New Year in Benaulim followed much the same pattern as in previous years, a meal in town followed by a party on the beach at Rex’s shack dancing to music from DJ Paul brought in specially from Hull. Well, not quite but Rex does like to talk things up! Paul and Wendy have been coming here for years, Paul’s just happy to sort out the music. Fireworks were even better this year and seemed to just go on forever. We meandered home around 2am having had a great evening.
The first few days of 2019 went without too much excitement which was just as well. Just one evening of ska and reggae music, once again care of DJ Paul, but this time we were in bed just before midnight. The quiz nights have started again with John deserting our team to support another team that were short on numbers….they won! The following week we were back into winning ways so now we’ll see how it goes before we leave Goa at the end of the month.
The main event for January was our 1970’s themed party on the beach. 40+ people, many dressed in 70’s gear, came to Pescadoodle Shack for an excellent buffet and dancing. We had some great outfits and a special mention to Bee (a space hopper), Jan (Debbie Harry), Derek (a marvelous performance as Sid Vicious) and Dave (just your average punk). It was great fun and thanks to all the guys in the shack for making it a great night.
Shortly after the beach party we were invited to a dolphin trip on Cris Boats with around 25 friends to celebrate Tricia’s birthday. It was the usual stuff, great food, plenty to drink and great company. After we staggered off the boat Tony decided that we should head to Cheers Bar for a ‘cheeky one’ before catching the bus home. Well, as we were about 14 people they agreed that we could bring happy hour forward by an hour. Now it started to get really messy. Having taken a picture of the table half way through happy hour Neil forgot to take a picture at the end. That was probably because someone suddenly suggested that we might have missed the last bus…..oh shit! We quickly paid our bill and headed for the bus stop. Sure enough we had missed it so we tried to negotiate with local taxi drivers for a ride. The taxi mafia are strong all over Goa but in Cavelossim they are solid. Only one thing to do, wander away from the local taxi men and call our normal guys back in Benaulim to come and collect us. So, while we waited, what to do? ‘Ah, look a little bar, how convenient!’ We were both sound asleep before 10pm.
Another boat trip 
Halfway through happy hour
No surprise that we didn’t make the quiz later that night. Jeff and Mary were due to fly home on the last remaining quiz night so that just left us and John & Sue. It was a close thing but we managed to win by just one point! As usual we donated our winnings to the Children’s Charity in nearby Colva so another great night.
Our last day in Goa was spent enjoying the sea, the sounds of the waves and watching life pass us by. We watched the sunset (not spectacular, but you can’t have everything!), had sundowners and a last chat with Alton before saying our goodbyes and heading to Jack’s Corner for our favourite beef vindaloo. After the sundowners, some more drinks and a complimentary Honeybee we meandered our way home for a relatively early night.
Bye Rajiv 
Delicious food and drinks all for less than a tenner
Another year gone, another 3 months behaving badly on the beautiful beach in Benaulim and it’s now time to finish our Indian trip with a short tour of Rajasthan. Watch this space.
Cheryl & Neil Our Story 
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