A monkey, a dirty banana and a plane

On our last day (Thursday) there's a sombre mood at the Hut. We're all packed and decide to head to beach for our last meal and maybe a couple of drinks. The Princess also has a couple of pressies to buy.

On the walk to the bus stop we see a tiny monkey lurking in the bushes. Jen is over the moon as she's been desperate to see one. He's very small and scuttles away when we try to take photos but they manage to get one.

The yellow bus stops to pick us up and disappointingly they're playing RiRi, not reggae music. The driver is also driving pretty slowly which I can only attribute to the sedate music.

As we get off the bus the heavens open. Clearly Barbados is crying because we're leaving today.

We head for Surfside hoping to see see Mark to say goodbye but he's not around. The sun is out again and we order some drinks and ponder what to eat.

We're really happy to see that Charnel is at work today - the only polite waitress working at this bar. She's cheerful, attentive and helpful.

We order our food only to hear that there are no fish cakes. Devastated! They also have no coconut pie. I know we're going to have to work on losing our holiday weight but that starts when we get home - not before we leave!

As we start eating we hear a very loud American group asking for a table for 11 people. Henry jokes "not you again"
and the guy laughs. He thinks we remember him from a previous boisterous encounter at the bar, but we don't.

He's part of a group of 30 people who have formed a club called A-Z adventure. They're travelling across the world, not necessarily in alphabetical order, determined to enjoy life. They collect new group members as they go and they now have over 40 people.

He's decided to regale us with stories and tells us about the BBQ on the beach that they had a couple of nights ago. It sounds brilliant and I wish we'd been there.

He orders a "dirty banana". He tells us it's a drink he invented and introduced to Surfside - so it would be impolite not to try one. We do and it's lovely. Another woman in the bar has been listening to air conversation as she also orders one.

It's time to leave Surfside for the last time. We head to the shops and then call a taxi back to be Hut to wash, change and get to the airport.

Once again the rain comes down as Andy pulls out of the drive with us and our very heavy cases on board. Mum's case is heaving with stuff for Jax.

We're expecting to see Keisha at the airport to say goodbye. As we hit the highway there's a call from her. She can't make it to say goodbye to us as she's just picked up a fare. We wave frantically at her as she passes us travelling in the opposite direction.

Before you know it we get to airport. We hug and kiss Andy goodbye and tell him to give our love to Keisha.

It takes quite a while to get through bag drop as the clerk is a bit confused by who is who and which bag belongs which person. Mum's bag is overweight and we have to remove some stuff, so need to buy a bag to put them in once we go through security.

The woman checking passports is clearly related to the waitresses at Surfside!

We get through security ok but they go through the Princess's bag questioning her about her cigarettes and confiscating her lighter.

We get a bag for mum's stuff, which turns out to be a blessing as we also use it to store the copious bottles of rum that we buy.

There's time for a final drink before we board. Walking across the Tarmac I'm very sad and stop at the top of the steps to take a long look back.

Our three weeks went much too quickly. Time to think about how and when we can get back here ASAP.

Gem xxx

The Princess and the Turtles

It's Wednesday and our last full day on the island. By now you know that no matter now long we've been here it's still too short a time and we don't want to leave.

Henry and Princess Jen head off early to go swimming with turtles. Mum and I stay at the Hut - her to get into what is now her 5th book and me to do our packing and make some food for when the adventurers get back.

Mum's packing doesn't take long as she's very organized. The pepper sauce for Jax and Martin is safely wrapped and the rum cakes also fit in nicely.

I do most of my packing and will just throw in the last few bits tomorrow.

Jen and Henry return with tall tales about their boat trip and close encounters with turtles and stingrays.
They had a great time and also indulged in the obligatory rum punch that is served on these boat trips. Princess Jen found a very cute turtle who has a bad back - she thinks it may have been hit by a boat.

Just as we sit down for lunch Peter arrives asking if the plumber has been here today. He hasn't so Peter makes a call and he turns up within 20 minutes. Peter graciously accepts a whiskey and orange to toast our last day but says he will see us tomorrow too.

Thomas also turns up, wonders around the garden for a bit then disappears. I'm not sure he did anything!

We spend a lazy afternoon together before getting ready for a meal at The Cliff.

We also listen to the sports commentary on radio 5 and are over the moon that Newcastle beat Blackburn 2-0. It makes up for the miserable defeat to Brighton.

