Day five at the resort, Mirissa

Giragala Rock by night

Today began at 4:15am when Chris went out in search of the perfect photo and I lay in bed awaiting his return. 45 minutes later I was relieved to see him enter the room and excited that the outing had been a worthwhile one. Big time! We had a quick viewing of the photos before trying our very hardest to get a couple more hours of shut eye.

Toilet views

When we woke for the second time this morning we went down to breakfast we noticed some people and their three extra large suitcases. We realised that both of our bags could easily fit into one of their suitcases and probably still leave room for smuggling an average sized human. This small amount of clothes that we have is fine when you are moving from town to town each day or two because you can repeat outfits and nobody will ever know. However, when you're staying at a resort for a week and the rich Europeans around you are looking stylish day after day, you really do feel obliged to make some kind of effort. So, today, when most of my clothes are still wet from doing laundry yesterday, I had to get creative. Thanks to my newfound obsession with Pinterest, I discovered a new way to tie my sarong/scarf/hat/Chris' lip protector into a stylish little skirt. I then turned my Bob Marley tank inside out to create a brand new top! Genius I thought. Surely nobody will notice the seams of my top sticking out. Or that my skirt strongly resembles the material they saw me lazing on the beach on yesterday. Surely!

Having discovered another window in our bathroom that opens we now have views of the Indian Ocean from both the shower and the toilet. Perfect!

Lauren's attempt at a self portrait

Chris aka one of the locals

Today we went back to a little bay we named Mirissa's Paradise the first time we were here. If you walk East along the beach from the main beach, past Giragala Rock, you reach a bay. If you continue walking, you cross black sand, another bay and a bunch of rocks and finally reach Mirissa's Paradise where locals haul their boats up the sand and only a few tourists snorkel about. We spent the morning lounging on the quiet beach and swimming in the familiar turquoise water. Twice we had to move for fishing boats to return to their homes. Chris even assisted in the dragging of one boat in. We were happy to relocate though. Nothing could possibly upset you when you're on this beach.

Mirissa's Paradise

Just another day in paradise

Crystal clear waters obscured by a Christopher

We returned to Main Beach with the intention of going straight upstairs for lunch. The water though was too luxurious to resist. It was the clearest we have seen in. So clear that you could see the sun's rays making patters on the sand below. After bobbing around there for a while we finally dragged ourselves to grab a roti for lunch (unfortunately they didn't have any lentil flour doughnuts today) then back upstairs to get out of the heat.

W lounged around and researched India. It's amazing how little of the Lonely Planet we have read. It seemed so far off when we left Australia. Now, it is almost upon us.

After recharging our batteries we went in search of some beers. It was time to celebrate my birthday in a chair rather than on the back of a wet motorbike. We had postponed the celebration, thankfully, because if the 10th of January was actually my birthday celebration I would have been madly disappointed. While probably one of the more memorable birthdays, my butt hurt way too much for it to be considered a party. Tonight would be the night.

Water Creatures restaurant

We found ourselves at Water Creatures restaurant on the Western end of the beach. It's a part of Surf Bar and is decorated with surf stickers, worldly flags and brightly coloured lanterns. We sat ourselves down at a little wooden table, thankfully one of the ones that was beyond the high tide mark, and watched the surfers carve up the waves while skilfully avoiding the fishing stick and rocks.

We apprehensively ordered a Western meal knowing full well that Sri Lankans often don't do Western well. So, we were happy when a delicious spaghetti bolognaise and a meat pizza arrived and actually resembled the dishes as we know them. Top it all off with some spiced battered prawns, cooked to perfection, and you've got yourself a darn good birthday dinner. Three tallies of beer, an entree and two mains on the beach for $18. Pretty good. I fed the pizza crusts to my newest friend while we took in the sea breeze and watched as some big joints were passed between the staff.

We waddled home barefoot (I'm finally convincing Chris of the redundancy of shoes) along the beach past piles of fresh fish just waiting to be chosen and cooked up and finished the night with Grand Designs. Ahhhhhh.

New friend/Garbage disposal

Surfers at sunset