escorted to the reception. Iced flannels and butterfly tea awaited us. I had messaged the resort  beforehand that this was a birthday treat and mentioned Crispy's dietary requirements. Within minutes we were booked in and shown to our home for the next 3 Nights. A beautiful sea front villa on a quiet beach surrounded by amazing gardens. It was decorated specially for her birthday with flowers and various treats. She loved it. I don't normally take photos of our lodgings but in this case I shall make an exception.

( One of the two swimming pools here)

We unpacked our Matildas and settled in for the next couple of days. The staff told me that they had arranged a special table for Crispy at 6.30 pm for a special birthday meal. 

We crashed on the beach then made our way back to the hut to relax on our own private patio sun loungers before dinner

 How posh are we!.

 At around 5 we showered and set out for dinner. We were escorted onto the roof of the restaurant and into our own private air conditioned room for Crispy's birthday dinner. It was amazing and we were treated like royalty. We even had a bottle of chilled white Australian wine which is unheard of in Thailand. 

They had even prepared  a lovely gluten free birthday cake. She's been spoilt and deserves every bit of it for being the most amazing person on the planet.

We are a long way south here in Libong and geographically closer to Kuala Lumpar and Malaysia than Bangkok. As such the skies can be a wee bit cloudier. This evening saw a lightning storm move in with a tropical shower. We lay on our loungers and enjoyed the cooling rain for an hour. 

 Hopefully the weather will be clearer tomorrow as we intend to kayak down the island to Sea Cucumber beach and hopefully partake in a little more During spotting. There is one particular Durong here called Chompo who is reputedly very friendly and likes to swim with people. With any luck we will find him and get to swim with him. 

There is also an unexpected guest in the room with us. A big lizard that we have named Eddie. We think he is living in the roof space. Crispy spotted him earlier over the bathroom door.

Last time we were in Phu Quok we shared our lodging with a 2 foot long green lizard that liked to live on the ceiling directly over our bed. It was there every night and had disappeared come morning. It was so large we were surprised it could cling to the ceiling. Crispy is used to non paying guests sharing our bedroom and quite likes the company. 

(Eddie Lizard. Approx 12 inches long, Our reptilian freeloader)

Bare and Crispy signing off, Kho Libong, Thailand