Everyone looks lovely and our dear Keisha arrives to take us to our favourite dining spot. I hope Jen likes it and that there's something on the menu that she can eat.

As always we have a pre-dinner cocktail. Mum isn't too impressed with the island rum punch (it wasn't strong enough), but Henry and I love our gin and tonic martini. Jen has water.

The place is very busy but we don't spot any celebs this time.

We see a waitress who is amazingly beautiful. She really should be a model (it seems that I have a girl crush!)

For our meal Jen has gnocchi to start while Henry and I have lobster linguini. Mum doesn't want a starter. Our mains are chicken for Jen and mum, steak with truffle fries for Henry and swordfish for me.

Again mum isn't able to cope with a desert, while Jen has bread and butter pudding and Henry has panna cotta. It's almost as good as mine!

We also have St Nicholas Abbey 12 year old rum - it's sublime.

Jen loved the food - phew! And had a wonderful time.

I taken the opportunity to have a photo taken with the beautiful waitress. She's a bit embarrassed but I don't mind.

Henry wonders whether to finish off the meal with a cigar and then decides against it.

We call Keisha and head off home full of beautiful food and wine.

Our final sleep! Tomorrow we begin the trip home. We're feeling very sad.

We plan to spend our final day down at Surfside, back to the hut for showers and Andy will be picking us up at 3 pm to go to the airport for our flight at 5.50 pm, when we will also say goodbye to Keisha.....Sob, sob, sob.

Until next time.

Gem xxxx

Cocktails for breakfast and pain killers

Monday and its time to return the car, but first we make a quick trip to the supermarket for a couple if bits and pieces. There's no point getting too much as we only have a dew days left here.

The rest of the day was very quiet indeed. We spent it at the Hut sunbathing, reading and having the occasional dip in the pool.

As always it's amazingly hot and the Princess is working on tanning her back, while mum is powering through yet another book and Henry is vacillating between being in and outdoors.

For the last couple of days Jen and I have been struggling with some huge bites that are very itchy. We are trying all sorts of remedies. They are soothing for a short while but then the irritation soon comes back. This is the first time that I've had such bites. So I need to wear repellent after all.

Food hasn't been high on the agenda for anyone today, least of all mum who's just not feeling hungry. Nevertheless I give her a couple of small veg patties for lunch (with Country Boy pepper sauce on the side of course) and she enjoys them.

As we get into late afternoon nobody can decide on whether to eat out or stay in tonight. In the end we opt for staying in and face the challenge of what we can make for dinner. It ends up being an interesting concoction of breadfruit (which Henry and Jen agree has no particular flavour but is ok), fried dumplings, plantains, beans and scrambled eggs. What a mixture! It all turns out lovely and we enjoy our feast. Jen finishes off with ice cream and rum cake while Henry just has ice cream. Mum and I are too full.

We decide to watch a film - Transformers - at least Will Smith isn't in it Jax!

Of course we don't even get half way through before falling asleep, so it's off to bed.

On Tuesday we decide that we don't fancy a lazy day like we had on Monday, so Henry and I are up early and keen to get out walking. We leave Jen and mum to relax as we expect to be gone for a few hours.

It's even hotter than ever and by 9.30 am it's sweltering. After an hour's walk we are in Hole Town. We need to rehydrate and decide to stop at Lime Grove Bar. We are pleased to see that Philip is on duty today - remember him from earlier blogs? I order water and Henry has a Guiness!

Philip tells us that he came second in the recent cocktail invention competition. He lost by only one point but says he learnt a lot from the experience.

There's a rep at the bar too, discussing different types of cocktails. Philip is mixing them and she looks up at me and asks if I like cocktails (is the Pope Catholic?) Before I can respond there's a Margarita in front of me. I haven't had any breakfast though. Cocktails for breakfast -so it looks as if it's going to be an interesting morning!

Two hours later and we've tested a variety of cocktails having been guinea pigs for Philip and the rep (sorry we didn't get her name).

We're joined by a couple who've been shopping and they order a "pain killer". Philip has never heard of it and I offer to google it. He makes this new cocktail - with a small one for me of course as I found the recipe. Soon we hear the same couple asking Philip if they could ring their taxi driver to push their pick up time back from 11.30 to 2 pm! We laugh and decide that it's time we left. We do plan to call in here for a drink later before going to dinner - maybe they'll still be here.

