Apologies for this week’s Happy Friday post being a little later than usual, but there were island-wide connection problems yesterday, which meant that there was no internet connection or working mobile phone network. This was quite a strange feeling, as it really did feel that we were on a small island completely cut off from the rest of the world – not an altogether unpleasant experience for a few hours!

Anyway, of course, this week’s list has been just as easy to compile as last’s, due to the fact that we have been enjoying our second week in paradise, so here’s a brief round-up:

1. Last Friday’s fishing trip – I have to admit that, an hour or so into this trip, I wasn’t loving it and would not have imagined it featuring in this week’s list, as I was feeling pretty seasick, as was G and poor B was really quite ill. However, once we returned to slightly calmer waters, the second half of the outing was much more fun. We obviously had the “big one that got away” story, but then, just five minutes before returning to port, D managed to pull in a barracuda, which was pretty exciting. We could have fetched it back to the hotel, where they would have cooked it for us, but G took pity on it, so it went back in the sea. Apart from the fishing though, it was a great experience to see more of the island from the water, as we went all along the west coast before returning back to the very pretty Port Louis.

2. Saturday night now features as one of our best nights ever! We had dinner in the pool restaurant, which we have been doing three nights a week (as the hotel is pretty quiet, everyone can fit in the smaller pool restaurant, rather than the usual larger one in the main hotel building, and we love it out there – the lighting is really pretty, as it’s completely dark by 7pm, the setting by the lovely pool is beautiful, it is cooler, with the sea breeze gently blowing in and it is so close that you can hear the sound of the Caribbean waves constantly – there’s no better sound. However, on Saturday, they also had a fantastic steel band playing – and what a mix of music they played, from popular Caribbean music, to Queen and The  Beatles, modern pop to musical theatre tunes – but it was (bizarrely!) “When the Saints Go Marching In” that got everyone on their feet and dancing around the pool. Just wonderful food, location, music and atmosphere – perfection!

3. On Sunday afternoon, we did one of our favourite things and walked along the beach to The Aquarium bar. This is a very popular place to go for both locals and holidaymakers (although it was much quieter than usual this time), with a bar directly on the beach (with the amazing view below), so that the children can play in the sea while we sit and relax, and listen to the live band playing. The atmosphere was good and the mojitos delicious!

4. One of my favourite times of day here is sunset, which happens at about 6.30pm, and we have experienced some beautiful ones this week. One that stands out was when D and I had a sunset walk along the beach, walking through the edge of the sea, chatting about nothing in particular, stopping to take some photos and collect a couple of shells which will now forever remind me of that moment – bliss.

5. Of course, if you have seen my Facebook photos, you will know about the amazing luck we have had this week being able to see and handle baby turtles. The ground staff here at the hotel had collected about 50 just-hatched baby turtles, as they had started to make their way down to the sea, but, as this is their most vulnerable moment, as they are usually eaten by birds on their journey, they had picked them up and put them in a sea-water pool. This meant that they were there for us to watch, photograph and hold for a day, before we then had the amazing opportunity of releasing them into the sea at sunset. They really were the sweetest creatures, and it was so lovely to send them on their way, watching how they streamlined their bodies to cope with the waves, then seeing their little heads bobbing out of the water as they made their way out – a truly amazing experience, and the highlight of G’s holiday by far.

6. B and I have spent a lot of time in the pool this week playing water volleyball, and it’s been great fun. We are pretty evenly matched, so it works well, but he always just seems to beat me!

7. This week has also seen us playing lots of family games, either by the pool or in the lounge area, which we have all loved – Uno continues to be a favourite, along with Continuo and our new shorter version on Scrabble, which is far more fun than the original, in our opinion!

8. I have also spent a lot of time reading by the pool, as usual, this week, which has been lovely. Just having the time to do this, without feeling guilty that I should be doing something else, is a major factor in why we come.

9. D and I have enjoyed trying some new cocktails this week, as we discovered that the pool bar does a different speciality cocktail every day, so we have sampled some delicious ones that we have never before heard of. My favourite was the mocktail we had a couple of days ago – I just need to remember what was in it now!

10. The last one for this week is the great service we had from Sunsations, the company through which we booked both the fishing trip and our half day island trip. We were supposed to go on our trip on Wednesday, but G wasn’t at all well, so I had to call them to change it just 30 minutes before we were due to be picked up. However, they happily changed it for us so that we can go today, Friday, so we are really looking forward to that. We were very grateful that there was no issue with doing this, and we know then we can go today with a well G.

We are now looking forward to our final weekend here before returning to the real world next week. I am at the stage where it seems to have gone far too quickly now, and want to go back in time two weeks, and have the whole experience all over again. This really is our idea of paradise, in so many ways, and I don’t think that we will ever tire of being here.

P.S. For those of you doing “blog bingo” with my Happy Friday post, I wish you all the best this week!