Stop, Nana Time!

Filling in the back issue from the end of Sep. We had been looking forward to having Nana and Aunty Kathleen on board since we left New Zealand so it was wonderful when they arrived. Nana was her usual naughty self and came loaded with far too many presents…

After a busy 3 week tour of the UK Nana and Aunty Kathleen were happy to slow down and relax a little into boat life.

We slipped out of the busy St Antonio harbour and had a little cove to ourselves for the first night.

Complete with dinghy caving amongst the amazing rock formations.

Earlier in the day Aunty Kathleen was reminiscing about the amazing Australian thunder storms she used to be able to watch from her porch so it was pretty cool to be entertained after dinner with a good lightening show out to sea. Not so cool was to be woken after midnight with disco party strobe lightening with accompanying bass thunder soundtrack now very close to the boat… More chain was quickly let out as the storm cell was ushered in with vigorous winds and a nervous watch kept both inside and outside the boat. Apart from Boston who slept through it all.

Impressive Lightening was coming down all around the boat with lashings of wind. We would have enjoyed the show a lot more without a 16m conductor above our heads poking into it the the small rocky bay now a lee shore. Thankfully it decided to hit the land around us and after a couple of hours the storm cell moved on. So be careful what you wish for ladies and gentlemen.

The next day was a stunner and we were accompanied by dolphins as we rounded the point for a pretty good introduction to boat life with all its contrasts.

Some more amazing rock formations on the way past Isla de es Vedra on the SW corner of Ibiza.

After school work and photo sharing it was time to hit the beach on Formentera. Finally a great sandy beach on S’Espalmador we nicknamed lizard island for the numerous population.

Sisters at sunset.

Thank you Nana for bringing us our All Black flag!

The next bay was full of purple jellyfish. The inevitable happened with the kids playing with them in the container and Amelia got a little sting. This combined with the cooling waters curtailed swimming at the end of the season.

The disappointment of trying to find a dinner at any halfway reasonable price or even an open restaurant amongst the beach bars was offset by Birthday present time. What do you mean a single main is EUR 28 and the kitchen closes at 8pm? Here Nana has just opened her soft toy garden Gnome.

This place is beautiful.

It was so good spending some time with family, and a great excuse to meet on the other side of the planet.

And again all too soon the time had slipped past and the goodbyes were nearing. Nana had settled into boat life so well she was on the helm through the inside narrow pass as we headed back to St Antonio.

But wait, more presents!

The season has definitely turned here. This is 0730 on the way to the dock to get to the bus to the airport for the long haul home to New Zealand. Back when we were running to Greece off the Albanian coast dawn started at 0430 and no hoodies were needed.

Goodbye Nana and Aunty Kathleen. Love you guys and miss you lots.