We are having a lovely time with the girls and Geri. Yesterday we all went back to Turtle Beach for the day. Malham and Emma came too. It was pretty hot but we all survived. The wind was up which meant that the surf was up. Even in the lagoon….. We rented two body boards from Surya’s shack – £1 each for 3 hours and we put them to good use. Had huge fun riding the waves in. I’ve been surfing since I was a small child in Cornwall and I even mastered standing on a board in my teens….. Mainly it’s been body boarding though. You go so fast once the power of the wave is right behind you and around you. It’s quite thrilling. Daisy was probably the best of us. She is light enough that she can catch the wave at the top before it breaks even on a body board. Most people have to wait for the break and then ride it in.

After a good 3 hours we retired to Santosh’s shack and had a massive seafood lunch washed down by Sula Sauvignon Blanc. I’d got him to put 5 bottles in the fridge first thing but we only had 3 in the end. All the food was mega yum and it was a great and convivial lunch. Got back to Patnem about 3:30 and had a sleep…..

Last night we went to Boomshankar for cocktails for those who hadn’t been before. Shiva Shakers proved very popular. I stuck to my usual Passage to India.. After that we ate at Namaste which was really good. I don’t know why we haven’t eaten there more this time.

Today, Lucy and Geri went off on a canyoning day trip while everyone else lazed on the beach. It was extremely hot and the sea was still a bit bouncy from yesterday. The canyoning sounded a bit extreme but they loved it. There were jumps into deep pools, abseils down cliffs, jungle clambers and hacking, rock clambers, squeezing through passages to caves with waterfalls, at least one snake and hundreds and hundreds of spiders…… on the whole I felt glad to have decided I was far too old to attempt it…

We all ate together at Casa Fiesta tonight and of course there was fish pollichatu and kingfish steaks aplenty. We reviewed all the canyoning pictures which looked amazing. A big dark yellow moon tonight.

Tomorrow is Daisy’s last day. She leaves Patnem at 0630 on Sunday morning. We will make the most of tomorrow for sure and then she will be much missed. Lucy and Geri leave late on Sunday night so we still have 2 days left with them. By Monday morning, it will just be Stuart and Fi, Bob and I from our gang……. It has gone very fast.