Tabarca Island was our choice...a pleasant boat trip, on a glass bottomed boat, a walk around the only inhabited island in the Costa Blanca, ( thoughts of Meryl Streep jumping from a balcony were on my mind), lunch on the island and finishing off with another pleasant boat trip back to Santa Pola.
The day got off to a good start with an exhilarating ride in a much smaller boat than we were expecting, a (very) fast launch rather than one of the large catamarans that ply backwards and forwards during the main season.
We knew it was low season so not everything would be open but we weren't expecting it to be as quiet as we found. It felt a bit like one of those unmade streets in a small Mexican town where nothing is happening but could at any minute (except it didn't!)
A one horse town without the horse!Within minutes of stepping onto the island it was clear that there were a lot of un-neutered male cats. As we ventured further into the streets from the small port area we also came across many kittens. These weren't your normal Spanish, half starved kittens and toms, oh no....these were very fat kittens and toms, well fed from the many fish restaurants on the island.
Fish restaurants a plenty, but very few open on the day we chose to visit!!
It took us all of 10minutes to explore the town,
a square....which again was inhabited by fat cats and kittens but no people,
a couple of even quieter streets and a church which was closed for refurbishment!
There were two restaurants vying for the limited business......
we chose one in the sunshine with a sea view, and guess what....lots of cats!
The owner was very friendly and couldn't be more helpful....seeing our predicament with a small dog who didn't know whether to try and chase the cats or cower from them, he sent his dog to guard us, but he soon gave up as he realised he was heavily outnumbered.
Peter didn't help by ordering sardines from the menu, which were scrumptous, but attracted the entire feline population of Tabarca.
To top it all the pigeons, who were not scared of the cats because the cats were so well fed, came to eat the crumbs of bread from under our feet. Benji ended up sitting on my lap - a quivering wreck unable to contain himself.
After a good but eventful lunch we decided to call it a day and get the earlier ferry back to the mainland without exploring the less inhabited (is that possible?) parts of the island.
Observing the characteristics of the cats and how they engaged with each other we now know where Disney came to get all the ideas for 'The Aristocats'.
It was fascinating watching the tomcat hierarchy in action and trying to spot which cats were related to which among all the cousins, brothers, sisters, aunts, uncles, sons, daughters, mums and dads (brought back vague memories of a holiday in Cornwall!)
A day to remember for mixed reasons - great boat trip, good lunch, shame about the island!!
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