Arrival in Mallorca Sat 8 September- not the Isle of Man.

My first glimpse of Mallorca was from the plane as we skirted over the hills from the north to south of the island. The craggy beige hills were speckled with green shrub and trees dropping steeply into the sea and seemed to go on for ever. This looked promising.

Landing at Palma was less exciting. The view here was of an extended low level plateau to which the city of Palma owed its living. Our host, Trevor, told us about the hundreds of water wheels that adorn the plateau, mainly drawing water. The adored hills and mountains rose from its edges rather like a pastry crust. There aren’t high rise flats in Palma as we are used to seeing, but many apartments of 7 or 8 floors, with the same balconies, awnings and shutters, all very consistent and synchronised with their environment. As we edged out of Palma there were more hamlets with bungalow style houses and many had small enclosures for sheep, goats and hens. The scrubland gave way to lemon trees, olive groves and walnut trees.  As I was on a bus, and on the wrong side of the road, it was impossible to take many useful photos.

We travelled through Sóller after barely 30 minutes and soon arrived at our hotel at Port De Sóller. We passed many an island in the road and each one had some kind of statue or stone ornament, until I wanted to take a photo for you and then there were just trees on the islands.

A port it may be, but I am yet to see the ‘sea’ as by the time we arrived it was late. The Sóller Beach hotel is very lovely, and the food out of this world – I was in my 7th heaven, eating my perfect kind of food and not having to cook it for myself! However, I was expecting to see sea for miles around, but that isn’t the case.

After dinner, I took a stroll and visited the local supermarket. It is a very relaxing village with a lot and I mean a lot of boats, of all sizes. The hills rise from the lagoon shaped harbour and with the evening lights and entertainment what’s not to like. A local musician was strumming away by the quayside and the local drinkers and eaters were suitably appreciative of his laidback style of music.

So tomorrow, there will be daylight and our first walk of 8 miles and 1300ft of ascent. And for once I won’t do it in 3-4 hours as I would on the Isle of Man and shall enjoy a leisurely day soaking up the delights of Mallorca.