Day 81 Lakes, Boats, Saunas, Food and FRIENDSHIP

I got a surprise this morning in the form of an email informing me that they had a small red parcel in their grasp that contained travel documents. Our passports to be precise. What a nightmare the story of how it happened will unfold but thanks to the man who found them you are a legend or we would be stranded at the drive in. Thanks to Samuli for taking me to the airport.

We then embarked on a journey to Vireva and Samulis summer cottage, it is amazing.

I

Luke and Eeli on our way there.

View of the cottage from the lake.

Cottage from behind, our house on the right.

Our house.

The sauna.

Bihla cleaning the jetty.

Cody with the snakeskin.

Luke, Vireva, Bihla and Anna.

The boys decided to take the boat for a blat as he girls had a sauna.

This boat has an inboard diesel motor and can go 39 Knots so there. A lovely boat more pics tomorrow.

Eeli, Cody and luke.

Captain Samuli.

First mate Eilian

No lingo between them all day but great communication. .???

Dinner time.

11.30 pm in Finland!!!!

Today has been great for the kids to get to know each other as well as Samuli and myself it has been a great day 3 more to go at the cottage yahoo. Anna and VIreva are catching up where they left off.

We have had a great day at this heaven on earth.

Day 80 Finland it's like Day and Day

Today we were Flying to Finland( pardon the pun)

We left Pontarddulais at 12 and were dropping the car off at 2.30. That's quick and I was not speeding either.

Cody was devastated that there was no screen in the back of the seat in front. " what am I supposed to do for 2.5 hours??"

Anyway we got here at 11 pm and were welcomed by a bright red sunset it was amazing sorry no pics. We have been really slack with pics of late. I will fix that. It was however still quite bright as we expected.

Anna did her 7 th form year in Finland So whole reason for going to Finland was to visit her Sister Vireva and her family Samuli, and their kids Pihla(10) and Eeli(6). 

Vireva was there to meet us at the airport. 

We then went and acquainted ourselves with the family our surroundings.

We got to bed at 2 am. Cody and Luke were asleep on the couch at 10 the next morning having risen at 6.

Anyway the boys are excited by the prospect of our visit to the summer cottage.

DAY 79 A QUIET SATURDAY.

 A fuzzy head this morning.

TODAY we had a slow start but managed to get to Pontarddulais rugby Club to watch the British and Irish Lions eventually demolish Australia.

Well done Warren Gatland for backing yourself.

We then returned home for lunch and played Rugby, Football, Baseball etc on the lawn.

Greg Morgan popped in to say hello and discussed the night befores antics.

The boys were sttill playing Rugby at 9 PM.

Tomorrow we go to Finland for a week.

Day 78 Games Games and more Games.

I was up early and went for a run. It was more like a shuffle.

I then had a haircut.

As i returned I had to go down to B and Q return the handle I bought and replace my mums weighing scales that got broken by one Luke Jones.

I then began to tidy the garage. Hmm I took a load down t the dump but I feel as if I have not scratched the surface. Ho hum I will complete it tomorrow.

I also sprayed the weeds on my mothers driveway.

I went out with the boys who were around Greg, Jamie, Emyr, Stuart. We had a good night catching up with each other and raised a glass for Mark Bish.

Day 77 Finished off the painting.

Hi all

I finished off the painting of my mums bedroom. Thank goodness.

We then put the room back together.

We went down to Llanelli  to do a few jobs and went shopping.

I then caught up with Jamie Bishop, Mark Bishops brother.

Ii was home by 10 and tucked up in bed.

Day 76 Michelangelo and sunglasses put away.

 I am pondering the need for my sunglasses as we have returned to the UK.

While my family rested I painted.

Not a grand master but my mothers bedroom.

I went down to Llanelli to book tickets fopr Despicable me 2 for anna and the kids, went to Costa coffee for the free wifi to publish 5 days worth of the blog. And also went to B and Q to buy paint for the bedroom.

After I washed the walls down I went to See Meirion Bishop, Mark Bishop's dad. we had a laugh and cry as we reminisced. Very sad.

Anna had taken the boys to the movies so that was good.

When I returned I began painting and finished at 9 PM. All good and done.

We are just doing jobs and having a rest before we go to Finland on Sunday.

More tomorrow.

Day 74 Another change of scene.

Today is our last full day of Joneses European vacation ( though we do have to go to Finland yet)

Our task today was to get from Bol to Trogir which is near the airport in Split.

Taxi first

Then ferry

Then bus 

Then taxi.

Trogir is another mini Dubrovnik but cool nevertheless with great architecture and moorings for the rich.

a flash boat.

Trogir 

Trogir

Trogir

We left at 9.35 and got to our hotel at 2 pm. We relaxed by the pool then the beach, the boys created their own aquariums which was cool. They caught little fish and prawns. They did return all their catch in good order. We had a great snorkel also.

We are in a little village but have water between us and the airport. A great spot.

Good photo,Luke .

rapscallion

Ok squadron leader.

from the hotel

From the man made beach chippings.

From our balcony.

We are all tired but have loved our trip. Back to Wales tomorrow.

Day 75 only 25% to go. Back to blighty.

Hi all.

Today we are 3/4 of the way through. Only 25 to go.

We woke at 7.30 to get the taxi to the airport. We had a great time in Europe we are now heading back to a chilly Wales. The captain said its about 12 degrees in Bristol.

I guess it is time to reflect on our 3 weeks in Europe. In that time we have visited

Paris

Rome

Amalfi Coast, Amalfi, Positano and a host of other places.

Croatia, Dubrovnik, Korcula, Brac, Split and Trogir.

