Arriving back in the UK after a year in New Zealand felt so natural, I guess it must have been time to move on. There are moments now where I question what the hell we are doing when all I hear is chaos on the radio and in the paper. Walking through Brighton nearly sent me into a panic as there were so many people, Ive been away from all of this for a significant time. Just to clarify – the newspapers in New Zealand never announced world news on the front page, you would need to search for the World section in your lunch break. The rest of the paper focussed on local news such as community affairs. I have to say it was very refreshing however I went along with this mentality and cut off all news of home whilst I was there. Ignorance really is bliss but I dont think that personality trait ever goes down well here. My partner, Mark, visited me and was amazed at the news on the television. If it wasnt farming news it was biscuit rating time, or 10 minutes back and forth from the studio to the reporter trying to pick a song for an elderly brass band to play (they settled on Happy Birthday after establishing that they couldnt remember the song from My Fair Lady).
Mark and I flew to Mallorca, Spain. I grew up there and seeing friends and family was long overdue. Our house is situated in the heart of the Sierra de Tramuntana which is a UNESCO world heritage site due to its culture and beauty. Our cottage lays on a hill between the mountains called Galatzo and Bauza. Like most of the island the rock is limestone which provides great thermals for birds to soar upwards on. I worked on a project to help conserve the population of vultures who lived in the area due to the lands characteristics.
We spent our days snorkelling in the beautiful Mediterranean sea, and our evening sat out in the dusty dusk light, eating olives and salads with good beer and company. The featured photo was taken along the coast from Port Adriano. We rented a two seater sea kayak and set out to explore. The coastline is very interesting, there are lots of caves and old forgotten features scattered among the limestone sea cliffs. I have no idea what the door in the photo was used for, it has steps carved out of the rock and further up there is another doorway which you can just make out.
The Mediterranean is like a nursery for the Mediterranean Great Whites (Carcharodon Carcharias), I’ve never had the mis/fortune of meeting one but it makes swimming there a lot more special, they come down to breed (it probably has something to do with the Tuna population as well). The nutrient level is relatively low, you can determine this by observing the clarity of the sea water (which attracts so many tourists every year). Fortunatley there were no Jellyfish (or Medusas as they say), which made snorkelling pain free this year, however apparently there were many blooms down in Formentera. At the end of our visit we had trained our bodies to allow us more time under the water, and the water became an accesible world to us.
For the first time in my 20 years living there I had made peace with the ocean and found a mutual ground with it.
emilyruthmountains 