23/10/09

This morning we went to the local market and bought cheese, fish and olives like proper English tourists in France – somehow I felt like an imposter. We've then spent all afternoon on the beach, playing with clay and generally having a great time. Then we had a driftwood fire on the beach, sharing our fish with our two German friends, Frank and Tomka. We had thought that it was always warm and sunny in these more southerly climes but they said it had been cold, wet and windy for the previous 10 days before we arrived – so far the sun is truly shining on us.

This morning we walked along the beach in the sunshine. It was like paradise. We saw a sacred ibis, two fighting egrets and then found a huge jelly fish within two minutes of reaching the beach. Next it was starfish and nuns – surreal or what. Then the bucket and spade brigade appeared as the tide dropped – only this lot were also armed with hammer and chisels and all over 60- laying siege to to all shell-dwelling creatures. All that escaped their attention were the thousands of starfish (we felt a bit sheepish after getting so excited about that first one to discover they were actually at plague proportions just down the shoreline).

Our first minor problem was that our safe became so safe that even we couldn't get into it. Mick was so pleased that, at the last minute, he had packed his 12v cordless drill so he was able to drill through the side of the casing and force the lock back. Hence I can now use the laptop etc. It was an omen though as we had tried to have a spare key cut for the safe and couldn't get one so had determined to change the lock. What with all the trailer disaster, we of course didn't get around to it so hey presto, she has reminded us before we landed up in a very stressful situation.

First stop Vannes, some 140km down the road. Huge grey mullet were hiding under the board walk. A wonderful photography exhibition was taking place all over the town – along the quay was a series of families from all over the world. Suddenly, all the concerns of safety and security took a back seat as I realised what a fantastic experience we were about to embark on, meeting so many people, seeing such incredible sights and learning so much.

By 6 pm we had arrived at our dreamt of first camp on the Ile de Noirmoutier. We found a camp site – not the one Des and Tori had recommended as we couldn't remember where it was but it has loads of play equipment which the kids love.

Wow! How could we go from such incredible stress, worry and tension to complete peace and serenity in less than an hour? Spent our first night at Tracey's house in pouring rain and then left in the morning as the sun was breaking through the fog. The pinky ponk, cold at first, struggled to get up the hills but by the time we got to Huelgoat, she was going like a dream. I felt the tension slipping away – she could do it! The children were so snug and comfortable, their few toys keeping them amused.

Packed now!

Second posting already - I'm getting into this.

Still packing

This is the first ( and maybe the last) posting on our African adventure blog. It is still all to hectic here for me to write anything sensible - this is just a trial post. I do hope I can improve as time goes by........