#Slight Pause

Sorry about that slight pause in between stories… Long story short…. The last month has gone something like this:

Ibiza – Crying on the Plane – London – Flat Hunt – Job Hunt – Wearing 4 Layers of Clothes – Missing Ibiza. The End.

Let me fill in some blanks…. Well I almost didn’t make my flight from Ibiza to London!….

My last 2 days in Spain and I spent them on the island Formentera with my Ibiza Crush (His idea too…’Start spreading the news’)…. Formentera is breathtakingly beautiful. It is a tranquil island getaway only accessible by boat just half an hour from Ibiza, as soon as you step onto the island peacefulness and relaxation smack you in the face….. You really can’t believe this place exists so close to the crazy beautiful madness of Ibiza…..

Formentera is known for its beaches that are only accessible by car or bicycle…. You can walk but will take you a while so we jump in a taxi & head…..The beach is beautiful and the water goes for as far as the eyes can see, the sand is soft and the water is crystal clear with the nudist’s frolicking about doing some kind of naked water acrobatics that maybe shouldn’t be done naked……or at least not in public!……After the magical sunset and in the background what looked like a naked game of ‘tip you’re it’ it started to get a bit cooler and the beers had run out so we decide to head back to the hotel only to realise that we are slightly stranded at the beach with no car or bicycle….. Looks like we are going to have to walk….. We start dragging our feet really not wanting to walk when a car pulls up, it’s an older Italian couple that don’t speak much English and motion for us to get into their car…… They don’t look like serial killers and saves us walking and a possible 20-euro taxi fare…. Why not, I guess sometimes you can depend on the kindness of strangers….. Back to the hotel for the night and spend the whole next day lazing in the sun – Pure bliss!

Arriving back to Ibiza for my last night well relaxed – it was time to party!….. And party we did….. My flight was at midday the next day so I set my alarm and as long as I made the 10am bus I was fine……… My crush and I started at Ibiza Rocks to see a band called the Brand New Heavies, I know we ended the night at a Spanish club and in between all that was some West End action, I finally got my monkey ‘Bubbles’ and many tequila shots, any actual details of the night may require CCTV footage…… So falling into bed at some early hour of the morning…. A short while later in a drunken sleep haze I hear this beeping sound right in my ear…. What is that noise?…. Why is it so loud so early?….. Make it stop….. Make it stoooopppp…… Some bashing of buttons later and there we go… Silence…. And back to sleep……..

Some Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz’s later……

I open my eyes and launch out of bed, that wasn’t an annoying random beeping noise….. It was my alarm! It was just so foreign to me now, because I hadn’t heard it for several months…. I grab my phone searching for the time, rubbing my eyes…. No that is not the time! THAT IS NOT THE TIME!!….It can’t be….. Holy mother of I haven’t even packed yet!….. It was 9.40am. I had 20 minutes to pack… Sorry throw my whole life into a suitcase and run for the bus. I decided to gift a whole load of summer clothes and toiletries to the cleaning ladies at the hotel, I was going into Winter anyway and I knew very well that my suitcase was well and truly over the weight limit…… So much over my suit case handle snapped on the way to the bus stop…..Thank goodness I had a helping hand…..I made it to the bus with literally no seconds to spare, threw my suitcase on the bus and pretty much myself…. No time for tears just a quick ‘See ya later’ and I was on my way to the airport…….

I didn’t think that leaving Ibiza after a good 3 months of being there would have had me so emotional to leave, I thought I would be happy and ready to go….But as I sat on the plane staring out of the small window thinking of my time in Ibiza, the people I have met, the beaches, the dance floors, the hang overs….Watching the island become a small speck of land in the distance I couldn’t hold back the tears…..Why am I crying, I am a grown woman pull yourself together…… Oh yeah no sleep and probably still drunk!

Luckily waiting for me at the other end in London was my cousin Mark and a big cup of coffee…. Mark and I head out for dinner and an Ibiza debrief in Reading (Sounds like Red-ing, my new temporary home) then go for a few quiet drinks with Marks’ friends……. A dance floor or two later and I am crawling into bed at 4am!

Welcome to the UK!

#From PJ’s To DJ’s

I was just having a chill night in my pj’s when my flat mate Harriet came into the room and said ‘Get ready we are going out’…… ‘You have 10 hmmm 20 minutes max to get ready’….. Ok, lucky I don’t have a whole lot of options when it comes to clothes here in Ibiza as I only brought 1 suit case, where as my flat mates brought their whole wardrobes!…… I quickly get dressed and ask where we are going….. Harriet and her work colleague Rosie met a group of guys from Essex in London and they invited us to their apartment to go out with them for the night….Why not!

