November 2015

Early morning traffic heading to the beach

After a 2 month break I decided I had better update my blog with all the news on the house move!! It has been a stressful time since I wrote August's blogpost as things did not go according to plan. Everything seemed to be progressing nicely with the chain until the end of September. Our buyer had a survey done on our house which all went well and she was apparently discussing her plans for an extension with the surveyor so you can imagine our shock when we discovered the next day that our buyer had actually viewed another property a few days before and made an offer on it which had been accepted. Why she paid all that money to have the survey done on our house and was discussing her plans for an extension when she had already had an offer accepted on another property I do not know. I wonder when she planned on telling us as we only found out when the new agent phoned our agent for details of the chain. It didn't just impact on us as the owners of the house we were buying had just had an offer accepted on a property on the basis of our chain being near to completion so now they faced losing it unless we could get the chain back on track. It doesn't seem right that it is so easy to string people along and then just back out of the agreement without penalty. We had all incurred solicitors costs and now faced losing the houses we were after. It was a really upsetting time. We put our house back on the market but with the best of the summer weather now past I figured we may not sell until at least springtime next year so I resigned myself to losing the house we had made an offer on. Two weeks later we received a marketing brochure from an estate agent advising us they had recently sold a house in our village and were keen to market our property. The picture of the property they had sold was the one our buyer had made the offer on whilst stringing us along!! I must admit it did make me chuckle at the irony of it all and I was tempted to phone the agent and point out to them that we wouldn't need a buyer if ours hadn't dropped us to buy the property they had been marketing. At least I was able to find something humorous in the situation.
We focused our energies on getting the habitation check and service done on Herman and getting ready for our forthcoming trip to Goa. Herman passed all his checks with flying colours so that was good news. We applied for our Indian visas and they arrived back within a week so all we had to do now was pack. The rest of the time went quite quickly and on the 7th November my son Darryl dropped us at a hotel near Heathrow ready for our early flight the next day. We had a very smooth journey to Doha and then on to Dabolim and we were soon settling in to our apartment in Benaulim. 
We'd had a message from our estate agent to say she had arranged a viewing on our house the day we arrived in Goa and then we received even better news.... The couple loved the house and wanted to buy it. All of a sudden we were back on track as luckily the house we had originally wanted was still available and the owners were also still able to get the property they had offered on. What a great way to start our trip to Goa. I am trying not to get too excited as it could easily all fall through again but I can't help feeling a little bit excited. With our searches already carried out the chain could move quite quickly but you'll have to wait until December's blogpost to see what happened!!
Within a couple of days of being back in Benaulim it was like we hadn't been away. Because everything is so familiar to us we settled straight in. Our apartment this year is right in the centre of Benaulim so we haven't been and bought bikes this time. Those of you who read last year's blog on Goa will remember the lovely steel framed, plastic seated bikes that cost us £40 in Margao and we then sold them for £20 each after using them for the 3 months we were here. Just the sheer effort of riding the bikes kept us fit!! 

Waiting for the sunset with Irvine and julia

A lot of the friends that we meet here every year have now arrived and we have enjoyed some lovely evenings dining at some of the many restaurants in Benaulim while catching up on what everyone has been up to since last year. We spend most of our days chilling on the beach, swimming in the lovely warm sea or reading our Kindles. I also have my Spanish language course on my Ipod so I normally listen to it after lunch. I'm not sure how much of it is sinking in as I keep falling asleep so it will be interesting to see how well I can converse when we head back to Spain next year. Occasionally we stay on the beach to watch the sunset and enjoy an early dinner. 


I couldn't resist taking a picture when a boat passed directly in front of the sun as it was sinking below the horizon. As well as spending days on the beach a group of us also enjoyed a lovely afternoon at the Riverview restaurant on the edge of the river Sal at Cavelossim but there were no Kingfishers to be seen on this occasion. Glynn and Clive (Clive and Mary from Burnley) have been to Margao stadium twice to watch Goa play in the Indian Super League, the first game of which resulted in a 7-0 win against Mumbai. As poor Mary currently has a broken ankle we enjoyed the games on TV from the comfort of her sofa whilst trying to spot Glynn and Clive in the crowds. As the final will be held in Margao in December they are hoping to get tickets, the bonus will be if Goa make it to the final. 

