Who books a Caribbean cruise during hurricane season?

Honestly, who books a Caribbean cruise during hurricane season, of course I do!

I very rarely have 'blonde moments' (Daddy may disagree with that comment) however I genuinely didn't realise it was currently hurricane season in the Caribbean. I'm a little miffed my travel agent (Trail Finders) didn't point this fact out to me when I was booking my trip back in July. 

I want to start off by saying how badly I feel for everyone affected by the Hurricanes Irma and Maria. It's truly awful the destruction and lives these storms have affected. My heart really does go out to those people. 

I know I'm being a bit selfish for being disappointed with the latest (and I imagine final) itinerary change to my cruise. Originally I had booked this 7 night cruise which would visit The Bahamas, Charlotte Amelie (U.S. Virgin Islands) and St. Kitts. I was excited to have two new countries to tick off. 

Shortly after booking, the trip was amended to remove St. Kitts and replace with Puerto Rico. I always wanted to visit PR, and after some time of trying to figure out whether it's a new country (it's not, it's technically part of the USA), I was still made up with the change. I'd planned to visit multiple places in San Juan. I was considering hiring a bike and exploring solo. 

Then the hurricanes came. At first, I was pretty calm about it. I still had a few weeks before the trip so I assumed they'd just switch some ports and they did. Sadly Charlotte Amelie was out due to the damage. It's so sad to see this beautiful island so badly damaged. 

This port was replaced with Hati. I thought excellent, another country (yes I'm a country whore). 

That was short lived with the next hurricane Maria arriving. Maria has practically wiped Puerto Rico out. The whole island has been without power. 

At first I thought such a first world problem thing of "oh no how can they use phones/wifi etc" but after my superficial comment I realised what about those poor people on life support machines? What about being able to cook? And even what about those poor children scared of the dark?

Here's me worrying about another holiday and these people life's are destroyed. It helps put things into perspective. 

Because of Maria, my itinerary has been changed again. Now it's The Bahamas and two places in Mexico. 

Again straight away I was so upset. I've been to Mexico twice before. The last time I visited was in 2012. I travelled from Belize to Playa del Carmen via boat. As soon as we arrived at the port, we were shouted at to get off the boat and line up our luggage. We were surrounded by police with machine guns and sniffer dogs. I'd never been so scared before. 

I've travelled to a fair few countries and although Mexico is beautiful, it probably the one place I've felt the most unsafe. 

I'm now in the predicament of do I even get off the ship at these ports? Of course I want to. I'd like to see some more of Mexico but there's no way I'll be wandering around alone now. If I decide to get off, I will have to book excursions. I'll even book the excursions direct with Royal Caribbean. 

I foolishly read the travel advice issued by the UK government on Mexico - it's pretty dire. I know they're just covering all eventualities but still I don't want to be kidnapped! I think I need to learn some Spanish. How do you say "my family is poor and won't pay to buy me back?"

I'm making light of the situation. You have to! I already had my sister in tears at the weekend worried about me but they really don't neee to be worried. 

I'm sure my trip will be perfectly safe. I'm a travel smart girl. I won't be taking anything too expensive with me. I'll stay with the tour group (if I do decide to do excursions) and I know general travel smart advice. 

A cruise wasn't on my travel list initially, it was a typical impulsive decision on my part. In future I'll do a bit more research into my destinations (and seasonal weather). I hear Cyprus is a very safe place to travel to, especially with a nice man to protect me. 

Ibiza Blast - Day 2. Did the hulk jizz on me...?

I had to title this blog after a good friend commented on one of the photos I posted :-)

I woke up on Day 2 feeling fairly fresh faced, I did however also wake up with a lot of glitter on my chest! Now, I sometimes have a slight issue when I drink alcohol whereby I literally forget sections of the night (AKA Blackout) - the glitter incident was one of them.

At breakfast I saw one of the girls from the tour, she was covered in glitter, she also had a bandage around her leg. Turns out she got glittered the night before and that's how the glitter got on to me (I'm still unsure of the exact story how it got onto me though...).

It also turns out, the poor girl decided it would be fun to go swimming in the hotel pool and tried to climb over the rather high fence with spike railings - the spikes won and she ended up in an ambulance and several stitches. She actually showed me a picture of the wound and I literally nearly fainted (how am I a first aider?).

