Relaxed day on the beach, swimming, scuba diving for Gerry and strolling round the island

THURSDAY, 31st January, 2019

This morning we woke up rather late – oh how heavenly to sleep in a real bed and only hear the waves breaking on the shore – it was high tide and most of the beach had disappeared overnight but this morning as soon as I went outside, it was back again. Actually this morning Gerry was supposed to have gone for his diving introduction session at 8.30 a.m but he never made it as we got up after 8 am and we still had to have breakfast. He thought he could catch up later in the morning but apparently the diving school here is a stickler for time – Gerry could join for an introduction dive in the afternoon!

Breakfast here is really tasty and nicely presented – all the staff are ever so polite and friendly. Both Gerry and I enjoy observing the other guests – there are a lot of Asians holidaying here and that’s due to the upcoming Chinese New Year. The majority of the guests are Russians and strangely enough there are loads of kids ………

After breakfast we went for a walk round the island – it was supposed to be a blustery day but that was good for us as the temperature was already up past 28 degrees and it was only 10 am…….. it only takes about half an hour to walk round the island but we took different routes through the beach and gardens. We finally ended up on the beach in front of our beach hut – it was just heavenly especially when we went for our swim. If Gerry was left on his own, he would spend hours in the sea, absorbing all the minerals that it has to offer……

As I am writing this post, I received a weather notification from Yahoo on my iPhone – blustery and 27 degrees in Male’ – so I looked up Deventer and Krimpen: light snow showers and 0 degrees

Oh I am so thankful we do t have to face another snowstorm back home……

Anyway back to my post on yesterday’s activities:

After having walked around and swam a bit, it was time for Gerry to go to his diving session. This time I made sure he made it on time. I was going to be his photographer as long as he was within sight. Lucky for him, there was only one other guy taking part so it was a very special treatment session for the both of them.

Gerry enjoyed his diving session and he did report back that he saw some black pointed sharks and some other colourful fish. Interesting is that behind the reef, there was immediately a depth of at least 20 meters and for the first dive they remained in that area. Gerry noted that these island are actually the result of volcanic activities- and the islands are the peaks. It’s a pity he did not take his action sport camera with him…….

This diving expedition took a couple of hours, so I went back to our beach hut to catch up with some reading and writing. When Gerry came back he said that he could join another dive tomorrow morning at 8.30 am but this time they would be going out on a boat, further out in the ocean. Of course this meant setting the alarm as no way would he be able to get up on time and have breakfast before joining the group.

As we had missed sunset yesterday evening, I thought I’d catch it this evening, however it was quite cloudy …….. but I did manage to get some good shots of the twilight sky!

What a wonderful view just outside our beach hut!

And the final twilight view before going for dinner.

Dinner was again a great experience of Asian flavours starting off with the salad bar and finishing off with the sweets bar……. the only disappointing moment was when I signed off the check for our drinks – one glass of Sauvignon Blanc for me and a beer for Gerry added up to over $21,00 – my (half) glass of Sauvignon Blanc cost $14,00 and I am sure I did not have 14 sips in total…….

Well after dinner, we first sat round in the lounge area listening to the DJ, however his choice of music wasn’t ours and once Gerry had finished his cigarette we strolled back to our beach hut. It was gone 10.30 pm and it was time for bed……. tomorrow an early start do need to set the alarm!

Author: Liliana

Retired banker now spending time travelling the world with my soulmate, Gerry. Early retirement due to the fact that the bank I worked for changed their direction from global to local and hence my expertise was not needed any longer - now using my passion and energy in discovering the world after I have worked enthusiastically for so many years, brought up my daughter and son and now still have good health to enjoy my new experiences.