The anchor dropped about 7am, 600 metres from the tiny island of Male. All around were small tropical islands but Male itself is just 2.5 miles long by 1.5 wide, yet appears to be totally built up.
At breakfast, we were joined by 85 year old Norm (from Nottingham!), and his wife. An interesting chap as he had worked at Players cigarette factory, right across the road from where I used to work – though many years earlier – before he joined the police force and was stationed at Arnold, which was our nearest police Station. Then he joined the army, but I was most interested to hear that he was in the same class at school as noted Nottingham author, Allan Sillitoe (Saturday Night & Sunday Morning).
HORIZON COURT BUFFET – part 9
Just after the fruit section are the cereals and the yoghurts. Most days there is a yoghurt/fruit and granola parfait concoction which we both enjoy. A fair few options for the cereal lovers – with All Bran proving very popular…
As it was another tender port and we didn’t really expect too much on land, there was no rush to get off. Although it was only a 600m run, there were just two tender boats as there was only docking space at the pier for one, which slowed the process considerably – especially for those returning.
We ambled back one block and did a circuit and found several shops were open – including several shoe shops. Paula was most pleased with one pair at $13US and another pair for $7. Strangely, there was a dearth of what you would call souvenir shops and as a mainly Muslim island, there was no alcohol for sale either.
Walking through the park, which must be one of the first we have walked through that didn’t have a blade of grass, probably as watering systems wouldn’t be supportable as Male has no reservoir, or lake, we spied the lizard.
Motorbikes were everywhere as is usual in these places, but I couldn’t resist a wry smile when I also spotted a bright orange Nissan GTR super car. I wonder why anyone would buy such a car, on a tiny densely populated island, 2.5 miles long, with no open roads, just narrow city streets.
By the time we had decided to head back (it was rather hot) the queue’s for the tenders were huge, so it must have been about a 45 minute wait, with the queue snaking around the area in and out of the shade. To their credit, Princess did have iced water and cool flannels on hand, but an extra pier space would have been nice.
Many passengers took boat trips to the island resorts for some swimming and snorkelling and apart from a bit of noticeable sunburn, there were no dramas.
A quick change then a lightening raid on the buffet, the lemonade machine and the ice cream parlour, before the 4pm sailaway. It was far too hot out on deck 11 so we ducked inside and did trivia – with just the two of us. Of course we didn’t win, although the winners only managed 13.5…
After dinner, we headed for the theatre and vocal impressionist ‘’Spencer Robson”. A fairly fast moving pleasant sort of show, but the theatre wasn’t full. As with many port days, passengers tend to crash early. An 8/10 performer.
I fear I have caught Paula’s bad throat, so knowing my luck, it will probably hit me hard over the next couple of days. Perhaps as well we are at sea, though with the cancellation of the Egyptian ports, this might be the toughest sector of the trip as we are also expecting a far from smooth ride - especially over the next three days.
No comments:
Post a Comment