Beez to 05/05/19
Beez Neez now Chy Whella
Big Bear and Pepe Millard
Sun 5 May 2019 22:57
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Beez to the 5th of May 2019
   Unbelievable that we have been back
to Beez Neez for a full week, what have we been up to. It was after
midnight that we hauled our cases aboard from our Grand Tour of Rajasthan but
the kettle was soon on and cases unpacked.
Sunday the 28th.
Well, sometimes a photographer is in the right place at the right time for the
perfect shots........... Huh. Out came the thorn in Bear’s side – the autopilot pest.
   This ‘important bit’ (the autopilot quadrant) is held together by two
bolts, there is a gnats whatsit difference in length, no instruction manual and
Bear has to do the fitting by feel at full stretch and in a dark place behind
Beez engine and her fuel tank. Fifty fifty chance when he put it
together on which bolt went in which hole.............Yes, he managed to fit
them the wrong way round. They lasted for twelve hundred
miles before the shorter one gave up and let go. Bad luck or what, I
felt so sorry for the skipper as he is always so diligent with his work, repairs
and maintenance......
 Monday the 29th.
Planned shopping day today postponed until tomorrow as some feast day and
opening times uncertain. Bear pottered and I set up menus to fill the freezer
and list auto-food for the next three months Wayne and
Russell (top) were quite mystified by the pile beside them.
Tuesday the 30th.
Big shopping day. We bimbled over to the hotel and as Bear’s Uber App is playing
up, the lovely receptionist ordered for us. While we waited I left Bear under the porch and took in the
‘living’ wall.
  Such a simple idea – lots of pots of grass (or flowers) and a dull wall becomes
a velvety carpet of green.
  Bear handed over a pound to the driver
and we took in our first Kochi mall – Central. We
have in every country so far, and as we haven’t in India – a pit stop with The Colonel.
   A quick look at the many shops and we
found new outfits for Bernie and Minh (promised dancing shoes for Bernie didn’t
fit, so may have to get some made). The supermarket was a dismal affair,
wouldn’t buy meat here if it was free......... Tuktuk to the much bigger LuLu’s
and thrilled to find proper butchers, not a lad in a pinny. Eighteen chicken
breasts, three kilos strip sirloin, four packs of mince, twelve little kidneys
and two packs of liver to go with the layout of sauces and stuff above. Cooking
begins tomorrow. The supermarket is something to do with the UAE as many of the
labels say so, along with all the juicy dates (I shut my eyes and bimbled by
thinking calories....but oh.....the temptation). Outside in the posh pick up area with all our
shopping barring tinned stuff. The only tins we saw were dodgy looking
tuna and a few other bits and bobs, no baked beans or the like. Very heavy
traffic (usual) and a real ‘party’ going on in the big
Catholic Church.
 Minh and Bernie
in their smart new outfits. Minh’s shoes are the squeaky sort.........
  Wednesday the 1st of
May. I cantered about on the wok. Red meat today, chicken tomorrow.
Bear went on a recon trip via the little ferry and came back with an early
birthday present for me – White Fox Stay Naughty, I
couldn’t resist it. Thank you, I suppose the description fits:-
Sly, clever, intellectual, crafty – the perfect words that aptly describe
the white fox person. Funnily enough since my head has sprouted more and
more silver Bear often calls me his Silver Fox. I’m ready to take on White Fox next....... In the evening Bear helped me bag and
label the meat dishes after an hour in the pool.
   Thursday the 2nd of
May. Chicken day and whilst it all cooled bins, storage lockers and
cupboards were all sorted and Bear checked each item against my spreadsheets. I
lost again. Growling harder. By days end each chicken
dish was bagged and alternated with meat
dishes in the freezer. Lists were complete. One
hundred and seventeen meals for Bear, I have one hundred and thirty-two tins of
tuna and I don’t mind Bear having a few for wraps or toward a pasta bake.
Thank you, I don’t mind sharing a few sweet and sour
chicken meals with you. Thank you and you are most
welcome................
Friday the 3rd of
May. Bear enabled us to get our general emails forwarded to his little
laptop so we can pick up anything important at sea via the sat phone. Then he
sorted his tool shed. I kept out of the way and did some blogging and some
housework. Later on I turned a loaf into French toast to last until ‘anything
else with flour’ has been eaten by himself.
 Saturday the 4th.
Yesterday we took the ferry across to ‘the other
side’ for ten pence each.
 As we pulled away we could see the marina, (Beez right on this side)numbers
swelled with two catamarans arriving from The Maldives bringing our total to one
long term, four cats and three monos.
  We pulled in on the town side to
watch men sorting mussels from mud. I have to say one
man (bending over wearing just a sarong) was close, so close to getting in the
category of ‘Love to see him wearing nothing but baby oil’, so, so close
but........ Bear had been over once (Monday) on his own wearing his ‘big boy
pants’ and came back with news of supermarket, fruit and veg market, ATM and a
couple of beers to try. Today he led me as
efficiently as any guide would. First, along the
promenade before turning left to see the first stalls.
 Quite a good
market but Bear said, we are not there yet, the
market proper is beyond the supermarket. Oh. Over the road to the
supermarket. I found French toast......so all the farting about
yesterday........oh well.
   Past a ‘usual’
street scene and St Mary’s Basilica but as I
waited for Bear to choose his bananas I saw a shop
that was quite amazing.
 Pity about the glare on the glass but
inside huge umbers of full-sized and bigger Catholic
statues, I haven’t seen a shop like that in years and years.
  We bimbled back to the little ferry
dock to find the oyster men had cleaned and bagged their
mussels and were tidying up. Just as I snapped Mr Muscles his friend bent
to photo-bomb. OooooooWer. Nothing left to look at but the cute steering wheel.......This afternoon after a quick loss
at backgammon (growling), Bear changed Beez oil and I shuffled the freezer
collection to ensure equal coolling and wrote some blogs until it was pool time.
We enjoyed an evening starting with a huge salad, good music, Mex train Doms (I
won, yeah. Growl) and some NCIS Los
Angeles.
  Sunday the 5th. Bear
was up and ready by eight as Nazar (marina help and tuktuk man) collected him
for the diesel run to fill the jerry cans. Sand Plan revisited (may not leave
until Friday instead of Tuesday, suits me) and boiled eggs for brunch. Our first
in India and a saucepan egg event to makes things as
they should be........Perfect. Skippers face says it
all.
ALL IN ALL A FAST AND BUSY
WEEK
GOOD TO LOOK AROUND KOCHI A BIT, TIME HAS
FLOWN |
