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Hey, now don’t we scrub up well when we make an effort?!  We got the pictures taken of us at the recent wedding.  Neil dressed in his suit with collar and tie and Cheryl looking absolutely fabulous – we could pass for a real celebrity couple on the social circuit, ok maybe not.

Sadly, we must report the passing on of Cheryl’s cat Bruno.  After 17 glorious years he finally succumbed to old age.  We know it’s not of much interest to most of you but for us he was a gem…….even Neil was a tad choked when we heard.  After we started travelling 9 years ago Neil’s son took him on and then when he moved out of the house after 4 years a neighbour and her family adopted him and gave him a loving home for his final few years.  We didn’t come across anybody who didn’t find a small slot in their heart’s for him……he was such a loving and amusing cat.

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It’s been the usual build to Christmas and New Year with a social calendar befitting anybody famous. The pictures tell it all but in summary we had a superb lunch with Priti and Aditya our neighbours in Micon who came to Neil’s rescue when British Airways lost his bag.  Hopefully we’ll be seeing them in the UK during the summer as Aditya passes through on his Triumph Bonneville during his round the world trip.

Then it was the obligatory Santa Special on the dolphin boat – 32 people in the party.  Hugh was magnificent as Santa as you saw from our previous post and it all got very messy when some in the party started to moon at another boat!  Neil didn’t start it but he’s easily led!  It was a fantastic day with superb food, great company and maybe one or two drinks, followed by a lot more drinks.

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Our calendar took a slight deflection as we went for drinks one evening with a new neighbour, Niloufer, and her friends from Bombay (that’s what they call it and for this blog entry so will we!). It was such a laugh and they also had friends from Quebec who brought some superb Canadian Gin made from a recipe originating from the Inuits.  One of the party was a very striking 6ft girl of 15 years old who is studying music.  Her and her mum gave us an impromptu Christmas Carol concert in French……….some people get camera envy, some phone envy but for us it’s voice envy……..they were just so harmonious! 

Talking of envy, we’re about to give you Christmas Day envy.  We had the day on the beach and Francis cooked us a delicious lunch of fish and huge tiger prawns all washed down with a bottle of Sauvignon Blanc……just take a look at the pictures if you dare!!  We had amazing quality Skype calls with our children and family, the video was the best ever, and then it was cocktails with friends at sunset.  Finally, we made our way home, showered and had yet another bottle, this time a slinky Zinfandel Red, to go with our blue cheese pizza at our favourite Italian…..sorry readers but you should really come and experience our Christmas day to fully appreciate just how good it is.  

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Then, of course, we had the traditional New Year party at Rex’s beach shack.  No photos as we decided to travel out very light – money to pay the bill (and we didn’t take enough) plus the key to get back in.  The fireworks started at 11.50 and went on with such vigour until 12.15.  We paddled in the sea to look down the beach in both directions and the sky was ablaze with fireworks for as far as we could see……who needs Sydney Harbour Bridge?  What a great night, staggered home at 4am with Cheryl hiccupping all the way, and now Neil is nursing very sore calves from too much dancing to Madness and Cheryl is nursing a delicate head after far too many G&T’s.

The Goans love to party too and they make us look like real amateurs.  We left the beach at 3.30am and having been to Mass they were just arriving in their stunning suits and party frocks.  We’re typing this at 11.30 am and we can still hear fire crackers going off and the local church is playing Konkani music that can be heard for miles around…….do the Goans never go to bed?

We hope you all had a great Christmas and New Year celebration, today is New Years day and we’re having a very lazy day at home in the cool but we’ll be back on the beach tomorrow!