Harriet and I jump on the disco bus where I spot the pizza man who apparently has a little crush on me (So I have been told, he also looks like he only eats pizza) yet I never get any free pizza or even a stale garlic bread when I’m in his shop….. Women like food just as much as men, he’s not trying very hard to woo me if this rumour is true! (Insert sarcasm)…… We get off the bus outside Pacha and cross the road to where the guys were staying at the 5 star Ibiza Gran Hotel. We walk straight in the hotel and up to the room past security, no checking for wrist bands or card to use the lifts, just straight through…… We were not in San Antonio anymore!…. The hotel is very nice, in each room there is air conditioning – Oh how I have missed thee….A bath right in the middle of the room, random but very cool and looking over the balcony out to the pool area, this was the place to be and be seen. The guys told us that this is the hotel most DJ’s and celebrities stay at when they come to Ibiza, and they had been hanging with the guys from Disclosure by the pool the other day. At an average of 350 Euro a night (My monthly rent) I guess these guys were doing alright for themselves.

After a few drinks I discovered that they were all very successful and just a group of really nice guys, there was Pete who was a DJ, Mike who Harriet was sort of seeing, TJ who I think they wanted me to see – maybe if he stood on a stack of phone books and Johnny who Rosie was sort of seeing. Johnny struck it big and won the lotto so that is where his coin came from, he also went on to tell us that he is some kind of socialite in Essex. He was telling Rosie that if we hung out with him in Essex nothing would be a problem and once we have been seen with him we would have over a thousand more Twitter followers the next day, I think he was trying to impress her and most likely uses this line to impress women….. Must be the modern version of pick-up lines, I did not get that memo ….He seemed like a nice guy anyway and all he kept saying through the night was ‘Nothing is a problem’……

And sure enough nothing was a problem, the original plan was to go to Pacha for a VIP table but they ditched that idea and we went to Space nightclub instead. It was about 3am and to get a VIP table you had to arrive slightly earlier than what we did so they were going to charge a ridiculous price *cough cough* 3000 Euro!….. Johnny went away and after a short while he came back with VIP wristbands for all of us as we were escorted to the front table in VIP… Johnny later flashed the receipt and he ended up paying 1300 Euro for the table, which included the largest bottle of Belvedere Vodka and, as many mixers as you wished plus numerous tequila shots, he didn’t even bat an eye lid it was like spare change to him……. The club was super busy that night too, so I’m not going to lie we had the best seat in the house… Just another night in the VIP, a never ending glass of alcohol, sure you can smoke in the bathroom, yeah you can dance on the table….Actually just do whatever you want!

6am and the guys wanted to leave us girls wanted to stay….. We didn’t think it was right to stay and drink the vodka without the guys who paid for it being there, so we all left and went back to the hotel….. Ah good old hind sight, we should have just stayed and drank the vodka and kept on partying as there was not much going on at the hotel and within 15 minutes of just sitting around, us girls looked at each other as if to say ‘And we left a VIP table at Space to come and sit around here because?’…..So we got a taxi back to San Antonio to party on at Es Vedra apartments.

Es Vedra workers apartments are exactly what the name suggests, apartments where workers in Ibiza stay. They are notorious for being a bit wild – sex, drugs and rock n roll styles, definitely the opposite of our Mother Teresa apartment where no parties or boys are allowed!…. Basically there will always be somewhere to party in someone’s apartment day, night, morning after, and so we did….. Harriet and I walking home at 11am wondering how we got here, if we will ever feel normal again e: Not hung over, and why we thought walking home at 11am in 30 degree heat was a good idea….

 

#Pink Pants Party

A few hours before I met Marina and found my home for the next few months I had booked a hotel for another a week as a back up plan so I wouldn’t stress about accommodation…. Of course that would happen! I couldn’t cancel my reservation and the hotel didn’t sound too bad, air conditioning and a pool, plus it was just down the road from where I was currently staying….. There I am ready to check in and the hotel had no record of my booking, yet my they had taken the money from my account. After many a phone call and scrolling through Facebook for 2 hours to pass time, it is finally all sorted and I am checked in.

By this stage it was 5pm and all I wanted to do was eat and catch what was left of the day’s sun. I sat on the beach with my packed snacks and was just enjoying the afternoon sun, when I was approached by two guys…… Two very good-looking guys….. Wearing nothing but Hot Pink Fluro Lycra Shorts!…. They pulled them off so well I decided to hear what they had to say thinking I wonder what they are going to try to sell me….. Thing is people get approached all the time on the beach and streets mainly if you are in a big group by people selling tickets, sunglass sellers, drink sellers…I’ve even seen a girl walking around on the beach in her lacy underwear giving massages for €10, you can sell anything here!…… But being on your own I had never been approached, so two shirtless good-looking guys approach me….I was happy to hear them out…..