In Brilliant Bar with Hilary, Ray, Irvine and Julia

December should prove to be an eventful month one way or the other. We have booked to do a Golden Triangle tour with Hilary, Ray, Irvine and Julia who we met in Goa last year. We will be flying from Dabolim to Delhi and spending 5 days/4 nights visiting Delhi, Agra and Jaipur including a sunrise tour of the Taj Mahal. We are also keeping our fingers crossed that we get to exchange contracts on the house!!

It is fascinating watching the local fisherman haul in their heavy nets using nothing other than synchronised team work and their own strength. No motorised winches to do the hard work!!

Not a bad catch.
Gathering up the fish.

January 2015

January has flown by way too quickly and I can't believe we only have 18 days left here now. When I see the weather forecasts of snow and freezing temperatures in England I must confess I am not looking forward to returning. It has been a bit of an emotional roller coaster this month but I will explain more about that shortly. 

Firstly we had the pleasure of our friends, Sharon and Glynn staying with us and we had great fun showing them Cavelossim, Margao, and all the sights. It's surprising how many people asked if Glynn and Glynn P were brothers as they look alike!!

Kingfisher catching fish

I think the clue to that is on their name!! Glynn P was delighted when we saw Kingfishers at Cavelossim as he had long held a desire to capture a Kingfisher on camera so it made his day. They were soon feeling as chilled as we were as we enjoyed lazy days reading, swimming and sunbathing.  They were keen to try different shacks along the beach at Benaulim until we discovered The Little Tiger Ocean Cafe and this became our destination of choice every morning  . What a gem this place is with fantastic food, excellent service and the best toilets of any shack I have ever seen. If you've ever visited Goa you will appreciate what I mean!!

Benaulim. We continue to discover new places that we have missed on previous visits and tucked down a little back road in Benaulim is a workshop where they make jewellery.

Getting my bangle repaired.

It's in a room at the front of a house and the guys sit cross legged around a low table which has leather aprons pinned to it which they spread over their laps. The table is scattered with the tools which they use to create anything you want in silver or gold and precious stones. You can also bring old jewellery and they will melt it down to transform it in to whatever you want. Like many other places in Goa it felt like stepping in to a time warp, transporting us back to a time before modern technology and tools did away with the need for this kind of craftsmanship.The safety catch on my bangle had broken and we sat and watched it being repaired while we discussed having an eternity ring made. When we tried to pay for the repair our money was refused as the man said he hadn't needed to add any gold but had merely fixed the original catch!  

Enjoying the spicy food at one of the stalls

Anjuna. There is a bus trip than runs from Benaulim to Anjuna Market on Wednesdays and it only costs 250 rupees (£2.50) for a return ticket. The journey takes 2 hours arriving in Anjuna at around 11am and departing at 4pm. This allows ample time to explore the huge market which is adjacent to the beach at Anjuna. There is a great variety of stalls to explore and some really lovely and unusual items as well as the usual bargain T-shirts and flip-flops and beautiful embroidered bed throws being offered for as little as

Anjuna Market

500 rupees. We had a very enjoyable day which involved purchasing some lovely bargains before trying some food from one of the stalls. To say it was spicy was an understatement but it was so tasty. We then spent the remainder of our time sitting at one of the restaurants at the front of the market enjoying the view overlooking the sea.

Nuvem. After hearing several recommendations we decided to visit the My Eye clinic at Nuvem to see if we were potential candidates for laser eye surgery. Glynn had previously looked in to it in England but decided against it when he was quoted £3.000! Much to our surprise I was a better candidate than Glynn as he had thin corneas whereas I apparently ticked all the boxes. It wasn't something I had ever really considered but it suddenly seemed quite exciting contemplating being free of glasses, especially now I needed varifocals.  Little things like laying down to watch TV had become awkward as it meant I was looking through the wrong part of the lens. Now I know I could avoid this by sitting up but sometimes it's nice to spread out on the sofa with a bag of popcorn and watch a film!! Because my sunglasses had distance lenses in I had to swap them for normal sunglasses to read so I was alternating between 3 pairs of glasses which was becoming a pain. The cost of the operation was 40,500 rupees (approx £405) so it was less than my last pair of glasses had cost me in the UK. I decided to go ahead with the surgery but wait until Sharon and Glynn had left so it was scheduled for 19th January, the day after they went home. I have no fear of operations when they involve full anaesthetic but this was different as not only would I be awake but I was about to have my eyeballs lasered!! Scary stuff. Helpfully you are given a Valium type tablet to take the night before and you take another half the morning of the procedure and these help to relax you. I must admit I couldn't remember the last time I had felt this nervous. The procedure itself lasted barely 20 minutes with the actual lasering taking only a few seconds and so it was with great relief when I was led back out by a tiny nurse and told to lay down in a waIting area with my eyes closed. I was praying she really was only 4 foot 6 inches tall otherwise the operation hadn't been a success!! Whilst the procedure was taking place Glynn was invited to watch it on a screen and in spite of his original misgivings he managed to watch the whole thing. After 90 minutes rest my eyes were examined and then the doctor invited me to look out of the window at the trees in the distance. I was amazed when I could see them clearly. The next few days were a bit of an emotional roller coaster where I alternated between delight and regret about the procedure. This was because I had opted for monovision which is where one eye is adjusted for distance and the other eye for close sight. It takes the brain a while to adjust so my close vision was quite blurred and I found this quite scary as good close vision is the only thing I have ever had.

