Day 119 Back at the Pool!

No lie in yet, LB & Huw were up early to play golf again. I got up just after they left and read, watched a bit of the royal wedding, caught up with facebook etc for an hour before heading off to the spa at the golf club for the "80 min deep tissue massage" that Gareth treated me to, using his hotel credits. It was wonderful,not painful as I had feared, relaxing & loosened me up a treat. I even managed to stay awake to enjoy it all although that was a bit of a struggle! I met the boys in the golf club bar afterwards and rather decadently tried one of their famous Margharitas.  Very nice but 11.00 am is a bit early for cocktails!  the afternoon was again spent by the pool so I thought I'd better take some photos of it.  A photographer friend once told me to try to photograph the "essence" of things.  I've found that quite difficult in a big hotel thats much the same as thousands of others but the pool area has to be the heart of this holiday.

Sun beds

Day 118 Coba & Tulum

Jacobs Ladder?

Yet another early start today for me & LB and a worrying wait for a bus that was 20 minutes late. We thought they'd forgotten us! Coba & Tulum are more Mayan ruins built before Chichen Itza and were residential as well as religious centres. Coba apparently covered an area of 70 sq km although only a fraction of it has been cleared of jungle and/or restored. We saw the impressive original entrance, assorted buildings, several ball courts, stelae a the main attraction of the pyramid.  This is the highest in the area at, I think, 42m and you're allowed to climb it.  Only the front face has been cleared of jungle and this has a single rope secured down the middle to hold on to if needed. The steps are high, rough and steep.  Health & Safety would never have allowed the public near it at home!  It was quite an experience, thinking of its original purpose and then enjoying the view from the top, as it was higher than the jungle canopy.




After lunch we moved on to Tulum, a much smaller settlement but uniquely with its perimeter wall intact and a beautiful setting on the coast.  This was originally the port for Coba.  There were extensive trade routes to other Mayan communities in Guatamala, Belize, El Salvador and Honduras both overland and by sea, where the craft used were canoes.  Guatemalan jade was an important import here.  Tulum was quite beautiful. The jungle had been totally cleared and although that meant no shade it gave us a better over view of the place.  The wildlife was plentiful, in particular it was overrun with iguanas!

We arrived back at the hotel hot sweaty and filthy! It was worth it though! After a shower we had an excellent  meal in the hotel's Mexican restaurant. For once the two of us ate alone, nice and romantic!  Family is great but we also appreciate our time alone together.

Day 117 Just Chillin'

Not a lot to report for Wednesday. The boys were up early for a game of golf and reappeared at lunchtime a bit tipsy after too many margharitas in the club house! They were also aghast at the American golfer they'd got chatting to who'd been berating "the nigger in the White House"  He obviously didn't appreciate his words said more about him then Obama. I spent half the morning catching up on a few days photos and this blog & the rest of the day was spent relaxing by the pool. By the time we were setting off to the Italian restaurant in the evening I realised I had not even considered a photo so I took the compact with me.  I didn't have much inspiration but took these two.  The main one is of the floor above the main lobby which  is well decorated with plants.

Indoor Jungle

The second is a view through the window into the Chinese restaurant.

Add caption

Day 116 Bad news!

Mr & Mrs Mogs v2 and the in laws went off on a trip together leaving Mia our new grand daughter with us.  She was a delight to look after.  I took some underwater snaps of her as the camera has recovered and I'll post one later. She then went off with LB and Gaz and some friends to play crazy golf while I chilled by the pool. My phone rang. It was LB's cousin Mike ringing to say Mother in law had fallen again and was back in hospital. LB, naturally is very upset.  We got in touch with the rep to see if we could get an earlier flight but there are no available seats in the next few days.  The good news is that she doesn't appear to have sustained any serious injury this time.  She is very shaken up, has a lot of facial bruising and may have a minor fracture to her cheekbone although they're not sure about that.  They are querying whether she  has some sort of problem causing her to faint/fall and will be  investigating that. Hopefully they'll keep her in until after we are home.

So for the rest of the day LB was very quiet while I continued the babysitting, taking Mia to have her hair braided, playing in the pool with her and finally getting her to have an afternoon nap before her Mum arrived back.  We then had an early meal and early night.

Underwater Dancer

Day 115 Wedding Day!

