iReminisce: Caribbean Palm Tree 🌴

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Sarah & i (whilst on holiday in St. Kitts, Caribbean 2015) kept saying “Wow, this is Amazing! How did we get here, it’s like a dream”. The beautiful hot sun shining down, a lovely cool breeze and those stupendous palm trees! ☀️🌴😀 

☀️ #39 The Blind Sightseers “Escape The Lockdown” With Distant Memories: “Olympia, Greece” 🇬🇷 (2017)

The Blind Sightseers logo

 Hi friends and welcome to Day 39 of this monumental, inconceivable and definitely memorable blind sightseers tour….!  

Olympia logo

Sarah raising her arms in victory stood in front of the Thomson Spirit ship

Good morning friends! (Καλημέρα φίλοι) 😀  

We booked this cruise as i really wanted to visit ancient Corinth and Sarah really wanted to go on todays excursion….Olympia! 💪🏼   

Within half an hour’s bus ride of the small fishing village of Katakolon, you’ll find the site of ancient Olympia. Thousands of years ago, the park-like grounds of Olympia were crowded with athletes, preachers, merchants and philosophers. The backdrop was the impressive Temple of Zeus – famous for its 40-foot statue of the god himself, which was one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. The temple lies in ruins today, but you can still imagine how its structure would have looked in its heyday. With some help from your guide, the remains of temples, treasuries, porticoes and statues help to bring the site to life.

On the dock…🛳  

Meeting our local tour guide off the ship (after an olympic breakfast) we followed her to the coach where the 2 front seats were saved for us again, we really like this Thomson excursion team looking out for us! 😀  

The coach had lovely air conditioning again which was great for me, but Sarah had her tracksuit top on as she was freezing, lol! 😀  After about half an hour we arrived at the site of Olympia and stepped off the coach into the blistering sun. Sarah didn’t have her tracksuit top on anymore, and i instantly started overheating! ☀️  

We started walking through the areas where the merchants would have been and the workers and cooks etc. “Wow, how one earth did they do anything in this heat, they were hardcore” i said wishing i had more water. 💧

The guide was incredible and very passionate and knowledgable about the whole area. 

Olympic park in Olympia with lots of trees and sandy paths

Me stood on the right hand side with my tactical sun hat and wearing a black shirt in front of the Olympic park

Olympic park in Olympia with lots of trees and sandy paths

The gym…💪🏼  

Soaking up the blistering heat and more history, we slowly shuffled along to the gym. 💪🏼  

The guide was talking about how the athletes would train (naked) and cover themselves in oil to help collect the dirt, salt, sweat and anything else that stuck to them. Then they would use a strigil as a tool to scrape it all off before bathing.

The guide then said “Does anyone know why this place is called the ‘Gym?” The group fell silent but before the guide continued i said “Gymnós (Γυμνός) is Greek for naked” The guide happily said well done to me and seemed really pleased as Sarah said “How did you know that and none of the others did?” is said “I only know a handful of Greek words (bible study and apologetic books)…And that’s one of them, lol”. 🤣

We then continued walking to take a look at the temples and the ancient lighting of the torch place.

sand paths leading u p to the temples

Ancient piller of the temples

 The guide stopped to read an ancient inscription…

Our tour guide reading some ancient greek carved in a stone on the floor

 Lighting of the torch…

The guide talked all about the history of lighting the olympic flame and carrying the torch around. She then used her shadow to act out the lighting of the flame at the exact point! 😀   

A shadow across the sandy floor of our guide pretending to light the torch from the ancient games at the exact spot

The ancient olympic track…

Totally dehydrated (note to self…One little bottle of water isn’t enough) and my skin felt like it was blistering, we approached the archway to the original ancient olympic start line. 

The ancient archway that leads to the track which you can see through the archway

I thought the huge crowd were cheering away and welcoming us in the true olympic style, but i realised it was the thunderous sound of the cicadas again! 🤣  

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xYHVsEsIDls

The start line…

I thought the heat was blistering already but it didn’t prepare me for the inferno when we walked underneath the archway and onto the track. 🔥🔥

Sarah said “Steve you’ve got to get a photo of me at the original olympic start line! I’ve only been out of my aircast for a few weeks and it would make a great photo…Zena (Sarah’s friend) will comment straight away and tell me off, lol (she did). 😀  

“Here goes” i said “No pressure at all for this shot…It’s only a one off picture” But it worked and Sarah looks fantastic! Sarah had gone for months with an aircast, and now seeing her on the start line looking like a true olympian was another emotional moment for me. She really is my warrior princess wife! ❤️❤️❤️ 

Sarah doing a

Water…I need water…😰 

With our new appreciation of these ancient athletes we slowly made our way to the next stage. 

