Saturday 20th October.

52 days to go.

After a poor night sleep, the Hotel has a karaoke night on Fridays and it goes on until after midnight, I got up at 0600 to watch the 3rd place play off in the Rugby World Cup. Argentina thumps France. I am then picked up by Guru to go for breakfast at 0800.

After breakfast we walk to the markets. The markets are great. All sorts of vegetables are available. Leafy stuff, Western, (lettuce and stuff) Chinese (bok choy etc) and Pacific greens (not sure what they are) as well as things like broad, green and snake beans, cucumbers, marrows, chilli, capsicum, ginger, galang-galang, egg plant, spring onions, chives, and all sorts of stuff. Fruit too, pineapples, mangoes, passion fruit, star fruit, bananas, peanuts, coconuts and melons. At the rear of the markets near the beach are all the fish stalls. At the front of the markets near the road are the flower stalls. We bought a whole pile of fruit.

Then by 0945 we are in at work. Guess what? No internet. Now there must be something about the system that turns off the internet access at the weekend. We will have to sort that bit out. Still I get time to write up a few things and do some odds and ends. I give up at lunch time and return to the hotel. I have 2 loads of washing to do. By the time this is finished I suppose a couple of hours by the pool until it is time for dinner. Tonight there is a special band in the hotel. They are playing until 0200. I will speak to the boss on Monday. We have to stop using this hotel. All this activity takes place in a bar which has a roof supported on poles with no walls.

They like their music here and it will be set to 11 on the loudness meter. It is going to be a lonnnnggg night. I was planning on getting up early in the morning to watch the Rugby final. I will tell you if I made it tomorrow!