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Where do you go on holiday when you live in a holiday paradise as we do and more to the point why do you need to? They are the questions we were asked when we decided to have a holiday en famille. Our plan was to visit the Costa Brava an area we know well as some years ago we contemplated buying a property there. In fact we rented a house in Begur for twelve months to immerse ourselves there before making a decision. This was where Lucy as a sixteen year old had her first holiday with friends without parental supervision and gained us the reputation of being the most liberal of parents. So much so that when these stories are told I am berated by Kate my 6 year old granddaughter for the neglect of her mother! (Tongue in cheek I hope).

Lucy and Robert and the girls live at the moment in an apartment on the beach in the Port of Soller until their building site of a house in Soller is finished. So don’t even try and top that for a holiday destination try a caravan park instead! A campsite just outside Pals was our destination alongside 600 other young families doing just the same. The whole of Ireland must have been vacant last week because they were all in Cypsyla Holiday Camp with us. The Irish accents were dominant and the Celtic complexions suffered in the sun. The camp was a busy place with swimming pools, tennis, table tennis, volleyball courts and lots of play areas for the littlest ones including a kids club and entertainment every night.

Trev and I joined the family after a couple of days in a fantastic hotel in AiguaBlava preparing ourselves for life in a caravan. It was hard to tear ourselves away from the luxury but in spite of that we had a great time. We visited glorious beaches in Pals and L’Escala and bought the local anchovies to bring home. We had barbeques on the decking outside the caravan overlooking the car! We changed the pace of our life because we were resting and enjoyed the change in climate. The Costa Brava is not so far from us in Majorca but it was altogether cooler and less humid and that was a great bonus.

The week passed all too quickly, we had a rest, a change of beautiful scenery and enjoyed one another’s company. That is the answer to the questions posed about why the need for a holiday, it doesn’t matter where we live our busy lives everyone needs a time and place to recharge the batteries. Feeling refreshed we headed on home down the motorway to Barcelona. We had to quickly acclimatise ourselves to the hoards of huge trucks surrounding us on our journey. This is a different experience to driving around the few Majorcan motorways.

Trev and I headed for the Transmediterranea booking hall in Barcelona Docks to check in for the 4 pm catamaran crossing to Palma. We entered what can only be described as hell. This was Sunday 2nd July at the height of the season and there were no staff. The automated check in machines were all out of use. The two people at the ticket counter were dealing with selling tickets and issuing boarding cards to two boatloads of people. The 3 pm crossing to Ibiza and us travelling on the 4 pm to Palma. It was 40 degrees in the building, the hundreds of people didn’t know where to go and it was awful. There were women in the line breastfeeding their babies standing up afraid to sit and lose their place in the queue. We waited our turn as patiently as we could until a travel agent in a panic (because she was holding the tickets for a group) barged to the front of the line demanding to be dealt with first. At that moment you could see how crowds get out of control. Everyone was angry at the conditions they were in and this lady was just about to take the brunt of it by being so rude. Good sense prevailed, no public order mayhem happened but it was a very tricky moment. One hour and twenty minutes later we had our boarding cards and were able to get on the Millenium 2 as it took its slow route back home. The week before on our outward journey we were told that this fast ferry would be going slow for technical reasons. Guess what - on our return journey it was still going slow for the same reasons. Maybe the technicians went to the same place as the terminal staff and will never be seen again.

The next day Lucy and Robert made that same journey home. They checked in within ten minutes of arrival at the terminal and had no problems at all. The fast ferry was still slow for technical reasons or maybe it is only called the fast ferry for publicity reasons.
The highlight of their journey was a splash in the sea next to the window. They rushed to the outside deck (via the first class lounge) and were in time to see a dolphin jumping in the wake of the boat. Kate was ecstatic, she told me later that she had seen dolphins on television and at Marineland but had never seen them ‘in the sea where they are supposed to live’. A beautiful sight against the backdrop of blue sky and white surge of sea following the catamaran and a stunning end to their holiday.

Next week: The water man cometh

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