Me stood listening to the the tour guide

Sarah stood on the bottom right with the whole Olympic village behind her

The archaeological museum…

You’ll now proceed on foot to the Archaeological Museum, which is one of the most important of its kind in Greece and hosts an impressive collection of artefacts. The new museum was constructed in 1975, and eventually opened in 1982, re-exhibiting its treasures. Following some time here you will join your coach for a drive back to your ship.

Photo of the sign at the village camp

Ancient statue of

It was so crowded inside the museum and we couldn’t get many photos, sorry. 

The shop…

We now had about half an hour free time so we went straight for the shop. Yay Sarah managed to find a red t-shirt with the winners reef on the front. I just wanted a bottle of water and stood drinking it whilst trying not to collapse with more heat exhaustion! 

Sarah said “We can’t leave without buying Suzanne (our friend) something from here. Suzanne is mad about the olympics so it would be great to buy her a souvenir from the actual place”. We did! 😀  

Back at the dock 🛳  

the Thompson Spirit in dock

With the ship in sight we had enough time to explore the dock. The dock was great for us and really accessible as it had flat walkways and no surprises. It had a few shops that we could have a look around and see if we can get anymore souvenirs.

rows of the little boats in the dock

rows of the little boats in the dock

And then…

Sarah walking away from the camera along the dock with the Thomson Spirit ship in the background

My beautiful wife has just told me to stand here and is walking away along the dock. “I wonder what she’s seen? Oh wait a minute…She isn’t going for one of her stupendous panoramas is she? She certainly is”. 😲  

☢️ HEALTH WARNING…  

A Sarah panoramaa of the whole dock with me stood waving on the right

We don’t visit many docks with a clear view to the ship, so now we have, we’ll make the most of it, lol! 😀   

Sarah doing a i have conquored pose on the dock with the ship in the background

Sarah stood in front of the ship

Photo of me in front of the ship

me stood directly in front of the ship

“I see no ships!” 🤣  

On board the ship…🛳  

I was absolutely exhausted as we returned to the cabin…And after drinking about 100 litres of water, cold shower and a change of clothes…I was ready for the fantastic evening meal. 😀  

The photographer…

Our new friends Brian and Ann (met then on the captains night) told us that they had done lots of cruises and had the on board photographer take some photos of them on every cruise. They have a drawer at home full of photos and look at them for lovely memories. “They are not cheap but you can select as many as you like.”. they said as they left the stairway where we had a chance meeting.

Walking up a couple of decks we ran straight into the photographer who’d set up lights and umbrellas at the top of the stairs. “Would you like your photos taken?” “No thanks we’re so tired after todays trip” i said.

“Well we’re doing a special black and white photo shoot this evening if you are interested?” the photographer continued as Sarah and i considered it. I said “I can only just stand up as i’m so tired, nevermind trying to smile and look energised, lol! Sarah told the photographer “Yes ok we’ll give it a go”. The photographer said they’ll meet us back here in 30 minutes, and could i change my shirt into something more suitable for black and white photos (i had a Caribbean shirt on). Thankfully i have 4 identical black short sleeve shirts and i still have a clean one back in the cabin wardrobe! 😀  

We are so glad we had the photos taken! We love them and have them set as desktop wallpapers and iPhone lock screen images…Yay more photos of me and Sarah i’ll cherish. ❤️😀     

Sarah hugging me from behind in black and white

Black and white image of me and Sarah back to back and laughing our heads off

me behind Sarah and we're both laughing

Sarah resting on her hand in a portrait

After the crazy photo shoot, we walked along the deck and it wasn’t long before we bumped into these fantastic creations. 😲  

fantastic carved fruit

Back at the cabin…

I almost collapsed onto the great towel creature that was waiting for us on the bed… 

Towel folded lobster looking at the camera

Wow…What a day! We’ve had an incredible time with so many lovely memories. We hope you’ve enjoyed it too?!

