Montserrat

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So, finally, I get my day off. Planning for a lie-in, but there's not much of one of those when everyone else is getting up in the tents around you... plus I was planning on going on the excursion to Montserrat that day too, so I needed to be up, but it was nice not to think about having to get breakfast! I hadn't slept much either as the wind got up again that night, and even the waves sounds like the wind anyway!

Another boiling hot day, and, having successfully used my "cobber" in Barcelona (yes, there were comments about the "boy scout look", but hey, I was cool, I decided I'd put it to use again here. First wander was to the stack of rocks, which Tanya had climbed the previous week, so up went Rob, then Mark (although I missed seeing him do this), and then Tanya again - plenty of posing at the top of the pile! Having found the toilets (pretty nice too!) we headed across the bridge to the main area, spent some time in the shop, and then met in groups for easy/hard walks and just plain going up in the cable car! I wanted to join the 'hard' walking group - thought I was fit enough - but I really was not! I've lost so much fitness since before Christmas (when I was doing crazy amounts of exercise!), and the lack of sleep the previous couple of nights combined with the heat did not help. I really hope I'm going to manage the Inca Trail better than this, because as we got to the top of the cable car, where there was an option to drop out - I did! Managed to hook up with another group, as 'Team Extreme' continued onto an amazing viewpoint. Knew at the end of the day though that I'd made the right decision as they went REALLY fast and made it back with only 10 minutes to spare! It also meant that I had time to hang out with various different people, and look inside the Basilica - we didn't wait to see the Black Madonna as the queue looked like it was about 3 hours long, and we weren't that bothered anyway!

Back on the coach, and back to the campsite for Nick's surprise birthday party (yes, it looked rather like a bondage party, but... and I wasn't the only one who thought so!) - where all had to dress in "black tie"... aka bin liners - last line in elegance hey! I have to say I think mine had had something in it, but I couldn't be bothered to change it! Joined in the first game of pass-the-parcel, but disappeared for the second game... getting something organised, no idea what! Think I slept well that night - was SO tired!

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