At last! the day we actually go on holiday. Off to the airport soon
The flight to Male was via Doha in the Gulf and we only had an hour to wait between flights. When we were coming into land the pilot said the Temperature was 90F and we had thought how cool it felt as we walked across to the terminal building - - - we were in for a surprise "Wait" turned out to be a misnomer because once we got to the display showing us the gate for the onward flight we were down to 45 minutes and the display showed "boarding"
The gate was D22 and we were at A16! there followed an ungainly speed march through the whole of the terminal past every other set of gates - - - would we make it? of course the place is packed and everyone is ambling along except for half a dozen crazed Brits! B10 to B30 - - - C10 to C30 where were the B----y Ds? down an escalator looking back Sally is looking decidedly uncomfortable by now. At last we are on the D set of gates and we reach 22 in a lather and are rushed through onto a coach, without air conditioning and after a short delay are whisked off to the aircraft. As soon as we are sat down it sets off - - - just made it!
Monday 16th
Male immigration hall is thankfully almost empty and in 15 minutes we are outside being greeted by a long line of people with the resort name boards. 5 minutes later we are getting on our speedboat with the guy in the overalls hogging the picture! lol - - - we speed across the couple of miles to the resort seeing a small pod of dolphins on the way dabbing ourselves with the cold hand towels and swigging some cold fresh water
Its early in the morning about 07:30 and we are aware we might not get into our room until 14:00. As we step off the speedboat a smiling old familiar face appears and whisks us off to a "temporary room". At least we can shower and have a bit of a sleep.
theres a Maldivian downpour! and 20 minutes later you wouldnt know it had rained and the sun is back out
we ate in the Japanese restaurant last night, it only seats about 20 and is a bit expensive although on our dine around all inclusive package it comes as part of the deal
this thing nearly swam into me the other day, I'm reliably informed its a "ray shark" (Maldivian name) or known as a shovel nosed ray elsewhere. They normally stay in the deep water so maybe that accounts for it almost bumping into me
sitting in the bar at lunchtime, not many people about, i never fancied sitting in one of these things especially in the full sun
down at the sand bar for the sunset with a few crepuscular rays showing for a while
Saturday 22 Feb
We walked along the beach first thing planning our snorkel for around 11:30 today due to the low tide.
For Fridays snorkel the water had been a little cloudy so we were surprised to see it so clear when we got in today
having gone out through the gaps in the bund here's Sally swimming over the reef towards where it drops down into the deep part where we normally get the best pics
always an amusing fish to come across this Sweetlips will just stare at you with its big soulful eyes before hiding somewhere
not sure what these are but in the right light the yellow spots look like LED's
Sally gets a close shot of this green Pipe Fish there were 3 or 4 of them and they didnt appear to be interested in us swimming over them
we finished off the daylight at the sand bar watching the sunset
As an after thought when packing for the holiday I stuffed in the pile of Army records referring to my time with 50 Missile RA. I have managed to sort it into chronological order today so will get stuck in tomorrow
Monday 23 Feb
We spotted a snorkeler in trouble on our early morning walk, a Japanese girl had gone out through the bund and along to a particularly shallow bit of the reef. She was stood up in knee deep water on a small patch of sand surrounded by coral waving her arms about. I ran back to the "hut" put on my fins and swam out to her. She wasn't too far away from a channel through the coral back into the lagoon so i guided her back through.
Tuesday 24th Feb
last day today and trying to check in on line is like trying to contact the planet Zorg with a pair of flags! the computer now refuses to recognize me as a user but i hacked into the guest user but cant up load any of my "user" pics - - - hey ho back to reality!
Eureka!!!!