On the walk back to the Hut we explore Heron Court - another possible place for us to live when move here. It's lovely and there are a lot of empty units We're not sure if this is a good or bad sign. When we get back we can check out the prices on line.

It's been a very long and very hot walk today - mum and Jen are still chilling by the pool when we arrive. Henry dives in and I go to have a shower.

We chill for a little while and then phone the lovely Keisha to pick us up so that we can all go back down to the bar.

It's about 4 pm When we arrive and we're half expecting to see the couple that we left there earlier. Philip says that they left about 2.30. I decide to order the painkiller for me
and mum. She's not too keen on it but
she drinks anyway and then has a daiquiri!

We then head over to our usual haunt - Surfside - for dinner. As always the food is top notch and the service is abysmal.

We see a guy bright pink shirts with a porn star mustache. You know that you have to create a back story so we decide that he's a gay porn star. The picture below shows him and his friends chatting.

We see Mark who's tired after a busy day. Jen and Henry say that they'll be here at 10 tomorrow morning to go out on his boat to swim with the turtles. Mum doesn't want to go on the boat so I'll be staying ashore with her.

Time to call our Keisha and we head home. Oh bless I called it home.

We are beginning to talk about going home as we're flying on thursday evening arriving back in the UK on Friday morning. We keep hearing about how cold it is, that there's snow already in some places with more forecasted across the country. It's hard to comprehend when you wake up every day to a view of the ocean, beautiful blue skies and guaranteed sunshine (even when it rains).

Ruth has sent a text to say that she takes it all back; "Barbados isn't just like home, but warm".

As we turn into the little track that takes us back to the Hut we encounter a bus in the middle of the road. This is a very unusual occurrence as we've only seen 2 or 3 buses since we got here. He staunchly sits in the middle of the road expecting Keisha to back up but she's decided that there's room for him to pull over (which there is). It's a stand off.

She laugh as he has a schedule to keep and we can happily wait. She jokes about "sending Henry to pick up some drinks, putting on some music and partying in the car". She's also annoyed with the driver calling him a "jackass" and threatening to get out and tell him this to his face. We suggest that she backs up and she does reluctantly. She jokes again, "I guess this is going into the blog". Darn right Keisha.

We get a skype call from Jax who is still missing Barbados - it does get into your blood. She warns us that we need to be prepared for the cold and encourages us to "party hard" for our last couple of days here.

We watch the end of the film that we fell asleep watching last night and it's off to bed.

TTFN

Gem xxx

Big dreams and a quiet evening

We decide to spend all of today (Sunday) exploring housing options which is really why we hired the car.

While we're keen to live in or around St James, it's not called the platinum coast for nothing - the house prices are pretty high. So we want to consider all options, including the south the island.

In reality I don't know what the rest of Barbados is like. I've been to Bridge Town, Oistins and St Lawrence Gap, but only for quick, touristy visits.

Henry has done some good research and we have a list of places to visit. Jen decides that sun bathing by the pool is a better way to spend the day, while mum is up for a day of driving and checking out properties.

We head towards Speightstown stopping to look at Bakers Woods and Vuemont on the way. It's a very promising start as we instantly fall in love with both. They are very different but have a nice feel. We could see ourselves living in either area. The houses and apartments are small in comparison to our house at home, but provide everything we need.

In Speightstown we love the location, right on the beach, but not the apartments. I also thought we could find Mangos restaurant as it's had some rave reviews but I didn't see it.

We take a long drive to Rockley. We think it's too busy and we don't even try to find the apartments. We fancy some lunch so we head to The Gap but Sweet Potato (a Bajan restaurant we've visited a couple of times) is closed. We'll just pick something up on the road.

Then it's off to find Silver Point. The fact that we can't find it, get hopelessly lost in the process and are driving through torrential rain puts us off this location. We also kept seeing another driver who was clearly lost too. Whats funny is that he and Henry are following each other into numerous dead end roads before finally asking for directions. Of course if Henry had just followed my directions we'd have been ok - men!

On to Ocean City. It's a large house but again we're just not feeling the area
and the rain continues to pour. On the way I spot a sign that said "Ruthie's Garden Centre". I though our own Ruthie would like that one.

