Sandy Luck

Slept in as long as I could. Got to breakfast early enough and had bacon and fritter and fruit and went to the Spar shop opposite for essential supplies, mask and snorkel, goggles and guns. We shall return for the Cannabis Absinthe.

The masks worked fine in the local pool so we sought out the INSI waterpark to use the guns. There are 6 slides of varying curvitude and a dinosaur ribcage with squirters and a pirate ship and a giant Inca head with a water bucket. This one is free-spinning not timed like Legoland or Romsey Rapids, and goes off every 2 minutes.

I got stung by a wasp right in the pirate ship so that rather put me off. Once I'd recovered a bit, we did dive-and-move watergun sniping and then I slipped over and banged my bum and wanted to go home.

But this too passed and we did lunch and hit the beach.

Cala Mendia is just another typical ravine/gorge/inlet in the karst limestone much like Cala Barca 2 years ago, but much wider. There is a long slope from the hotel and cars and a beach volleyball sandy area and state-issue sun loungers you can hire all day for 13 Euros. You also get a coconut matting umbrella with a little safe in the eaves. This enterprise runs in the same format on beaches throughout Mallorca.

Having pitched base camp, us chaps did 1 1/2 hours of snorkelling, exploring both sides of the bay. Changing adults, Jof joined me for surf-fighting and I tried to make defensive sandcastles but they never work. Just then, the singing melon-man arrived.

He has a wheelbarrow and a set of military-grade knives which he wields with gusto and skill. He has a special song "Bananaaaa, banana, banana, vitamines, vitamines, melones melones cocoleto cocoleto panalpinaaaaa panalpinaaa" etc, and he croons like a Mogwai getting paid as people line up for chopped pineapples and watermelon slices expertly carved for 5 Euros each and you get a free banana anyway.

This was a very good idea indeed and I tried to finish the melon myself and we did have to go back into the sea to rinse off the sticky bits then I dug in the sand for shells and made up a song about a diggerdog digging in Sand Francisco like a digadogadug the whole day long... Then we had to use the pool showers to rinse off the sand and we got back after 4 1/2 hours.

We all have red bits and will all poo melonpips soon enough. Supper was one of those negotiation things where I agree to not only have chips and pasta, but to also try new foods. Rice and turkey was ok but pork was too strong, and once Jof had finished her chocolate monkey with 7 different kinds of additional chocolate, we called it a day and Bud booked the 50's style restaurant.

4 Spaniards sang hits of the 70s, 80s and 90s, including a Queen medley where we all sang and Jof forfeited her Top Trump game.

She went to bed while we checked out the kiddie splashpark. It lights up at night and the 4 Spaniards yodelled merrily while 2 year-olds cavorted in the splash'n'squirt pool while older kids shone green laser pointers over the trees and we all went to bed, possibly too late.