After a day of mostly being stuck in the house yesterday, we really wanted to get out and about today. The island is well suited for walking - even on the bigger roads it’s expected that there will be pedestrians, and most of the roads have 30-40km/h speed limits anyway, so we decided we were going to walk (plus of course that allowed for James having a drink!).
The original plan was to walk to Porat, which we’d visited the day before, and maybe a bit further on to St Martin’s, but we knew that would be a lot to expect of the kids, so we were prepared not to achieve that. The weather was sunny with a chance of thunderstorms - initially it was quite hazy which brought down the temperature a bit. After a bit of a debate on the route, we started our walk down a shady tree lined gravel lane, and quickly got used to the wildlife around us - lizards all over the place, the occasional funnel web spider, and lots of butterflies.
We headed first for Malinska, to get some cash and then follow the seafront to Porat. We’d briefly visited Malinska a few days before - it was quite a busy seaside resort and a little tacky in places (though nothing like the Costas, for example), but we were hoping to find some quieter spots along the coast. We were rewarded not long out of Malinska by a lovely harbour cove, very safe for the kids to swim in, and a beautiful inviting shade of blue.
There are very few beaches as we would expect in Cornwall here, there are a few shingly stretches but mostly the shoreline is either concrete or rocks, with people dropping their towels and belongings wherever they feel like it, sometimes on the path. This cove had terraced concrete areas, a bit of shady verge alongside the path (where we dropped our stuff) and a tiny area of shingle at the edge of the cove, next to a refreshment stand.
We didn’t bring any beach shoes, and we’d seen that there were plenty of sea urchins around, so we edged into the water quite carefully. It was lovely and warm though, so we were soon swimming around. We could have stayed there for a very long time, but we were keen to carry on (we were planning to buy lunch in a bakery we’d seen in Porat), so we came out, dried ourselves, had chocolate gingerbread for snack and walked on.
The path was comfortable walking - mainly flat and on concrete but with some shady gravel stretches under trees and the occasional harbour to walk around. Walking around one, we spotted some sea cucumbers on the bottom (as well as the standard fish darting around) which was interesting for the kids. We had surprisingly few moans before we got to Porat, and we found lunch in the bakery, although the selection was a bit limited, and quite expensive compared to other countries we’ve visited.
We decided to eat it at the beach we’d visited the evening before. We sat on some logs under the trees by the beach, hoping that the ants around us weren’t the bitey kind! I shared a kremsnita with Lowenna for pudding - it was massive! Then we headed back to the beach, but not before finally caving in and buying some beach shoes for the kids. These made a massive difference and we all had a lovely swim in the somewhat colder water at this beach, before coming out for ice lollies.
While we were choosing our ice lollies, we looked out to sea and noticed some dolphins - a pod of them that stayed around for a good 10 minutes, the icing on the cake! On the other hand, we’d noticed the sky darkening on the mainland, and it wasn’t long before we saw flashes of lightning and the rumbles of thunder. We used our handy lightning tracker to keep an eye on the storm and were quite relieved that it wasn’t heading our way - well all apart from Felix, who for some reason is desperate to get caught up in a large storm!
We’d spotted a snack bar/bistro on the way through that we were hoping to head for for dinner on the way back, however after buying ice lollies we were a bit concerned that like a lot of the local eateries it might be cash only. When we arrived we discovered this was the case, and we debated for a bit because we would have had just enough for food, but not for drinks… and then decided to carry on until we could find an ATM and maybe eat near Malinska. We stopped off at the same cove on the way back for a bit of a swim, although this time it was only Jowan and Lowenna that went in the water.
The bistro we decided upon was the other side of Malinska, and we discovered the marina and town centre that we’d missed before. It was as good as the Google reviews said, with a lovely view over the marina, and we found ice cream on the way back across the marina, as well as a live band that we were tempted to stick around for. The kids were keen to get home though, so we started back on the uphill route, but Felix was feeling impatient and decided to push on ahead.
This was fine until we got to a certain point and realised that not only had he vanished out of sight, but we had his phone in one of the backpacks. We relied on his sense of direction and were hoping we would see him when we got back to the accommodation, but… no sign. He barely lets his phone out of his sight normally, but typically the two times he’s disappeared on us, he hasn’t had his phone!
We debated what to do and decided the two younger children could stay in the apartment and keep an eye out for him from the balcony, while me and James would go out looking - James in the car, and me trying some of the other lanes he could have found himself along. Apparently he arrived home shortly after we’d left. Jowan phoned James to let him know, but nobody phoned me, so I’d run a good mile from the apartments before anyone phoned to check where I was!
It was pretty scary with the sky darkening running along deserted tracks but the relief that Felix was ok and the promise of a cold beer got me back. I suppose on the plus side it was the first run I’ve done in a while!
Published on Friday 27 July 2018
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