It has been an amazing experience for our family and one I will never forget.

Highlights

Paris

Eilian           Eiffel Tower and the Louvre and the Paris metro.

Anna.          Eiffel Tower and apartment Mithouard.

Cody.          Eiffel Tower.

Luke.           Chocolate factory and the water area of the science museum.

Rome

Eilian.           Vatican museum and the food.

Anna.            Piazza venezia, and the man blowing the whistle at Cody. No sitting on the steps.

Cody.           Water park

Luke.            Water park

Amalfi 

Eilian.           View from apartment and gelato shops there were plenty.

Anna.           Food. And the view. And the paddleboat.Not the jellyfish sting in positano.

Cody.           Swimming and snorkelling 

Luke.            Using his net to catch fish.

Croatia

Eilian             Crystal waters of the Adriatic, the old towns,Bol and the degustation in Korcula.

Anna.            Old buildings, color of the water, friendly people.

Cody.            Water bouncy castle in Bol.

Luke.             Biking along the promenade in Bol.

that is just a snippet of highlights.

Arrived in Bristol.

Guess what it is raining the first rain since 10 June. Uk!!!

Got a new car Astra really good 1000 miles on clock.

Great to see mum boys played rugby in the rain on the lawn.

They can get on so well, well for 1 minute in 24 hours.

Day 73 Bikes, Bouncing, and the European union.

This was our last full day in Bol and what a great day of variety it has been. 

First up Luke wanted to go for another hours bike ride. So he and I went for about 3 is out of town from the hire shop. We then went past the hire shop and went to the RAMP. Then we headed to,where Cody was having a grand old time back on the wibit aqua park. These things are awesome.

Luke and I joined Cody and mum at the wibit and had a great swim and watched cody jump off the highest point.

We then went to a quiet part of the beach and anna went to the sandwich shop for lunch. As she returned i planned to,go for a windsurf but at that time would have wasted my money as the weather was too variable. We therefore went to the sister hotel of Borat and snuk in a great swim and a game of boule for luke and me.

Anna went for a massage and the boys returned to our pool and met up with an Aussie family, they were great.

It was close to dinner time by now. 

After dinner the hotel had a band on and we heard that there was a big fiesta on in town to celebrate Croatia entering the EU and fireworks at midnight so we went home at 9.30 and packed and then headed out at 11.30. It was pretty low key to be honest.

Another welsh bar the owner was dyslexic.

Time for a snooze.

Day 72 Amphibious assault.

We had planned today to hire a  boat but the weather at 8.30 was too strong on the western side of the peninsula. We made good however as we rented bikes to hoon along the boardwalk to Bol town. This was a great ride and the boys had to avoid innocent bystanders and walkers which was good.

Then we decided to go on this giant inflatable aqua park which was in the bay. It was a mixture of slides, jumps a climbing wall, ropes etc, see photo. Cody loved it and was confident to jump off from the top. I wish we would have got him in a picture on the pillow. He sat on this giant pillow. I jumped on to the pillow and he was catapulted off into the unknown. Honestly he was in the air for an age.

Luke unfortunately did not enjoy it as much.

This is the pillow that Cody flew off.

After this the weather had improved so we hired a boat for a 3 hours which was our amphibious assault. The weather was however very marginal with waves at most of the beaches making it difficult for us to land. This was Cody and Luke's first experience of naturism as many fat men not sure of nationality stood on the shore wearing nothing but a smile, and big moustache. quite funny really to see the boys reaction.

a great way to explore and see things from a different angle.

When we returned we had a swim at the pool and then got ready for dinner at 6.30.

After dinner we had a stroll long the boardwalk to look at the shops and had a coffee and tea.

We played ball tag on the way home .

We have really loved it here in Bol. We will be sorry to leave.

Day 71 Hotel Borat

Today we awoke at 5am to catch the quick cat from Korcula to Split to get to Bol on the Island of Brac. (pronounced Bratch ) we sailed at 6.

Sunrise

We had purchased the tickets for the quick cat before the sword dancing last night so all was good.

We sat in the cabin where Cody slept on my lap all morning til we got to split at 9 am. It was a pretty un eventful cruise.

we went Korcula to split to Bol (not on map ) it is on the same island as Supetar but facing stari grad.

We then had to wait til 10.30 to get the ferry to Supetar on the island of Brac to get to our final destination. While we waited I did a reckie on buses to our destination before we fly home namely Split. So this was very worthwhile. As we sailed we were approached by a dodgy looking taxi driver who was offering to take us to Bol for 200 kuna which is 50 nz. We pondered on this and realized that it was indeed a very good deal. He had 2 others paying the same so it must have been worth his while. He drove as if his life depended on it.

at the pool

Zlatni rat.

Anyway we drove for 25 mins until we got to Hotel BORACK which I soon nicknamed it hotel Borat. As  some of the happenings were laughable.

Anna locked our safe with a pin number then we could not open it. We called housekeeping the lady came with a key to open it. All good

Then wi fi would not work they sent technicians who said unfortunately your room is the only room in the whole complex not to have service!!

Then Cody and I came back from the pool and alas our card to let us in did not work the staff on the desk knew us well by now and we had been at the hotel less than an hour.

Anyway all is good we spent a few hours at the pool and Luke and anna went into town. We then went for a walk along the boardwalk to the Famous Zlatni Rat beach. We also witnessed somebamazing kitesurfing. Itbwas the croatian nationals i think someone with an ic on the end of their name won.We worked out what we wanted to do tomorrow and walked to the head of the spit. We decided that we would hire a boat and go on an adventure.

We returned to the hotel got changed and had a lovely dinner. I was tucked up in bed and asleep by 9pm.