The Balearic islands
Day 1
Today started off as a normal day we went to school we had lunch we hoped in the car and drove to jerez
? ooooooooooooooooooooohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh yes we had skateboarding today at la bodega because we couldn't go on thursday. so we did the lesson like usal. But then afterwards we didn't go home we just kept on driving till we hit this town called Guadix and we turned into to it. we started seeing all these cave houses. then we stopped at this little one at 11:00 but oh no!!! the keys weren't anywhere. then when everyone was sure they would have to sleep in a hotel dadda found them. So we went into the cave house ( sorry I'm to tired to explain how it looks now) and went to sleep.
Day 2
Today we got up and looked around. There was a corridor that kept on going. Three beds and a bathroom. Plus a kitchen. After breakfast we had a look around the town. Chimneys were poking out of everywhere and there were heaps of cute houses built into the rock. Some of them you could only see the front of because there were completely in the cliffs. Next we went up to a mirador (viewpoint) where Esther and I sat in a directors chair. Heaps of movies have been filmed in this town. After a bit more of a walk we went back to our cave house and packed up to go to an amazing mirador called 'El fin de mundo' (the end of the world). It was beautiful! You could see cliffs and canyons all all-round with little towns built in to them. If you threw a rock into the canyon you could only just hear it hit the ground!
We went back to the car and drove to a city called Murcia which had a really cool cathedral. We walked around the outside and made our way to a really famous old casino. As soon as we walked in we realised why it is so famous. The first rooms is covered in Moroccan tiles in all different patterns and colours. Once we got our tickets and kept walking we found a corridor with a glass ceiling with rooms either side. The first room was a really old library with beautiful old books and carvings of flamingos all around it. The next room was an amazing ball room with the biggest chandeliers I have ever seen! There were mirrors everywhere and balconies high on the walls where the band would play and people would watch and a huge wooden dance floor in the middle. The next room was the ladies room where there were huge murals of elegant ladies on every side but the silver toilets that used to be in the room had sadly been taken out. Next room was the tea room with huge mirror tables with glass chairs. I am not if there were actually there originally or if the museum had put them there recently. We were almost done, there was just one more room to see - the Roman room with a marble of statue of someone in the middle. It was like being in ancient room when it was new!
After leaving the casino we went to find some lunch. We found a restaurant that reminded me of a cool rich kids kitchen! There were heaps of colours and graffiti but it was too quiet! There was no music or anything and it felt a bit awkward until our food came. Once we got our food it was fine :) After some delicious burgers we drove to Denia via a cool skate park in Alicante. We were only staying in Denia to catch the ferry to Formentera but our hotel had a pool so we made the most of that!
Day 3:
Today we got up early and drove straight to the port. When we got there we had to wait a bit before we were allowed on to the ferry. Eventually they let us on and we left Pia down below and found our seats. It was a long ferry ride but I watched Lassie the movie (en espanol) which they had put on all the screens. Then finally after 2 hours we made it toooooooooo FORMENTERA!!!!! I have always wanted to go to Formentera. After we got off the ferry we saw another aming thing!!! THE BENNETTS!!!!! We hadn't seen them in ages (kind of :) They met us at the ferry so they could show us to their shack 'Can Garrovas'! It had a huge backyard and lots of little rooms and well right in the middle!!! It was lovely but we had a island to explore!! The first place we went was of course a beach. It was beautiful with clear, blue water! When we got in we also realised that the water was pretty shallow but very warm. The Bennetts had some snorkels for us and I went snorkelling until I got cold and had to lie on the beach. After tortilla and melon y jamon for lunch we played a game of padel with Scott and I verses Daddy and Luna. We had another awesome time in the water before moving on and heading to one of the little towns on the island called Sant Francesc. There we had a look at the little church and all the cut shops. In one of the shops we found avacas! A typical sandal like shoe from Formentera. I got white ones and Esther got brown ones. They were awesome and I put them on straight away! We had one last stop. A lighthouse called Cap de Barbaria. We had to walk quite a way to get there and when we got there we realised we weren't that interested in the lighthouse but a hole in the ground that led to a cave. You had to climb down an old wooden ladder into the cave and then walk through the cave to pop out on the sea cliffs below the light house. The perfect spot to watch the sunset!! We stayed there for a while and took some photos of the beautiful sunset but then we got hungry and decided to head back to Can Garraovas for a bbq dinner! Us girls started making a movie while the grown ups cooked.
Day 4:
Today we finished filming the movie and left Can Garrovas to visit a.... huge fig tree? Oh this was just a stop on the way to the beach. The fig tree was really old and its branches had been supported on lots of stick to create a shady shelter for the sheep that was 25m in diameter! We went in under the canopy and climbed the up the branches :) The parent thought it was amazing to look at we thought it was amazing to climb. From the top you could see for ages around! It was really fun but there was a beach waiting so we left to go to a beach called Mitjorn and found a spot next to a tiny chiringuita. I had an amazing and snorkel. We swam to a maze of rocks and saw heaps of different fish and I think I saw a baby eel. After a bit I got cold and went back to the beach. I really wanted to find a cowrie! Daddy and I walked along a track past the chiringuita to find cowries. We didn't find any cowries but we kept walk along the cliffs and did some huge rockhops to find a little pirate cove! I jumped off the rocks and almost fell.... but I didn't. There were really old boat shacks and a rocky point at the end of the cove. I climbed over the rocks to reach the end. It was really cool. Getting out of the cove was pretty tricky because we had to climb up the cliffs using a rope and people were trying to climb down as we were trying to climb up! There should be a proper staircase, but it made it fun. We made our way back to the others and had some delicious pasta for lunch. I went for a final swim and saw some more fishies and then it was time to go.