They weren’t selling anything! Just two fun-loving, easy-going Scottish lads, Joe and Tony, looking for people to chat too. After some fun and interesting ‘Get to know you’ conversations and them calling me the ‘Australian Beyoncé’, before I knew it I was meeting Joe and Tony at the fountain at 8pm & buying a ticket to a Paint Party….. Not gonna lie they won me over when they called me Beyoncé!

The three of us headed down to watch the sunset at Café Mambo on the sunset strip. DJ Duke Dumont was playing a free DJ set there so we thought why not catch that…. A few beers later and some dancing and we were invited into the VIP area having shots of Heirbas– the local Ibiza spirit with Duke Dumont… ‘As long as I got you baby!’

It was also at Café Mambo where we met the gorgeous Théa, French hostess and shot girl who we… sorry Tony managed to rope into joining us for the night….

Quick stop into our hotel, as we discovered we were all staying at the same one, clothes change and stock up on roadies… we headed for the Disco Bus to the 3D Paint Party at Privilege Night Club, the biggest Night club and Paint Party in the World!…… It has a capacity of 10,000 people!

Thank goodness for the roadies, should have brought more as the drinks in the clubs are €15 each (AUD $21) and water is €10… this is why everybody pre-drinks in Ibiza and heads to the clubs at 1-2am…..

The Paint Party was so much fun, we made sure we got in right amongst it on the dance floor. There was paint coming at us left, right and centre, all colours of paint blasting from canons on the sides of the dance floor, on the stage and girls with paint guns on the stage….I had paint in places I never thought I could get paint in!….. It was actually really addictive, once you were coated you just wanted to keep dancing & getting hit with paint….. I was completely soaked and wringing my hair out, it was fluro yellow!…. Matched the boys Fluro Pink Shorts that they unveiled again at the Paint Party… and Théa ended up wearing! It was just so much fun dancing and not having to care about what you looked like, because we all looked like avatars!

We pretty much stayed until the club closed, all of us falling asleep on the Disco Bus home…. I think it was the first time I have ever been cold in Ibiza, dying for a hot shower!…..How does one clean themselves when they have paint from head to toe?….. The only thing you can do…..You get in the bath fully clothed, sit down and work your way with the hose and soap…. shoes to head…. What felt like an hour later, I was finally paint free…. 7.30am, Sweet Colourful Dreams!

#Thanks Joe and Tony! Can’t wait for the Pink Pants Party Reunion xx

#Hola Ibiza!

I arrived in Ibiza at 10.00pm at night. I actually hadn’t arranged a transfer from the airport to my hotel, I figured I’d be fine it’s all part of the adventure…..I managed to find a bus that only cost €4…. Only thing now was that I knew the bus stop I was going to be dropped at in San Antonio but I didn’t know where my hotel was from there…. Maybe I should have just paid for the €30 taxi!…..I asked the bus driver for directions which I kind of understood and headed that way….….. Right, left , left, right, right…..Thankfully along the way a lovely lady pointed me in the right direction as his left meant my right. Note to self, get a map!

I spent the first few days just relaxing, I haven’t had a proper overseas holiday in so long, it was nice to just chill out on the beach and get familiar with the island again. It is hard not to love Ibiza, getting up at 1am is completely acceptable, it is sunny and hot all the time even at 1am it’s 24 degrees, you can have an afternoon siesta, the beaches are beautiful and there are always things to see and do, bars, clubs, restaurants and people everywhere from everywhere of all ages, shapes and sizes….. And you can get a litre of vodka for €13!

I don’t know anyone who lives here so some friends put me in touch with their friends who live on the island just to give me some advice and have someone to talk too basically…. One of the friend of a friend of literally a friend is a DJ at a bar in the West End. The West End is a popular strip in San Antonio filled with bars and clubs. I decided to go and watch the sunset then head to the West End to meet DJ Danny. We hadn’t set a time or even a day, it’s so relaxed here you just do what you want as plans change all the time…. I didn’t really know what Danny looked like but figured going straight to the DJ booth would be my best bet.

I only planned on stopping in to say Hi, maybe have a drink and then head back to the chorizo roll waiting in my room….. Hi my name is Claire and I am addicted to chorizo, €1 a packet chorizo to be exact.

The night did not really turn out quite as I imagined….. I know we had 5 shots and Danny said ‘You don’t have to keep up with me’ … ‘I’m half Aussie half Scottish, you may have to keep up with me’ I said…..After that I lost count…. Easily over 10 shots each were had and I stayed dancing with DJ Danny in his DJ booth till 6am….. I still went home to my chorizo roll….. Eventually!