Bob headed off to Chaudi again first thing. Ostensibly to pick up his repaired sandals which were ready at a princely cost of £2.50 for the two. He also went to Coastal Flavours for breakfast as he had a hankering for a Masala Dosa, that South Indian staple: a large, super thin, crisp pancake wrapped around a filling of spiced potato, onion and herbs. He also purchased us 2 large pillowcases for the new pillows, an egg slice for the frying pan and a few other necessary items.

I went to the beach and had breakfast at Sea Front and a good diving memory chat with Chris. Heather was volunteering at the dog rescue centre.

Bob didn’t hang about and joined me for the rest of the day. We had lots of swims. The waves were a bit higher today than they have been and we had to jump a few times.

We both wore our new sunglasses today!!!!

Left the beach about 330 and came back to the apartments and cooled off in the pool for a while.

Tonight we ate dinner at Zest on the beach in Patnem. So there was a Zest in Patnem back before covid but it only lasted one year as the location was totally unsuitable. Then there was one in Palolem that also moved about a bit. Then a second opened in Talpona. They are lovely restaurants. Think tasteful almost Balinese decor and a largely vegetarian menu served in an imaginative way, cross cultural in origins. Last year they came back to Patnem, this time on the beach and in a lovely location that is special for us. For the first 8 or 9 years we visited Patnem we based ourselves at a shack called Salida del Sol. It became our home from home. We loved everything about it: the food, the staff, the atmosphere. Unfortunately, after covid it took a dive downwards and we moved on to Sea Front, sad to see our old base so run down. Anyway Zest is on the location of Salida and really beautiful.

We had a table with Gloria, Kirsty and Frances and had a most jolly evening. G&ts flowed especially the Zest G&T which comes in a super large bowl glass and has fruit, flowers and spice in it. Bob had a bowl of delicious mushroom ramen. I had the Buddha bowl which was a poke dish of avo, quinoa, nuts, brown rice and a whole host of other things. The ladies had veg lasagne and tomato pasta. It was all super good. Our bill for 2 with service was about £16. Will definitely go back. Breakfast looked amazing.