Moving into our new apartment and some exploring

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Eventually Saturday comes around and there's no rest for the wicked as we have to get up at the back of eight (for our final buffet breakfast) and then head over to Santa Pola to pick up our new keys! It's exciting but a bit annoying we have to do it in two trips, as we have so much stuff (including the new bed) and its a half hour trip each way. By the time we have gotten the keys and moved all our stuff in and picked up the dog, it is already early afternoon. The dog is ecstatic to see us and looks really happy and relaxed which is a good sign. And Sergio seems enamoured with him which is a good thing and says he was good as gold with him and the other dogs. So that's a relief. Now time to assemble a bed.

It's just as well I've got quite a rational brain and am quite methodical as Greg is absolutely hopeless when it comes to DIY and I can see him backing out of the room immediately as I empty the contents of the flat pack box out. Thats fine as i'm probably more productive on my own and I get to work on making up the bed frame laying everything out in order and checking I have everything I need. I'm hoping it won't take me too long, but in the end it probably takes me about two hours in total. The instructions seem to be in a secret Ikea code where you need to read between the lines and use quite a lot of guesswork based on common sense.The only thing we realise is we haven't brought a duvet or a quilt with us, and it gets really cold at night, so we have the coldest night's sleep in our new house! After ten minutes in bed, we both put joggie bottoms on, followed by socks, a jumper, then a hat. But I still can't sleep because it's so cold and I can't feel my face so I end up getting a broken few hours sleep.

We only have one day off between shifts, so we are back to work the next day after we move in and I am knackered after such a long day yesterday followed by a fitful night's sleep. My rash also seems to be getting worse and to top it off, I have also developed the cold so I'm feeling particularly sorry for myself. Our colleague gives us a lift to work and I feel a bit bad I am so quiet but I just can't fathom the energy to be more enthusiastic today. Things don't get much better at work when I happen to mention my rash to my boss and she manages to convince me I have shingles and am in serious danger of getting really ill and have also probably infected half the team as it is highly contagious. She sends me off to the pharmacy and I am filled with blind panic and guilt that I could be putting everyone else's health at risk. The pharmacist tells me he doesn't think it is shingles, but my team leader is still not convinced and 'quarantines' me in the office until the end of my shift before advising me to see a doctor asap. By the time we leave work I have got myself into a right flap and get really upset. And other members of staff notice something is going on and I am annoyed I am going to be the source of gossip for the rest of the day – something i'm trying to avoid as a newbie!

The colleague who drove us in offers to take me to our nearest medical centre which I am really grateful for and I manage to get to see a doctor. She takes a look at the rash and is the first person all day to not look at my like I have the plague. In fact, she tells me she thinks its just an allergic reaction to something which has probably been exacerbated by many different factors including stress. When I think about it, I haven't exactly been very strict with my gluten intake either which won't have helped… She prescribes me a course of strong anti-histamines and tells me to come back if that doesn't clear it up in a few days or so. I send a message to my work to reassure them no one is going to drop down ill and feel a bit calmer knowing its nothing too serious. It means my next shift is a lot calmer and I feel much happier which shows in my work. Thankfully after this we have two days off so we can properly enjoy our new flat, spend time with the dog and see more of the island, as so far we have only seen the motorway between the airport and santa ponsa (or santa ponca as the sat nav likes to call it).

We still have a few more bits and pieces to get for the flat so in between doing a little sightseeing, we make a stop off at our favourite supermarket Al Campo. It sounds silly but its a little comfort to us as something we know well and makes us feel more at home. We manage to pick up most of what we need and its nice having a full fridge once again and also having everything we need for the house so I can relax and enoy it a bit more. We've also had the painter in to touch up a few bits and the WIFI man came to test our signal so it's been all go. All that's left is to get out and see a bit more of Mallorca.

I message a few people at my work and ask them places they think I should visit and they give us a few recommendations. We don't want to stray too far away from home today as we don't want to spend half our day travelling in the car, so we opt to head towards Port d'Andratx. It turns out to be a lovely little upmarket seaside village with lovely views over the bay. We have a wander around and then stop off for a coffee. Of course in order to save a euro off our coffee we opt for a cafe behind the promenade, off the main strip. To be fair, the coffee is actualy really nice and Greg also gets a large empanada slice, and the whole lot only comes to 4.50 which is rather decent indeed. As we're just about to get up and leave, we notice the painter who was at the flat this morning is coming out of the same cafe as us. It's really bizzare as of all the places on the island, we end up in the same cafe in a random little town. He explains he actually lives in the area but is confused as to why we are there!

We then head along the coast towards camp de mar. it has a beautiful looking golf course running behind the beach which Greg is eyeing up longingly. The beach here is quite small and although the water is crystal clear as usual, I'm not overly impressed by it. We continue on to Peguera and Cala Fornells. I actually prefer Cala Fornells as it is just a little pretty cove with a small beach and of course, that trademark turquoise water.

The rest of our time off is spent sorting out formal stuff like our padron and residencia and getting the internet installed. It's quite sad how much we rely on the internet these days and I can't deny i've missed it the few days we haven't had it. Pretty much the last piece of the puzzle is getting our security pass and parking pass at work. We've been super lucky that a few colleagues live near us and have helped us out by giving us lifts to work, otherwise we would be paying for bus fares every day, and the local bus takes over an hour from where we live. The morning we go to collect our security pass, we unfortunately come across one of the most unhelpful and rudest worker ever. When we ask her in spanish about our pass, she mutters something in Mallorquin which we clearly don't understand so she rolls her eyes at us and then snatches our residencia cards from us. She checks a folder for all of ten seconds then pronounces the passes aren't ready as she can't find our names. I know they are there somewhere as we spoke to someone earlier in the week who told us they would definitely be ready. We inform her of this to more eye rolling and then she just turns her back and says they are not there. I'm really miffed at her attitude and not ready for giving up, so we simply wait and speak to another member of staff instead. Thankfully the next lady is much more helpful and lo and behold she finds our names and we get our passes! So that's it really. Now time to settle in and enjoy the summer exploring the island.

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