The big day arrived so what did the groom do first - have a game of golf with his Dad and brother! I took the opportunity of having a bit of peace and quiet to sort my photos and update the last couple of days on the blog before joining the bride and family at the pool for a swim. It was a very relaxing morning!  After lunch I was the first to get changed into my finery then went to help the bride and bridesmaid while taking some photos along the way! Te wedding was scheduled for 4.00pm so all except the bride and her father gathered in plenty of time in the open air pavilion where the ceremony was to be held. It was a small gathering, just the 8 of us and another British family of  4 who we've become friendly with. The Bride and her father arrived in a white open carriage and the ceremony began.  It was very simple just the signing of the register, vows, the exchange of rings and a few words from the judge who conducted the proceedings.  It was quite informal and I was able to take photos during the ceremony. Family photos were taken on the grass outside then the new Mr & Mrs Mogs  had more photos taken on the beach by the official photographer.  I'm afraid I neglected my duty there as neither my shoes nor stockings would have coped with the fine sand!  By now we were all very hot and sweaty so decided to dress down for the meal.  After a quick change we set off to the restaurant for champagne, fine wine, a nice steak and some wedding cake.  It was a perfect day.

I've taken lots of photos  and will post a gallery of them when I get home but for now I've chosen one of the crucial moment

Day 114 Easter Sunday

Easter sunday but no Easter bunnies here!  It was nice to have a relaxing day for once.  The good news is that the waterproof camera seems to have recovered.  It has a small internal memory so we tried it without an SD card in the swimming pool. It worked and stayed dry so hopefully will be ok to use again.  We must have got a bit of sand or something in battery and sd card compartment seal. This morning was spent by the pool but after an early lunch I had a spa appointment.  Wow! The spa here is amazing! It's really big and very posh! There is soothing music & the  lighting throughout is very low. Everyone moves and talks slowly and quietly which made me want to giggle it was so unnatural. Not my style at all but it was very relaxing.  I had booked  a 2 hour package during which I was scrubbed, wrapped, massaged and had a facial.  I enjoyed every minute of it until I fell asleep half way through the facial! I was quite disappointed when Sylvia woke me up to say it was all over!

Of course I couldn't take photos while being pampered but as the cactuses in the open corridor outside our room have started flowering I've photographed one of them.  Not very inspiring but there are limited photographic opportunities in the hotel and I don't want to post all the happy snaps of the family that I am otherwise taking.

We had the most superb evening meal tonight, in La Trattoria, the Italian restaurant at the golf club. Fantastic food that everyone enjoyed, good service and top quality wine.  I haven't mentioned resort $'s yet.  Each room has $2500 dollars credit to spend in the hotel. The number depends on your length of stay here.  We've got more credit than we know what to do with.  We've paid for some of the trips and spa treatment so tonight e splashed out on the best wines. As they were $100 a bottle we would never have paid for it in cash, particularly as there is a huge mark up on them but it was quite fun being reckless with our credit, or rather Gareth's credit as he has even more spare than the rest of us!  Thanks Gaz!

Day 113 Wet'nWild

Our third busy day on the trot took both families to a local water park,.  Unlike Xhel Ha this was totally man made with a range of slides and pools.  Our bus deposited us at the gate minutes before it opened and for the first hour or two it was pretty empty which was great.  There were no queues for the slides etc so we had several goes on each of the big rides until we were tired out.Then the place started filling up, mainly with local Mexican families.  Interestingly although some of the locals look Spanish most are obviously Mayan although they're just as noisy as the Spanish! By mid day the park was heaving people, with kids screaming and chatter going on all around!  Food and drink was all inclusive and we went to the buffet which was fairly basic but you'd just helped yourself & with no queues.  Again, as  with Xhel Ha, it was well organised.  An hour before our pick up time we changed and were having a drink in one of the bars when there was an absolute downpour!  The clouds had been building all morning so it wasn't a surprise but we were fortunate to be under one of the few bits of cover when it came,  especially as 10 minutes previously, having got separated we were all wandering around looking for each other!

As the waterproof camera is unusable, although showing more signs of life as it dries out, I took no pictures while at the park. Back at the hotel I had a wander around the hotel looking for inspiration and was intrigued by the bark on this palm tree so that's the photo for today.

