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Saturday;; Day 33! Today we head to yet a different beach again and this one is by far my favourite. The sand is soft and you can see Gibraltar very clearly close by. In the distance behind Gibraltar you can also see the outline of the mountains that line Africa! Quite surreal to see actually but so beautiful...The water looks perfect and there is a line of big rocks running down one side of the sea's edge. I take a couple of photos of the beautiful scenery before Eva offers to take one with me in it. I think she got a brilliant shot; it's the one that is in this blog photo as well as my profile piccy on Facebook...
Down at be water we get our snorkel gear out...minus the flippers and minus the wetsuit. So really, just the goggles and the snorkel haha. I take a step into the water and despite how hot today is, the water is like ice! I feel like I've just stepped into the movie Titanic! It's like knives through my legs I can't believe it! The kids try it too and immediately run back...And this is meant to be the Mediterranean Sea huh! I don't know why this water is so much colder but it explains why the beach is reasonably quiet! In the end I suck it up and dive under before immediately shooting back up to the surface shivering all over haha! I realise if my chest and shoulders are out of the water it will be worse, but my brain just can't seem to make sense of going back under lol! A few minutes go by and I'm just standing in the water, thigh deep and shivering; don't ask why! I finally jump back under and toughen up while I look around for any fishy's! There are fish, smallish in size everywhere that are the same colour as the sand. I forgot how much I love snorkeling and despite the cold I felt free and relaxed as I slowly swam around. There's something about just laying there floating and looking into sea life that makes me feel completely at peace and trouble-free. I only last probably 5 minutes though before running out and jumping up and down on the spot to defrost!!!
Once I'm thawed lol I decide to go climbing these big rocks that I had been eye-ing off ever since we arrived. Alvaro and Alejandra decide to join me and I show them how to keep 4 points of contact at all times when climbing and to obviously avoid the wet rocks. I love being a kid and exploring like this. I climbed up and around the side so that all you could see was the ocean, the waves crashing on the rocks in front of you, and then Gibraltar and the mountains to your right. Perfection! And so private! I somehow find two huge rocks that I sit into, bum on one, feet on the other, and get quite comfy as I look out onto the ocean! Alvaro and Alejandra head back and Alvaro and Kiki decide to go snorkeling and look for any octopus to catch with their wooden spears!....you have to laugh because all you could hear were these manly screams and noises from being so cold as they swam around the corner to where I was!! I'm glad I wasn't the only one who thought it was freezing! ..Alejandra rejoins me and we take a couple of photos of each other and the scenery and even spot a couple of tiny crabs on the rocks below before I am back to being by myself with just the sound of the wind and the waves! How romantic! I lay back and take advantage of the moment to have some reflection time. I let go of anything that's been bothering me and feel completely at ease by just simply staring into the water and being with nature! (Sorry if I'm boring you, but for me, being the tree-hugging hippie that I am, would choose this over Las Vegas or clubbing or getting my hair done any day!!!...I haven't actually been to a hairdresser in over 3 years lol but meh!).
An hour or so goes by and besides the occasional peek-a-boo from Alejandra or Patricia, I am left to myself. Something I really enjoy these days and I actually like having alone time. I never get lonely or bored and I find I really need it regularly to re-centre myself...
I end up turning around on the two rocks and swapping positions for my bum and feet! Somehow I get even comfier and could probably have fell to sleep if I wanted to! I lay my back against the rock and then dangled my head over the edge of it so that I was looking at the ocean upside down! Am I crazy? Maybe! Anyone on the boats going by in the distance who may have seen me would probably have been thinking I was either dead or just plain stupid for hanging off like that haha. But it was amazing I promise! You almost expect the water to jump up and fall into the sky though lol, it's a weird feeling seeing it upside down! I spend probably half an hour with my head dangling down watching the waves and the horizon and just letting go. Despite how luxurious and easy I have had it so far since arriving here, it can still be quite stressful and challenging having to entertain, take care of, teach and keep 4 children happy!!! I have realised already from this experience how important 'alone' or 'me' time is and that you can get so caught up in their problems and their needs that you forget your own. Which if I may say, you should never forget your own despite however many children. But, I can see that it's hard to do!
After we finish at the beach, we ride home as quick as we can to slam some lunch down and head to the pool. We spend the rest of the afternoon swimming and relaxing and tanning. I'm officially 'off' now until Monday morning! Even though it's Saturday though, I don't head out or anything as I don't know anyone down here. Instead, Eva asks me if I would babysit the children while her and Kiki go out for tapas with some friends. So of course I say yes especially as I had suggested to them the other day that they should go out sometime after finding out they never go out together without the kids! They say they won't be heading out until 10pm so I head to the pool with the kids to relax again!
At night, Eva and Kiki head out and I make the kids their favourite dish of mine; homemade pasties with chicken and vegetables inside. We eat and watch a movie and after talking to a friend the last couple of days, I decide to spontaneously book a flight to Milan for 5 days in August! I have always wanted to go to Italy and Eva has said to never hold back from doing anything or traveling so I thought why not! My friend is from Italy but has been working in a Australia for a couple of years. It's a funny story how we met but either way he is a great friend and I am thoroughly excited about joining him and going exploring in Milan. I run around the house high-fiving the kids and my friend says he's going to plan some things for us to do there! Woop!!!
I don't hear Eva and Kiki come home until 3.30am lol! What party animals! I plan to chill out again even more as it's my full day off but you never you what can happen!
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