Glad we took photos!

Days 46 to 47 - Saint Pierre (Reunion) to Bangkok (Thailand) to Patong (Phuket)

Day 46

Our flight to Bangkok wasn't until 8pm, we had originally planned to check out around 2pm but once again we had to change our plans because of our Airbnb host and ended up meeting them at 12.

We drove back to Saint Gilles for lunch as we wanted to return after our first visit and had a nice lunch near the water.

Then it was back to the airport to return the hire car, strangely with this company we had to clean the car before returning it, the only other time we had to do that was in Albania! It was a relief to hand the car back, especially with some of the cheap local providers. In this case they found issues with the car but fortunately we had photos from when we picked it up so were able to provide the issue wasn't caused by us.

Day 47

Our overnight flight was uneventful and we arrived into Bangkok around 7am the next day. After collecting our luggage and passing through customs we went to the domestic terminal for our flight to Phuket. 

We had allowed some time between landing and our flight in case of our plane being delayed, so we had a long time to wait. We went to the Thai Airways office at 7.30am to see if we could change to a flight earlier than our scheduled one at 11.30am, but no places were available so we cooled our heels for a few hours until we eventually took off just after 12pm.

We took a Grab from the airport to our hotel, which has a great view of the Patong bay and a nice little plunge pool.

It's not that scary once you get used to it

Days 43 to 45 - Saint Pierre

Day 43

We had to be at the airport for our helicopter flight by 7:30am, while driving there we could see a lot of the mountains in cloud but it appeared to be clearing. There were only two flights scheduled that day, we were on the second one. The first one was delayed about 45 minutes and by the time it was our turn we couldn't fly over the Piton de La Fournaise volcano (one of the most active volcanoes in the world, last erupting in August 2023) because of cloud. We did however manage to see the amazing landscape of the island, with views that could only be seen from the air, into areas that can only be reached on foot after a long hike. 

The helicopter was going close to the mountains and cliffs, manoeuvring through crevices and hovering near waterfalls, in the beginning it was a bit scary, by the time we relaxed and started to really enjoy it our 45 minutes was over. Everyone had a great time and it was well worth it, even if we couldn't see the volcano.

It was only a 15 minute drive back to our apartment and by the time we arrived it was raining very heavily, we were so lucky to get the helicopter ride in. We went across the road to a nice bakery, bought some baguettes and cakes and ordered a cappuccino, no idea what went wrong but we ended up with what seemed to be a hot chocolate! 

  

Day 44

As we'd missed flying over the volcano we decided to take a drive up there. We drove for about an hour and a half, up some very windy roads, though they were surprisingly good quality (except when Google maps got lost and took us onto some goat tracks). The landscape changed from green pasture and cattle to desolate lava fields at the Plain des Sables.  

We drove across to the crater viewpoints when the clouds descended and the rain started. In between showers we managed to peer over the rim and see a vague outline of the crater in the mist, it is possible to do the 5 hour return hike to see it close up, but we had decided not to do it.

On the way back our navigation played up again, taking us back to Saint Pierre via a rough, narrow, winding road in the fog and rain.

Day 45

Our last full day so we headed east to visit the town of Saint Phillippe for lunch, however we discovered it wasn't quite what we'd expected, there wasn't much in the way of cafes or restaurants on the water, rather it was more like holiday houses and rentals with all the shops on the main road some distance from the coast. 

We drove back towards Saint Phillipe, stopping at Cap Machant along the way, where there are some interesting rock formations on the water caused by lava flows. There was a nice (and quite busy) restaurant here so we had lunch, then walked along the coast to see the lava cliffs, smoothed over time by the crashing waves.

Back in Saint Pierre M explored the town, finding that there were lots of small beaches and informal bars heading north from where we were.

We didn't expect to see kangaroos here!

Day 42 - Saint Gilles to Saint Pierre

Before leaving Saint Gilles we went for a walk, and in the daylight we discovered that on the other side of the marina was a surf beach where we could watch people catching the waves from a café on the promenade.

We drove on to Saint Pierre as the Airbnb we had booked, which we thought was self check in now required us to meet someone, and they wanted to do it at 11am. We are really over Airbnb's, sometimes it's not easy having to keep to specific times for check in and check out, especially when we are covering large distances and no common language .

When we arrived there was a lady waiting for us who by using google translate asked us to wait, after about 10 minutes we were wondering what was going on, and she just took us up, no ideas why we had to wait. The car park was a problem, we had the smallest most awkward spot which we had to park in while other cars were constantly arriving and leaving.

It was a very busy area, right on the main road running along the coast and close to some busy beaches, probably compounded by it being Saturday. Although it was hot the humidity didn't feel as bad as Mauritius.

There was a nice restaurant across the road, fortunately the waitress spoke English, and they also had kangaroo on the menu! 

So far the cyclone season had been kind to us, it was humid but we'd had very little wind or rain. We were interested in a helicopter flight over the island, but the weather forecast looked like it was going to turn, with storms expected over the next few days, and the only clear morning being the very next day. It was short notice and we contacted a few companies, luckily managing to book a flight the next morning. 

Are we in Europe?

Day 41 - Mahebourg (Mauritius) to Saint-Gilles (Réunion)

We had an early afternoon flight so M explored Mahebourg before we left for the airport, checking out the waterfront promenade as well as the lively local market. 

The flight to Réunion was 50 minutes, we spent more time at the airport than in the air, though we we were able to take advantage of the Air Mauritius lounge which was modern and a relaxing place to wait.

On our arrival into Roland Garros airport we went to pick up our hire car. The girl serving us had just spent a year in Australia and was interested in know what we were doing in Réunion.

We drove to a nearby shopping centre to get a sim card, what a cultural shock! We felt like we'd been transported to Europe. It was very modern and the supermarket was one of the largest we'd ever seen. K when shopping for bearnaise sauce, her go-to purchase whenever she's in Europe. We found the supermarket so busy that it was quite overwhelming. As we still had a 40 minute drive ahead of us and we didn't want to arrive in a new place in the dark we left to get to Saint Gilles.

We were very surprised by the size and condition of the roads  and the modern buildings. We had expected Réunion to be like Mauritius but it appeared very different. We took the Nouvelle Route du Littoral (New Coastal Road) which was over the water and parallel to the coast, quite an impressive road (and Melbourne can't even get a train from the airport to the city!).

We arrived into Saint Gilles at dusk after negotiating narrow, one way streets and a carpark designed for matchbox cars. We checked in and decided to have a quick look around, we turned right from our hotel to find that we were staying right next to a delightful marina with lots of bridges, restaurants and bars. 

We chose a low key place near the water where the menu specials included kangaroo! Using google translate K explained to the waitress that in Australia it's not something we eat ourselves, instead we feed  it to our pets!

The sun setting over the ocean and the pretty twinkling marina lights were a beautiful setting for the best pasta carbonara that K had ever tasted. We felt that we had stumbled upon a tiny pocket of the French Riviera.