The day after our arrival in Ibiza, Sabina was back on board. We said goodbye to the boys with one last hurrah at a seaside tapas place, and then had a few nice nights in Porto Ibiza. Now finally in the Med, we also focused on setting up the boat fully as our home. Essentially this meant heading to $2 homemaker stores (called Chinese Bazars in Spain) and buying up their supply of plastic containers and gadgets.
The next week was spent sailing clockwise around the island, stopping in at some amazing beaches and villages. First stop after Porto Ibiza was Formentura, where we had a chilled day enjoying the turquoise water and white sand beaches. It was also the first chance we had to try it our new inflatable stand up paddle boards. Despite no prior experience, Sabina took to it like a duck to water 🙂
The next week was spent sailing clockwise around the island, stopping in at some amazing beaches and villages. One night we somehow managed to lob in to a small UK package tourist resort. What it lacked in Spanish cuisine and architecture, it made up for with British ales on tap and dodgy karaoke. We had a ball! On another day we sailed in to this small cove and enjoyed an amazing black rice – a local delicacy where they cook the rice paella style with mixed seafood and squid ink.
Ibiza is also where we celebrated Daniel’s birthday. As luck would have it, we were due to stop in Sant Antony de Portomany where the original Cafe del Mar is located. We joined the hundreds of other dressed up party people and drink cocktails as the sun went down. It was quite an event with music set to the setting sun. Afterwards we went to one of the other clubs on the strip and did some people watching.
After a few more days of beach hopping we had made it around Ibiza island and it was time to set sail for Mallorca. It was a short passage (just 50 nautical miles) but as it was our first with just the two of us we waited for a good weather window, and made it across in a day.
First stop in Mallorca was Palma – a very well regarded crushing hub. We spent a nice couple of days walking the historic town centre and sampling all the great local food and wine. Sabina found an awesome little restaurant where the owner and chef creates a new and creative 6 course meal each evening.Â
After Palma we sailed over to a little island called Cabrera, that was once a military fort but is these days a nature reserve. We had an amazing hike up to the lighthouse where we got a spectacular view of the islands cliffs and super clear waters. We also learnt a little about a the places history, which included a period as a military jail where over 5000 enemy sailors starved to death.
More cool calas (bays) with snorkling and paddling followed until we made it to Porto Cristo. The place is famous for its Drach caves, and while the whole set-up is quite touristy our visit did not dissaopoint. The cave system was massive with a quite large river system of ponds flowing through it. They use one of the cave spaces as a concert hall with seating for 300-400 people. At the end of our tour we sat down for a short performance by a local string quartet. It all started in darkness which really brought out the music and the musicians actually performed from a small boat that was rowed through the cave – spectacular! If that wasn’t enough, you could also take a short ride in a rowboat through the caves, which historically was the way people saw the caves before a boardwalk was built beside the river.
After a little over a week in Mallorca we made the short passage to Menorca. We sailed straight to the town of Mahon and enjoyed a great 3 days. The place has an amazing natural harbour. The locals claim it is the biggest in the world ….though I have a feeling they have not seen Sydney harbour. It was Sabina’s birthday on our first night so I looked up an innovative tapas place that had built a bit of a reputation – Ses Fourquilles. The food was awesome – and a little different to the standard tapas with things like foie gras eggs and prawns made in to crispy pancakes. We ended up liking it so much now we went back again on our last night.
After spending close to a month in the Balearic Islands it was time to move on and set sail for Sardinia!