Our Route…..🛳  

On Monday evening Thomson Spirit sails to the port of Corfu, Greece having travelled 165 nautical miles at an average speed of 13 knots.

Hope you’ve enjoyed the adventure today…Let me know your favourite part?! 🤔 We’ll meet tomorrow…Same time…Same place for another adventure! 😀 

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☀️ #36 The Blind Sightseers “Escape The Lockdown” With Distant Memories: “Dubrovnik, Croatia”🇭🇷(2017)

The Blind Sightseers logo

 Hi friends and welcome to Day 36 of this monumental, inconceivable and definitely memorable blind sightseers tour….!

10th Anniversary

Sarah i wedding photo

Wow, i still can’t believe it’s been 10 years since our amazing wedding day! ❤️❤️❤️ 

An unexpected blessing…..

This cruise (3rd) holiday has been such an unexpected blessing, as Sarah had another “Charcot Foot (diabetic problem)” and was in an air-cast for the last 5 months. We had to cancel our Barbados cruise and stay we’d booked for our birthday celebrations in April…But Sarah had it removed a few weeks ago and she’s been strengthening her leg for this cruise. So we are amazed to be spending our 10th wedding anniversary (July) visiting some fantastic places! 😎  

Sea logo

Breakfast…..

We slept really well and caught up on the sleepless night we had yesterday. We thought we’d go to the Compass Rose (waiter service restaurant) for our 10th anniversary breakfast. It didn’t disappoint and we had porridge, omelette, fruit, nuts, seeds, bacon and bananas (not all together,lol). 🥓 

Swimming…..

After exploring (getting lost) in the many different stairways, corridors and decks  around the ship, we were trying to familiarise ourselves with our fave places so we could find our way back much more easily. we nipped back to our cabin to get our things ready for a couple of hours sunbathing and swimming. Sarah loves swimming (as you can tell in the photos below) and had an excellent time enjoying her anniversary in the pool! 😎  

Sarah laughing and really enjoying swimming in the pool on the ship

Sarah doing handstands in the swimming pool on the ship....Herr feet and legs are outside the water sticking up and her body is underwater!

⬆ Sarah doing handstands in the pool ⬆ 

The Towel Swan Heart…..

After having lots of fun, we headed back to our cabin where we were surprised to find two towel swans placed in the shape of a heart, with flowers and our cards etc in a beautiful display. We rushed out to find the cabin stewards and thanked them profusely… whilst Sarah took lots of photos! 

two towel swans together in a love heart shape surrounded by our anniversary cards, on the bed of our cabin on the ship

 ⬆ Towel folded Swan heart ⬆ 

The invitation…

Earlier this morning Sarah had found an invitation pushed under the cabin door. “This looks a bit fancy, it’s only an invitation to the formal evening. We have to sign it to say that we’re going, then hand it back to reception…..Seems like a lot of paper work to me.” “Oh right, i suppose they need to know how many people will be in the restaurant for dinner this evening, it must be the policy for formal night on this ship. It was different on the Dream ship” i replied. 😕

I hadn’t brought my tuxedo this time as it filled half my suitcase the time before and i didn’t want to waste that amount of space again. I did bring my trousers though as we like the waiter service meal in the evenings. “ i hope they don’t chuck me over-board for not dressing smart enough.” Sarah told me… “You’ll be fine, lol, it’s only for one evening and your new black shirt looks smart enough anyway”. 

Formal Evening…..

As Sarah & i were queuing up to enter the show lounge, the photographers were taking our photos. 

Me on the left wearing a black shirt and Sarah on the right wearing a beautiful while dress with a black ribbon tie

 ⬆ Me & my lovely Wife Sarah ⬆ 

My lovely wife Sarah wearing her stunning white dress

 ⬆ My lovely Wife Sarah ⬆ 

After listening to the Captain introduce himself and some of his crew, we headed to the Compass Rose restaurant where we planned to have a lovely four course meal. 

We said we didn’t mind sharing, and the waiter sat us right next to a window (yay) on a four seater table. We introduced ourselves to Brian & Anne (more about our new friends in later posts) and they kindly read out the menu for us. After ordering from each section of the menu, we got to chatting.

