Friday we were pretty tired after our road trip to see Spacegrazer and Boag. We also needed to catch up on school as well as do yet more laundry and stock up on groceries whilst we had a car as our old faithful granny shopper finally bit the dust a couple of weeks ago. As I would be spending a big part of the weekend with my friends who had hired a Villa close by I needed to ensure the fridge was full of easy to prepare meals! The afternoon was completed by yet another trip to the lovely beach before dinner and an early night for me in preparation for the weekend's PARTY. It was lovely to see the Facebook posts showing my friends on their way to see us!
Saturday 29th September
It seemed to take a ridiculous amount of time to get organised but finally it was time for Patrick and the kids to deliver me to the Villa my "Mummy Friends" had rented for the weekend for Lynsey's 40th Birthday. After just one episode of pulling up at the wrong villa we finally found the right place and delighted in seeing old friends. The place was amazing and it was quite difficult to convince the kids to head back to the boat!
It was then time to relax. Drinks round the pool were the order of the day as I took the chance to catch up. It was really nice to have the opportunity for one to one chats with everybody individually, as all too often when out for a meal you only end up chatting with the people sitting close by. After a lovely lunch and inflatable unicorn races it was time to get dressed for dinner.
We (with some difficultly as the Villa was quite remote) negotiated taxis and headed into town for a meal at a restaurant. It was lovely to splash out on a lovely meal and good wine before heading back to the villa where we drank and talked until well into the early hours. Lizzy and I then opted to sleep outside on the comfortable sofas and enjoy the peaceful noises of the countryside, crickets, bells round the necks of sheep, wind rustling in the leaves... and then the marginally less peaceful crowing of the cockerel!
Sunday 30th September 2018
A somewhat slow start to the day but we did in fact make it into town in time to mooch round the market. I dropped my bag off on Laurin and picked Esme up for a little time with the girls. After a couple of purchases at the multitude of stalls we headed back to the boat for lunch whil
e the girls kept shopping. After a while Lizzy and Janey joined us and grabbed some lunch too, although neither wanted to be on Laurin for long.... its easy to forget how the motion is not natural to others and can be a little uncomfortable after a heavy night, although I think Janey was more put off by the appalling untidiness of Laurin at the moment. It seems that as we come to the end of our journey we are finding it harder and harder to keep her tidy. Partly because she is a small boat and we have acquired STUFF along the way, but also because we are tired and winding down, and it takes a lot of effort to put things away when it requires removing everything in a cupboard to put one thing back.It was then beach time for some, whilst others went back to the Villa, and Patrick gave Mel and Ruth a lift to the airport. This worked out really well for us as they could navigate instead of me and the kids having to go (neither of us likes driving abroad without a navigator), thus saving us the bus fare back for 3 of us. The kids and I joined the girls at the beach and pumped up the paddleboard for them to try. It was a lovely afternoon, lazing in the sun and enjoying the sea before the girls headed back to the villa and I prepared tea for Patrick and the kids.
At about 7:30 my lift back to the Villa arrived and I enjoyed a second night in the company of these lovely ladies, with dancing displays and much discussion about performances for Tracy's wedding. We didn't quite make it to 3am this time but a good night was certainly had by all.
Monday 1st October 2018
After a lovely leisurely breakfast the girls emptied half their fridge and all their remaining wine into bags to take back to Laurin and then gave me a lift back to town. It was back down to earth with a bump. Back into schooling the kids, laundry and watching the weather!
And then there was a lovely surprise. Patrick called me on deck to see what boat was coming in..... it was Alpha 1. The boat I had taken my yachtmaster exam on and shared many happy weekends with friends. Martin Whyte, the owner has long since moved his sailing school from the UK to Alcudia in Mallorca but it was still a lovely surprise to see the old boat, this time being chartered by a lovely German family. After helping them in we told them of her history and later AJ and Esme went snorkelling with Engle and his son Valentine.
Tuesday 2nd October 2018
School in the morning again and then after lunch Patrick took the kids out for a walk while I had a bit of kid free time to do some paperwork and continue with updating myself with GCSE maths ready for tutoring when we return to the UK. Our "Plan A" is for Patrick to find a reasonably paying job whilst I try to build up a flexible and location independent income so that I can be around for the kids whilst they settle in to their new life up north. I'm hoping for a mix of tutoring maths and online editing work, hopefully eventually transferring face to face tutoring to online.
Once they were back we hit the beach before showers and dinner and then heading over to Alpha 1 for drinks, although the kids soon decamped to Laurin and movies!
Wednesday 3rd October 2018
Yet more school... but this time interrupted by trying to use our gopro knock off to locate Valentines glasses that he dropped in the water between Alpha 1 and the quay. We also got talking to an English teacher who is out here for a job interview. He was really interested in our journey and very supportive, commenting on how well spoken the kids are. It was nice to chat about my hopes and concerns for the kids' return to school and be somewhat reassured that they would be fine. School has been a bit of a struggle this week so again, after lunch, Patrick took the kids for a walk. I took the opportunity to sort out some online banking as well as yet more maths.... I'm finding it quite relaxing and looking forward to getting back into maths when I return.
After a brief visit to the beach the kids helped me to make soup for dinner and also to experiment with left over soft bananas, oats, and some other random ingredients to make "cookies" in the frying pan (our oven has never worked successfully!)Dinner was in the cockpit followed by an early night as I wasn't feeling too great.... possibly an elongated hangover from the weekend!
Thursday 4th October - Our last night in Porto Cristo
So tomorrow is D-Day... we've been in Porto Cristo so long it almost feels like home. Already some boats are arriving to make this their winter home and I can see why. We are right in the centre of town with a lovely beach just a stone's throw from the beach. I'm kind of glad the girls' visit forced us to slow down here, it has been nice to enjoy some of our last days of this adventure just chilling out in a seaside town.
School went surprisingly well and then AJ and I headed out to do some grocery shopping, all the time looking out for birthday gifts for Esme. Patrick and Esme came to meet us at the end to help carry stuff back to the boat so we took the opportunity to grab lunch at the supermarket, introducing the kids to empanadas, although they were nothing like those we remembered from our honeymoon in South America. Our intention was to head to the caves in the afternoon but Patrick and I weren't feeling too great and the kids weren't really bothered. Add to that the fact that they would cost us 50 Euros to get us all in and the beach was right there waiting free of charge, and it was a bit of a no brainer. We put the shopping away, chilled out a while and then headed to the sea for a last swim in Porto Cristo.So tomorrow we move onward. We're a little uncertain about the swell and if it will make our lives uncomfortable so for now we are heading for Barcelona aiming to arrive probably late Saturday afternoon, but with a very viable plan B of heading in to Pollenca at the end of tomorrow if it's a bit "too lumpy". Either way we'll be catching up with friends at the end of it!
No comments:
Post a Comment