Mauritius = Home?

Mauritius is an island with two distinct halves.  On one side are the sparkling white beaches and turquoise lagoons of the international resorts.  The kind of tropical paradise you see in holiday magazines and where a glass of freshly squeezed grapefruit juice will set you back at least $15.  On the flip side, is the run down but charming capital of Port Louis, with its grubby buildings and bustling markets.  Our lifestyle would hopefully be somewhere between the two.  The expat scene is small, but reasonably lively and dominated by South Africans, French and English.  There is definitely an up and coming yacht market for Sam and a good sized offshore fund market for me, so good opportunities. 

We only had 10 days on the island, but managed to get a good sense of the lifestyle and opportunities, plus met some great people.  By the end, we'd driven along most of the coastline and checked out all the decent surf spots (which I'm pretty sure is Sam's number one criteria for our new home).  I did love the island (who wouldn't?), but I felt it was a little isolated and just so far from family and friends and I was looking forward to being nearer to home for a while.  We'll have to wait and see how the job opportunities pan out, but I think it might be an option...

Taghazout - surfing hotspot / weekend break nightmare

Taghazout sits along the Moroccan coast, not far from Agadir. Its known for its good surf, which is honestly about the only thing you'd go for, as the village itself is pretty scraggy. We did have a lovely flat looking over the sea, but the view was spoilt from time to time by the smell of drains from the local sewage works (i.e. a muddy river next door). It was also pretty hard to have food outside without eating a fly sandwich. We did manage to have a great tagine one night in a local restaurant and sneak in some wine, which we kept under the table so not to offend the locals.

The nearest ATM was a 6km walk away, which caught us out on day one, as you had to pay for everything in cash, including the flat. So, we managed to find a very cheerful taxi driver to ferry us all around (seven of us in an old Merc), who loved singing Phil Colliins and The Eagles as much as we did. He was even happy to strap three surf boards to his roof with an old luggage belt and clatter down dusty roads to the beaches.

All in all, the guys were happy with the surf, but I probably wouldn't go back again unless I wanted another ceaser salad dressed with last night's cold chips. Next stop France - to sort our lives out!

Marrakesh - no I don't need a rug...

Marrakesh is manic. Its a great spot to pick up interesting household bits, but it does get a bit much when someone tries to sell you a rug at every corner. The markets in town were excellent and I could have spent a fortune buying bits, but you always had the feeling that the odds were against you. We got accosted by the usual touristy things minutes after walking into the main square - monkeys on your shoulders and snakes round the neck. Also the food sellers practically forced you to their tables to eat tagines and strange parts of animals, whether you wanted them or not. I became very wary of most sellers, as you couldn't really browse - you had to buy. We got lost once and unfortunately couldn't ask anyone for directions, without the risk of being taken to a shop and forced to buy a teapot.

But aside from the hectic streets, we did have a lovely Riad in the heart of the medina with Fys and Pippa, which provided a great refuge from the hubbub. The food was pretty good around the city and we enjoyed the local spa. I found the dentists chairs amusing, with their rusty pliers and thousands of molars on display. Also the colourful spice shops and mountains of olives looked appealing. I would definitely go back to shop, but would be better prepared next time with a decent map and two key words 'la shokran' (no thanks).

A week in the Alps

After spending a week at home with my family catching up on sleep and food, we flew to La Rosiere in the French Alps for a cooking and chalet management course. It's really intensive and we've barely had an hour to spare each day. The day starts at 7am preparing breakfast for 12, then lessons throughout the day until 6pm, when we prepare a 3 course dinner for everyone (bearing in mind we have a veggie and someone who can't eat gluten, so have to prepare 3 different dishes each time). In between lessons, we bake two cake recipes and make lunch for the staff and other guests. I can't believe we've paid to be worked so hard! Aside from that, there is a great hot tub for relaxing after dinner and free flow wine, so can't complain. The blow up fish also got introduced to the hot tub one night and now works as a good beer holder. Its been snowing a lot here already and the view from the chalet is amazing - a deep valley with two snow capped mountain peaks and twinkling lights from the other resorts.

It's given me a good taste for life as a chalet host in a very upmarket resort, where the guests expect high standards. It's damn hard work and you've got to love the ski, as the pay's terrible, but I'm sure it'd be amazing for one season. We've got a good bunch of people with us, which has made it even better. I could definitely live in the mountains, but cooking and cleaning for up to 20 each day, working 15 hour shifts and getting paid 80 quid a week, is almost slavery. Hasn't France got a minimum wage?! Especially when you consider that a beer is about 5 Euros over here - 16 pints and you're finished. Even though I've loved it, I'm not convinced that running a ski chalet is an option for the long term. I think I should try skiing first too..

