Holiday with the Dows

We’ve just come back from Olhao where we left Tara, Uncle Robbie and Auntie Hilary after having them staying onboard for 4 days with us.

It was great to see them again and it was the first time for Dad in two years that he’d seen them.

Arrival day: Mum and I picked them all up from Faro in the afternoon. While we were there, I went to get my ipod fixed. We all came back on the train to Villa Real where we got on board Sea Warrior. Dad made a delish dish of pasta and prawns, yumm!

Day 1: Tara, Dad and I stayed on board in the morning while the rest went ashore to get shopping and have coffee. In the afternoon we went upriver with the tide and anchored in Foz de Odeliete. On the way up, Tara and I went to the top of the mast! That night I made tea; a fatty potato, bacon, onion and cheese dish.

Day 2: Today we got to San Lucar and Ayamonte which was where we stopped and didn’t go any higher. We tried to go onto the pontoon but couldn’t so we anchored. Katar was there so Adrian and Eric ,our old friends, came to say hi. Tara, Auntie Hilary, Jay and Mum went swimming and Jay made pasta for tea.

Day 3: We all went to the beach in the morning with Eric and had lunch at a cafe in San Lucar in the morning and then hung around on the shore. Tara and I played on my scooter and had 3 ice-creams that day!! We went out for tea that evening and I had a lovely pizza, …

Day 4: We took Sea Warrior onto the pontoon in the morning on the Portuguese side so I filled the boat up with water and we charged all our stuff up. Tara and I went swimming that afternoon off the pontoon and Uncle Robbie got some great diving shots of us (I’ll upload them when I can). That evening we all did some musical stuff. Dad and I played “wherever you will go” by The Calling and “father and son” by Cat Stevens, Tara and I sang “someone like you” by Adele with Dad playing the piano, Uncle Robbie sang a funny scottish song about “Nicky Tams” and Jay sang “Jar of Hearts” with dad on the piano. It was fun. Auntie Hilary and Mum said they would do their performance the next day but it never happened.

Day 5: We got up really early to catch the bus from San Lucar down to Villa Real and from there we got the train to Olhao (O-LEE-OW). We got a snack and some stuff for lunch and then booked the Dows into their 5 star hotel where they were staying for the last two nights of their stay!! We hung around the hotel pool (Uncle Robbie did one of his world-famous dives) and then we (Jay, Mum, Dad and I) caught the 3:30 train back to Villa Real then the bus to San Lucar agian, without the Dows .