The bilges, cupboards, deck lockers and even the spare shower room are now bulging with food and drink stocks and I am left with a nagging feeling that maybe we have overdone the shopping slightly.

However when we are anchored off a beautiful reef in the Red Sea sipping our gin and tonics and enjoying the aroma of Greek Pork sizzling on the barbeque I am sure we will be glad we shopped till we dropped in Cyprus.

Apart from the enthusiastic provisioning we hired a car for a couple of days and explored the Island with Pete and Carol who took us to all their favourite places.

On Friday we visited a pretty Monastery followed by a tour of a local winery where we had a huge meze lunch, tasted all the wines and then bought boxes to take back to the boat.

On Saturday Carol introduced Lica and I to her good friend Maria who spent 5 hrs beautifying us – say no more !

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, Pete prepared the barby and Carol took Mark and Gavin for a few beers.

After eating we ambled along to the local village, ‘Pissouri’ with its cobblestone streets and bustling bars and restaurants, plus the highlight of all - Andreas pancake hut.

The village is up high and there are great views of the mountains and the sea, the photo below is taken from Pete & Carol’s balcony.

A delightful place with a great atmosphere – we can see why Pete & Carol love living here.

It will be a 4.30am start on Monday morning with the aim of arriving in Port Said, Egypt on Tuesday afternoon.

Formalities of checking in and measuring ready for our transit of the Suez will all take place in Port Said.