"Oh, you're not late," he said dismissively, and proceeded to introduce us to our new home. An hour later he was still showing us round a cottage consisting of two rooms, it was getting dark, and we still had the pool to go.
After giving Dwight a lift home, we ate an improvised dinner out on the balcony, looking across the treetops to the dark ocean beyond. Finally, we collapsed into bed, following Dwight's advice to keep the fans blowing full blast to keep the mosquitoes away. It worked, but it was rather like I'd imagine sleeping inside Concorde's engines would be, albeit without the searing heat.
The next morning, after a somewhat disturbed night's sleep, we headed back down the long and winding road to Stonehaven Bay. A mere 50 minutes later we arrived to find el hermano and la sobrinita suffering from ear infections. No matter, we all headed to the beach for a bit of swimming (head up in the aforementioned two cases) and inflatable doughnut surfing. After lunch, on a blistering hot day, it was time to ferry luggage to the airport and drop off afflicted ears at the clinic on the way. After waving goodbye to the bride's Colombia-bound family, it was back to the clinic to find the patients still queueing. La bienheureuse, la cuñada and I left the sufferers and went off to do a bit of suffering of our own, in the form of provisions shopping. Inquiry at a nearby pharmacy as to whether antibiotic ear drops could be had without prescription produced an answer in the affirmative. We returned to the clinic to find the queue unchanged, but it was decided seeing a doctor was the preferred option, given that the blocked ears would be flying two days later.
La cuñada engineered a bit of queue jumping for her beloveds, but as they still had some way to go before seeing a doctor and the shopping was cooking in the car, I took la bienheureuese and other perishables back to Stonehaven before returning to the clinic once more. Hallelujah, a doctor had been seen, diagnosis made, and prescription provided. Off to the pharmacy, another queue, and finally, three hours after setting off, medicine was obtained. Back at base, it was time for the happy couple to set off on a Barbadian honeymoon. Fond goodbyes over, we consoled ourselves with a dusk stroll to witness the surf pounding the beach and another stunning sunset. After a quick dinner came the long drive in the dark back to Parlatuvier and our isolated, windswept cottage.
