Home at last

By 6.00pm on Wednesday 22nd April we were sitting on the deck at Moyhill sipping champagne in the evening sunshine with the sound of a cuckoo in the background and the first swallows overhead.

The ferry trip was uneventful , and after a great dinner, bed & breakfast with Uncle Jack in Donaghadee, our drive to Moyhill only took 6 hours - including lunch in Maynooth and a slight detour via Athenry when we missed our turning off the new M6. We had the car unpacked by 4.30 and took advantage of the glorious weather which has continued for our first three days - bright sunshine and 16C today with 19C promised for tomorrow.

Eugene - our very accommodating landlord - has completed the work on the gullies and drains on the driveway and across the front of the yard which should be a great improvement when the rain comes. Like the Isle of Seil, where we were last weekend, the winter here has been very dry - extremely cold but almost no rain or snow. He has also had to replace all the carpet on the ground floor following a burst pipe, so the cottage is in great shape for our return.
We have had a busy couple of days: utilities reconnected - only temporarily as one of the contractors then took out the phone cable with a JCB; Car tax renewed; bank account reactivated; shopping for essentials; and broadband connection set up. Yes, we finally have broadband - in our absence, the wireless broadband coverage has extended to Moyhill and I am posting this blog via our new wifi modem. We also retrieved the MG from Keith’s yard - waterhose repaired and running relatively normally. Now we have to decide on its future.

As I write this on Friday evening - on my new Toshiba NB305 netbook - everything has been unpacked, and normal life has been resumed. We are starting work on the vegetable beds tomorrow morning and planning to have our seeds started in doors by Monday ; watch this space!

In an idle moment, I totted up that I have packed my toothbrush 43 times in the last 4 months and am very glad that it won’t be going anywhere for a couple of months. We had a fabulous trip but - as trite as it may sound - it is very, very good to be home!

Is it finally over?

We are leaving this morning for Stranraer and the ferry to Belfast - thankfully booked last week and unaffected by the clouds of volcanic ash which has caused so much disruption this week. Have to pack up the car again for the last time and hope to be back in Moyhill on Wednesday afternoon. Even remembered to order heating oil although we have been very lucky with the weather since we got back and the forecast is promising more fine weather for the next week or so.

Have had a great time in the last week or so catching up with friends and family: a memorable night out in Edinburgh -although somewhat hazy due to excessive amounts of alcohol; driving along the side of Loch Lomond - with sun sparkling on the few remaining snow patches on Ben Lomond - and then through Glen Lochy on a clear bright afternoon on our way to Seil; and helping Brian with his lambing for a day - 4 more lambs to add to the 39 already born.

Guess that really is the end of the holiday. Time to get back to normality and start working on all the projects that we have been talking about for the last few months. Still have to organise our broadband access at Moyhill, so we may have to rely on the library at Ennistymon for internet access again for the next week or so.

With neither TV nor internet, we will - thankfully - miss the rest of the general election campaign in the UK. Based on the current polls, it looks like Nick Clegg will win 'Britain's Got talent' while Simon Cowell and Louie Walsh fight it out for the job of Prime Minister. I was going to vote for Arsene Wenger but after Sunday's performance against Wigan I'll have to think again.

Reality check !!!

As I type this note, Linda is ironing – for the first time in nearly 4 months – while watching Coronation Street – for the first time in more than a year!
Currently in Airdrie, after a great drive up from the south coast on Thursday. We spent Friday in Edinburgh with Sandra & Gavin and the kids. It all went pear-shaped on the way home on Friday night – the car started overheating just after we got on the M8 and despite the best efforts of the RAC, we ended up being towed home.
Booked it into the Ford dealer for Monday morning and bought bus tickets for our weekend trip to Aberdeen. Great to see Gill and Ali – pity Graham and Alan are both working away.
This morning’s Scotsman told us that Coatbridge is the “fattest” place in the UK – highest percentage of obese people – just think of all those fish suppers and strawberry tarts enjoyed by overweight balding locals– and that’s just the women!
Have returned to a veritable heatwave, it was 19C in Glasgow today – acres of unsightly flesh on display. Thankfully, the car only needed a new water pump – even got some change from £300 (only pennies but…..) – and hope we can carry on the trip without further problems. Edinburgh on Wednesday, Seil for the weekend and ferry to Belfast on Tuesday.
Looking forward to being back at Moyhill more and more – while Linda shopped in Glasgow today, I spent a couple of hours in Waterstone’s reading about raising pigs, hens and geese. Now need to start putting it into practice!

Back to reality

So much for our careful planning - the three day Easter alcohol ban in Costa Rica included the dutyfree shop at the airport. Luckily we had plenty of time at Barajas in Madrid to pick up some supplies.

Arriving at Terminal 3 at Heathrow after an incident-free journey was a shock to the system. Reckon we saw people of more races and nationalities in the 20 minutes waiting for our driver than we have in the last 13 weeks. Typical return to London with a driver who couldn't find his way out of the carpark without his satnav, and had about as much knowledge of the streets of London as our 12yr old niece!

Linda tells me that our London hotel is the 19th place we have stayed on our trip - am looking forward to being able to put away the suitcases when we get back to Moyhill in a couple of weeks. Meanwhile, we have another day of unpacking, sorting and repacking before we get on the road again for a couple of weeks to visit family and friends.

Thankfully the car started first time and only needed a hose down to remove 3 months of dust and grime. All I have to do now is pack it full and face the bank holiday traffic on the A3.