Enjoying the view the day after laser treatment

Apparently it can take up to 3 months to get the full benefit but in the meantime I have excellent distance and middle vision and fairly good close vision which continues to improve. I am sure I am getting on Glynn's nerves as I am so excited at being able to see without glasses that I keep pointing out signs and reading them to him and asking him if he can see them as clearly as I can. Bizarrely I feel quite insecure without my glasses as no-one has ever seen me without them so I have taken my frames to an optician in Margao and had clear lenses fitted so that I can wear them when I get back home if I want to. I know this seems bizarre after going to the trouble of having an operation so that I wouldn't need glasses but the optician assured me that it was quite common to feel like this when you have worn glasses all your life and I am sure in time I will wear them less and less.

Our lunch!

Boat Trip. There are several boat companies based on the River Sal at Cavelossim and we were invited to join a group of friends that had hired a boat for a private trip. There were about 50 of us on the boat and there was a great party atmosphere as everyone was in high spirits. The boat sailed out to sea initially for some dolphin spotting as we were serenaded by 2 musicians. Luck was on our side when we saw several dolphins and porpoises around the boat. As the boat returned to the river Sal the party started and the alcohol was soon flowing.

Let's get this party started.

Luckily we were sat next to the bar so I was able to stop the waiter adding too much Honey Bee to my sprite, after all I needed to pace myself if I was going to last the distance! We were treated to a beautiful prawn appetiser before being served a fillet of fish for the main course. This was succeeded by a fruit salad and with our stomachs now lined with food the partying resumed. As alcohol consumption increased inhibitions decreased and everyone was soon up dancing with several people sported brightly coloured wigs. Our table consisted of myself and Glynn, Iris and Steve (who had previously introduced us to the delights of Cavelossim) and Linda and Brian (annual visitors to Goa who it transpired live just 5 miles from us in the UK).

Glynn, Steve, Linda and Iris

Things deteriorated into helpless laughter when Iris decided to throw the rest of her glass of water over the side of the boat so that she could replace it with gin. The wind conspired against her and as she threw the water it was blown straight over Steve who looked stunned as he sat there dripping water with a look of shock on his face. While Iris was desperately trying to explain it was the wind's fault the rest of dissolved into fits of hysterical laughter. It was the funniest thing we had seen in ages and our sides ached from laughing so much.

Uncanny likeness to when Glynn had hair!!

We had a great time as the boat sailed up the River Sal and all too soon it was over. A few of us decided to extend the fun by heading in to the nearest bar and having "one for the road" before getting the bus back. When we alighted at Benaulim myself and Glynn decided to stop at the street food stall for some lovely samosas and batata wadas. I would later question the wisdom of adding a large battered chilli each to the order but hindsight is a wonderful thing.

As I was still working on Glynn about returning to Goa in November we viewed a few apartments and then we discovered a great place right in the centre of Benaulim. By the time we had finished viewing it Glynn had haggled a great price for 4 months rent and agreed a deal. It looks like we will definitely be spending next winter here!! We are already making plans for our return  in February and have booked the Eurotunnel for 19th March when we will head down to Spain in the Motorhome. This will give us 4 weeks to see family and friends before we head off. I can't wait to go out for a long ride on my Focus. After riding the cheap steel bikes that we purchased when we arrived here I will really appreciate the beauty of my bike even more, especially the gel saddle! I wonder what the chances are of the temperatures rising by about 10° in the UK  before we return in 18 days! 

