The best still to come....

A little time to make final arrangements and then we're off on our big adventure. 'Stay tuned' for our exciting adventure in Asia.... Where will our first post be from?!?!

So sweet

In Martiques there was a really quaint little harbour in the centre of town with a very old church in the background. Martiques relates itself closely to Venice due to the many small canals running through the centre.

An early start

The forecast for the next few days is a little breezy from the west (which is where we need to go).  We don't want to be heading back against a strong wind, so we woke up bright and early and head back to the boat yard. We were rewarded with a beautiful sunrise as we left the islands of Friol.

Pink

Saw some flamingos in the etang (shallow salt water lake) today. They were really pink!

Very nice

Parked in the bay was this superyacht complete with it's own private helicopter to take you ashore. Beats rowing I guess!

Walking on water

Using high powered jets of water supplied from a long hose in the sea, these guys really can fly! Looks great fun but a little tricky to master!

Good deed for the day

Yesterday was fairly breezy! A French boat dragged it's anchor and ended up across the otherside of the bay. It's owners must have been in town shopping for their French cheese and wine. The boat ran aground on the sand just before the rocks. Darryl spotted the boat at a strange angle to the wind and asked the French yacht anchored in front of us to notify the coast guard. The wind was due to pick up and the boat would have  been smashed to pieces! About half an hour later the lifeboat came and had a few attempts to drag the boat off the bottom. Luckily on about the third attempt it was dragged free. A large audience had gathered on the beach and one lucky dude got his expensive boat back unscathed! Good deed for the day done ...

First place goes to...

After scaring all the children away, Christine took the reigns at the local park. The park offered plenty of shade and was lovely and peaceful. That is apart from the constant sound of the cicades (little bugs that make a lot of noise!)

Petit bateaux

Little boats all moored together in the harbour with their local flags waving in the wind. They look great, so Mediterranean!

Toy train

Today we took a little toy train like they have on Bournemouth beach! We felt just like big kids. On the way home we spotted 3 wedding cars, by far the best was this nice convertible Ford Mustang.....

Another beautiful sunset

The weather has settled down after giving us some ferocious winds. The offshore forecast in the area we are in was force 9. We had one night at anchor at force 8... not much fun but now the weather has turned beautiful again!

Beatles mania

A little home comfort with a Beatles tribute band. Check out the English phonebox and Union Jack / flag in the picture!

Let's celebrate!

Christine found out today she has passed her Leadership course so we celebrated with a bottle of pink fizz.  Well done Christine!

Dance the night away...

We partied hard at the Ricard party. Christine is sporting her new Ricard Panama hat! Doesn't she look good...

Up a creek without a paddle

Some unkind person stole the oar to the dinghy whilst were off walking. In fact they only stole half as the oar comes in 2 pieces. It was interesting getting back to the boat...and now we have one Darryl made!

Music maestro

Great concert last night by a couple on the locals. The lady played the mandolin beautifully whilst the man sang in Spanish and Italian.

Police on a Segway.... really?

Interesting transport. One guy gets to spend his day patrolling for badies on his Segway whilst his mates are on foot! I wander who gives chase and leaps over fences?

Fantastic fireworks

Wow, great fireworks display. The views from the boat were totally uninterrupted and the music in perfect synch to the loud bangs and booms! I've added a photo but hard to get a decent picture armed with only a phone camera!

Jazz concert

2 nights of the 'gratuit' (free) August jazz festival. The musician's on the second night were amazing. Especially the double bass player!  The crowd went wild....