After a quick breakfast, a group of us heading down to the beach to the inflatable assault course in the sea. I've seen these on a few of my holidays and they looked like so much fun. It was such a hard workout! I generally have great upper body strength (thanks to Pole) but even I struggling lugging myself up and down on the slippery inflatables.

Back on shore it was time to head out for a group lunch. We went to an Italian restaurant called David's. They had a good offer for a set menu. For three courses, it was only EUR12.50. Annoyingly because our group was so large, we ended up sitting on a table of four whilst the rest of the group sat together. Even more annoyingly, I never got my damn ice cream!

It was time to head back to the hotel to start getting ready for the pre cruise party. I had no idea what to wear so I ended up wearing a rather bright yellow sun dress over my bikini. We headed to Rio's for pre drinks and to get (officially) glittered. For some reason I decided green would match my yellow dress, hence the comment of looking like the Incredible Hunk had left his mark on me lol

The bar overlooked the incredible harbour. The views were amazing on a sunny day - and the strawberry daiquiri went down a treat.

Heading over to get the Pukka boat there was a huge fight between a group of guys and the security team on the boat. It really frightened me as there was bloody coming from the guys face and one guy looked like he was going to snap another mans neck. I tried to stay as far away as possible and obviously the guys were not allowed on the boat but it certainly wasn't the best start to the evening.

Luckily on-board the fight was soon forgotten and the drinks and tunes were flowing. We got chatting to some lovely Canadian guys and they stuck around to party with us. They were shocked when I said I was 31. I will certainly take the beer google compliment of passing for a 25 year old.

The party boat was great fun but it was soon time to head back to dry land. We disembarked the boat at 9:00pm and wasn't due to meet the group again until just before mid night. I was pretty hungry so decided to have a naughty chicken wrap.

Whilst walking back to the hotel, I saw an amazing red dress in the shop window - I had to try it on! Sadly the red dress didn't look as nice on me however the lady in the shop picked me out a gorgeous black skirt with a bra top. I'd never dream of wearing something like this at home however I figured girls walk around with only body paint/glitter on so I might as well embrace the less is more mantra in Ibiza.

After an expensive purchase (EUR60) I headed back to the hotel for a nap. Yes, you heard that right! I knew it was going to be a long one so I figured an hour power nap would work a treat and it did.

The tour group headed over to Eden night club where we had a VIP section with bottle service. We each paid EUR150 between the four of us and we had so much vodka and mixer. The music was pretty varied but I really enjoyed watching the incredible dancers.

Whilst we were all cutting some shapes, my little roomies handbag fell on to the dance floor and out popped all her content - including condoms! The poor girl was mortified and once I'd stopped giggling, I did manage to help her.

There were a few VIP sections and when I headed back to ours, I noticed an older lady helping herself to our Vodka. Everyone was looking but I had to say something. She was completely off her head then I explained it was our area she was in. The poor women was so embarrassed and came back over with her vodka to give us some.

Before I knew it, it was around 5.30am and time to think about heading back to the hotel. The girls I shared a room with, were a tad merry so I felt like the big older sister trying to make sure they were ok getting back to the hotel.

After feeding them a yummy kebab, it was time to walk. Well it was time to walk as one of the girls climbed on top of a plastic table after being asked to 'twerk' and managed to break it - opps. The named girly then did her best 'Forest Gump' impression and was running ahead (this I'm assuming is all good practice for when I have kids).

Luckily I wasn't alone in my efforts of bringing the 'yeahdagirls' back home. Whilst I occupied one, my buddy ran after Mr. Gump. We all managed to get back to the hotel fairly unharmed (except for that table!). I thought I was in the home run, back in our rooms until the booty call took place. I guess as Selena says 'The heart wants what it wants' or whatever the filthy equivalent is for Ibiza. I decided to relieve myself of babysitting duties and go to sleep, by this time the sun was up and the birds were chirping.

Ibiza Blast -Day 1

Although I only went to Ibiza for four nights (although technically the first night doesn't really count), I feel I need to separate these posts into days. If I don't, I'm likely to miss out some of the craziness.  

