The large night market was set up around a Muay Thai stadium and gym and sold every type of food you can imagine including crocodile and a range of deep fried insects.

On our first trip there the heavens opened and we had our first experience of the monsoon rain. It bucketed down. Luckily we had secured a small spot under cover and we waited as the ground swelled with rushing streams of water and the stall holders struggled with plastic sheeting.

The rain always seems to take you by surprise. It does not start slowly and build up but it comes down in an instant torrent. Being wet is inevitable but as it remains hot and humid, it is not as disastrous as you might think. Nothing much stops for the rain. Life goes on.

The hotel supplies umbrellas and cheap plastic raincoats are on sale everywhere. Luckily for us, although we had some downpours, the main monsoon weather stayed away during our stay. People tell of days on end when the rain never lets up. That would be challenging.

In addition to food, the markets also carry all the clothes, hats, paintings, ceramics, jewellery and niknaks you could possibly need. Whole sections devoted to different things. Ginty reckons she has had many of these things in her little shop in Mtunzini in the past, courtesy of China, but it's the memories that count.

Taya bought hair decorations and Scott and Clark found their favourite football shirts. It's fun, colourful and affordable and we dived into cotton pants, friendship bracelets and everything elephant.

On our first evening walk a group of ladyboys , or katoyis spilled out onto the pavement in front of us. Ginty was in a wheelchair as her back could not handle the long walk on uneven paving and they clustered around her laughing and posing for photos. I am sure Bruce was hiding though!

Transvestite and transexual people are more common in Thailand than anywhere in the world. Thailand has the highest volume of sex change surgery in the world, reflected in the huge number of aesthetic and beauty clinics on every high street. This is a feature of Thai culture and Thai night life. Notoriously overlapping with the sex trade, they often work in bars and clubs and perform in flamboyant shows.

Temples are a staple of Thailand. 93% Buddhist, Thailand is the second largest Buddhist population in the world and has a plethora of temples to show for it. More than 43000 in fact.

In comparison to the many places we visited after AoNang, the temples here were relatively few and modest, but we had heard of the most famous and challenging temple in the area, The Tiger Cave Temple, Wat Tham Suea, and were all keen to experience it.

Leaving Bruce and Ginty by the pool we took a taxi 20 km along winding roads into the mountainous rainforest behind AoNang. The entrance is through a temple complex at the base of the stairs. Nicole carried little Olive and the rest of the kids went under their own steam. Impressive.

I soon got left behind and no surprise (to me) I folded after about 200 stairs and sat under a tree to enjoy the faint breeze. The heat and humidity were harsh and I was already soaked to the skin in sweat. Still it was peaceful to sit in the shade and overlook the tree canopy and listen to the screech of the monkeys in the trees.

Being the diving obsessed family we are, our first day in AoNang was spent running down a dive operator that could help us get under the water to taste the local dive scene.

Covid having done its worst the dive operators in my guide book seemed to have faded into oblivion, but we stumbled over a small shop in a side street called Gypsy Sea Divers run by a Belgian guy called Andrea. It was a lucky find.

Andrea was fast and efficient. Checking the weather he soon had us hooked up for 2 days of diving in the best possible conditions. Cheap it was not but we had a private, and powerful, speed boat, all our gear and really experienced guides so I think it was value for money.

We were 8 divers and so we split into 2 pairs and a foursome. We had divers from newly qualified to instructor so we were happy to take it easy. Dudley and I dived with Gareth and Lisa, Nicole with Kylene and Lara and Cor together. The operation was so slick all we had to do was kit up and drop in. The boat moored by one of the tall cliffs.

The bottom was sandy with some boulders. Many mushroom and bubble corals and huge anemones. Lots of whip corals and soft finger corals. The hard corals were a bit chopped up in places and the water was murky, maybe 10m visibility, sometimes less. Despite this we saw the striped sea krait (sea snake) as well as seahorses and lots of fish.

Next day the same boat took us further afield to the PhiPhi islands. This is a well known dive area with multiple dive sites. The vis was better and we had 2 spectacular dives including a site specific for leopard shark.