AND THEN…..

An enormous shadow, from an even bigger man darkened our whole table…..“STEVE…..FOLLOW ME” said the man with a really deep transylvanian voice. I looked at Sarah, and then back at the man “FOLLOW ME” he said again. Sarah said “Can i come with him” “yES” he said as we started to stand. We said to Brian and Anne “I think we’ll see you later, we’ve only just ordered our food, and if we’re not back…..you’ll get double, lol”.

As sarah guided me behind this Behemoth of a man (not joking, he was about 7ft tall and 5ft wide) up a few flights of stairs, Sarah said “Where is he taking us?” “I think we’re going to the plank, or at least being court marshalled” was my apprehensive reply. 😨  

We finally entered a small bar area where Claudia (the social director) greeted us with a glass of Champagne and a smelly fish bite (i don’t like fish, if you’d not guessed, lol) and showed us to our seats. Claudia said “I thought you weren’t going to make it?” “To make what?” Sarah replied still looking bemused. “You got the invitation?”.Sarah said “Yes…..the one to the formal evening”. Claudia then said “No, that was an invitation to the Captains table and an evening with the Captain.” “Oooopps” i misread it as a general evening invitation (easily done as the iPhone magnifier isn’t as good as the large CCTV we have at home)”. Sarah whispered to me “The Captain and his other guests were waiting for us up here, as we were seeming to ignore them and eating our meal already with someone else. 😲  

The Captains Table…..

Since Sarah & i already knew the menu (thanks Brian & Anne) this was our easiest food ordering to date. We had a lovely meal and a fantastic time chatting with everyone around the table. It was really interesting hearing everyones stories and experiences…..Sarah already has her next cruise planned in her mind after asking the Captain what place he liked best after 30 yrs of cruising the seas, lol. 🤣  

Now it was time to leave again for the Show Lounge to watch possibly the worst show we have ever seen (heard for me, lol.). 😎  

Me stood behind Sarah on the right of the photo stood in front of the staff captains table with 4 other people(including the captain who is sat next to Sarah)

⬆ Photo of Sarah & i(on right) at the Captains Table ⬆ 

Wow, What a memorable 10th Wedding Anniversary….   

Retiring back to our cabin (making sure we didn’t upset the swans), we talked about our memorable day and how we’d never forget our 10th Wedding Anniversary! Now it was time to sleep, as it’s an early start once we arrive in Corinth. It was also the start of 5 full days of excursions we’d booked and we were really excited, even though we knew the temperatures were going to reach up to 41℃ because of a heat wave across south east Europe (ouch). ☀️  

Thank You…..

Sarah & i would like to thank you once again for celebrating our 10th Wedding Anniversary and for all of the lovely messages you sent us.

Hope you’ve enjoyed the adventure today…Let me know your favourite part?! 🤔 We’ll meet tomorrow…Same time…Same place for another adventure! 😀  

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☀️ #35 The Blind Sightseers “Escape The Lockdown” With Distant Memories: “Dubrovnik, Croatia”🇭🇷(2017)

The Blind Sightseers logo

 Hi friends and welcome to Day 35 of this monumental, inconceivable and definitely memorable blind sightseers tour….!

Croatia logo

Wow, Wow, Wow…..Sarah & i have had a fantastic time away celebrating our 10th Wedding Anniversary. Let’s go and see where we’ve been and what we’ve been up to! 😀  

Taxi, Train & The Thomson Plane…..

As the taxi was booked for 3:30am, we thought it would be a good idea not to go to sleep as it makes us more tired if we only sleep for an hour or 2 (we were wrong, we’re super tired now).

There was a little scare as Sarah felt funny, so she did a blood test in the taxi and found it was going low. “Oh no, not already” i thought as Sarah was already sorting it out with a few dextrose. Sarah felt better as we arrived at the airport and with a small struggle to find the suitcase check-in desk, we were finally sorted and heading for the airport assistance. 💪🏼  

The assistance took us through security which all went well, until Sarah showed them her insulin pump…..Then (as they think it’s a detonator) they told Sarah to take of her shoes etc. and carefully and slowly scanned her whole body for explosives. 😨  

Following the guide to our seats in the departure lounge, Sarah & i were looking forwards to a nice bacon roll and coffee. Her work colleague had told her to try this as we’d not had anything to eat since yesterday afternoon… we were ready for it! BUT the airport assistance were too efficient this time and before we had time to figure out the direction of the bacon, the guide took us on the “Fun Train” and straight onto the plane! 😎 

The Airplane…..