I spent the morning sun bathing on a very deserted beach (maybe Mum and Dad were right about the Zombies in Ibiza). I think everyone is out so late that they don't wake up till much later. 

For lunch,I had a nice healthy goats cheese salad and then headed to my next hotel to meet the tour group. 

Wow that's a lot of Aussies! There were I think 40 people in total - two from the USA, myself a Brit and the rest Australia's. I've always loved travelling with Aussies. They know how to drink, party and are generally chilled. 

After a quick intro - we had some free time to chill by the pool. I was roomed with two awesome young Aussie girls. Two of the most genuine and carefree girls I've ever met. After relaxing by the pool for a bit, we headed back to our room with a few bottles of wine to get ready. 

We headed out as a group for tapas. The bar/restaurant was right on San Antonio beach and had a wave simulator. The sangarias were flowing nicely. 

We were instructed/requested/begged by our tour guide - Tony to not go 'big' tonight otherwise we'd ruin the next day which was set as the massive party day. 

We went around to a few different bars which were playing some pretty good music. I was drinking vodka and lemonade (I think) and each time they gave you a free shot - oh dear. 

After cutting some pretty cool shapes, Chole and I (we had 'misplaced' Jess by this point) decided it was time to get some food. I was informed the next day the hot dog with chips on top was yummy. 

I think we got home about 2:30-3am so it wasn't too late. I had such a blast the first night. I seem to have mastered the art of pacing myself drinking now (finally). My only slight issue is with a little memory loss - oops. 

Exploring Gibraltar

I love spending my birthday abroad. I had booked my actual birthday (Friday) off work and decided I wanted to do a nice long weekend somewhere.

For months I was thinking of places to go to. I considered seeing my lovely friend Peta in Dubai, I thought of exploring Transylvania (Romania), I even looked at Tel Aviv (over 5 hours on an Easyjet flight didn't really sway it). However, I still came back to visiting those cute little monkeys in Gibraltar.

Being a bit of a numbers whore, it did put me off that I wouldn't be getting another country under my belt however I've always wondered what Gibraltar would be like to visit.

 I was surprised with how long the flight was to Gibraltar (nearly 3 hours). When I landed there, it was pretty smooth exit as it wasn't too busy (although it was a full flight). What I found strange was, you walk out of the airport and if you turn right you straight away cross the boarder to Spain.

 I turned left and walked across the runway. Yes, the runway is actually open to the public as it has the main road, Winston Churchill Avenue, which connects Gibraltar to Spain. Obviously when planes are landing, the road is closed to pedestrians and vehicles.

After the little stroll across the runway, I located my rather exclusive hotel. The Sunborn Gibraltar is impressively the World's only 5 star super-yacht hotel. It's located in the Ocean Village area and once I stepped on-board, it was pure luxury.

 Whilst waiting to check in, I was offered a glass of bubbly. Once checked in, my room was very spacious with a balcony overlooking the landside and a partial sea view. After the excitement of seeing my room, I headed straight for the pool.

 

Surprisingly the area wasn't too busy and I rather swiftly had a cocktail in my hand - it was officially my birthday!

 

Whilst sunning myself by the pool, a wedding party appeared. I found this a little strange as it wasn't particular exclusive and I'm not sure how I'd feel as a Bride having girls in their bikinis in the back of my wedding photos?

After a relaxing afternoon on the boat, I decided to pop over to Spain for dinner. Walking across the boarder was surreal, the 'Passport Control' didn't even look at my passport- Simply waved me through. Although dinner in Spain was lovely, I had one slight flaw - money.

In Gibraltar, they use GBP so I didn't have any Euros on me. Thankfully after a slightly dodgy exchange with a taxi driver, we had funds to pay for dinner.

Gibraltar is rather small. It covers an area of 6.7 square km. It would have been great to explore on a bike however I opted for the local bus. On Saturday morning I headed to Catalan Bay, to go for a swim in the sea.

 

As a whole, Gibraltar doesn't seem very touristic. Yes there are a few shops and bars but generally it has a real local feel. After relaxing on the beach for a bit, and getting soaked twice by the waves coming right up to my towel, I bought a combined ticket for a dolphin boat tour and cable cart to see the monkeys.