Fishing on the River Sal

Proudly showing us their catch

With Sharon and Glynn at The Little Tiger

Gathering the nets back up after repairing them.

Mobor Beach, Cavelossim

Anjuna Market 

Anjuna Beach

The restaurant overlooking Anjuna Beach

Heavy load!

Where the River Sal meets the sea

Dried chillies for sale

Fishermen

A night out with friends at the Banyan Tree

December 2014

December has been a month of discovery for us. We have had some wonderful experiences and seen more of life 'behind the scenes' and at times it has almost been like stepping back in time before technology made everything so much quicker and easier but not necessarily better. It is amazing how much we have missed on our previous visits when we've only had 2 weeks so we've just wanted to chill all day and eat out every night. I finally plucked up the courage to see my dentist Uday and I did need a root canal as I had feared however it turned out to be as painless as last time and I believe I have finally conquered my fear of dentists (as long as it's Uday doing the treatment!!). We were enjoying being back so much that by the 2nd week of December I was already raising the option of changing our plan to spend the following winter touring Spain and Portugal in favour of coming back to Goa for 4 months. By the 3rd week of December Glynn had warmed to the idea and we were now checking out apartments!! 

Riverview Restaurant

Cavelossim. As we were keen to see more of Goa and experience new things we happily accepted an invitation from Iris and Steve to catch a local bus and spend a day at Cavelossim. We initially met them when we were here in March and, like Jan and Cliff, they spend every winter here. They invited us to join them so that we could experience our first trip on a local bus. The battered looking bus was crowded when we got on it but after a couple of stops we managed to find a space on the narrow seats. The cost for the half hour ride from Benaulim to Cavelossim was 15 rupees (15p).  The bus driver was happily chatting away on his phone while driving one handed, dodging other vehicles and animals on the narrow road. Although there are bus stops the bus pulls up for anyone that signals they want to get on. 

River Sal

A conductor whistles at the driver to signal him when to pull up or set off again and quite often the passenger would have barely got a foot on the bus before its pulling away again. This haste seemed to apply regardless of the age of the passenger and many times I watched in awe as frail looking old ladies were still in the process of getting on the bus as it pulled away. There is a sign that says there is room for 11 people standing however Iris and Steve informed us that they never turn passengers away and will squeeze everyone in so 11 can quickly become 30 during busy times with people squashed in to every available space.

Kingfisher on the River Sal

The buses also play music, anything from bangra to British pop, quite often at a volume that makes conversation difficult but adds to the crazy experience that is a bus ride in Goa. We arrived at Cavelossim and enjoyed a leisurely stroll along the main street, checking out the various shops and exploring a lovely air-conditioned store full of everything from branded sports wear to locally produced goods.

Iris and Steve then took us down a back road that led to a lovely outdoor restaurant right on the bank of the river Sal. The setting was so peaceful with lovely views of the river and we enjoyed a very leisurely lunch as we sat in the shade and watched the river cruise boats sail past. We saw a variety of birds including kingfishers and kites as we sat chatting and it almost four hours had passed before we decided to head back. 

Benaulim. We were taken to the local bakery to meet Wellington.

Fresh from the oven

It was basically a shed beside is house which contained a huge clay oven and a giant food mixer. There were 2 marble work tops for rolling pastry on and they supplied local businesses with meat and vegetable pasties as well as plum and coconut cakes and lovely bread rolls. We arrived just as several trays of pasties had finished cooking so we were able to see them being retrieved from the oven using a very long pole with a metal sheet on the end. Wellington's mother was sat outside peeling loads of onions while his daughter was taking coconuts from a huge pile and removing the husks with a very clever device that made light work of it. We purchased some lovely hot pasties and half a kilo of plum cake and decided to head straight home while the pasties were still hot.

Wellington de-husking the coconuts

Whether you are buying medicines from the pharmacy, samosas from the street food barrow or pasties from a bakery they wrap everything in newspaper just like we used to see in our chip shops. 