The advantage of a beach resort in Thailand is that there is a whole network of boats sailing these coastal waters and the ease with which you can take a boat for a trip, or a day, extends your access to the coastline and the islands immeasurably.

Many of these boat services have grown specifically to serve the tourist trade, but there are also a lot of local water taxis, ferries and fishing boats which ply the coast and serve the local population. It is much easier to hop on a boat than try and navigate the winding coastal roads.

Within a few days of arriving we were ready to try the local longboat service to explore some of the island beaches. The water had been choppy for the first few days and watching the boats go past bouncing on the waves had been a little disconcerting. Happily the sea had flattened and the time was right.

Poda is an island quite close to AoNang well known for its snorkelling and we took all our gear. The island is uninhabited and is run as a reserve. There is a restaurant and cafe under casuarina trees fringing the beach with a toilet block and small benches and picnic gazebos built in front. At least there is some shade.

Poda is famous for its beaches, white and sandy framing a turquoise sea, especially popular at sunset when the sun sets on a tall jagged rock which juts out in the bay.

Our next foray onto the islands occurred next day when Lisa, Gareth, Lara, Cor, Dudley and myself took a 7 island half day tour.

This was an organised tour, many more people from multiple hotels joined, so we drove out to the marina to catch a much bigger version of the little longboat which could accommodate about 30 of us. Strapped into our life vests we sped across the water.

The sun shone and the water was blue and flat. It really is an idyllic landscape with the blue water framing the soaring green topped cliffs and white sandy beaches.

The massage and yoga traditions in Thailand are wide spread and fairly ubiquitous. Massage is, in fact, a form of traditional healing taught in some of the temples and monasteries along with meditation and dharma, and so is an integral part of Thai society. Although we were in a tourist area crammed with massage shops and gazebos, we found massage shops throughout Thailand and we often saw the local people having massages in their lunch breaks and time off.

We were keen to try out the local massage skills and, with the exception of Bruce, Ky, Francois and the kids, we all hustled into the massage parlours at the earliest opportunity. Lisa, Gareth, Lara and Cor were massaging everyday and Gintys feet had never looked so good!

Yoga is advertised widely and there are small studios all around. On our second day at AoNang we came across an advert on the beach for a beach yoga session each morning. Imagine that, the blue sea, the sand between your toes and the fresh sea breeze on your face as you stretch and twist yourself into the day.

Dudley, Nicole and Byran signed up for the next day. Yoga is deceptively difficult. It may look easy to casual observers but the strength to hold poses and the flexibility to achieve them is no mean feat. Only Nicole had experience. Knowing my distinct lack of flexibility I pottered down with them to document the journey and Bruce took Olive to dig in the sand. Her second favourite occupation.

Muay Thai is Thai traditional boxing and is widespread in Thailand. Many gyms can be found in the towns and going to the boxing stadiums to see the fights is a national sport.

It is actually far more than a martial art. It originates from ancient battlefield tactics of the Siamese army and has evolved over centuries, blending the spiritual with the physical. It is more than a fighting style, it is a combination of history, faith and tradition.

Cor is a great fan of MMA and he was keen to experience a fight so Lara, Cor, Gareth, Lisa and Francois booked themselves in for an international fight they had heard being advertised on the streets of AoNang through loud speakers.

They got ring side seats and settled in with cold beers. Dudley and I decided to skip, too much sun and dodgy tummies, a decision I have lived to regret.

Our 10 days sped by all too quickly. We did a lot but it felt like no time at all.

We were all scheduled to leave on the same day but at different times. Kylene, Francois and the kids were the first to go. They had another 5 days booked on the coast north of Phuket. Next the South African contingent left for Phuket airport. We went along because, although we were not going home, we needed to plan the rest of our trip and Phuket seemed like as good place to start as any. Lastly Gareth and Lisa flew out of Krabi to the UK.

We were very sad to see everyone go. We are a family that loves to spend time together, play together and laugh together and we had managed all three in full measure.