The boat tour departed from opposite the hotel so this was ideal. Within 15 minutes, the Captain had spotted a pod of about 8 dolphins. Seeing them in the wild is far more magical than seeing them in captivity. They were very playful creatures and loved to swim close to the boat.

 

From the boat tour, I walked about 20 minutes to the cable car. It was lovely strolling through the town centre. Seeing the locals sit outside talking, the children playing games and the beautiful buildings was lovely.

What I still found very amusing was seeing these tanned people talking with a British accent. I assumed they would sound Spanish however most sounded more common than I do (and that's saying something!).

I was advised before heading to see the monkeys to not take any bag with me. I decided to go with the safe option of a fanny pack (don't judge!). As I walked off the cable car at the top, straight away a monkey (or Macaque's as the Gibraltarians call them) was sitting on the steps.

 

It was nice walking around the top and seeing the stunning views but I always had one eye open. Another lady didn't see the 'no bag' memo and a monkey decided to steal her backpack and jump on top of a roof. Luckily, someone was able to give the monkey some food to then leave the bag.

 I walked around with a can of drink and as I stopped for a moment, a monkey came to grab it. Straight away I left it but when it was putting it's tongue inside the can, I was so worried it would hurt itself. After coming back down from the top, it was time to consider party night...

 Sadly I discovered the nightlife in Gibraltar is pretty tame. I didn't realise that Friday is the busier night. The pubs near the hotel were very noisy on Friday night which wasn't great as I was so tired after being up since 4:00am however when it came to Saturday night, not much was open. I opted for a nice dinner, a traditional seafood paella, in a restaurant close to the hotel.

Sunday was a day of walking. I pretty much walked the length of Gibraltar. It doesn't sound much however I walked up and down the rock. After getting a local bus, I walked to St. Michaels Cave and discovered the incredible venue for concerts. For £10, you get access to a number of museums and points of interest - that set the day.

 

Next stop were the Great Siege Tunnels. These fascinating tunnels date back to 1779. It's an incredible host of tunnels which demonstrates how intelligent man was when it comes to a defence system.

 

Walking along the rock between these sites, I saw lots of little furry friends. These ones seemed a little more chilled on the bag front (although I was still hanging onto my Ralph Lauren bag for dear life!). Although they are cute to look at, it's important to remember they are still wild animals so I was careful not to get too close (especially when taking my selfies).

 

Moorish Castle was the last stop of the day. It was the perfect place to climb to the top and see the military planes flying over.

I felt like a bit of a plane spotter most of the weekend. When I was on the dolphin tour boat, the Captain stopped close to the runway as a British Airways flight was due to take off. We were about 30 meters away from the runway and the Pilot even waved to us before take off. That was pretty cool of him.

Gibraltar is the perfect place for a quick weekend. I felt it had the right balance of exploring a new place, relaxing by the pool and lovely food. The hotel I stayed in was a little pricey but it's nice to treat yourself once in a while - after all, it was my Birthday.

From El Nido to White Beach Resort, Port Barton

After recovering from the full moon party, it was time to hop on a boat for our first island hopping tour. 

I admit being on a boat after only two hours sleep wasn't the most appealing idea however as soon as the fresh sea breeze hit me, I was feeling refreshed. We first stopped at a beautiful lagoon area to explore the area on a kayak.

I was quite impressed with Vicki and my kayaking skills - we were in sync rather well. After exploring the area for a bit, we decided to ditch the kayak and swim from the boat over to a little beach where the rest of the group were. It was a good opportunity for me to practice my open water swimming ahead of my triathlon in July.

After boarding the boat again, I enjoyed a refreshing coconut water. If only they could keep the coconuts in the fridge! I still remember the first time (in Brazil) realising that fresh coconuts are green and not the furry brown type.

Next we stopped at a beautiful beach to enjoy an amazing BBQ lunch. The food is so fresh. Fresh fish, octopus, lovely salad and of course freshly cooked rice. All washed down with a cool San Miguel light.

We did three island hopping tours in total (two in El Nido and one in Port Parton). All very similar but each one so enjoyable. The islands are all so beautiful. Idyllic locations in the middle of the sea. Unspoilt usually by people living on the island, some had a few hotels and others simply had nothing.

