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