Max and Paul's Excellent Adventure

I couldn't wait for the opportunity to get in the passenger seat for a fly over Majorca. Having obtained his Private Pilot's License, (PPL)  Daniel is now able to take passengers in certain aircraft. The weather was a bit unreliable for flying, so there were few opportunities to get some time in the air. The flying school. A few safety checks first, which include tyre pressure, the working of the ailerons, rudder, elevator and flaps and a fuel check for any contaminants are among a long list of items to check pre-flight. Checking the oil. Untying the ropes. Ellen was first to go up! He certainly looks the part! Then my turn! Looking down at the southern coast. Across to the east. I felt so safe being up there. Daniel is meticulous when it comes to safety of all concerned and the handling of the aircraft. He flew like he'd done it for years. Thanks matey! A proud dad! Another one of those days I will never forget! It's over (sigh). Now back to Seville to start the road t...

We drove for 3 hours from our pet sit in Portugal to Seville Airport where we dropped Penny Peugeot off at a long-term car park and caught a 1.5-hour flight to the island of Majorca. The city of Palma is beautiful, having preserved the architecture and atmosphere of the days of old. Streets were narrow, paved, and full of character, and each shop was unique in its character and style. Thanks to Daniel for organising accommodation for the infamous 5. (Daniel, Ellen, Meredith, me and Max.) The accommodation was only a short walk to the centre of town where there was a feast for the eyes - and stomach!  Street scenes. The esplanade along the bay featuring the 'Catedral-Basílica de Santa María de Mallorca' in the background. The detail is incredible. It's hard to believe they could build these places given the tools  and the expertise they supposedly had in the 13th century.  The weather played a little havoc with us and at times we felt we were in Melbourne, as we were given...

I was relieved when we finally got to our pet sit at São Bartolomeu de Messines. The freeways were generally good, but we had to be wary of the potholes in the slow lane due to use by larger trucks. Some potholes were up to 25cm deep and wide, which would have caused significant damage to the wheel if we'd copped one. So I spent more time in the fast lane watching out for drivers coming up behind me doing a 'little more' than the speed limit of 130kph. (Max: he's a RHS driving pro now!) The owners greeted us with glasses of wine and a meal and the cat, Mushtie (also called N2), made himself known very quickly.  It's good having a cat sometimes. We can get out and about for longer stretches. We all had an early night. We'd had a huge day and the owners were leaving at 5am the next day.  The sit was for 7 days so we wanted to make the most of the time exploring the Algarve. The house was just on the outskirts of a little village called  São Bartolomeu de Messines....

After landing in Madrid we picked up the car and drove through peak-hour traffic, heading south for a 3-hour drive to our accommodation near a lake in the middle of who knows where. Apart from some torrential rain as it began to get dark, the trip itself was uneventful. We chose the hotel based on price (of course) and location as the following morning, we had a 5-and-a-half-hour drive to the Algarve in southern Portugal for our next pet sit. We arrived at 8pm and weren't sure if we were in the right place as there were no other cars in the car park. Mauro, the manager, greeted us as we got out of the car, welcomed us warmly and offered to cook us dinner which we gratefully accepted.  The room we had was large and clean and once unloaded, we made our way to the dining room and were given local wines to chill out with while dinner was being prepared. The 3 courses were delicious and what stood out was the tomatoes actually tasted like tomatoes used to taste in Australia!  That'...