Had a great weekend with a really fun 21st/50th on Saturday night and then my parents very kindly took us out for a lovely lunch on Sunday.

I spent the whole day in the office on Monday catching up and am just getting back into the 'routine' now - It's taken rather longer than I had hoped.

Today, whilst searching on the Internet for the history of the Andamans I came across this description of the islands which was written by an Indian in 1937 - it was so beautifully written and describes the islands so much better than I could that here it is -

"They are everywhere strikingly beautiful, beautiful as the dawn, compelling as the sun. The coral beds of the bays are conspicuous for their exquisite assortment of colour. The green hills are piled up for miles together. The chaotic mountains seem to rise almost from the waters of the sea. When one stands on the top of the hill, he looks around with wonder at the tree-shaded valley in which lie the wild jungles. Beyond these there are the perennial tropical forests, noted for their tomblike silence. Scarcely a sound is heard save the chirping of birds in the branches of the trees or the patter- ing of the deer as they run on to the green pastures. The forests are either evergreen or deciduous. In these forests are found many varieties of useful trees. The beauty of the islands increases de- cidedly during the south-west monsoon. Then all the hills are clad in foliage and vari-coloured verdure right to the water-edge. Ferns and creepers of all sizes interlace each other around the trunks of the magnificent evergreen trees. The long range of mist-capped hills are blue- grey in the distance with the sky as a glorious background. The ever-changing and brilliant scenes sink into the very soul of the spectator. Indeed! it provides a natural spectacle of kaleidoscopic colour that is bewilderingly bewitching."