After a very late night, and way to many drinks, surfacing this morning was not as easy as the last couple. At 4am I’d received a FaceTime call from my family back home who were all out to dinner celebrating my youngest daughter Boston’s final high school exam. School is done and officially ends a long stint as a school mum.

The early morning call was short but lovely and to see the smiles on everyone’s faces, especially a little relief on Boston’s too. The phone was passed around the dinner table one by one, while Matthew slept all the way through it.
At some point in the morning I’d been left in the bed to rest while Matthew returned with coffee and some breakfast of empanadas. One was spinach and cheese and the other was guava and cream cheese. They were delicious, however I was in no state to consume anything more than a bite, and pretty much rolled back over and slept off the hangover till finally at lunch time I surfaced and we decided to head out for some lunch. We have a very exciting evening planned, so it’s important I get vertical to prepare for the night ahead.
We head for a restaurant called the Lobster Pot, another wonderfully located spot on the main intersection, where we take a seat and order some tacos to share. It’s fun to watch the table beside us put bibs on as they hoe into a lobster and other seafood dishes. While we are sitting there a couple walks past to inspect the menu outside. They catch my eye as they have pouches for their pooches. It’s incredibly cute, and wonder whether it is attributed to the weather and the potentially very hot paths they would need to walk on.

We don’t have a huge amount of time before we are due to head out for our night time adventure on the water, so we opted for a quiet chat by the pool after picking up some snacks from the supermarket to take on the boat later on.

We check the time and it’s not long before we starting to pack the back pack with wine, cheese and a sandwich to have later on, and order an Uber to take us about 15 mins down the road to the boat ramp where we are to meet Captain Potter and his boat “One Love”. Before he had arrived we were waiting on the dock and looked out onto the water to see a manatee (it’s like a dugong) frolicking in the water. Matthew had been to this area a number of times but had never seen one before. He thinks I might be his lucky charm. There are a couple out on kayaks and as they approach the manatee it gives the lady’s kayak a bump, nearly knocking her off. What we didn’t realise is that they just love to scratch their backs on the boats and is actually a very affectionate thing to do.

It’s not long before Captain Potter arrives and we are introduced to the boat. It’s gorgeous and we board the boat feeling instantly comfortable with our Captain. He is a bearded and dreadlocked man with a laid back style, and a friendly personality and we start to chat and head off down the waterways.

What can only be described as a magical and special evening, we made our way through various channels to find ourselves looking at the sunset on the horizon of the deep blue sea. Along the way we had seen dolphins as well, and heard stories and information from our Captain that was both fascinating and educational. Matthew asks all kinds of questions about the boat, the sea levels and sailing. While I opt to listen to the stories about the various celebrities that own property along the waterways here.

We were headed back after enjoying so much time on the water, both grinning from ear to ear. Sharing a love of the water has made this experience an incredible one for the both of us. We are informed by our Captain that a spot storm is coming and he tries to outrun it. He skilfully does what he can, but we do find ourselves for about 2 mins, getting absolutely slammed by the storm, while we attempt to find shelter under the covering of a nearby bridge. Matthew and I look like drowned rats, and giggle at the adventure this ride has given us.
With storm really only being momentary we head back through the channel, and get dropped off at a different wharf where there is a bar and a place to catch the free shuttle, or call an Uber from. We farewelled our Captain, gifting him a bottle of Prosecco for his wife, and he had said to us how much he enjoyed spending the afternoon with us. He said it was lovely to be able to share our cool energy, and that we were a lovely couple. So sweet to hear people’s perspective of us.
We pop into the bar, only to not really enjoy the vibe of the place, so we call and Uber and decide to have a quiet night in. We aren’t home till nearly 8pm, so we jump onto Uber eats and order some Asian food. Of course it had to include some dumplings, One of my most favourite foods ever.
While we wait for the food to arrive, we opt to FaceTime some family and friends back home and finally introducing Matthew to my best friend which was loved equally by them both. Our food arrives and we sit around and chat over dinner and a glass of wine, because the morning we are wanting to catch the sunrise so we have a bit of an earlier night. We are on the hunt for the morning run of the dolphins on the beach, so fingers crossed we will.