The team is all here!

? We made it ! Tired and weary from a big day of travel we made it to Talpe 2 hours south from the capital of Sri Lanka Colombo. ??

Greatful for lounge passes (thanks Pete and Gwyn) and nice attendant at the Singapore Airlines Krislounge and our premium seats ? and our crew of travellers  all just pushing through, we arrived at The Owl & the Pussycat Hotel at 3.30am in the morning.

Right on the coast with a high tide and the Indian Ocean smashing into the stoned wall of our hotel what a beautiful sound. We are quickly shown to our rooms and it’s lights out.

Pall of our group have been enjoying the view. From the Edge of the ocean where there is a group of stilt fisherman, an iconic sight in coastal Sri Lankan areas, sit on tiny stick poles and with another stick fishing line, hook these tiny silver fish called butter fish and drop them into their bags also on said poles and they fish and they fish and they fish……. 

Slowly over the couple of hours that our group has been swimming in the stunning lap pool, enjoying a leisurely breakfast of traditional Sri Lankan hopper –  a thin rice pancake, and inside the little pancake basket is an cooked egg. Of course you can add chilli and I’m not sure what else  into this, which most do, however after my dodgy stomach from my Indian trip, I just have the egg, which is super yummy!

So whilst we have had our fine breakfast, and contemplated what we are doing today….. the fishermen hop down from their poles wade into shore and  head off home, some proceed to have what looks like a fishy deal take place.

Lots of fish get traded for what appears to be not a lot of rupee. However everyone seems happy including Steve, Stuart and David, all watching on at this it’s a very Blokey scene, oh and me, as a fish tries to escape  back into the ocean ( I if figured he’d possibly already potentially caught up to 3 hours ago) so I pick it up and put him back on the pile soon to become fish curry!

We have our first team meeting and decide on a plan for the day, and of course half an hour later, that plan goes out the window as we have to wait for our new friend. Sandivar to arrive, so it’s back to the pool for a quick beer, G & T , or green tea and another float in the pool.

Sandivar arrives and somehow I luck into the front seat, get to grab a couple of nice photos and Sandivar talks to me and I translate (sometimes I make it up) to the others in the back seats and we head to Welligama as Stuart would really love a surf…..

Well Welligama, is a very pretty bay along the lines of Port Stephens in NSW and those waves….. well they aren’t really anywhere to be seen, however we realise they must have a decent surf from time to time, as we have never seen so many hippy Sri Lankan’s offering to rent us a board and go for a surf. ?‍♀️

Looks like it’s now plan C -surfing now abandoned for oh look- It’s 1.30pm it must be lunch time…. 

We sit at a pretty cafe ( that’s probably a stretch for Australian standards) however when in Sri Lanka…… We are dining with the locals pretty much on the side of the road, with traffic and cows and fisherman tending to and making new fishing nets, and have the most fabulous meals of yep you guessed it Fish curry, nasigoreng or grilled fish, some amazing Dahl, and veggie dishes that fill all our bellies along with the biggest Lion ? beer you have ever seen.  Of course Steve has said 6 beers thanks and before we know it these large bottle have all had their tops removed, so we had to drink it! 

As first days on holidays go, it’s been magical ! Great company, and all just chilled about our adventure, and as the lonely planet guides appear in time for sundowners, a little more planning and looking at our actual tour itinerary which kicks off on Monday start to appear.

Last night as we dined on the edge of our hotel’s cute restaurant listening to the Indian ocean tide come in, the fishermen yep still out there doing their thing and we are doing ours, eating and drinking under the stars, and enjoying the ambience of the Owl & the Pussycat Hotel and all it’s splendid artwork, poems and stories on display.

Today is a new day, and I’m blogging whilst the others have gone to yoga ?‍♂️ ?‍♀️

Sometimes you gotta just take one for the team in a bloggers life as there isn’t always time to blog!

Today we are off to Unawatuna and Galle for a morning of pottering around and hopefully a surf as the waves are supposed to be better in that direction.

This afternoon has some massage, Reiki  or foot massages and re adjustments of necks etc, from the bus trip down and I for one cant wait,

Sdo till next time , enjoy this quick update.

Mrs W x

Ps in case any of you are interested I’ve already been shopping and yep my 3 favourite words x 2. DO YOU SHIP?  Yes they do x