Tenerife - The North is beautiful, avoid the South!

We spent four days in the North of Tenerife, staying with Sam's uncle in his beautiful little cottage up the side of mount Teide. Having been to Tenerife once when I was 16 for an all inclusive stay at Playa de las Americas for a couple of hundred quid, my expectations were pretty low. However, the North of Tenerife is greener, prettier, less developed and much more Spanish than the South and it changed my view of the island. We spent a day driving up to mount Teide (which is over 3,700m high), to get a cable car to the peak to see views across the whole island. The rest of the time was spent catching up with Sam's family and trying out my pigeon Spanish, which mostly involved nodding a lot, hand signals and saying 'muchas gracias por todo' about 20 times a day.

A few pictures from the top of mount Teide, the view from the finca, the family and a beautiful village called Masca. Next challenge - find a home...

Lanzarote - leaving Yemaya

After saying goodbye (with a big hangover) to yacht Yemaya and Kai we took the ferry from Graciosa to northern Lanzarote. Having not planned a thing due to our headaches and general tiredness, we ended up sitting in the harbour in full sun with all our bags for hours before we could work out how to get to the South. Lanzarote is a really arid place, with black soil and striped mountain ranges. Parts of it look like the moon on a sunny day. Most of the British tourists hang out in Puerto del Carmen and that place is to be avoided like the plague, unless you're looking for egg and chips. However, the South and centre of the island are much more peaceful and we managed to find a lovely guesthouse in a town called Yaiza.

So, the sailing is all over the time being - slightly sad to leave the water (especially getting up on a sunny day and having the ocean 10 steps away), but relieved to be on dry land again (no threat of seasickness). Next stop - Tenerife for four nights.

A few pictures of a great beach we found, that was so clear and blue, it was like a hot open air swimming pool and a small boat we hired for the day to test our sailing skills.

La Graciosa, Spain

A few pictures from this lovely island.

Six day sail from Lisbon to Graciosa

We spent six long days crossing the Atlantic from Lisbon to the small island of Graciosa, just off Lanzarote. No one managed to get more than 3 hours sleep per night, so we were all exhausted when we arrived. The original plan was to stop off in Madeira for two nights on route, but the Easterly winds weren´t helping and i think the skipper was secretly keen to get rid of us both. Although we were a little sad to have missed Madeira, Graciosa turned out to be a beautiful spot, with pristine beaches and turquoise seas. There´s very little tourism here, except for a few regular Spanish visitors and daytrippers from Lanzarote mainland. From here, we leave yacht Yemaya (after nearly 3 months of sailing and over 3,000 miles) and will make our way to Northern Lanzarote for a few days.

The sail from Lisbon was surprisingly smooth and we even managed to catch a tuna for dinner one evening. We got becalmed half way across the Atlantic and Sam got a chance to test the blow up fish again. Hanging onto a rope while sailing at 8 knots was also a favourite pastime in good weather, but the fun and games stopped when the skipper slipped off and we had to perform a man-over-board manoeuvre at top speed to get him back. We also lost the rudder from the wind pilot one evening, but amazingly managed to find it again in rough weather (no small feat, as its only half a metre in length and we sailed a mile away from it before realising). A few pictures from the sail..

Lisbon - the first cultural experience of the trip

Lisbon is a beautiful city, with its crowded back streets, old fashioned trams and quaint little squares. The city is crumbling apart in places, but it's kept its charm and doesn't seem to have folded to much mainstream tourism. My family came out to join us for the week, so we ended up doing some vaguely cultural things for a change. Also a good chance to be fed on real home cooking, which had been lacking a bit on the boat. Other than the churches, forts, monuments and palaces, there was still time for a day at the beach in Guicho, which is a popular surf destination on the West coast. Some pictures attached. We set sail to Madeira on Tuesday...

Algarve Nudist Beach

We hired a car from Lisbon and made the 3 hour journey to the Algarve down on the Southern coast. We asked the guesthouse to recommend a good beach nearby and they directed us towards a secluded bay. Shortly after arriving, we realised it was a nudist beach and we were surrounded by naked European geriatrics. It was a great way for Sam to spend his 31st birthday! Not to be deterred, Sam insisted on lounging in a 5ft fish shaped lilo (with beer cooler) in the sea for a few hours. And I thought the nude tourists were the embarrassing ones.

After staying the first night in a truly English resort (served English lager by a lady from Essex), we'd had enough of the Algarve experience and drove towards the West coast. We found a lovely town called Aljuzer and spent two days here surfing and enjoying good Portuguese seafood.