As i sat down after being expertly guided to my seat, i said “Wait a minute”….. I was feeling underneath the window at the up & down dimmer switches whilst stretching my legs out testing the large leg room. “This isn’t an Airbus A320! It’s the 787 Dreamliner. Wow i didn’t think it was going to be this monster for a two and a half hour flight” Sarah said “Wow, you’re still getting excited about flying…. you must really love it” I said “Oh Yeah!”.  💪🏼 🤣  

Time for a snack…..

Since we couldn’t have our fantastic bacon roll at the airport, we decided to share some chunky potato wedges on the plane. Sarah simply couldn’t eat them (and i even struggled)…. they tasted (and were as dry as) a sun dried bath sponge! 🤒

Welcome to Dubrovnik airport…..

Dubrovnik Logo

The airport assistance at Dubrovnik were fantastic and before we knew it, we were on a coach arriving at the dock ready to board the Thomson Spirit. We’d only been on the Thomson Dream which is bigger, so we were excited to explore this different ship.

We were fast-tracked again through all of the check-in procedures and were soon dropping our bags off in our cabin ready to go and explore! 😎  

A beautiful landscape of the port of Dubrovnik stood on top of the ship

⬆ View of Dubrovnik bay from the Thomson Spirit ⬆

We managed to weave our way through the many stairways and decks and eventually made it up to the top which was lovely and quiet to take a look around, take some photos and soak in the view and the hot sun. ☀️  

We were surrounded by a sea of blue, sky of blue, deck of blue and Sarah’s new “Hokusai” dress …of blue. 😎   

Sarah stood wearing her new Hokusai wave dress on the top deck of the Thomson Sirit  @ Dubrovnik 4.jpeg

⬆ Sarah wearing her new “Hokusai” dress! ⬆   

Sarah  Dubrovnik 3

⬆ My lovely Wife Sarah ⬆ 

Me stood on the top deck of the Thomson Spirit  @ Dubrovnik 4.jpeg

⬆ Yay, we’ve made it, now let’s chill and enjoy the view ⬆   

A view of the beautiful sea and houses along the bay with a small speed boat coming across the photo from right to left in Dubrovnik

⬆ Our beautiful view of Dubrovnik from the top deck ⬆ 

Swapping sides for a moment, Sarah took a photo of a unusual bridge she liked. 

Me lent against the railing looking out across the landscape and bridge of Dubrovnik

⬆ Me looking over the surrrounding town ⬆  

One more pic of my lovely Wife Sarah! 

Sarah  Dubrovnik 2

⬆ My lovely Wife Sarah and her beautiful dress ⬆

Now the moment you’ve all been waiting for…..

☢️ hEALTH WARNING…If you’ve travelled with us on our other tours you’ll remember Sarah’s sublime Panoramas……Well she’s back with one (of many) to share with you. 😎

One of Sarah's amazing Panoramas of the bay of Dubrovnik

⬆ Sarah’s breathtaking Panorama of Dubrovnik bay ⬆

Coffee, Life Jackets & Dinner…..

After enjoying ourselves on the top deck, we looked around for a place to have a nice coffee. We knew this ship had no “Coffee Port” like on the Thomson Dream, so when we found “Raffles Bar” and ordered a Cappuccino (for me) and an Americano, we were even more excited as the coffee was well-nice and strong…”I think we can get used to this!” I said sitting back into my large comfy armchair. ☕  

The assistance was fantastic again and the life jacket drill went really smoothly, i think we’re finally getting the hang of this. lol 

We found the “Compass Rose” waiter service restaurant which was very similar to the “Orion” restaurant on the Thomson Dream, we said we didn’t mind sharing a table with others as we always need an unsuspecting guest to read the menu for us, which is always a laugh for all involved and it’s a great conversation starter! 😀  

After a fantastic four course meal, it was time to take one last tour around the ship to see if we’d remembered where anything was before retiring to our cabin after a very long day!

Thank you…..