Cuncolim. We had booked executive health checks at the Nusi Wockhardt hospital at Cuncolim which cost 4500 rupees (£45) Although it was only a half hour journey and we didn't need to be  there until 8am we weren't confident that our driver would remember to pick us up on time so we had allowed for this by asking him to pick us up at 7am. Unusually he arrived on time with none of the normal "I am only 5 minutes away" so we got to the hospital early, in spite of him having to ask directions as he didn't know where it was. When he asked for 500 rupees I checked that this included the return fare as previously agreed but he said it didn't as the hospital was too far.  He had quoted us a price without really knowing where he was taking us. He agreed to take 400 rupees for the outward journey and we said we would call him when we were ready to be picked up. We spent the morning having various tests done and the funniest moment was when Glynn came out of the cardiologists after having the stress exercise test. His chest was way too hairy for the sensor pads to stick so they had shaved a lot of his chest but left a nice thin triangle of hair in the centre. I nearly cried with laughter when he showed me and I joked that he'd been given the chest equivalent of a Brazilian.

Spot the "Brazilian"

We were both shocked when we were weighed to find we had gained 8lb since we arrived in Goa as we certainly didn't feel like we had gained that much. The day continued 'Goan style' when we had finished all the tests by midday but were told the consultant wouldn't be free until 2pm. We had already come armed with our Kindles so we sat and read for an hour and then went to the canteen for lunch. I have no idea what we ate but it cost us 80p each and consisted of rice, 2 curry type dishes and 2 rotis dished up on metal trays. It tasted much better than it looked! We went back to the waiting area and 2pm became 4pm before the consultant finally appeared!! She went through all the results with me first and it showed excellent results in all areas except for my weight and cholesterol. She advised me I needed to lose weight and as my total cholesterol was 5.61 and I would have to cut out fatty food etc and take statins. I politely declined the statins which didn't appear to endear me to her but as I am fit and physically active with no history of heart disease in my family I felt she was being a bit hasty with the statins. I was tempted to ask her if she had read "The Great Cholesterol Con" by Anthony Colpo but figured I had already annoyed her by declining the statins without making it worse.  She then turned to Glynn and told him his test results were excellent apart from he needed to lose nearly a stone in weight!! She then looked at him and agreed he certainly didn't look like he was overweight. She weighed him on her digital scales and it showed he was over 2kgs lighter than the other scales had indicated. It turned out we had actually only gained 3lb each so that was a huge relief after spending all day discussing how we must cut back on the curries and step up the exercise. She informed Glynn that an 18 year old would be happy with his results so he left her office with a big smug grin on his face. We left the hospital clutching our folders which contained our X-Ray pictures, heart tracings and all the test results for us to keep. We called our Tuk Tuk driver and he informed us he was too busy and hung up on us, we burst out laughing as we had guessed this would happen. Luckily the bus service is frequent even if the buses are somewhat battered looking and we had barely got outside the hospital when a bus appeared. It was heading to Margao where we knew we could get a bus back to Benaulim so we flagged it down and paid the 20p fare for the half hour ride. We changed buses in Margao and were soon back in Benaulim. We decided to stay in the village and have dinner before heading home so we headed to a restaurant. As we weren't as overweight as we had first been told we felt that a curry with a nice Honey Bee brandy for me and beer for Glynn was in order. An excellent end to the day.

Margao. Jan & Cliff had offered to show us the key areas in Margao so we caught an early bus and were in Margao by 8.30am.

Fish Market

Our first stop was the fish market to get some lovely fresh prawns! What an incredible sight it was, I have never seen so many fish in one place. We wandered along the rows checking the price of the prawns at various stands before settling for some lovely big prawns at 450 rupees for a kilo. The array of different fish was amazing and in the next area were various people that will prepare your fish for a small fee. We gave our kilo of prawns to a guy who peeled and de-veined them for the tiny sum of 40 rupees (40p). It was fascinating to watch fish being efficiently de-scaled and filleted using quite primitive looking, but effective tools

More fish

We then crossed over to the fruit and veg markets with colourful displays of beautifully stacked produce. For 200 rupees I got a large pineapple and a melon, a bunch of coriander, some garlic, ginger, red carrots, onions and some courgettes. We then headed to the centre of Margao where Jan and Cliff showed us 'tin can alley', the best place to find shops selling little Indian dishes and other kitchenware and 'chemist alley' which was aptly named because of the abundance of pharmacies.  As with the bakery in Benaulim much of Margao felt like a time warp with old fashioned signs and cobblers sitting under the arches of the Town Hall building waiting to repair your shoes as they sat on little stools with glue, needles and thread at the ready.