Our next stop was Sant Francesc skate park. It had a huge bowl! The smallest ramp was like 2 metres and biggest like 4m! We could drop in the smaller ramps and Luna could even drop in the biggest one! After the skatepark we went into Sant Francesc to go bathers shopping while the dads went to the carniceria to get dinner. When we got home we finished our movie and showed it to everyone. It was about a girl called Jarra whos dad had died in a car crash and her dad and grandparents had given her money but then her mum took it and turned her into a slave. Then one night after a big fight she ran away and found a cabin and a sloth and she lives in the wild for 3 months then finds her mum and decides to go home and there is a big reunion and she gets her money back.
After the movie we had a delicious paella for dinner and then went to bed.
Day 5
Today we got up early and hopped on some bikes Julia rented for us to ride to the docks where Julia's dad had rented a boat for us!!! The ride was long and bumpy but we survived and we even took the 'BRIDGE OF DEATH'! a really skinny bridge with no handrails that we had to cross of a muddy creek. We all crossed and arrived at the port (La Savina) where Scott had the boat all ready to go. We tied up the bikes and jumped on board! The boat had a really big motor and went so fast we soon reached our first stop on our tour around the island; Underwater Cave! We anchored the boat a little way off the cliffs and started off with a beautiful swim in the blue the water before swimming to the mouth of the cave. There was a slippery rock cliff in the cave that we had to climb up to get into the cave and once we got inside it was really dark except for a hole in the cave with blue water at the bottom. One by one we had to jump down the hole into the water! Luna went first to show us how to do it properly. It was really scary but we managed it. Once we were all down we had to dived down and swim through a underwater tunnel to really an open cave on the other side. It was a bit scary but like I said we managed it! There were lots of fish and the water was so clear you could see 7m down to the bottom of the seabed like there was no water at all. We swam back to the boat and had a bit more of a snorkel before going back to the caves for a professional photo shoot with Scott's underwater camera. It was really cool!!
It was starting to get busy at this spot so we decided to keen going around the island and found a nice spot near Cap de Barbaria. We went for another snorkel and daddy saw a Moray Eel! and then had a picnic lunch on the boat.
Our last stop was around the north side of Formentera under some massive sea cliffs. While the grown ups had a rest us kids hopped on the paddle board and paddled to the cliffs and into a huge cave!!! In the cave we saw a stingray, which was cool but not a cool as diving off the paddle board into the water. Outside the cave we took it in turns to dive off the board while once of us paddled until Maya got stung by a jellyfish!!! and we had to go back to the boat. We dropped Maya and the board at the boat and then swum back to the cave to play until mummy came with the paddle board to see how we were going.
After lots more swimming we headed back to port and then rode all the way back to Can Garrovas! Big day!!! After a little rest we got changed and went into Sant Ferran to a restaurant called Macondo and had delicious pizza and some kind of giant steak (like a cachopo but without the cheese and jamon). It was delicious and we were sooooooo full!!!
Day 6
Today we got up and rode our bikes again back to the port. This time we returned them to the rental place before hopping on the boat. We went a different direction today to visit one of the oldest & biggest living organisms in the world! A giant posidonia (sea grass) rhizome 8km long! Scientists think it is over 100 000 years old. Luna, Esther and dadda jumped off the cliffs into the sea. It looked fun but freezing (the water was only 26 degrees) so we stayed in the boat and got given massages by Maya. She liked giving out massages.
Next we went back to the paddleboarding cave that we visited yesterday. There I did a huge swim / snorkel with daddy. We saw heaps of fish and saw how deep the water was under the boat. Then we went back and did some sunbaking on the boat and had one last swim before speeding home. It was really bumpy and water kept splishing into the boat get us all soaked. I had even gotten dressed! On the way we saw a pod of dolphins!! Finally we got back to the port and Scott drove us home.
We had a little rest again before going out to a restaurant in Sant Francesc that makes amazing pasta!! It was delicious but there was too much for us to eat!
Day 7
Today we had a bit of a sleep in before going back to the skatepark. I practiced my ollies while Esther and Lun tried some big dropins. I got some good ollies going when it was time to leave. Back home we did some wood carving. I started carving a lizard and a fish. After an hour or so we went to a beach at Es Pujoles where there a deep rock pools doff the beach that you can just dive into. I got a bit cold swimming and went back to the beach to sunbake before making the best sandcastle! It ha 2 bridges, 2 watchhouses, a moat, a castle with 3 turrets, 2 pools and 7 outer circles. In the outer circles there was a garden, a turtle enclosure and a Taj Mahal. It looked amazing!
We had lunch on the beach before one last swim. When we were standing in the water some fish came up and started nibbling at our feet. Sometimes they nibbled pretty hard!
That evening we went to a market at La Mola. We had a look at all the stall and Maya got a brazalete for Maggie and Luna got a caricature done of herself. When we got home I did a caricature of everyone before going to bed.
Day 8
Today we woke up early and said goodbye to the Bennetts :( It was really sad but we would see them again in Cabrera! After saying goodbye we went back to the skate park to practice some more ollies and then went to the market at La Savina. We boughts some cool brazaletes and looked in this really cool shop where everything was recycled. Then we went back to Sant Francesc and Esther got a T-shirt and I got a typical white lace Formentera dress and a necklace with a Formentera lizard on it. Formentera lizards are really colourful and patterned and coincidently when we got back to Can Garrovas we found heaps of them and build little houses for them. They started nibbling on me and climbing on my arms :) It was amazing! My favourite one was called Eddie. Sadly it was time to say goodbye to Can Garrovas we went went to have one last swim at the beach before driving onto the ferry. Hurricane Gabrielle had just come into the Mediterranean and it made the crossing really rough! But we got back ok and found a little cabin to sleep in before a massive drive home the next day
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