Yes - we (and the couple of locals) were the only ones on the flight from Mirihi - they were supposed to be picking 10 up from St Regis and then heading to Male. Apparently the story is that those 10 from St Regis were put on a Manta (ie domestic flight) instead but TMA didn’t know so waited for them.

Snorkelling looked like it might be decent to be fair (and were plenty of rays in the water) but we were outta there as fast as possible so snatched a seaplane out at 7am even though not on the passenger list! Now sat more happily back at Mirihi where the snorkelling is great - super clear water and a reef showing the first (minor) signs of new growth.

I think it was actually - although I really didn’t take any notice of the name beyond seeing it had ‘sun’ in it. I’m also probably being pretty unfair on that place - it just definitely wasn’t my sort of place (real all inclusive atmosphere) and certainly not the Conrad. Funky room but a bit plastic/holiday-inn feel. Staff there super as seems to be the case with everyone in the Maldives.

Of that I have absolutely no doubt, and you’d have probably been such a pain in the arse they’d have kicked the current guests out of the presidential suite and let you have it. Us brits are just clueless when it comes to standing up for stuff!

...looking forward to finally meeting you at Conrad over New Year!! I’ve invested in a spare suitcase so I’ve room for a drone (with 8K video and your room number plugged in), a blowup pink flamingo (supersized, of course), and some quality B&O directional speakers (so I can relay the New Year party directly into your veins!)... happy days! Anyone else want me to take any other pressies along for our top forum buddy??

Spotly, can you get a family of inflatables? Like maybe a family of flamingos and a family of unicorns? Maybe some donuts too? A wide variety of inflatables, the more the merrier as we know that MaldivesFreak would appreciate it all the more then.

I would love to be a fly on the wall for this LOL.

Genius idea, unicorns would be superb (Googling where to buy a flock of them right now)... +gonna try to wangle the villa next door to his. Do you reckon he’s gonna be fun in real life or a right crummy old sod.... who doesn’t love a good unicorn (+have checked the wiki and seems we’re good to go with operation unicorn).

Maybe you can get “The World” to make a stop there too?

The resort (Mirihi) is trying for me first. They’ve had quite a few calls with them today and say they feel the message is starting to get somewhere. Namely that this wasn’t a weather related matter, this was just them not delivering up the service when it was within their control to do so and making decisions that simply weren’t reasonable ones etc. Ultimately of course I still expect the 2 fingers, but if so then I shall have some sport with them myself - just for fun. And boy can I be a difficult and creative twat when I’m enjoying the game.

Turns out that Mirihi pay extra (rather than the standard seaplane transfer price) to have a guarantee that their guests only have at most 1 stop. Doesn’t affect my particular situation (as that was only 1 stop) but the relevance is that TMA have been having quite a few problems lately and resorts are giving them a hard time - which is important because there is emerging competition with seaplanes and more coming, so TMA have been taking steps to get resorts more locked in and onside.... which is a lever being played out on my behalf (which is really good of the resort to do).

I like your list. Cunning. And proud of you for attempting to play fair and not including sandpaper anywhere up your sleeve this time.

oh I’ve no doubt your lot used suncream on the ball in the first test match.