By now we're really hungry so I suggest stopping for some snacks at a service station. What an experience. There's a full take away menu of all the best Bajan food. Whatever you wanted was available and for a fraction of the price in stores and restaurants. So I got a beef roti for Henry, a chicken one for mum and a pattie for me. Their rotis were huge but my pattie was small so I got wedges too. All very tasty indeed.

The rest of the day we looked at various developments and just like any other type of shopping, the first one we saw was the best. We just need to find some money now. I'll be working hard on getting some new business when I get back so that we can make our dream a reality. Remember, our "caroaches" are too old and grey to sell so we just have to work hard and save hard.

As we drive home we decide to go out for a meal and spend some time finding a place where there's stuff that the Princess will eat. We settle on Ramshackle - cheap and cheerful
And I book a table for 7 pm.

When we get back the Princess is having a siesta. Unfortunately it did rain back at the Hut too, interrupting her sunbathing. That's a shame. I had hoped it was confined to the south of the island.

We all get ready to go out for dinner. It's nice having the car but I'm glad it's only for a couple of days, otherwise we won't do any walking at all.

Our table is ready when we get to Ramshackle. The nice young waiter is concerned about mum going down the stairs but I assure him she's done it before and will be fine. It's time I had a run punch - it has been a few days. Mum had a banana daiquiri, Jen a sprite and Henry a beer.

We order and the service is both quick and polite - not at all like Surfside. Unfortunately, despite the great service the food is just average. We decide to head up the road to Hole Town to checkout the scene of last week's crime - you know, the woman who was doing the x-rated karaoke? I hope she's singing again but Henry shudders at the thought of it.

Sadly it's pretty quiet down town and although our glamorous granny is there with her enteraugue of young men, she isn't singing. What a pity.

The consensus is to head back to the Hut for a night cap and a movie. We watch "independence day" - Jax would not be pleased with all of these Will Smith movies - while the Princess goes off to bed.

We missed out on seeing our lovely, smiling Keisha this weekend, because we had the car, but I'm sure we'll see her over the next few days.

TTFN

Gem xxx. (sorry the photos aren't so good today)

Just like home ... But warm

It's Saturday - Ruth and Malcolm's last day of their holiday. Everyone is up sharp and Ruth has already had "first breakfast" - rice and peas and gravy!

Because they've changed their flight they are not leaving until 11.30 pm so they have a full day to play.

Henry and I decide that we should hire a car for a couple of days to check out the various housing developments across the island. Our dream of moving here is still very much alive so we want to make the most of the time we have here to gather information. It also means that we can take the kids the kids to the airport.

We're in luck - there's a car available today and they'll bring it to the Hut at 10.30 am.

Ruth and Malcolm want to sunbath before we go out and for some reason decide to blow up a LILO that's been in the kitchen cupboards (it's a union jack one!). I'm not sure why we never discovered it before?

Malcolm does a sterling job and before you know it's inflated and all three are in the pool splashing about and having great fun.

The car arrives on the dot and we decide to make the most on having wheels for the first time since we arrived. Mum, Henry and I head off to shop and explore before meeting the kids at the bar to watch the footie (they'll be walking down later). (Henry can't drive in flip flops so decides to be bare footed).

On our first trip to the island we stayed at a hotel called Crystal Cove and have fond memories of our trips to a local store so we head there to check it out. (I know - fancy being sentimental about a supermarket!). Of course we end up buying all sorts of stuff - mainly pressies for mum to taken home. So she's very happy.

Pretty soon it's time to get down to the bar to watch the FA cup match against Brighton. We head off with high expectations.

As always we go to Surfside where we watch the matches. There are two matches on today so the place is very lively. It's the first time that Jen has been here and apart from the customary miserable waitresses, she likes it.

Our match starts well with plenty of chances to score goals but at half time it is still goalless. Jen and Ruth decide to go for a swim and are soon out of sight.

The second half of the match continues as it did in the first and and we are still expectant. But Newcastle have a way of breaking your heart and sure enough an own goal sends us crashing outing of the competition.

We need food and drink to get over the defeat so we order. Ruth and Malcolm have their obligatory fish cakes to start - they are so good. The Princess has a cheese burger and we have fish as always.

We head back to the Hut for Ruth and Malcolm to pack and ready themselves for the trip home. They're sad to be leaving. Of course they also soak up the last of the sun and the new LILO comes out again.

We get a call from Keisha and explain that we're taking the kids to the airport as we have a car and the flight is delayed by a few hours. She is sad to miss the opportunity to say goodbye but at least she can plan her sturdy evening now.

