It was the last day that we would be enjoying the company of Elaine & Jon and we hoped it would be a special one. As mentioned yesterday, we planned taking the bus to the monument called Ales Stenar, a spectacular site and with the added advantage of having a good fish restaurant so that we could have lunch as well. Richard and Gill were to join us and after a special bacon, egg & beans start, we were on the 322 bus heading eastward. Interestingly, the bus driver waved us on and refused any payment. I think the reason is that the bus company won’t take cash and I suspect the credit card reader will only accept Swedish credit cards – that’s my theory. The bus was quite full and I sat next to a 30-something Swedish chap and we got to chatting. He was somewhat of an expert on South America, having travelled extensively. He was hugely enthusiastic about the beauties of Columbia, saying that without doubt it is the country to visit, it has everything, including a Pacific and Caribbean coastline. I was sold and we are going to incorporate it into future travel plans. He left the bus on the stop before ours, he was off on a circular walk of the area. He was definitely one of those individuals who are quite chatty but are probably happier in their own company. Good luck to him – his next project is to drive an old wreck of a car down the length of Africa. He had done something similar in the Americas and was keen to replicate the journey in Africa.

Having alighted, our first requirement was coffee and the only available supply was in the small harbour and accompanying shops, just under the hill where Ale’s Stones were. After coffee, we joined the multitudes that were threading their way to and from this impressive 1500 year old site. Julie, Rosemary and I were here before on Thursday 7^th July 2016 and then I wrote that the site was considerably older. Whether more recent information has changed the opinion as to the actual age or whether I made a mistake, who knows. Here are a couple of url’s:-

https://visitskane.com/classic-attractions/ales-stones

Everyone enjoyed the view out to sea and of course the stones themselves. It’s quite a thought that these stones have stood here for so long without being interfered with. One of the most impressive finds that have been made about the alignment of these stones is how well they do so with regard to seasonal solstices – very impressive.

By now it was lunch time, so we retraced our steps to get back to the harbour area with its restaurants and cafes and we opted to go to the same restaurant that we had visited in 2016. It has outside tables on a flat, grassy area cut into the slope behind the building and as it was a lovely, very warm day, it was an ideal place to sit. Here we had fried herring sandwiches (Julie and me), smoked salmon burgers (Gill & Elaine) , prawn sandwich (Richard) and finally Jon had fried herring with creamed potato and lingonberry sauce. It wasn’t an expensive meal for any of us and the portions were very generous, a good lunch. Then, after a bit of mooching about around the trinket shops and in the fish shop, where some items of food were bought, it was time to get back for the bus and there we were kept entertained by watching some ponies, one of which was likely only a few weeks old, very sweet.

Back in town and as it was Elaine & Jon’s last day and as Jon had very kindly volunteered to take some of my Kalvi cheese spread home for me, we needed to buy some, so we went to the Coop and bought half a dozen tubs, thence back to the boat to relax a little, prior to getting ready for the evening’s barbecue. Richard and I both have Cobb barbecues, indeed I bought ours after being so impressed with his and we utilized them successfully to cook some pork, chicken and onions and this we had with sweetcorn and a selection of salads. Liam Mac  Mahon had also been invited for the evening, and it proved to be a lively session, especially when we entered  dangerous Brexit waters!

Just as things were getting particularly lively, we were interrupted by a stranger standing on the finger pontoon alongside. We immediately thought that it was a neighbour, coming to complain about the noise but it was something else entirely. His name was also Derek and just like this Derek, he was also a Warrior 40 owner, she was berthed more or less where we had been the day before! Of course I invited Derek and his wife Ursula (who are Dutch) on board to show them CW, this effectively broke up the barbecue party, maybe for the best, and we spent about 10 minutes swapping notes. More about that tomorrow when we visit their boat…