Helen's blog......
Redundancy is not usually something to be enjoyed, but the "big voyage" was always intended as an escape from reality and our first day back in Maldives was one of the best escapes we could hope for. Officially our first day was in transit via Dubai, but I have decided to write that one off since it took some 15 odd hours to get here. The flight from Dubai was only 3 and a half hours, but our domestic flight to bring us to Gan was delayed several times with the end result we waited from 8.30 am until 5 pm to board the plane. I should count my blessings that we actually got out of Dubai at all, as a visa mistake by Nakheel meant that my visa hadn't actually been cancelled at all - they had actually cancelled someone elses and put their sticker in my passport - so customs pulled me and the kids aside and took a leisurely hour to resolve the issue and charge me for the pleasure of doing so.
All things being equal - I guess it was only right that we had some much deserved "down time" once we arrived - and Bryan used some of his new found contacts to make sure that happened. So our first "official" day in Maldives was spent in the brand new 7 star Shangri-La resort as non-paying guests. A resort speed boat picked us up at midday, and took us to the resort in time for lunch in one of their 6 restaurants. We then went to beach villa of our host for an afternoon of vino, snorkelling and sunbathing then back to another restaurant for sundowners and finally a dinner in the staff canteen (believe me even that was fantastic!) and then returned back to shore around 8pm. The resort is due to open next month so we were really lucky to get the pre opening visit. It is going to be an amazing holiday resort and we had a great day.
Today has been a little busier - I was given dinghy bottom scrubbing duty. I tried my best but the dinghy's bottom is still a bit mucky. Still, my chores were rewarded with a lunch in the local resort - only a 3 star not the 7 star to which I had become accustomed, but a decent curry nonetheless. We then did some more snorkelling and a chance to try out the underwater camera. The water is a little murky today so not sure how well they will come out but if any good will aim to upload before we leave.
Tomorrows plan is to hire some scooters and do the atol tour - and hopefully find the place that Bryan says serves a half decent burger. My last 5 weeks at home saw me in the gym 6 times a week and I can now see me on a slippery slope with all this eating!!
The kids seem to be slowly chilling and settling into the new routine. We are hoping to finally lift the anchor and start the journey to Chagos on Thursday so it is good for them to get this "land" time now.
More soon........
|
