We have now been away for a total of 4 weeks which means we still have another 4 weeks to go before our return to the UK… are we bored yet? I thought we might be but we’re not… we are still enjoying being here, the sunny days and routine we have found ourselves in!

I might have said it before, but being here for this long has meant that the “rush” that might be associated with a 2-week break where you try and squeeze as much in as you can within the time you’ve got, whether that is sightseeing, shopping or sunbathing, doesn’t exist – we are very relaxed in our comfortable little apartment and the most strenuous part of each day is having to walk up to the 4th floor we are on!

Recently, we have even decided to have a few nights in which has been really nice – watching a bit of telly, reading etc. Although after two nights on the bounce, I think I’m ready for a curry again tonight!

I thought I would try out the time-lapse feature on my phone so here is a video of our trip from our accommodation to our favourite beach shack down at Mobor beach… it’s a bit bouncy (sorry about that!) and maybe not for those who suffer from motion sickness!

I’ve not been feeling too well the past few days… had a sore throat for some reason and then went and stubbed my little toe on the corner of a wall in the apartment (it’s now a nice grey / bruised colour – why does the little toe hurt so much when you do this? It’s the only time you notice your toes and realise how important they are!)… so I’ve been feeling a little below par. Anyway, have used it as an excuse to eat cake and icecream (anything soft because of my sore throat!) – we even found a different bakery which sold slightly bigger and better Lava cakes!

It’s been incredibly hot here the past few days – whereas the first few weeks it was around 30 degrees with a nice, cool breeze, it’s been more like 34-35 degrees with a warm wind blowing… it’s still nice sitting in the shade on the beach or in the beach shack although the best part of the day is late afternoon when it’s cooler and you get back on the scooter for the ride home – that really cools you down!

I actually feel a little better this morning so that’s good. I have still managed to complete my morning exercise routine each day – consisting of arm, stomach and leg exercises (although the leg ones I’ve only done for a couple of days so far) – thought I would get in the habit of doing these each morning before New Year resolutions kick in so that I might actually stick to the usual resolutions of getting fitter, perhaps joining the gym and maybe losing a bit of weight etc, this coming New year!

We still haven’t decided really what we are going to do on New Year’s Eve… when we are in the UK, we don’t usually do much and what we do do usually involves watching a bit of Jools Holland and having some fireworks in the garden! Our friend Ida is talking about having a party and there’s plenty going on at the big hotels that are dotted along the beach… last time we were in Goa it was the New Year at the end of the last decade and we spent it on the beach up as Ashwem in the North. It was great watching the fireworks going off all the way along the beach towards Arambol. However, I’m not sure we want to do that this time around as we didn’t have a great lunch at the local beach shack the other day (Pete’s chicken was “off” – fortunately, he didn’t eat it and they were very apologetic but it puts you off a bit!) and our favourite beach shack at Mobor is a good 20 min drive away… we don’t usually use the scooter at night even though the roads where we are are pretty quiet… Whatever we do, I am sure there will be plenty of fireworks… maybe we’ll have dinner and come home and watch them all from the balcony? We still have time to make up our minds yet 😀

Hope everyone else’s NY plans are coming along… TTFN!