The longest last day…with added cuttlefish

Well it IS long when you’re long-hauling it across the Atlantic… and so it continues.

Apologies for the enthusiasm. This is making me realise that I still write my diaries as though I’m 12.

 

“Had about four hours sleep I’m told. Not v comfortable but you make the best of it. They put the lights on and woke me up, dammit.  Had tea and a weird warm cheese roll and there was a stripe of burning gold on the horizon. We were flying into the dawn and almost at Land’s End.

The new day sun turned the slate grey of the jet engines a rosy pink and for about five entrancing minutes the colours changed constantly.

Below, a layer of white fluffy broken cloud parted to reveal the southern beaches of Land’s End, Porthcurno etc  and then Falmouth and St Mawes and the lighthouse on the Roseland Peninsula and I know that the view over the little bay near Porthcurnick would have been bathed in sunshine. I used to be down there first thing in the mornings whirling seaweed across the flat, damp sand for Rolls to leap up and catch and shake until it was absolutely deaded.

And then the cloud closed again and we were above the blanket until we broke through to land at grey Gatwick. England’s green and pleasant land is nothing like as green as a St Lucian rainforest but it always feels like home.

Getting off the plane after most people – I never see the point in rushing because you’re all going to be hanging around for ages waiting for luggage anyway – we realised we were walking over to immigratiopn behind Sir Richard Branson. His voice had come over the intercom as we landed,  saying thanks to the captain and cabin crew, eliciting a round of applause. We hadn’t realised he was upstairs.  Funny he had to queue for immigration with everybody but he sure as hell wasn’t hanging around at the baggage carousel for 25 minutes with the rest of us!

It took ages to get out of the airport and the rest of the morning to get home. As I walked into the hallway, Leo came in through the catflap immediately to say ‘Hello” all purry and glad as glad could be. He was followed by Fat Lily, looking a whisker more keen than her usual distant greeting. I think they’re pleased we’re back.

Lily leapt on to my lap for her customary laptop cuddle and Leo has been following me around, outside inside upstairs, downstairs. When I pick him up, he cwtches in to my neck. They look extremely well – all glossy and grown. Ange next door has done a brilliant cat-sitting job.  Lily looks plumper than I remember like a little furry Spongebob Squarepants and Leo is bigger, more solid and muscular.

Bit tired but I looked up the fish I’d made notes about on hols and identified them. I played the mpegs of the underwater scenes and wow, you can hear the weird noises I heard underwater!  Captured as part of the movie! I went through several websites listening to the calls of dolphins, killer whales, false killer whales before finding the nearest match, the Humpbacked Whale. This is the leviathan who travels all around the world – and I heard it while snorkelling in the bay next to our holiday bay!  No-one else mentioned it and I forgot to mention it to the boat guy as I was so excited about seeing the cuttlefish display team!

I read that the breeding ground is not far from the Dominican Republic which offers whale watching tours. The sound can travel up to 100 miles in the water apparently, so it could have been anywhere.  But it was eerie and unexplained – and now it’s explained!  It’d love to know whether it was a male singing to a female or a mother and calf calling but maybe I’ll never know that. No matter. What an amazing experience!

 

Ed’s Note: Watch this space. More underwater vids on their way.

Well, this one…  listen to the humpback whale music… that could be as many as 100 miles away..