Today seemed to have a cloudy outlook so we opted for a tour around the North of the island. It's a bit more commercialised at some of the beach locations but there was still at lot of countryside and local towns with a Mauritian feel about them.

First stop to the Botanical gardens at Pamplemousses but it was really just a flying visit because those flies descended on me so we walked from the entrance to the exit and back to the car. We could have seen a fern which flowers only once after 40 years and then dies. It was apparently in the flowering stage. We did see some tortoises in a sad looking enclosure.

No rain actually but we continued our search for a non beach attraction and found a colonial house belonging to a rum plantation. It was restored about 6 years ago and although the house was not lived in they re still producing rum. Whilst wandering around the house I completely missed the model shoot happening but Stephen had the photos to prove it.

That was before I did the rum tasting. We tried lemon grass, ginger and orange flavours which were slightly less potent than the plain white rum. They also served lunch in a rather nice restaurant overlooking the gardens and house.