It's time to leave so Jen and mum say their goodbyes as Henry and I take them to the airport. On the way there's lots of talk about the weather at home and even what it will be like walk on carpet again! Ruth decided that "Barbados is just like home, but warm". We all have a good laugh and she says "it's one for the blog!"

Suddenly traffic comes to a stand still. There's been an accident up ahead and the road is closed. We have no idea about finding an alternative route. Luckily a local man gives us some very easy ands clear directions and were off again.

We arrive in good time for the flight and unload the suitcases. The kids are looking very sad about leaving and we will miss them.

Ruth's final words are "only 4 more sleeps after this one and you'll be home too". On that sad note we jump back into the car and speed away without looking back. Neither of us want to see this place again until we have to.

TTFN

"My eyes are bleeding!"

It's Friday already. The time is going far too quickly for my liking. We go home next Thursday! We need to get as much out of the next few days as possible. But there again Barbados is about relaxation so not too much "doing" but plenty of "being".

It's the Princess's first full day and she is up bright eyed and bushy tailed. After a healthy breakfast of a 2 chunky kit kats and coffee she's poolside to begin the serious job of sunbathing.

Ruth and Malcolm are there too of course catching every ray before they leave us tomorrow. Can you believe that it's already time for them to go? It seems no time since they arrived.

Once again Henry and I head off for a walk. It seems we are taking very long walks every other day now. We decide to head to Mullins to look at Battaley Mews where we plan to spend our next vacation. Although it's 9 am the sun is already hot so after walking for about half an hour we hop on a yellow bus - always good fun with reggae music playing and a lovely mix of tourists and local people.

We miss our stop and almost end up in Speightstown. We get off and walk back towards Mullins. On the way we pass a bunch of school kids heading for a field trip. They look super smart in their pristine uniforms. They wave politely and say "hi tourists" in unison. "Tourists?" Us? And there we were thinking that we looked like locals!

The visit to Battaley is well worth it. It's a beautiful little complex of 3 bed houses all tastefully furnished and with individual plunge pools on the balconies. There's a tennis court, shared pool and poolside bar. We spend some time with the on-site rep who gives us the low down and we decide that this is great place for our next trip to the island with Jax, Si and the kids. In fact it's so nice we wonder if there's a way of buying one of the houses as most are for sale. But they are a bit too pricey. Where's that lottery win when you need it?

We head back down the road, only 5 minutes to the beach where there's
a great looking bar (this could be our new local, instead of Surfside) and a very nice restaurant that we would like to try. It's not Bajan fare, but it looks good.

As we start to walk back a yellow bus appears so we hop on, getting off at the bottom of the hill for the 20 minute walk back to the Hut.

The kids are sunbathing and mum's reading (there's a surprise!). We have some lunch from the mountain of food left over from last night's BBQ.

We plan to head to Surfside this afternoon so we spend the next few hours soaking up the sun and checking out BA flights for our summer vacation.

We're disappointed, the cost of flights for July/August is double what we paid to be here now. So bang go our plans for a summer return to the island. I try skype Jax with the bad news but she's not available.

Now it's time to head out as planned. mum, Henry and I walk to the bus stop and the kids decide to walk the all the way to Hole Town.

We arrive at the bar and order banana daiquiris (Guiness for Henry). 20 minutes later the kids arrive. The sun will be doing down soon so Malcolm and Ruth and determined to be on the beach for this as they have missed it every night this week.

Just then a man heads to the bar. He is very brave as he has the largest stomach I've seen in ages and he's wearing "budgie smugglers". Malcolm
Looks round and wishes he hadn't. The sight is enough to make your eyes bleed! Check it out below.

Mum, Henry and I decide to eat at the bar and the kids are off to get some shopping as they want to do another BBQ when we get in.

We get back and decide to watch a film. We choose one of the DVDs from the lovely Keisha - "We bought a zoo" -with Matt Damon and Scarlet Jahansson. We really enjoy it and
also watch "I Robot".

The kids are outside enjoying their BBQ and a few drinks. The Princess goes off to bed first, closely followed by us old folks.

Tomorrow afternoon it's footie at the bar as Newcastle are playing Brighton in the FA cup. That should be good fun.

TTFN
Gem xxxx

The Princess, new friends and a BBQ

It's Thursday and we're waiting for Jen (the Princess) to arrive as a new addition to our Bajan family.