Final thoughts

Sitting at the Hostel in San Jose, waiting for transport to the airport and thinking back over the last 13 weeks. We have both enjoyed the trip, had some great experiences, met some interesting people and seen some great sights. It´s hard to pick out individual highlights but would start with:-

• The variety of canal birds we saw at Jalova
• The orchids and other flowers in the garden at Jalova
• Seeing the Resplendent Quetzal at Monteverde
• the beach at Playa Samara - and the huge Tuna steak
• The troop of White-faced Capuchins who paraded past our cabin at Manuel Antonio
• Our time at the Ocean Coral with Jim & co and particularly St Patrick's day in the rain
• The pink flamingos at Celestun
• Mayan ruins at Uxmal
• The view over Lake Bacalara
• Floating on our backs down the canal at Sian Ka'a n

Food and drink has featured as well but there are only
few memories:-

• Ice cold Imperial and Papaya daiquiri at the Buddha Bar in Tortuguero after 2 weeks of abstinence at Jalova
• Dinner at El Refugio at Punta Uva
• Whole grilled Snapper at Selvin´s in Punta Uva
• Ceviche at the beach restaurant in Samara
• Tuna sashimi and Tuna steak at El Gusto in Samara
• Mudslides with Mark at Ocean Coral
• Linda´s frozen margarita and steak at El Paraiso in Merida

And the people

• All the Ticos and Ticas who have been so friendly and helpful
• the North American tourists who provided us with so much amusement and bewilderment
• the Mexican boat driver at Celestun
• the beach waitress and the entertainment staff at the Ocean Coral

As Joni Mitchell sang, ´the taxis´s waiting...´ time to go - be in touch when we are back in London

Travelling home

Our journey home started as we left Tulum yesterday to drive to Cancun for our flight back to San Jose. Cancun airport was very efficient, checked in, through security and spending our last pesos in the Cuervo Tequileria within 30 mins of arriving. Uneventful flight - except for the landing through some low level turbulence - and an equally efficient trip through immigration and customs. It was great to be back in CR where the people are much more friendly and welcoming than in Mexico - from the immigration and customs officers to the taxi drivers and hotel staff. We had meals in Mexico with waiters who managed to get through the whole meal without uttering a word; our waiter last night stopped for a chat and gave me a blow by blow account of the Arsenal/Barca game which he had watched in the kitchen - don't hold out much hope for the Gunners on the return leg, but at least the conversation helped improve my Spanish.

Surprisingly for a Tico waiter in a Chinese restaurant, he expressed some disparaging views of the Chinese customers who were just arriving for a wedding dinner. Maybe he is influenced by the 5000 chinese workers imported by the Chinese Govt to build the new CR National Stadium which is a gift from China. Apparently there are no Tican's on the site and all of the supplies and most of the materials have been imported directly from China.

Luckily we had done our research and picked up our beer and wine supplies before the three day nationwide embargo on alcohol sales kicked in. Lots of people caught out today when they went to buy some beer for the weekend. No drink for sale anywhere in the country until Easter - can't imagine that working in the UK or Ireland!

Our research on other things wasn't so good - didn't realise that almost every business in the country would be closed for the Easter Holiday - and very few buses running. Organised a day trip to Poas to see the volcano again - and allow Linda to finish her shopping - and drummed up 10 others from the hostel to join us and share the costs. Turned into quite a sociable event with the people who are about to start their 10 weeks at the GVI project that we left 2 months ago.

Plenty of time tomorrow morning to pack before heading to the airport after lunch and our flight to London via Madrid. Back in London for Saturday afternoon hoping that the sun may be shining and the weather warmer there than it is today!

Our last stop

All that effort at Cancun on a borrowed laptop trying to get hotels confirmed for the last part of the trip proved to be a waste of time. The hotel in Merida was closed when we got there, while the hotel at Tulum - although everything it claimed on its website was a long way from town and even further from the beach. Found an alternative at the Posada del Sol - Italian owned, like many of the businesses here - which faced on to the beach and a funky room with a huge open bathroom. Naturally, the beach and cold beer beckoned - only a week until we are back in London - and our plans for an active afternoon were postponed. Great fish restaurant next door for dinner - although the prices are definitely Riviera Maya levels - have paid less for a meal in Nice!

Booked a trip into the Sian Ka'an Bisophere for Monday which turned out to be slightly less than wonderful - although the 30mins floating down a freshwater canal in the wetlands was one of the best parts of the whole trip! They also served us a great lunch, but the boat tour of the lagoons to see the wildlife was a challenge since it was done so fast that everything was frightened off and even included a collision with a mangrove tree - so that Linda ended up with a bruised head and the captain's tip went out the window!

Tulum is three locations - the Mayan Ruins on the coast, the beach community where we stayed and the town which has grown up on the highway - complete with all the usual brands. Headed to the town in the early evening for internet and dinner. Internet was a challenge - lost about an hour's work when the computer dropped its connection - which is why I am behind schedule with the blog! Thankfully dinner was great - restorative beer and real pizza in an Italian restaurant.

For our last day, we headed for the Mayan ruins - very different from the others we have seen - Tulum was a fortified coastal town which guarded one of the important sea routes and much more functional than the temple sites. Then we drove to Akumal bay - hoped to snorkel in the bay but it was too choppy, so we headed for the Lal-Ku lagoon - which is inland and quite shallow. Great place to swim and snorkel and watch fish although it was a little busy. Had also planned a visit to the caves at Aktun Chen but after 90 mins in the lagoon, we had had enough and headed back to the beach again.

Another great dinner in a spanish restaurant - best seafood paella for a long time and a floorshow during the meal which was billed as live music, but was mostly juggling and acrobatics, and surprisingly entertaining.