1 glass of wine later!! i managed to restore the computer to an earlier restore point and i am at least recognised as a "Key basher" I will not cast nasturtiums at Sally who was using the computer when it decided to go into "sulk mode" not allowing us to do anything - - -
Snorkeling yesterday was a bit disappointing because of reduced visibility so as we were opposite the sand bar
"how fortunate" we had a couple there before retiring to our pool.
the day before however the water was very clear and it was Sally who spotted an Eagle Ray, we used to see them on a daily basis but this was our first encounter this holiday
this ones about 5 ft across the wings and has a 6 foot tail and was 7 or 8 metres below us "flying along the edge of the reef
not wanting to upset it too much i managed to get a little closer as it cruised down the reef wall. I remember years ago in Hakuraa we got a shot with 5 Eagle Rays cruising along
There are quite a few small lizards on the island and we spotted this handsome chap on our wanderings this morning.
Right then, here we are just about to go for our last lunch then chill until we get transported back over to the airport later in the afternoon - - -
The flight to Male was via Doha in the Gulf and we only had an hour to wait between flights. When we were coming into land the pilot said the Temperature was 90F and we had thought how cool it felt as we walked across to the terminal building - - - we were in for a surprise "Wait" turned out to be a misnomer because once we got to the display showing us the gate for the onward flight we were down to 45 minutes and the display showed "boarding"
The gate was D22 and we were at A16! there followed an ungainly speed march through the whole of the terminal past every other set of gates - - - would we make it? of course the place is packed and everyone is ambling along except for half a dozen crazed Brits! B10 to B30 - - - C10 to C30 where were the B----y Ds? down an escalator looking back Sally is looking decidedly uncomfortable by now. At last we are on the D set of gates and we reach 22 in a lather and are rushed through onto a coach, without air conditioning and after a short delay are whisked off to the aircraft. As soon as we are sat down it sets off - - - just made it!
Monday 16th
just after lunch we get into our pool villa and the holiday really starts
Tuesday 17th
We settle into the well rehearsed "routine" of an early morning snorkel
these bat fish are really curious,normally they shy away if you go close to them but these 2 followed us for a while
sundowners at the beach bar then a quick change and off to dinner then hit the bar where Sally's old mate the cocktail man demonstrates his latest mixtures - - -
Friday 20 Feb
We are having to modify our early morning snorkel routine due to the extremely low tides because you cant get out through the gaps in the bund. So its a quick dip before lunch now once i prise Sally away from one of her books!
here's Sally in reflective mood surveying the low tide level !
a few hours later the top of the bund is hardly visible and its easy to swim through the gaps
Saturday 22 Feb
We walked along the beach first thing planning our snorkel for around 11:30 today due to the low tide.
For Fridays snorkel the water had been a little cloudy so we were surprised to see it so clear when we got in today
As an after thought when packing for the holiday I stuffed in the pile of Army records referring to my time with 50 Missile RA. I have managed to sort it into chronological order today so will get stuck in tomorrow
Monday 23 Feb
We spotted a snorkeler in trouble on our early morning walk, a Japanese girl had gone out through the bund and along to a particularly shallow bit of the reef. She was stood up in knee deep water on a small patch of sand surrounded by coral waving her arms about. I ran back to the "hut" put on my fins and swam out to her. She wasn't too far away from a channel through the coral back into the lagoon so i guided her back through.
Tuesday 24th Feb
last day today and trying to check in on line is like trying to contact the planet Zorg with a pair of flags! the computer now refuses to recognize me as a user but i hacked into the guest user but cant up load any of my "user" pics - - - hey ho back to reality!
Eureka!!!!
1 glass of wine later!! i managed to restore the computer to an earlier restore point and i am at least recognised as a "Key basher" I will not cast nasturtiums at Sally who was using the computer when it decided to go into "sulk mode" not allowing us to do anything - - -
Snorkeling yesterday was a bit disappointing because of reduced visibility so as we were opposite the sand bar
"how fortunate" we had a couple there before retiring to our pool.
the day before however the water was very clear and it was Sally who spotted an Eagle Ray, we used to see them on a daily basis but this was our first encounter this holiday
Right then, here we are just about to go for our last lunch then chill until we get transported back over to the airport later in the afternoon - - -
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