We are planning a BBQ for when she arrives and have also decided to invite our lovely friend Keisha who has chauffeured us all over the place at a moment's notice. (We wished we'd thought of inviting her while Jax was still here).

We spend the day quietly by the pool. No walking for me and Henry today. Ruth and Malcolm decide to walk to Hole Town to visit the bank though. Ruth is also doing a bit of a fashion parade for us and has now changed outfits twice this morning.

Because the BBQ shopping was also done by the intrepid adventurers a couple of days ago there's very little that we need them to get while in town.

Mum has finished "The Help" and has started another book - her third since she arrived. This one is called "The Other Hand" and she's racing through it.

Henry and I are just chilling only occasionally getting up for a drink or a snack.

The kids come back from town and don't have any adventure stories to share but can you believe it - they've been to Surfside for drinks and also had fish cakes! The rotten devils didn't bring any back for us!!!!! (another change of outfit for Ruth).

They have bought a few more things for the BBQ though. As Ruth says neither of us know how to make small amounts of food.

Because we've invited Keisha we also decide to also make fried dumplings, more rice and peas and plantains to accompany the snapper, king fish, burgers, hot dogs, veg kebabs, coleslaw, ribs, roasted butternut squash, salad and potato wedges that are already on the menu. We could easily invite all the neighbours and still have too much food. So when Keisha calls to ask if Andy can join us the answer is a resounding yes.

The battle of the rice and peas begins as I get the kids to taste both mine and Jax's (which was in the freezer). If they know what's good for them they'll choose mine because Jax is too far away to whinge at them. (I think it was a draw. After all Jax had been my coach last week and I was just following her instructions!)

The Princess arrives at 5.30 after a call from Keisha to say that had slept on the flight and missed the food so would like something as soon as she arrives. Ruth makes her a sandwich and it's ready for when she gets here.

We get a skype call from Jax who Si says is obsessed with Barbados as it's all she talks about. She's still missing being here and we miss having her. She's also finding it tough to adjust to the cold at home. Jax says that she was born to be here.

The good news is that it looks as if we may have found a great place for our summer vacation so she can properly start to plan her return to the island. She signs off skype asking that Jen calls when she arrives. But in the hubbub we didn't get a chance. We will call tomorrow instead.

I also get a call from Wayne to say that his sister in law, Steph, is in Barbados and we hope to catch up with her before we leave.

We're all in the kitchen cooking up a storm (including mum who's in charge of plantains).

Just as we light the BBQ the heavens open and we plan to shift everything indoors if it persists. It eases off enough for us to stay outside. Some do and some choose to go indoors.

We decide to put the table umbrella up to help keep the rain off and two tiny geckos are startled into flight as we open it. They are only babies and in a panic run straight into the pool. As quick as a flash, and without a minute's consideration for his own safety, Malcolm rushes to the pool, scoops them out and places them safely on the terrace. They scuttle away and we all admire his bravery. What a guy. (Can geckos swim!!??)

Keisha and Andy arrive, bringing a lovely bottle of wine with them. Malcolm and Ruth have worked very hard and the cooking starts. In no time the procession of food begins and, as we predicted, there's more than enough.

Malcolm is head chef and Ruth takes great care of him, making sure he has enough beer for a man battling with the heat of the open flames. (Another outfit change for Ruth).

We manage to break a dish but i think we've done well to only beak one thing since we've been here.

We spend the evening eating and drinking. Ruth makes mango daiquiris and rum punch. After a couple Keisha begins to bob and weave - she's just a light weight and clearly can't take her drink. Unlike me - a master at holding my liquor! The rum punch incident at Surfside last week was more to do with dehydration than anything else. (that's my story anyway).

Andy links up with us on Facebook so that we can all keep in touch. We have a good old laugh, look through photos of our respective families and relive some of the stories from when Jax was here, including the one about Dexter St Jock.

Malcolm is bemused so I find the Eddie Murphy clip on Utube and he's quickly enlightened. He says that if Ruth comes to Barbados on her own Keisha and Andy are under strict orders to take her straight back to the airport!

A few more drinks and we all begin to flag. The Princess has done well to stay up so late and is the first to head to bed. Soon after Keisha and Andy head off too.

The lovely Keisha gives us a couple of DVDs to watch and off they go.

TTFN

Gem xxx