We made it to Jeju! After a very reasonable overnight ferry journey we fetched up at Jeju-si and headed straight for the south coast - we heard that the mountain in the middle of the island effectively divides it so that the north cost is temperate and the south sub-tropical. I think the whole palm-fringed sandy beach and balmy days thing has got to us as we have slid from keen adventurous types into beach bums in an alarmingly quick time: despite the large number of fascinating things to explore here - volcanoes, coral sea beds, sub-tropical forests and lava tunnels we have the followng achievements to show for our first 5 days:
Bobbing around in the water; snoozing in hammocks; drifting off on beaches; gentle coastal strolling (this last, mostly out of a sense of duty!).
Actually that's not entirely fair. We have for instance visited the largest botanical garden in Asia (Yeomiji); where we found the hammocks. And today we actaully made it along the coast to a spectacular waterfall that crashes into the sea (Jeongbang Falls), albeit because we got wind of a great resaurant nearby. The weather has been spectacular, giving us no rain, temperatures around 25, very low humidity and a constant gentle breeze. Perfect for October, don'tcha think?! We may actually make it to some of the sights before we leave on Tuesday but I wouldn't hold my breathe; this may not be paradise as billed (certain people are not present, for starters), but as a holiday within a holiday it sure beats working. Wake me up in a day or two...