The girls prepare your fish for a small fee

Everything that can be repaired gets repaired in Goa, from the tailors who will repair or design your clothes to the cobblers fixing your shoes and the watchmakers that seem to have the skills to get any old watch marking the passage of time again. The streets were crazy with traffic, 1000's of mopeds vied for a space on the road amongst the cars and buses. Crossing the roads was no mean feat and required nerves of steel at times. It was a crazy experience of noise and colour and we loved it. By mid morning we had built up a good picture of the best places to shop and where to eat so we caught the next bus back to Benaulim to spend the afternoon chilling on the beach. As we had the lovely fresh prawns we decided to have a quiet night in and I made dinner using the ginger, garlic, onions, prawns and some coconut milk powder. The addition of a little spice sachet that cost 4 rupees produced a really tasty meal served with pasta and washed down with a honey bee. Heaven!!

Father Christmas next to our pool

Christmas on the beach. In Goa more emphasis seems to be placed on decorating the outside of houses rather than the inside and the area had slowly transformed over the last week as beautiful displays and coloured lights illuminated the houses at night. Christmas Eve had a real party atmosphere with everyone you saw wishing you a happy Christmas. Just before midnight 100's of locals headed off to midnight mass and this was then followed by lots of noise until the early hours as firecrackers were set off in celebration of Christmas. Christmas Day was a very quiet and chilled day by comparison (probably because no-one had got much sleep!!)

One of the many roadside decorations

and we spent it much like every other day, relaxing on the beach and enjoying the beautiful weather. The only difference was that everyone dressed up more for lunch rather than just wearing sarongs and there was a great atmosphere at the Sun and Moon as we celebrated Christmas. It still seemed a bit weird listening to Christmas carols about sleigh bells and snow when it was over 30° but it was the kind of weird I had no trouble getting used to! As Christmas evening is a more subdued affair we decided to stay in and skype our families back at home. We spent a great evening catching up with everyone and it was lovely to see them all rather than just talking on the phone. 

My birthday!! 28th December. I had a wonderful start to my birthday when 4 Dolphins appeared very close to the shore and we were able to watch them diving in and out of the water. After a lovely day on the beach we spent the evening at the Rooftop Restaurant in Benaulim with Iris and Steve, Jan and Cliff and Pat and Margaret. They all spend the winter here in Goa and they have been a mine of useful information to myself and Glynn as we were now contemplating spending every winter here too. I had a wonderful evening and Glynn had arranged a lovely birthday cake to follow the meal. As everyone else headed home we set off for the airport. Our friends, Sharon and Glynn were joining us for 3 weeks and their plane was due to land just after midnight. We had decided to surprise them and turn up at the airport rather than just sending a taxi. It was great to see their faces when we jumped out on them.

Celebrating with Sharon and Glynn

New Year celebrations. Surprisingly it was a slightly overcast day with lots of cloud and it was forecast to rain in the evening. Luckily the cloud cleared taking with it the threat of rain and we were looking forward to seeing in the new year on the beach. We had booked a table at the Sun and Moon and enjoyed a lively evening of music and dancing before everyone stepped out on to the beach at midnight to watch the fireworks. It was an incredible display of noise and colour as all the beach shacks set off their fireworks

Happy New Year

almost simultaneously and as far as the eye could see along the beach there were explosions of noise and colour. It was a fantastic way to see in the new year. We had originally planned on walking back along the beach but we suddenly decided that a Tuk Tuk ride would be preferable to walking for an hour to get home and we were delighted to find a driver that was free. 

December has been an eventful month with dentist and hospital check ups, trips to Cavelossim and Margao and wonderful Christmas, birthday and New Year celebrations on the beach. Glynn continues to remind me that I am married to an "18 year old" at every opportunity and will also relay the story to anyone who will listen!! January looks set to be just as exciting as I contemplate taking quite a momentous step but more about that in January's blog!! 

Fireworks along the beach

At the bakery

Chopping 100's of onions for the pasties

No fancy cooker for preparing the beef pasty filling

Glynn trying to get a job as a waiter!!

Street children singing Christmas carols on the beach.

Catching dinner on the beach! Might need a few to make  meal!

Repairing the nets.

Dolphin just off the shore-line

Beach cleaners in their high-vis vests

Having a paddle!

Coastguard's Hovercraft close to shore

A Kingfisher on the beach.