December 23 - January 2
Hello everyone!
My whole raison d'etre for being on this side of the world, far away from both southern Africa and the UK, was to surprise Hannah. She thought I was in Madagascar. Well, she did until the morning of the intended surprise...
 |
| Some very large lobsters, caught by a free diver |
I had spent weeks musing over the possible ways of surprising her. These ranged from making an announcement over the PA in the airport to appearing out of the water like James Bond.
 |
| What I definitely would have looked like |
 |
Reality: hiding in an airport cupboard
covered with wrapping paper |
Neither of these - or the other ideas - were possible for a variety of reasons. The place where Hannah was is the island of Eleuthera, a 25 minute plane ride from Nassau. The airport, Governor's Harbour, is the opposite of 'state-of-the-art'. No chance of a PA system here. No luggage carousel either, so no chance of turning up on the conveyor belt.
 |
| The island is roughly 110 miles in length, and very thin throughout |
The Bond idea had traction - there is a lot of coastline around this skinny island, after all - but it turned out that Hannah was actually going to be at the airport when I landed. Her extended family were coming to spend Christmas with them and unwittingly were on the same tiny plane as me. The tiny plane which everyone can be seen getting off, making it impossible to hide.
 |
The plane seats 16 plus 2 pilots - on the way back, there
wasn't enough space for everyone's luggage |
Trying to persuade Hannah not to go to the airport is possibly what made her realise, though she maintains that there were many reasons for her suspicions to be aroused. Though it wasn't the true shock that we all hoped for, me being wheeled out of the airport covered in wrapping paper and with a note saying 'To Hannah' scribbled on the back of a crossword was quite funny.
 |
| The dreaded WhatsApp |
As for Eleuthera? I've been told to either not talk about it or to say that it's rubbish and no one else should ever go there. I mean, look at it. Would you want to go there?
 |
| First sunset |
 |
| First sunset |
 |
| First sunset |
 |
| The Palms |
 |
| View of the Caribbean Sea |
 |
| Walking Club Med beach at low tide |
 |
| A gorgeous sunset |
 |
| Glassy waters of the Caribbean Sea |
 |
| Welsh invasion for Christmas! |
 |
| Junkanoo festival on Christmas Day |
 |
| Junkanoo is a street festival featuring different villages on the island |
 |
| Competing villages make a float and parade it through the host town |
Love you all,
Matt
No comments:
Post a Comment