I loved being out on the boats. Watching each island zip past as we sailed along.

After leaving El Nido (and no more crazy parties!) we headed to Port Barton. This was our 'remote' island resort. When we first pulled up to the resort, I thought it must be a mistake. It looked far to posh for a tour group to stay at however we were here...

White Beach Annex was simply paradise. As we all got out of the vans, you could see the excitement on everyone's face - we had arrived in beach heaven.

The resort has only eight rooms, all allocated to our group. There was a small area for the restaurant, bar and reception all in one. Hammocks strung from the palm trees dotted across the resort, the white sandy beach stretch along for at least one km and the stunning pergola looked out over the crystal clear sea.

I spent the afternoon dozing in the hammock followed by joining some lovely Israeli ladies on the beach practicing yoga. I was very impressed with some of the guys joining in too (Marco had such good upper body strength!).

In the evening we took the boat over to the main resort area for dinner. We headed off for a drink before dinner. The six of us managed to get a table on the beach watching the sun set (and also watching James get taken out by a pack of dogs!). After our group dinner we took the boat back to the resort. Some people were lucky enough to see a swordfish.

For our last evening in paradise, we decided to have dinner at the resort instead of heading over to the main area again. It was nice knowing we were staying in the resort and everyone had the chance to go and do their own thing if they wanted to.

I spent the evening chatting, watching the bonfire and drinking beer. This is something I don't do at home. I'm always too busy to simply sit back and relax so for me it was the perfect evening. We decided about mid night to go for a swim, my second ever time swimming in the sea at night (this time without some creepy man keeping an eye on me - thanks dad!).

Although there were jelly fish in the sea, that didn't both us. Maybe it was the beer that was making us brave/stupid or we simply didn't care, either way it was so nice swimming and looking up at the moon and stars.

Thanks to one of the guys in the group, I did what every girl dreams about, I did the lift from Dirty Dancing (Twice!). Yes us girls are that simple. All we want is for a man to be able to lift us above his head and hold us there!

After our last night in paradise, it was time to board the van for the four hour drive to the airport to head back to Manila for our last night. The trip has been amazing so it was sad it was coming to an end however we still had time for one more crazy night...

Full moon party Philippines style

I woke up after our night out feeling rather fresh... it turned out I felt fresh because I was still drunk!

After a quick FaceTime to mum and daddy to show off the lovely views from the breakfast restaurant, it was time to jump in the van for our long journey to El Nido.





I started off feeling fresh as a daisy whilst some of the group were feeling a little delicate, boy how that quickly. Thankfully Vicki had something that guarantees no hang over... she should become a politician (that's all I'm saying). In fairness, the ginger tablet did help me feel a little more settled,  eventually.


On the long journey to El Nido, we stopped off to explore the underwater caves of Puerto Princesa Subterranean River National Park. The incredible cave and river system is one of the UNESCO New7Wonders of Nature.



After a short (and rather choppy) boat trip, we arrived onto an island where this incredible ecological system is found. We had to wait some time before our group was called to the boat to explore the caves.




During our wait time it was lovely to simply paddle in the crystal clear waters. There were lots of little fishy swimming about. I loved the quiet moments of simply standing still and taking the beauty in.



When we were called to the little canoe style boat we were fitted with our hard hat and audio device to listen to how the caves were discovered. Upon entering the caves, there were swarms of bats. The audio said to ensure your mouth is firmly closed in case one gives you a little present.





I admit it was interesting to see the rock formations and seeing the natural beauty however at this point I was feeling rather delicate and sleepy. I kept nodding off but startling myself awake as I thought I was going to fall sideways off of the boat.




Back on dry land and it was time to head back into the van for the remainder of our long journey to El Nido. The roads are your typical bumpy and plenty of curves roads,  I actually quite like this as it's rustic and adds to the charm of a journey. Although I prefer those journeys when you don't have a steaming hangover.


We stopped off at sunset to an incredible look out point. The colours in the sky were so vibrant and breath-taking. It was one of the highlights of the day for me.





We had a nice group dinner on the beach. They set up a nice long table for us all and it was so smoothing hearing the sea lapping on the beach whilst eating delicious shrimps (although we were mislead and it definitely wasn't enough for two people!).