I would just like to say a huge thank you(to you the reader and fellow traveller) for staying with us on another long and tiring day! 😰

Oh did i mention it’s our 10th Wedding Anniversary” tomorrow!!

Hope you’ve enjoyed the adventure today…Let me know your favourite part?! 🤔 We’ll meet tomorrow…Same time…Same place for another adventure! 😀  

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☀️ #32 The Blind Sightseers “Escape The Lockdown” With Distant Memories: “Costa Maya, Mexico”🇲🇽(2016)

The Blind Sightseers logo

Hi friends and welcome to Day 32 of this monumental, inconceivable and definitely memorable blind sightseers tour….!

Mexico logo 1

SARAH SAT IN FRONT OF A LARGE COSTA MAYA SIGN WITH THE LOVELY BLUE SEA IN THE BACKGROUND

 Sarah welcomes you to Costa Maya…

Our Kayak excursion didn’t start for a couple of hours, so we had time for a look around yet another nice dock. As you’ll remember from a couple of days ago Sarah said:

“Why don’t you get them to braid your hair as the wind’s been annoying you all day, and you won’t have to touch it for the rest of the holiday?!

 Sarah’s hair has been blowing around all over the place since we arrived in Jamaica…And now it was her turn for the braides, no more worrying about ‘WHS’ (windy hair syndrome).  🤣 

A PHOTO OF SARAH'S BEAUTIFUL COLOURFUL BRAIDS

Right, now is the time for the kayaking excursion. Wow what a bumpy coach ride…”Oohhh a lighthouse, quick Steve pass me your phone”. We were being thrown around all over the place but Sarah just managed (no idea how) to get a glimpse of the lighthouse! 😲  

12 LIGHTHOUSE AT COSTA MAYA

The Kayaking beach…

This is what greeted us as we got off the coach…😲   

SARAH SAT AT THE BASE OF A BEAUTIFUL PALM TREE WITH THE AMAZING BLUE SEA AND YELLOW SAND LANDSCAPE BEHIND HER

 After putting all of our things in our backpacks and securing them in the lockers back in the bar type place just out of shot (above) we made our way back onto the beach to get our life jackets and meet our kayak.

We all gathered around the instructor as he demonstrated how to enter properly, how to paddle and of course the safety drills. I said to Sarah “I think this is a step too far, i can’t see him or anything he’s pointing at or showing us, but i am listening to what he’s saying” she said “Once we get you in the kayak you’ll be fine as i know you have done canoeing as a kid and it’ll all come back to you as it’s very similar”. 

Now it was our turn to enter the two seater glass bottomed kayak (well i almost fell in as it was a lot lower than i thought) and as i fell i head butted Sarah on the way down. Sarah said she was fine but after i regained consciousness she passed me the paddle. “Oh yes, it’s just like the ones i used as a kid when canoeing with my dad. It’s going to be ok…Oh wait, i can’t see where i’m going, lol!) 🤣 

Sarah took her position in the back seat as the navigator. We thought she could hit my left shoulder to go left and right shoulder for right, that makes sense, i just hope i don’t get her paddle around my head (accidentally of course, lol!) 🤣  

As the instructor pushed us away we heard lots and lots of wow, cheering and nervous laughter. It was an amazing feeling to be floating out on the still waters and with a glass bottomed kayak Sarah could see the ocean floor. After while everyone got into the swing of things and we managed to form an orderly queue behind the instructor. 💪🏼  

We followed him out to sea until we stopped over the barrier reef. Everyone was Ooohh and woowwwoooing so it must have been beautiful. It felt amazing being in crystal clear waters with no land in sight, we just sat there stunned. 😲  

We paddled a little further and we seemed to overtake most of our group as they had sunk and were trying to get back into the kayak (wow they are sighted too so we must be doing something right, lol. Steve don’t get too cocky too soon).

The instructor stopped a lttle further on and we all bunched together. He was trying to pass something round for people to hold but the people were not impressed. Then he came to me…Before Sarah had time to say “He’s blind and can’t see it and he doesn’t like creepy crawlies” he had put it on the top of my hand…😨 

It felt soft and obviously wet and if i could see i probably wouldn’t have let him put this black death starfish onto my hand. It looked like a massive tarantula to me as i could just make out the black against my skin. I was just waiting for the huge teeth to sink into my flesh and tear it from my bones…When he took it back and placed it into the sea. Phew!

