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The next morning, after breakfast on the deck, we walked down to the Turtle Sanctuary where Bolong was waiting to take us to Gili T for our boat to Bali. It was a short ride - just under 1km - but I was glad we'd all pulled waterproof coverings over our bags, since the sea seemed determined to hug us goodbye - I climbed off at Gili T's harbour completely soaked down my back - it had felt like Neptune had thrown a bucket of water at me, and then laughed hysterically as he went for more... We piled our bags up next to some benches where other travellers were waiting for their boats.

Gili T was far more developed than Gili Meno. We sat in front of what could pass for a village centre anywhere in Bali. Shops lined the waterfront and a square had been built to accommodate the chairs and tables from restaurants. The streets were paved, and where in Meno there'd been two little carts pulled by tiny horses, here there was a whole taxi rank for the carts! (No motorised vehicles are allowed on any of the islands.) We quickly did a bit of shopping for last minute souvenirs in a tiny shop stuffed to the brim with cloths, bags and cool clothes.

The boat, when it arrived, was a large speedboat which didn't look like it could accommodate 60 people. The crew stood on the back and grabbed our bags to put into the hold, then we climbed aboard. Our little group sat toward the back, under the tarpaulin, not wanting to burn again so late in our journey. A bunch of Swedes filled up the sunny spots behind us. Once the boat was full and tickets had all been checked, the engine started up and we set off.

Wow!

It was a very rough sea, and poor Leigh had her head between her knees for most of the journey - I joined her quite quickly too. Waves came thundering over the back of the boat and very soon the Swedes were drenched. Not that we escaped. We'd sat at the join between the permanent roof and the tarpaulin, so water from the roof was directed straight down the fronts of Liam and Cait, who rapidly were as wet as the Swedes. We literally washed off the deck when the boat arrive at Padangbai's pier.

From Padangbai we travelled by minicab with two Scandinavians who were catching the same plane as us. We were taking off in less than 2.5 hours, and with a 1.5 hour drive ahead of us, we were cutting it very fine. Or so we thought. When we arrived at the airport, we joined a long queue of passengers still waiting to check in, and several groups joined after us, so although we had to walk straight from security onto the plane and there was no shopping to be done, at least we didn't suffer the ignominy of having our names called over the loudspeaker!

And then we were lifting off from the Balinese runway and saying goodbye to the beaches, and all too soon Bangkok arrived, and then it was more goodbyes to Liam and Robyn as we left them to their long layover and boarded our flight for Korea.

Arriving back on Monday morning to cold, half-empty English Village was one of the hardest things I've had to do in Korea! So hard, in fact, that within a few days, I'd already planned and booked flights for a holiday in Australia at Christmas! Having that just a short way away makes life seem much rosier, especially as each day brings a new low on the temperature gauge.

Winter is coming...