Commanders of our own ship!

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Today we were the commanders of our own ship, small though it may have been, we were free! For a whole two hours! We hired a small speed racer, bought some beers and a half bottle of wine (but forgot that we needed a cork screw for the wine, so poor John had to give over one of his beers to his dear mrs.

Earlier in the day we decided to visit the Grotto Azzurra (Blue Grotto) by way of 3 connecting buses, so that we didn't waste too much of our time on the boat waiting for our turn to go into the cave. You have to wait to be transferred from the jetty, or a bigger boat (if you have come by sea) into the little timber boats, and squeezed in on top of strangers who you then have to lie back on top of as the boatman waits for the tide to be just right to slip into the small whole that is the only opening to the grotto.

The Blue Grotto is 20 metres deep and 60 metres long, but they just row you around in a little circle, about 8 boats inside at a time, some boatmen singing (higher tips demanded if they sing for you). It is pitch black, except for the amazing colour of the water and the glow of the other boats when close to you. John had the new little camera that we bought for video and panoramas, and it actually has no flash, but photographs amazing in low light, much better than my good camera. I only managed to take 2-3 photos inside and all have funny 'ghosts' in the shots - you will see below.

Rushing then through lunch to make it back to our room to change into swimmers and get our drinks for the boat, and back to the Marina, we of course managed a quick bit of shopping and below you will see my nice new bag, 50% off! Tomorrow I am hoping to manage to fit in a beautiful ceramic shell and starfish hurricane lamp. I need to pack first and work out if it is going to be possible, but you know me, if I want it, I will be sure to fit it in my suitcase!

We swam and snorkeled in the Grotto Verde (Green Grotto - as the water is greener than the blue one). There is also a White Grotto, but we ran out of time very quickly on our little boat.

Lots of photos below.

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Photos

They have to be Aussies don't they?
Only Aussies would think they could get their own blow up dingy with four big fella sitting up on the sides in through this tiny whole - just to avoid the 12.50 per person I am sure. They were set straight.

Comments

[Hilda]

Wonderful!
looks like a great vacation...thanks for sharing :)