Wow i wish i had a GoPro video camera, it’s simply stunning…

“Hey Sarah watch this!” i said as we were gathering speed. “Wow a handbrake turn”. I remember as a kid and learning canoeing, that if you jam the end of the paddle straight down and grip firmly…Then the canoe spins round about 180 degrees (similar to a handbrake turn in a car) and i thought i’d see if it happened the same way in a kayak…It did and as i was really impressed with myself for pulling it off Sarah was quietly impressed (i think, lol). 💪🏼  

More Barrier Reef…

We stayed out over the barrier reef for another hour or so just paddling slowly, then stopping and taking in the vast ocean and the feeling of fresh air with the gentle rocking of the kayak, it was so peaceful…A little too peaceful! 

“Where is everyone?” i said as i could see no other kayaks or the shoreline. “I don’t know i think they have headed back to get the sun loungers for the next hour of the excursion” We were quite far out and couldn’t figure out which way to head back to shore. I started thinking of the Jaws film and the zoomed in shots of the faces crumpled in fear as the shark fin circles in closer and closer. 😨  

“I think it’s that way” Sarah said as she hit my right shoulder. “Ok, let’s go”. We started heading slightly towards the shore when…

A really loud whistle and a shout came from our 2 o’ clock. It was the instructor from what seemed like miles away but we could hearr him as though he was sanding right next to us. That was the sound i needed and swiftly pointed the kayak in his direction and floored it! 🤣  

Back on shore… 

A STUNNING PALM TREE WITH DEEP BLUE SKY ALL AROUND

 I love palm trees, especially this shape (above) and this one is just fantastic! 

A VIEW OF THE STUNNING BEACH AND SEA LOOKING THROUGH A PAIR OF PALM TREES ON EITHER SIDE OF THE PHOTOO

 Yay we made it!! Our first kayaking adventure and it was simply breathtaking. The Blind Sightseers have managed another challenge…Now lets go and relax for a while. 💪🏼  

After a nice slice of pizza (with salad as i’m being good) we took our towels and inclusive bottle of local lager and found two sun loungers between two palm trees. The white sand and the crystal clear sea framed our afternoon perfectly! ☀️ 🌴 

5 SARAH IN SEA

 I’m not sure if this was a private resort but the beach was empty…Yay! 😀

Sarah then says “Oh, we forgot to take any photos of the kayaks…Steve stand here and i’ll take some photos” “But i think there is another group starting their kayaking?!” “just stand still and smile, lol” 🤣  

Me stood on the beach next to lots of kayaks with another group being shwed hwo to use them

“Now go and stand in the sea so our WordPress family actually know that you’re on this trip, and don’t forget to smile” 🤣  

Me stood in the sea at knee dep

 My lovely wife Sarah absolutely love swimming, splashing sitting in the sea, love the hot sun and the powdery white sand and she has got all 3 today. I love taking her photos when she’s so happy and has that lovely beaming smile that lights (and warms) her whole being. 😀  

6 SARAH IN SEA

8 SARAH ON BEACH

9 SARAH ON BEACH

10 SARAH ON BEACH

 It was now (sadly) time to leave this beautiful place, jump on the coach and return back to the ship. We were tired but couldn’t stop ourselves having a beeming grin all the way back as we had just conquered kayaking and had a lovely time in paradise! 😀 

But Sarah didn’t stop there… She just had enough time to capture this stunning view. 

11 CRUISE SHIP IN SEA SCAPE

 Back on the dock…

As we had a little time on the dock, we thought we’d take some more photos of this lovely place.  

13 COSTA MAYA BAY

14 SARAH SAHAPES

 Yay…We came, we saw and we conquered! 💪🏼 🤣    

Back in the coffee port…☕  

15 COFFEE

 After such an exciting day filled with an omnifarious amount of emotions, there is no better way to chill than the coffee port. Wow what a view! ☕ 

Thanks for joining us on this wonderful excursion, we couldn’t have done it without you! ☀️ 

Wait until you hear about tomorrows adventure…It’s a long post but you’ll understand why very soon! 😨

Hope you’ve enjoyed the adventure today…Let me know your favourite part?! 🤔 We’ll meet tomorrow…Same time…Same place for another adventure! 😀 

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