Wednesday 19th November

Anybody seeing this picture may just suspect that Elaine is in a bit of a good when this picture was taken.  That is because yesterday was, and for evermore will be, celebrated as Kobo day.  Please let me explain.  You maybe will remember that the one disaster that has befallen us is that Elaine’s Kobo, her e-reader gave up the ghost.  W H Smiths who market this particular reader have a policy that they will not post anything abroad and other than her love for me then her one love is for reading.  Elaine has missed her books so much that some evenings we have even resorted to talking to each other.  Our friends Tom and Jo arrived here Friday to start their Winter stopover.  They have taken one of the cabins here and yesterday they drove to Alicante airport to pick up Tom’s parents who were coming out for a ten day holiday in the cabin next to theirs.  In their suitcase was a replacement Kobo for Elaine which we had had sent to their address. Hence Elaine’s beaming smiles and the new Saints day “Kobo Day”.

We have been quite lucky with the weather and most days are wall to wall blue sky days with temperatures of around 22 degrees and Elaine has thoroughly enjoyed the sun bathing.  I get a bit bored just sitting there, day after day so after a little while I just have to find something else to pass the time.

We have spent a lot of time cycling  and above you will see Elaine leading the way with Tom and Jo following on behind.  Normally it is all three of us doing the following, allowing Elaine to be our trail blazer.  it is not because we are worried about leaving Elaine behind, in the distance.  It is because at a halt sign, she stopped and very slowly fell onto her side in a very lady like way.  After much laughter we all got on her way and now none of us will overtake Elaine for fear of missing a repeat performance.  Forever more that crossroads is referred amongst the three of us as Elaine’s accident black spot and Jo swears that the council had to come out to repair the hole in the road.

Monday, all four of us went to Benidorm. This is Elaine now. Right, Benidorm is like Marmite you either love it or you hate it! If you’ve been you will know what I mean. We were on a mission and on the lookout for Madge from the TV series Benidorm. In our quest to find her we nearly got knocked down by hundreds of mobility scooters on the seafront – even tandem ones. Most of those poor disabled people hopped out at the many bars on the promenade and joined in the Kareoke sessions girating to Staying Alive. Of course we just had to have the Full English on arrival and fish and chips at Danny’s on leaving. In between Sangria in a couple of bars and a tour of all the exclusive, designer shops they have in Benidorm – even found the hotel where Benidorm series was recorded. We did have to walk around seven miles just to look at the block of flats where Jo had stopped for a week, about 4 years ago and we all marvelled that there was not a blue plaque on the wall to signify such an important event.  Seriously though, the transport system here is amazing ( and cheap ) and we took the train back after a cracking day out.

Altough we are having the time of our lives we are very aware, and constantly think of our friends and family that we have left behind  to be able to fulfill this dream of ours. Alecante airport is just a stones throw from here and England is just an Easyjet, plane ride away.  You too could be here, living the dream and there are still bungalows available.