The Best April Fool's Day Ever!!!

Hello!

So here is the latest update...

I ended up going for the walking tour around Manila on Saturday afternoon which was really interesting and a good way to kill a day. Luckily I stopped vomiting by the morning but my stomach still felt a bit dodgy so I didn't risk anything too adventurous. We went down to Manila Bay for dinner and then I had a fairly early night. On Sunday morning I headed out for a walk on my own just around the town and wandered around a Makert which was all very nice, although I was mainly just killing time until Will arrived as I was so excited! 

In the afternoon I took a taxi to the airport  to meet him off the plane and without wanting to be TOO soppy it was a lovely reunion, I ran up and hugged him as he came walking down the ramp with a huge grin!! We headed back to the hostel to drop his Bag off and then went out for a nice meal and to catch up on the past 5 weeks!

The following morning we took a bus up to a city called Alaminos on the Coast. Will had read about a national park called 100 islands where you can spend the day hopping around lots of undeveloped desert islands. He also had hopes that we could camp out on one overnight. This caused a bit of a disagreement between us because the lady in the tourism office 'strongly recommended' that we camp on one of the developed islands with toilets and lifeguards. I agreed. Will had different ideas. 

Eventually I agreed that we would

Go out and visit the other islands the following day and I would see how I felt then, but I wasn't making any promises! The next day we headed out to get all our supplies - tent, food, charcoal, snorkel gear etc. We then headed out on our little catamaran with a couple of local men who did not speak a word of English sailing the boat. I have to admit, it was the most amazing place ever. I felt like I was in the setting from The Beach. We spent the day sailing from island to island, snorkelling in the bluest sea I've ever seen, exploring caves full of bats and relaxing on the beaches. There were a few other tourists, all Filipino, but mainly it was just the two of us. I had started to come round to the idea of camping on one of the deserted beaches when Will pointed out a little island in the distance with a white beach. "Let's try that one!"

he said! When we arrived I knew it was the one we would camp on. It was perfect! So we unpacked our things and said goodbye to our boatmen with plans for them to pick us up the following day. 

I had to hand it to Will, it was absolutely incredible!! The view was like nothing I'd ever seen in my life and we were camping out on our own private island!! We put our tent up and went for a snorkel and were just about to settle in for the evening when a huge boatload of Filipino men turned up. Needless to say, Will was fuming! They insisted on taking multiple Photos with us in wacky poses, which was actually pretty funny!! Luckily though they were only there for an hour or so and then we had the island to ourselves. 

I don't want to sicken you too much with the soppy details but I only get to do this once so it's difficult not to get carried away!! Anyway, the sun started setting and it was the perfect evening and as we were standing looking out over the water I looked down and Will was on one knee with a ring in his hand!

The rest is a bit of a blur if I'm honest but involved me crying (a lot), asking if he was being serious multiple times (thankfully it wasn't an April fool!) and then lots of hugging and kissing and some more crying!! What can I say, it really was perfect!! Will then got a fire lit and we cooked some fish and we sat and ate and drank as he filled me in on the months of planning that he'd been doing! So many things fell Into place and I had to apologise for being stroppy with him at so many times for various things over the past few months which I hadn't understood at the time but actually was just all part of his planning!

Ok, I will try to stop myself now, Sorry everyone!! All I will say is that I'm a very lucky girl and I couldnt be happier. We are now up north at the rice terraces which are truly spectacular, we are going out trekking again tomorrow after a shorter hike today as we spent the night on a night bus last night. Sorry to anyone that I wasn't able to tell in person but hopefully now the news is out! 

Lots and lots of love to everyone and will speak soon xxx