I write this in my head from different corners of our over-water suite. The sun has scorched, soothed and set until now, soft bronze skin in lace pyjamas on our queen sized bed. The curtains are drawn and the air tonight is soft and warm; everything is black but lights that guide the path to our huts. I am constantly pinching myself on this island. How sand can be so white and why I've never seen the ocean so blue (or turquoise, opal and deep indigo, that tumble into one another with the current). We have spent the days following turtles over coral reefs, riding on boats, watching sunsets and drinking more Pineapple Spritzers than I can count. In our suites, especially this one - tonight - I am so humbled by the size of the ocean. Two walls of our bedroom are floor to celing windows which the water cascades from. In almost every room you can hear it lapping and that may well be the one thing I really miss. That and the endless hours spent snorkling this island, exploring every inch of the sea bed. In a previous life, I think I might have been a mermaid.
This is the longest I've been off work in the ten months that I've been there. I'd almost forgotten what it feels like not to count days until the weekend. We met a Romanian couple after sunset a couple of nights ago, and in her broken English, she reminded me of something that has always resonated in my head; that the real meaning of life is to travel. I had lost sight of that in the business of daily life, but I know we hold it close to us in the plans for America/Australia. There are so many things I want to see and do that I sometimes feel like I could burst. I am adding to my bucket list all the time; San Fransisco, paddle boarding, Gran Canyon, hiking, roadtripping Route 66, Auckland. I watch the blue waters outside our room in the knowledge that they will be taken away from me before long.
Our first room; a water bungalow.
The over-water suits
Searching for Turtles
Palm jungle walkways
From London to Dubai; curry, salad, berry compote, cheese and biscuits and a terrible Stephen King film I coaxed Pete to watch
Hotel grounds
