It had been a while in the planning. But now the day had come to head for the Mallorca Primavera Walking Event! I picked up Miranda at 5:30 and we went searching for Nicky. Of course at that time of the morning the street lights are off and we weren't sure whereabouts on the road Nicky's house was. Eventually we saw a little torch shining and there she was.
I parked at the Stansted Mid-Term carpark and we got the shuttle bus to the terminal, where we met the others. After checking our bags in (luckily without Miranda being penalised for a slightly overweight suitcase) we had plenty of time for a coffee before heading for boarding.
The conversation turned to water and Miranda said had slight tummy trouble on one trip and that she would be sticking to bottled water. It reminded me of this classic advert from the 1980s.
As I sat on the plane I realised I had left my papers for the transfer shuttle and my boarding card for the trip home in my car. Nothing I could do about it. But we did have electronic details on phones and then I found Nicky had printed out the instructions so we could give our driver the required paperwork after all. Well done Nicky!
I had researched the transport options and Chelle contacted another East Anglian couple on the same flights so we were able to get an 8-seater minibus hire to take the 7 of us from Palma Airport to our hotel (and back on the Monday), for what worked out as a very reasonable cost each and without having to take longer bus journeys.
We were all staying at the Flor Los Almendros Apartments and Hotel. Most of us had apartments. Here are a couple of photos of mine.
I had a view of the pool from my balcony. Drat! I'd forgotten to pack my swimming trunks.
We checked in at the walking village and got our badges and other goodies. I had put myself down for the 30km walks. Would I be able to do that 4 days in a row. We'll see!
We decided to try out the refreshments. They had a token system..
Buy 10 for 20 Euros and get an 11th free. A token would then get you a cold drink or small glass of beer. We followed that up with a bigger one from the bar.
After a bit of an explore and some shopping (for myself) at the Mercadona supermarket, we all met up to go out for an evening meal. As we walked along the beach, Helen couldn't resist going for a paddle.
We saw some lovely flowers and found a nice restaurant with a friendly waiter.
We had a bit of a wait but we didn't mind. It gave Miranda and Helen a chance to see the photos Chelle had captured....
...and watch the sun go down.
Then it was a bit of an early night. Breakfast at 7:30 was very lavish and we were able to save some things for our lunches.
So here I am, walking shoes on and ready to go!
You can see more of photos in this slideshow (Flash required)...
...or here on Flickr
Next up Day 1 of the walking!
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