Day 8 - The Blue Week Begins

'Blue' because this week is all about the sea and beach.

Breakfast this morning does a lot to make up for the shortcomings of dinner, and the view and the beach are frankly fabulous. We will be okay.

This week is the one where we relax...

Day 7 - Moving home and a day at the races.

Today we leave our luxurious villa in the hills for a second week based on the beach. 

However, before that, Kathryn has managed to convince the general manager of the Mauritian turf club that he should entertain us at the next meeting – which is today.

After a long and traffic-ridden drive, we arrive to be greeted by his assistant, Lala, and escorted up to his plush office. He then welcomes us and shows us to his private box which is populated by the Mauritius great and good as well as some of his family.

The box is directly in line with the finish line, so we know who the winner is even before the rest of the crowd. Talking of winners, it proved quite a successful day with either Kathryn or me winning every race we bet on!

We were also shown the video studio which covers the race fo
r TV live, and for the stewards in case there should be an enquiry after the race. We were also taken up to the Photo Finish box high above the stands. Afterwards someone came and escorted us down to the Stewards office where the video, in this case, was being put to good use, as we found ourselves spectators to a stewards enquiry of the previous race – a race which my horse had won! Luckily, the decision didn’t involve my grey nag, so that was good. 

All-in-all THE most amazing day at the races. Totally unexpected and utterly delightful– not to mention lucrative!

Afterwards we return to our new home, The Sands Resort and Spa. 

We have a brilliant view across the sea from the front and side of our first floor suite. In fact, we didn't realise it before we arrived, but we can see our villa from the hotel room! However, because we're now situated directly on the beach, it's a completely different vibe.

Dinner, however, is rather disappointing. We eschew the buffet and tried the a la carte which didn't work out. It doesn’t bode well for the rest of the week. We actually look for somewhere to move to, but in the end resign ourselves to staying at the resort instead.

Day 6 - Brown Sign day extraordinaire

Another day to explore– and what day! Today we drive through the Black River Nature Park and do what is known as a Brown Sign day. That means that whenever we see a brown sign we turn off the main road to see what the sign’s pointing to. 

First up is the Chamarelle Rhummerie. We were intending to go anyway but we just came across it, parked up and went on the tour – and the tasting! We learn that this distillery makes the rum from their own sugar cane and at the end of the tour there’s a significant amount of rums to be tested – at 11am with a drive ahead, too!

It confirms that we made the right decision in buying a bottle of their spiced run with vanilla. We had acquired a taste for it the previous day having bought a bottle at the supermarket (mixed with Ginger Ale) and on the tour enjoy finding out just how it compares to their other rums – favourably! 

After the rhummerie we continue on our way to the park, taking in the Gorge viewpoint– which is beautiful, and the Alexandra Falls viewpoint – which again is extraordinary.

Not however as extraordinary as the next sign up – which is a Hindu temple at Grande Basin. A huge statue of Shiva that can be seen from miles away. The whole temple complex is quite large and obviously designed to take vast crowds. The road to it is very wide and made for coaches and large numbers of cars. 

After a quick shop stop at London Way for tonight’s supper, it’s home to dive into the pool and wash away the boring bits of the drive! Yummy barbecue supper and tomorrow looks like a full on - but exciting - day, as we change locations from villa to hotel for the second week of this holiday.