Well what a week.
What. A. Week.
We are currently at Mikki’s Place.
We came for two nights.
Then three.
Then four.
Then six.
If we didn’t have our next Helpx starting tomorrow I think we may well have just stopped another week. And maybe another. And then another. We’ll never know.
We knew about the place. Had heard good things about it. Read some really positive reviews about it. Seen some cool photos of it. But. Would it be for us?
People stay here for months at a time. Some never leave. Images of a cliquey commune came to mind. A kind of retirement village. And I suppose it is. Kind of. But not quite.
Location was a factor too. We like to walk and sometimes cycle without having to drive the van anywhere. Situation wise it didn’t look too promising on either front.
However. You can surprise yourself sometimes.
A day goes by. You talk to a few people. You get a good vibe about the place.
Another day goes by. More chatting. Interesting stories. Different lives.
Another day goes by. More stories. Music shared.
Inspiring people.
It seeps in.
A few more days go by.
Ok. Whoa. Stop right there Jane. I don’t do woo woo and I’m getting just a little bit too woo woo for my liking!
Tim has been saying for the last few days that I’ve gone a bit Bodmin (if you watch the Doc Martin series then you’ll know what I mean). This place has had a bit of an effect on me though.
We came just under a week ago believing it wouldn’t really be our scene and we’ve completely changed our opinion.
It’s not a campsite exactly. It’s not an aire either. It’s not even a combination of the two.
It’s unique is what it is.
But anyway enough of the love in with Mikki’s. How did our internet date go? As I wrote in the last blog, we were here to meet up with Tim and Jan who follow the blog and who are on a similar trip to us with their lovely dog Jade.
I have to say I was a tad apprehensive. We had a tenuous link via our friends Sam and Chris who had met them on a campsite on the Isle of Arran in Scotland. We seemed to have an awful lot in common though. And not just the similar names.
Well all I can say is we have had a cracking time with them. We’ve had a day out walking the coast.
Amazing weather.
Shared a couple of meals. Chatted about our different life stories. Chatted some more. Boy can I talk the hind legs off a donkey. In my defence I’ve been socially starved for over two months apart from talking to Tim (my Tim!). Tim is not generally a big talker so I make up for the two of us. It’s fair to say I haven’t shut up!
It all had to come to an end sooner or later though and our new best friends (sorry Di and Chris) hit the road heading east this morning. If we never hear from them again I’ll know they were just being polite! If we do I’ll try not to chew their ears off so much next time we meet.
And talking of ears we are ready and raring to go to start our next Helpx. We were there two years ago.
We’re going back.
I’ll have twenty new pairs of ears to chew off now.
We’re going to Donkey HQ again. Yay!
Oh, and before I go. After my yoga session with Niamh a few days ago I’ve been doing a little session in the mornings by myself. The results have been nothing short of astounding.
Just look at me now!
Até breve!
Hilarious 😂
It certainly has been a life changing week. Great meeting so many relaxed and friendly like minded people… not so anti about the idea of life in a retirement home now!?
Always try anything once… we look forward to your Swingers Blog next month!!!!!! 😝
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Swingers blog? Blimey we’ll be spending the next month with twenty donkeys………the mind boggles😂😉😜
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We stayed at Mikki’s Place earlier this year and also loved it, yet we heard of others driving in and straight out again. If the pool had been open at the time (it was April) we’d probably have stayed longer.
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We’d been curious about the place for a while Paul. We didn’t stop there when we were in the Algarve in 2016 because we thought the location wouldn’t suit us. We expected it to be quite rough and ready but it is really tidy. If it gets any bigger though I think it will lose some of the good feeling about it.
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Great blog post, thank you. Sounds like the sort of place others would join us practising tai chi:)
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Thanks for reading🙂Ah yes, I’m sure there would be a few closet tai chias in the mix somewhere. 😀
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What a great write up. There has been a lot more work completed since we last visited. Jan and Tim contacted us through Instagram saying that they were going to Mikki’s Place having read our blog post! Well, we felt nervous about that!!! What if they had hated it? We would look like proper eejits 🙂
Again they were originally going for a couple of nights then messaged us to say they had booked for a week and you guys were heading there to meet them – so with a great sense of relief we are glad you all had a great time and enjoyed the experience as much as we did.
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Ha I can feel your anxiety as we’re all different and what we like some others might not etc but its the only place we’ve been so far that we thought maybe we could stay for a month or two……or three! I even looked at the cost of hiring a car for a couple of months. Maybe next year we might feel the need to stop for a while. Mind you the weather was superb but the bar/lounge area is such a nice place to sit and read/work etc with superfast wifi that it wouldn’t be too bad if it was wet. You don’t get that on a campsite. However, as i replied to Pauls comment if it gets too big it will lose something. Also if it gets too popular you might not get in!
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I couldn’t love this post more 🙌🏻😆💚 You’re hilarious Jane, gonna miss ye and will very much enjoy following your blog x
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Aww thanks🤗 You guys have totally inspired me. I’ve been fizzing all week……anyone would think I’d been drinking battery acid! Enjoy your travels 🙃😲
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Where was the saxophone stashed? I thought the whole family were on sabbatical in Inverness.
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Ah, that was the chosen one……..all the others had to stay behind. It’s not socially acceptable to have a favourite child but it seems you can have a favourite sax😂
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