After a couple of wetter days, this morning started clear and bright. I took the road over the mountain from Kathu to Patong and (since I was early) decided to take a small detour along the narrow mountain road which starts next to the shrine on Patong Hill. I followed it once for several kilometers (see: Take the High Road), and I figure it must eventually join with the road to the top of Radar Hill. The views back over Kathu and across to Phuket Town were great in the early morning light. Early morning is a wonderful time of day.



Oh, what a beautiful mornin',
Oh, what a beautiful day.
I got a beautiful feelin'
Ev'rything's goin' my way.

We got lucky this weekend. There was a lot of rain about, but we had 2 dry evenings for birthday parties. On Friday afternoon I called my friend and wondered if his birthday party would be rained off... but the rain stopped later in the afternoon. On Saturday, the morning was very wet and I worried about my daughter's party, but again the sun came through, dried up the garden and allowed me to light the BBQ. The sky cleared and the moon was bright and (nearly) full. The full moon is actually today. The infamous monthly full moon party on Koh Pha Ngan is tomorrow, since today is a Buddhist Holiday (Buddhist Lent) - which meant I could not buy a beer in Dairy Hut this evening :(

Despite the drug problems, I did enjoy watching the final stage of the Tour de France yesterday. The riders enjoyed themselves and then went hell for leather over the final 50km. Life bans for cheats. As a former athlete and cyclist myself (not quite up to international standard though) drug users in sport really get my goat. What is the point? What are you proving? Ban them for life.

I've taken a holiday this week since it's the "low season". Also my daughters birthday and I had to renew my visa and work permit. There have been some of the usual sudden downpours and thunderstorms over the last few days, but the skies have mostly been bright and sunny. The sea looks very calm too. Great for a bit of diving or a day out on a boat visiting local islands. Of course, I have done none of that this week, just doing odd jobs round the house, shopping and relaxing.

We moved into our house 4 years ago and honestly (sob story coming up) I can count on one hand the days I have actually had the chance to sit in the garden under blue skies, cold beer in hand and enjoy being at home without a care in the world. I need more holidays! The skies were blue yesterday, I got my one year visa renewal, handed in all the paperwork to renew the work permit and had a chance to relax in the afternoon.



Today has also been a lovely day. I enjoyed shooting monsters in the garden with my 2 year old boy, followed by shooting flowers. Lots of flowers in bloom right now. Just the right mix of sunshine and showers, which is why some people call this the "Green Season" in Phuket.

• Read about Phuket in Bloom on Jamie's Phuket




Meanwhile, back in Blighty.... what is going on? Floods, people left stranded and without water supplies, monsoon in England! (Read more on the BBC).

I really enjoyed watching the Tour de France last night - live feed from the Pyrenees, the Yellow Jersey finally shaking off his challengers to win the stage and surely secure victory... and then getting kicked off the tour. I do agree that teams and the tour organisers need to get tough, and maybe next year there will be no drug scandals, but this is getting to a point where I (a big cycling fan) just can't be bothered to watch the next stage.

Please join me and pray for sunny weather over the next few days. We have a party tomorrow for a friends birthday, and for our daughter on Saturday. Please don't rain.

For the customers we had out diving the last few days - for those brave souls who "risked" the low season, the gamble paid off. Calm seas, sunny skies, uncrowded waters... perfect! We just had a heavy shower this morning for an hour, but the rest of this week has seen great weather.

I stopped at Chalong Temple this morning to take some photos in the morning light. The golden temples are best seen in the early morning or late afternoon. Early morning is best, since nobody else has turned up yet. As I left around 8:45am, a big group of Thai tourists was arriving. The skies were blue and I was already feeling hot by that time!



Meanwhile, it's tres chaud in France too! I enjoy watching the Tour de France, with all those lovely French towns, great scenery and all those bikes! Years ago I used to be a very keen cyclist. Back in 1990, I headed to France with Rob and Giles from the York University bike club and the 3 of us rode 2500 km around France, through the Pyrenees and into Northern Spain. A great ride to be sure. Our very own Tour de France.

After the cold rain of Thursday evening, the weather in Phuket has gotten better over the last few days. Friday still saw some dark clouds, but turned into a nice afternoon, which was just as well since we had a little BBQ at our house. On Saturday, after a looooong lie in (thanks kids for quietly watching TV and not waking dad up) I suggested we drive up Buddha Mountain where the big Buddha is being built, and is nearing completion. Just as the words left my lips, the skies over the hills darkened, the wind picked up and the rain lashed down for about 20 minutes. So we first went for lunch at Leelawadee.

An hour later and things were sunny again. The dirt road up to the big Buddha is being surfaced now, so was decent to drive on despite the rain. From up there, the views are great and when (when?) the Buddha is finally complete it will be amazing, that's for sure.

 

Over the last 2 days, the wind has died down, the seas are calm again, though there have still been some quick showers. This week looks like it's going to be a good one. Man, I was mean but I'm changing my scene and I'm doing the best that I can.

On Tuesday, as I drove home on my valiant steed the skies were cloudy and grey, but about halfway home I figured it was not going to rain. Indeed the morning had started bright and only "clouded up" later in the day. About 30 seconds after I had decided it wouldn't rain, the clouds suddenly opened and I rushed to put on my 25 Baht plastic poncho. Rain is always wet, but normally here you can at least be comforted by the knowledge that the rain will be warm. Not this time. As I rode along the "new road" called Muang Chao Fa road towards the Prince of Songkhla University I had flashbacks of York University Bike Tours into the moors on wet winters days and diving into a teashop for pots of tea and hot teacakes (and Mars bars and bags of crisps). The Muang Chao Fa road winds for several km through the green "Chao Fa hills" and with the clouds hanging low and the cold rain stinging my skin, it felt just like Yorkshire. It's not often I really feel the need for a hot hot shower here!

