Exploring

16th June

There were lots of shops in the town that rented bicycles and scooters. Alistair and Gill had decided to rent bicycles and explore a bit of the island. I wanted to do the same. Tony was less keen on the idea... but the island is flat and he agreed, reluctantly, that that was what we would do. I had need of some time ashore, some countryside. First, though, we needed to find a money machine. We were totally out of cash.

We split up: Alistair and Gill to organise their bikes while our first priority had to be to get some cash. Eventually, after asking a few people, we found the only cash machine in town. It was out of order!!! The nearest town was San Francisco Javier, three kms away. Well, there seemed to be plenty of local buses around... but did we have enough cash for the fare?

Walking around I had seen the cutest little car for rent. It looked rather like an old beetle convertible but was smaller, bright yellow in colour... and electric! Well, Tony wasn't too keen on a day spent cycling around... 'shall we see how much that electric car would cost for the day?' I ventured. He needed no second bidding and I was commissioned to go back to the office. €40. That wasn't bad - and there would be no added petrol costs. But the little yellow car wasn't available. It didn't have a full charge, or so they said. They had other vehicles, but not so 'cute'. I went back to Tony, who had been waiting for Alistair and Gill. 'Get one!' he said. Anything to avoid a bike was obviously his main concern. I had to be the driver as he had left his licence on Ganymede.

Okay, so I wouldn't normally pay a bill of €40 with a bank card, but needs must and they didn't seem concerned in the office. Paperwork done, car checked, and it was time to go. Oh dear! I hadn't driven a normal car for so long and here was this thing that had an accelerator and a brake, a toggle switch - up for forwards, down for reverse - and the loudest warning beep when in reverse that you have ever heard. On top of that, it was on the busiest street in the town. That didn't make it Piccadilly Circus but even so... there were cars, and what's more, I didn't know how to get back to where Tony was waiting. Oh, and did I tell you the accelerator pedal was a bit strange... didn't seem to do anything for the first three centimetres or so.

I found Tony, Gill and Eva and Alistair eventually arrived with his bike. Gill, putting off the evil moment, eventually managed to persuade him to go back for hers. Like me with my little buggy, Gill was not exactly confident about a day's cycling. For me... a café con leche -Alistair and Gill still had some cash.

Eventually we were all organised with our various modes of transport. Tony was overjoyed at not having to spend the day on the saddle. Gill was having misgivings about the bike. I was not over-confident about driving this car all day. We arranged to meet for lunch and off we went. Tony and I didn't make it to the end of the first road before, 'would you like me to drive?'. Now, I didn't know if it was because he couldn't stand my driving... he usually can't... or because he desperately wanted to drive the car himself. Whatever, he took over the driving.

Our first stop had to be Sant Francisco Javier. This part of the island is mostly flat, with a couple of lagoons and salt pans, but Sant Francisco is built on one of the few hills so it was a long, slow, gentle climb. Tony has reached what I call the 'grumpy old man' stage, and this particularly applies to driving. Gone are the days of speeding down motorways... now it is a case of, 'I have every right to the road and if I want to drive slowly I'll do so!'. This little electric car was perfect for him. Along we tottered, and no-one got impatient, well, not very, because they didn't expect that such a vehicle could go any faster. We finally reached to San Francisco, got some cash and wandered around.

The town was pretty. Although obviously it depends on tourism to a great extent, it was also a 'real' town, with 'real' shops as well as the usual tourist shops. There was a lovely town square with the town hall on one side and the old fortified church of Sant Javier opposite. The church was very unusual in style, square flat roofed and, it seemed, with no windows. it certainly looked more like a fort than anything else. (Later I will try make a photo blog of Alistair and Gill's visit, including photos of our visit to Formentera.) A drink, a bit more of a wander and it was time to go, time to head for our rendezvous.

We were heading for Punta del Pujols: the road was easy, downhill until we reached sea level and then on, not a hill for ever, it seemed. We made good progress, I don't think any cyclists overtook us. The road took us through a couple of towns, busy with tourists, and then we doubled back to find the road to the beach where we would find the others. Gill wasn't sure she had enjoyed her bike ride...' why do the seats have to be so uncomfortable?', she asked. Eva was happy. She had sat behind her daddy, watching the world go by and then... another play in the sand. And still not even a toe in the sea.

It was time for lunch. The little restaurant we chose didn't look much and we weren't hopeful for anything but the most basic lunch. Gill thought she would like paella, after all, this is Spain, but a minimum of two people have to order it so I agreed to join her. I am usually disappointed when I order paella. This one was delicious. In fact, I would go so far as to say it was the most delicious paella I have ever eaten. It was freshly cooked, so a bit of a wait, but well worth it. The aroma as it was brought to the table... and everything tasted so fresh and clean, the fish, the chicken and the rice was perfectly cooked. I thought about that paella for days afterwards. (Tony says I am still talking about it!)

Tony and I continued on our journey. As we drove along I noticed some fig trees. They seemed to be grouped in a strange way, with a large, low tree in the centre and then a ring of smaller trees around it. A closer look showed us that the 'trees' around the edge were, in fact, branches that were being propped up by poles. Other than that, there wasn't much sign of agriculture: occasionally some goats, occasionally a small market garden, but mostly fallow fields divided by dry stone walls. And trees. Very peaceful and relaxing.

We made our way to the sea. Along narrow lanes with first woods and then scattered houses and then the usual hotel and holiday villas that lead to a beach. Time for an ice-cream.

Back on the road again, we continued along a narrow isthmus heading towards the south east corner of the island. Except in the heat of high summer, this would be an excellent holiday destination for anyone who likes cycling or walking but nothing too strenuous. And, of course, there are the beaches. There are two 'high' parts of the island: La mola at 192m and Cabo Berberiá at 107m and here the coast features rocky cliffs but otherwise, the coast is low-lying and sandy.

We made another stop in Sant Francisco on our way home: the supermarket. I told you Sant Francisco had real shops! Then I took the car back... and the girl in the office asked me to park it. Park it? The space was only just big enough: a car on one side, a long row of scooters on the other!!! I was afraid that if I hit one of the scooters I would create a domino effect and all of them would slowly fall to the ground. I shuffled and shuffled, shuffled some more, all the while the warning reverse beep alerting the whole world to my antics, and eventually decided I had done my bit, abandoned the car and took the keys back.

Back once again on Ganymede, we drank sun-downers as the sun slowly sank below the horizon.