Boat Trip to the Blue Lagoon...

This is what sunrise looks like in Droushia at 5.00am - and how do I know?  I know because I was up this morning and took this photograph. And why was I up?  I was up because I was woken in the wee small hours by the sound of a cat scrabbling at the catflap and not being successful.  It dawned on me that we had locked the catflap yesterday so that we knew where Chivers was when it was time to take him to the vets and we had forgotten to unlock it so poor little Chivers had been locked in the lounge and was desperate to get out.  So I got up to let him out and returned to bed - John stirred long enough to realise what had happened and then went back to sleep.  I didn't because I could hear a very strange noise - very strange - and after last night's tarantula-gate I was taking no chances so I got up AmGAIN and this time witnessed the sunrise and found out that the strange noise was one of those hideous bug things that periodically get in the pool.  Chivers found it and hooked it out - I thought he had a shrew in his mouth but it was an ugly bug which I flicked away into the field.  Back to bed and before we knew it the alarm was going off.

So here we are waiting at the boat hire shack for our day to begin.  It was not without incident as Andy, Ellie and Rosie pitched up at ours in the hire car with the petrol warning light on - are we near a station?  No we are not so John put our petrol can in the car and went with them to Polis just in case it was unattended service.  Then our trusty captain Mark had come down to Latchi without the keys to the boat and we had to wait for Sophie to deliver them so he was in the doghouse!!

So here we are about to board our boat - a traditional type fishing boat called the Delfini.  We came armed with factor, cushions and cool boxes - all we needed to enjoy a relaxing morning heading for the crystal clear waters of the blue lagoon.  Setting out early meant that the waters were relatively calm and we got to our destination before the crowds began to arrive.

Mark was good company and took us at a gentle pace out of the harbour and along the coast - if you have never done it before then do it - even if it is only once because the scenery is absolutely stunning. Today the water was the most incredible shade of blue and just so clear.  After about 45 minutes of motoring we arrived at the Blue Lagoon with only one other boat to share it with until the masses began to arrive.  We were all waiting for someone to test out the water temperature before we all snorkelled up and took the plunge.  John had opted for a mini scuba dive - diving is really something he would love to pursue given the chance and the money so ten minutes for ten euros seemed a bit of a bargain too good to miss.

So here he is with Mark getting weighted down - apparently he is lighter than I thought so he needed something like a small VW Beetle in his pocket to keep him down - and I thought he was just pleased to see me - those wet suits are very unforgiving!

Kaye and Richard took the plunge first and declared it 'beautiful when you got in' and it was in fact it was pretty warm and there was so much to see if you were snorkelling - loads of fish all sizes and shapes in and around the rocks.  Richard took his new toy - an underwater camera - for a test drive - at first without a memory card - DUFFER but eventually he managed to take some snaps and I will look forward to seeing the results.

We stayed at the Blue Lagoon for about an hour, swimming, snorkelling, snacking and sunbathing.  It is too easy to sunbathe under these conditions so we all had to make sure we were factored to the max.

We slowly made our way back to Latchi calling in to the sea caves for a second opportunity to snorkel - it was considerably colder in these waters - or maybe we had just got a lot hotter having sunbathed on the boat.

We eventually returned to base at about 1.30pm and all declared that it had been an excellent trip.  So big thanks to Sophie and Mark for making it so pleasant.  We shall certainly be using them again - in fact John and I both thought that our nephews Lewis and Nathan and neices Abbigail and Alicia would love the experience should they come and visit next year.

We stopped for a drink and a snack at Faros before the kids and Colin returned to Kathikas and Kaye, Vanessa, Richard, John and I called into Paps in Polis so that the Thomas/Godfrey pantry could be filled albeit for just a few more days and then called in via the Akamas Spa so that they could see where the girlies and Andy would be spending their day on Monday and where we would be meeting up for High Tea.

John and I are both glowing this evening - as we never do any real sunbathing today was unusual for us and we know we have been out in the sun!