Yesterday was much nicer - I mean it was cloudy but I didn't see any rain and today started out beautifully. The skies were blue for half the day, though a fair west wind was blowing and the beach looked rather wavy. I went up to Kata Center to buy some CD's and the blue skies over Karon beach looked great. But by the time I headed back with camera a couple of hours later it had become cloudier and hazier. Oh well, maybe tomorrow for the "sunny photo".

Grey skies rolled in later on, and I wondered if the rain would fall before my 71 seconds was up at the traffic lights...



Now, allow me a digression. Something I saw on the BBC a couple of days ago gave me some confidence in humanity. Every day on the news I see death, killing, bombing, terrorism, anger... and it all SEEMS to come from Islam. In so many countries from Thailand to Nigeria, the troubles involve Muslims. But does the Koran teach violence and hatred? No. Is your average Joe on the street in Pakistan or Iraq a terrorist? No more than you or I. And finally, the "silent majority" of muslims have found a voice, and I hope this voice flourishes.

The "movement" (if you can call it that) is called Yeh Hum Naheen, which means "This is Not Us". There must be a lot of muslims round the world who are getting fed up of being tarred with the same brush as bombers and murderers and terrorists. Now with the help of some of the rich and famous of the Pakistani pop world, the word is out.

• Yeh Hum Naheen - the web site

We seem to be into one of those periods of weather in Phuket when Mother Nature is playing games... "You'll never guess what I'm going to do next!". In general, it's quite blustery, with brief showers and also plenty of sunshine. But the skies change so fast. This morning, at my house, I looked at the sky and wondered if I might get wet on the way to Phuket City to pick up my renewed work permit. After driving the 3 kilometers to the "Sam Kong" junction next to Tesco Lotus, the sun was out and I could not see any threatening clouds!

I stopped at Kata Beach to check out the surf. There was a strong breeze blowing and the waves were fairly big. Not snorkeling weather, but you might be able to go surfing. At around 9 o'clock there were only a few people on the beach taking in the morning sunshine. A few were playing with the waves. I heard a whistle blow which may have been a lifeguard (yes, they do have them!) warning those frolicking in the surf that they should not get out of their depth. Kata Beach looked very nice this morning.





Meanwhile in England, the sun finally came out, which was nice. My mother was getting S.A.D in July with so many grey days. In the end, the sun came out at Wimbledon, and a British player won a title (Jamie Murray along with some bird) in the mixed doubles, and the sun shone for the start of the Tour de France in London. Don't suppose we'll get a British winner there.. although after 2 days there are 2 Brits in the top 5!



Phuket Weather update - about 30 minutes ago the skies suddenly darkened and the rain fell for about 3 minutes. Sky is now shades of grey.

The weather in Phuket has been a bit grey for the last few days, with a couple of really brief but wild rain showers. A little windy at times, although at Sunrise Divers we've had divers out every day and I didn't see anyone coming back looking green, so I guess the waves were not too bad! It's just been a bit grey, that's all. A few nights ago the wind suddenly picked up and I could see very dark skies over the hills to the west of our house. As rain started to fall, I raced around outside shutting windows. Rain battered the house for all of 5 minutes and it was all over. We had another quick storm today as we ate some food in Tesco Lotus. Again, it lasted just a few minutes.

Meanwhile... in England you better start making friends with Noah. Floods have caused deaths, a hailstorm hit London ... in JULY. You know that movie called "The Day After Tomorrow"?



• London Storm - Photos on the BBC News website

So, is the climate changing or are we just paying more attention to it? Are WE to blame? Would things be any different if we all rode bicycles to work and used solar power? Live Pop concerts are happening today to raise awareness of climate change - it's called Live Earth.

Today was mostly grey. Started sunny, we had that freak storm around 11am, then the rest of the day was mostly cloudy. We took a little walk at Kathu Waterfall to stretch our legs. There was not much water falling. The waterfall is a bit crap to be honest, even at the best of times, and the facilities were old and worn out 7 years ago. Still, you can take a sweaty walk in the jungle and see tropical plants, and there is no entry fee. After this we stopped at the Cable Ski, which is on the road to the waterfall. My 2 year old son was impressed - every skier got an "oooh, wow!".

In the low season I have come to expect constant changes in the weather here in Phuket. Often you'll have regular switches between sun and rain, back to sun, a wet and wild day followed by a gorgeous calm day... This year seems a bit different. The weather has been much calmer than normal, with very few wet days and plenty of sunshine. Won't be long before officials start to worry about water levels in the reservoirs and the cloud seeding planes take off.

You expect some cloud cover at this time of year, but some of the days in the last week have been really hot with bright sunshine. You need to get up early if you want a walk on the beach before the heat.

Despite the sun, there have been some waves at the beaches. Waves are often not related to local weather since they travel across oceans. A storm hundreds of miles away can give us waves here. The real "monsoon" has been hitting Pakistan and the west of India this week, all we get are some waves, but it's all related to the south west prevailing winds. It was even good enough for a Surfing Contest at Kalim beach this weekend. I didn't go (not really a surfer dude) - for more information see the Phuket Board Riders Club website.

• Phuket Board Riders Club Web Site
• Kalim Surfing Competition Photo Gallery
• Surfing in Phuket

This morning I stopped on the way to Karon and headed up a small side road near Chalong that I have meant to follow for ages. Found my dream house up there and some great views over the Chalong area. Viva el Sol!