As we don't get many palm trees at home I also photographed this next one, much smoother bark but still with interesting texture

Day 112 Chichen Itza

It was another long bus ride for me and LB today, leaving the hotel at 9.00 and arriving at Chichen Itza at 2.00 after a shopping "opportunity" and lunch en route.  We had a very well organised and informative guide in Mary but only two hours to see the place.  Its much bigger than I expected with lots of buildings as well as the great pyramid in my photo.  We rushed around selected bits at breakneck speed and it was difficult if not impossible to look for interesting photographic angles. Thanks to Mary I learnt a lot but will resist the temptation to write an essay on it here. Although I would have liked to spends lots more time there, in a way, 2 hours was enough as it was the hottest dustiest place we've ever been to.  The sun was punishing & there was virtually no shade there, the wind didn't relieve the heat but just sent dust storms across the plaza.  We were filthy when we got back on the coach!  Fortunately the journey home was fairly quick and were able to have a really good scrub in the shower before a nice meal in the outdoor Grill restaurant and some circus entertainment

Day111 Xhel Ha

We had a great time today although it was very long and photographically a bit of a disaster. Xhel Ha is a natural park based around the emergence of a river from underground, it's short course and the lagoon it forms before entering the sea.  There is snorkelling, tube rides on the river, cliff jumps, a manatee pool and dolphinarium plus other activities. The towels and equipment and all food and drink were included in the price & it was really well organised. The coach ride from the hotel took two hours so we set off at 7.30 am after an early breakfast.  It was a big place and we walked and swam miles! Mia did very well at her first attempt at snorkelling.  I took the waterproof camera hoping to get some really interesting photos. Well I took a bit of video on the tube ride and a couple of photos then the camera stopped working. The seal had leaked! So no more photos from the water.  It was 8.00pm when we got back to the hotel and we were too tired to get dressed up and go to one of the hotel restaurants so we had room service instead, a very tasty filling meal of mixed chicken and beef fajitas. Then I had to take a photo for today! I was given this rose on arrival at the hotel and the rom maid put it in a water bottle .  I've placed it in front of the air conditioning grill!

 

Day110

It's rather strange watching the sun rise over the sea, I'm so use to that being the place where it sets.  We've adjusted well to the time difference but do wake a bit earlier than at home. There are lovely sunrises at about 6.30 each morning so this is the view today.  We still haven't left the hotel and had another lazy day of swimming, reading and resting by the pool. Cancun itself is a bus ride away and is just a mass of hotels, shops and bars so we've no real interest in going there. We do have trips out planned for the next 3 days though. 

Dawn from our Balcony

Day109

We had a second day of relaxing by the pool or should I say one of the pools as there are many.  We like the one closest to our rooms which is relatively quiet and other British kids, all little girls of about the right age for Mia, hang out there too.  Today we bought a blow up whale which was great fun to ride on in the pool although more time was spent in falling off. Although it's blue Mia has decided it's a killer whale and has named it Twinkle!

There was a belly dancer performing in the lobby when we all met up prior to going off to one of the restaurants for dinner so she's my photo. I don't know who the bloke in the background is, unfortunately there were people sitting all around her.  This holiday is not producing any great photos, it's just snaps.  I think any artistry will have to wait till I'm home!

Belly Dancer

Frustratingly poor internet access here so getting a bit behind.  I'll just post a few days photos and will catch up on the text later

Day 108 Settling In

Well, this is a lovely hotel, nice room, excellent & varied food, fantastic grounds with ample pools, bar, loungers etc & BIG!  We're going to get plenty of exercise here, especially the more energetic among the party ( not me) who have already been up early and used the gym.  We had an early  lesson in how strong the sun is here as grand daughter to be, despite sunscreen has gone rather red on her face and back already after spending virtually all day in the pool. She's off to Kids Club today for more indoor entertainment & is thoroughly covered up.

After the evening meal we took a long walk along the beach front to another of the hotels outdoor bars. There's a full moon & here's Gdtb sitting on the hotel wall by one of the lifeguard stands.Not best quality as taken handheld with v high iso.

Girl in the Moonlight

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Day 107 Gatwick

We're at the airport so just a quick pick on the iPhone. Our daily challenge is something beginning with E so I've taken a photo looking down the Escalater


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Day 106 Setting Off

Just a quickie today! We're setting off in about an hour and here's our luggage.  Mine is the big case and camera bag, LB has the small case and rucksac! They are all stuffed! We should have bought a bigger suitcase to give us a bit of leeway! Anyway, flying tomorrow but will try to get a photo in. The hotel in Cancun has wifi so I'm hoping to continue to update the blog daily. Byee!