After the previous night, I had all the best intentions of having an early night. Some of the group from the previous night were sensible and went back to the hotel but I decided to stay out with some others. I honestly was only going to stay for one cocktail on the beach but we then somehow managed to find ourselves in a tuk tuk heading to another part of the island for a Full Moon party.


When we got to the beach, it wasn't that busy at all! There seemed to be more bars further along the beach so we headed over to where more people were. The music was pretty mixed but as the night went on, it started to get busier.



At midnight they set alight a cool sign in the sea. I didn't realise how mesmerising fire was so it was great to see it alight. Next up came the fire dancers. I saw some amazing guys in Thailand but these guys were even better!!





One of the problem I had was the fact there was one ladies toilet for maybe 100 girls. The queue was insane but as always I got chatting to some lovely ladies from Paraguay. They explained they were a college trip of 150 people travelling around Asia for six months. I wasn't jealous at all!!

After far too many light beers (only 105 calories) and several vodka and sprits (only about £1.50) it was time to think about heading back. We managed to lose some of the people that came with us (I think it was something I said!) but it was me and the guys who stayed out.


On the way back I managed to find a tree to go upside down on. That will definitely explain how I grazed my knee. It was slightly alarming that later in the trip, we were told to avoid walking under trees as poisonous snakes live in them. Once again alcohol braveness prevails.



I really enjoyed the party on the beach. I haven't been to a proper beach party before so I'm glad I got to experience it with some awesome people, it's just a shame that some of the dream team wasn't there with us.

Strip clubs, open prisons and too many long island ice teas

I met the tour group for the first time on Saturday night. I'm always quite anxious first meeting a group and usually first experiences are right, that was 100% correct this time!


I got talking to the lovely Cat, Tom and Vicki - this was our little group. After a bit of a ropey dinner (chicken, rice and mayonnaise?) we headed to the only local place that sold beer - the local strip club/brothel.


Yes you heard that right! Out of a group of 15 only seven of us, plus our lovely tour guide, went to the strip club. The sign outside the club had pictures of the various rooms (Butterfly room anyone?) and the best slogan ever "So clean, so good". That became our little slogan for the trip (and our What's App group name).


Baring in mind it was only about 8.30pm, the club was pretty quiet. Once we paid the entrance fee (I think it was 300 pesos so about £5) we were ushered into a dingy private room with... karaoke. I know, this evening just gets better!


Albert (our guide) was an amazing singer and he was singing his heart out whilst the girls were like Meer cats peering out of the window to check the ladies (or were they...?) out. This crazy experience came to an end about 10:00pm as we were up early the next day for an early flight.


The next morning we took a flight from Manila to Puerto Princesa. Our first stop was to the Iwahig Penal Colony. This is an open community prison. Having read a few reviews about here, I was looking forward to chatting to some of the inmates and understanding their stories more however we only stopped at the gift shop (do all prisons have a gift shop?) so that was disappointing.


Next on the list was a wander around Baker's Hill. The smells here were incredible! It was an odd mix of a park with lovely views, statues and various animals alongside the bakeries. We tried some traditional heavy cakes which were a little odd for my taste.


After lunch we transferred to our hotel, Ipil Suites Puerto Princesa. The pool was incredibly inviting and we all headed straight there to cool down. After a few hours relaxing and chatting to the others in the group, I decided to go do a HIIT workout. I was excited to see the hotel had a gym but really it was just a room with two very old treadmills and a weights bench (with no weights).





The evening saw us have our first full group meal. It was pretty chaotic but it was good to chat to some of the others a bit more. Vicki, Cat and I enjoyed some lovely strawberry daiquiri's at dinner and decided to carry on the evening at another bar.


Again not everyone came out but we continues with a handful of us and the tour guides. The bar was pretty quiet to start with but it soon picked up. An amazing local band was playing some pretty cool songs and after the first long island ice tea, it was time to dance.


I'm not sure exactly what time we got back to the hotel but all I do remember was it was a pretty great night! It's been such a long time since I've been out and had such a free night. The ability to drink, dance and have fun was the best start to my holiday.






Little did I know that would be the start of quite a few fun nights out...