Day 105 All Ready

Spent half this morning in the beauty salon, which is most unlike me! I've had my nails done, legs waxed eybrows shaped and tinted. Came home and coloured my hair - it's really not me at all!! Made a final visit to Porthcawl to see Dad and take him in to visit Mum. Spoke to H on the phone he still has painful pins and needles down his right arm but it is improving thankfully.  Most of the evening was taken up doing odds and ends on the computer and posting todays photos.  It was a last minute photoshoot so I picked on some dried flowers I've had in the house for ages. Here's the best one

And my second choice

Day 104 Final Preparations

Only 36 hours to go! Squeezed a couple more things into the suitcase today, ll packed apart from things like hair brushes that can't go in until the day we set off.  Did a supermarket shop for MiL today, she's all stocked up to survive a fortnight without us, as she is unable to go shopping on her own yet.  At lunchtime I had my hair cut & tomorrow I will banish the grey again, myself!  The afternoon was spent giving the house a quick clean then at about 5.00 we went back to MiL's house where cousin M, who's keeping an eye on her while we're away, was visiting.  Then a quiet evening :)


Todays photo is another challenge - todays theme was "smell".  this is a dressing table perfume spray that I rarely use now as my favourite perfumes coming already in a spray container. It's a shame as this is very sensuous & I love using it.

Day 103 Packing & a Meal Out

We decided to pack our stuff for Mexico today.  We usually travel fairly light and have previously had no problems fitting all we want into our two suitcases but this trip is a little different & we were seriously concerned that we wouldn't get everything in.  The plan was to go and buy a bigger suitcase tomorrow if necessary but fortunately it's all managed to squeeze in. No room to bring back souvenirs though!

This evening we drove to Swansea to meet up with our son G & girlfriend V.  We had a lovely time, firstly we went to see V's gorgeous flat overlooking Swansea Marina and the footbridge. The photo is taken from the balcony. After a drink in the pub next door and a stroll around it's art gallery we drove to an Italian Restaurant where we were served by a girl with the most bizarre accent that was half Italian & half Swansea! The food was great & the company even better.  Here's a very brief photographic record of the evening

En Route

Footbridge

Marina View from Restaurant

Day 102

Well the good news is that H's injuries are improving.  He's still a fair way to go yet but but I've no doubt it will all settle soon. We called around again today, partly to reassure ourselves but also to check how many suitcases we can fit in our car. The wedding trip to Mexico starts on Saturday when we drive to Gatwick prior to the flight on Sunday morning.  There's 8 of us in two cars and ours has the bigger boot. so the second bit of good news is that all the cases will fit in - just! Other than that I had a fruitless shopping trip, looking for a white handbag.  It's obviously not this seasons colour!  there are some around but none I liked. Oh well, it would have been nice but it's not essential.


I've taken a packing photo today, for fun. I have actually exaggerated the situation somewhat. 

Will it all fit in?

Day 101 Straws

It's been a busy day today and I forgot to take my camera with me! Had to resort to another late night photo session. More of that later.  What I didn't mention yesterday was that our son H, soon to be a bridegroom, got himself in a bit of a mess on Saturday night/Sunday morning. A friendly tussle resulted in him losing consciousness, banging his head and developing painful pins and needles down both arms. He spent several hours in A&E but was then discharged with a diagnosis of localised trauma and no serious injury.With friends like that I'm glad he has no enemies! He's likely to be off work all week as although he's improved a bit today he's still in a lot of pain and still got pins and needles.  We called around to see him this morning.  He's definitely a bit perkier today though obviously very sore.  Also at the house was his future father in law busily rodding the drains which had blocked! I'm pleased to say he's marrying into a very nice family. I think drain unblocking is beyond the call of duty! what a filthy job1


Anyway, did the usual Porthcawl, Bridgend, hospital visiting trip,did some fruitless shopping,  then detoured to Nantyfyllon to pick up a car wheel for a friend. Got home about 6.30.  After eating it was photo time! Resorted to an old standby - drinking straws. Our Daily challenge was 3 colours so here they are

 and two also rans

Day 100

Had a lazy day, not done much and am totally lacking in inspiration! As I 've just finished some ironing I took a couple of quick snaps of it which will have to do for today. So here's a zip!

Day 99 - New Bikes!

Today has been a great day, but expensive! It's been another gloriously warm sunny day, more like June than April. This morning after LB had mown the back lawn I took my old pushbike for a test drive.  The bikes have been mouldering in the garage for the past 7 years since LB was taken ill.  It's a damp garage and time has not treated them well.  To be fair both bikes are 15 to 20 years old and although they were good bikes in their time things have moved on.  Here's mine with rust on all the cables as well as bigger bits such as the pedals

My test ride showed the gears and brakes were working so we set off to ride the new cyclepath that has been built along the Church Village bypass. Althought the path runs near the new road it is set back sufficiently for it to be a very pleasant rural ride of 8-10 miles round trip.  We love it!  We were home in time for lunch and less tired than on previous bike rides 10 years ago.  Our work in the gym is paying off! :)

So this afternoon we took the car into Cardiff and bought two new bikes! Yes we could have refurbished the ones we have but technology has moved on and we could have spent a lot of money for them still to be second rate.  The new ones are a fraction of the weight and are beautiful!! Weight is really important for when we take them away on a rack with the touring van. We're picking them up when we return home from Mexico in three weeks time.  So todays photo is of the two of us in the MX5, setting off to look for bikes, with the roof down & sun shining! ( I'm the one behind the camera ;)  )

Self portrait in LB's glasses

Day 98 Family to be

Another wonderful day of sunshine though for some reason I didn't quite feel myself all day.  Did some shopping & picked up the new trousers that I've had shortened,  slobbed around all afternoon without achieving much.  In the evening son Huw, daughter in law to be and nearly grand daughter came around for tea and the plan wa to stay until Mia got tired. surprisingly she kept going until 9.30 when she started to flag so we had a lovely long evening with them.  Here is a pale version of her  wearing LB's bike helmet

and here's her lovely mother :)

....and before you ask - I did have permission to post these  although that was before they saw them!

Day 97 - More birds

What fantastic weather we're having for March! So warm! LB & I spent this morning in the garden, mowing, weeding & cleaning the paths.  There'll be no more wet moss photos for a while as LB powerhosed all the moss away! We've still some more work to do there ut the forecast is set fair for the next 5 days so we'll have plenty of time.  we want it all tidy before we go off to Mexico a week Saturday.  We don't want to come back to a jungle!


This afternoon I went back down to Forest Farm.  I had an idea to take a close up shot with the G12, wide angle of the small birds feeding on a log or stone by using the remote trigger.  I've bought a 5m extension so I can fire the camera from quite a distance.  I set it all up but got no decent photos. I couldn't work out how to set a larger focussing area so ended up with nice sharp photos of the trees with large very blurry birds in the foreground!  I ended up taking plant shots with the G12 but also I had my 7D and 400mm lens which always delivers nice bird photos.  Here's a great tit. I'd set the shutter speed at 1/500 sec but it still wasn't fast enough to freeze the movement of his wings. Amazing, isn't it?

Also a few other shots from this afternoon

What's up there then?

Ok, robin photos are two a penny but this fellow was so
 close I could have touched him, too tempting to resist!

Afternoon Sun

Day 96

What a gorgeous warm sunny day it was today.  The car thermometer said 19 degrees when I was driving to Porthcawl at lunchtime. I'd bought kids pots of bubbles so when we visited Mum we took her out in the garden and blew bubbles. She enjoyed it interittently but Dad had great fun.  It's years since he played with bubbles,  it's not something you usually do in your nineties!  I'm keeping the left overs and will try some bubble photos before long.


On my way home I stopped off at a small lake in Newton near Dad's house.  Our daily challenge was nature so I was hoping for a bit off aggressive spring action, fighting or displaying by the waterfowl.  They didn't oblige but I got a few nice shots including this one of a Canada goose landing on the water

Canada Goose

The light was lovely and with little wind there were great reflections of thebirds, the trees and sky.

2 headed coot?

as I left I heard this blackbird singing away before spotting him watching me from high up in the new green leaves of a tree

Day 95 Drips & Droplets

Spent a pleasant evening with MiL last night.  She coped very well so we came home this morning and will just pop in on her regularly for the next couple of weeks. Today was a pretty damp grey day & I didn't do much, just pottered abut at home. There were lots of nice drops of water on the garden so this afternoon I put my wellis on and went out with the camera. I wonder what the neighbours made of me?  Anyway the topic for our daily challenge was "down" so the main picture is of our house, upside down in raindrop hanging from the clematis.

Upside Down

Here, also, is a spiders web taken through the dining room window, more of the moss & a flower

Web 

Pear Tree Blossom

Moss