Today we have decided to spend the day chilling out at the villa before we have to pack everything up later, ready to move to the apartment in the morning. I am sitting here on top of the roof terrace, one of my favourite places. The roof terrace is quite large and partly covered by a pergola so it’s nice and shady. There are potted tropical plants around the terrace and bright blue railing surrounding it.

In front of me I have a gorgeous view of the sea, some rooftops of other villas, a huge expanse of sky and a couple of palm trees gently swaying in the breeze. To my left and right are large expanses of green trees and tropical fern leaves growing up from the garden below.

The sky has gone quite overcast above the sea at the moment, though behind me is still bright blue sky and little white fluffy clouds. I think we may have some showers in a minute. I don’t mind the rain at all in Grenada as it’s completely different from in the UK. Here there are short sudden downpours of rain and within a short time the sun is back out and everything quickly dries. Tropical showers are also nice and warm, very different from the rain at home where there may be days of endless gloom and drizzle, not to mention the cold!

The sounds I can hear are the singing of birds, the distant sound of workmen talking and working as they build a new house nearby, and a very occasional car driving up the road. The villa is situated in a quiet, affluent part of the island, and there are quite a lot of ex-pats here, mainly Americans and British. The houses here are mostly large, with good-sized gardens and beautiful sea views. Some of the houses are palatial, but ours is quite small and sweet. I wouldn’t want to be rumbling around in a mansion personally!

There is a noticeable difference in wealth of the inhabitants of the island as you drive around. Here in the area around St George’s (the capital) you find all the hotels, banks, businesses, shopping malls, University, etc. Many of the people here are better off and have big houses. Once you venture away from the south-west corner of the island, you tend to find a more traditional way of life and generally a poorer standard of living.

I had a bit of a sad moment earlier when I was sitting up here on the roof terrace eating my breakfast. I was looking at the view and thinking how much I love it here. Then I got to thinking about how I’ve always wanted to live abroad, ever since I spent a year in South Africa. Sadly I don’t think this is a dream that will ever be realised, at least not somewhere far from home. Whilst I can forget about having CF a lot of the time, it does interfere with wanting to live abroad, especially now that my health is becoming more problematic. If it wasn’t for CF I really do think that Brad and I would both choose to focus our lives on travelling and living abroad.

I also got to thinking about something that has been on my mind since I got here, which is will I ever be able to come back to somewhere like this again? The flight over this time really took it out of me and was the maximum I could possibly have pushed my lungs to. By the time we arrived I had a temperature and my lungs began bleeding, but more than that I was utterly exhausted. For the next couple of days I was so breathless that Brad was even having to help me with tasks like getting dressed. Thankfully I am feeling loads better now, but with having to have oxygen when I fly now and particularly with the impossibility of getting travel insurance, it does make me realise that my ability to travel to places like these may be becoming very difficult. That’s quite a sad thought really at the age of 32.

Anyway, these thoughts only lasted a few moments and when I have them I just think how incredibly lucky I am to be here right now and get on with enjoying the time I am here and making the most of every day in this paradise place. I love the brightness here, the sunshine, the blue skies, the bright colourful flowers, the relaxed way of life, the gorgeous white sand beaches, the people, our swimming pool, everything! Even going food shopping is a fun experience!

I think a lot about Emily while I am here and how sad it is that she can’t experience these things at the moment. When I’m swimming in the pool or the sea, or walking around the town, or seeing new places I think of Emily and how much she would love to be able to do what I’m doing now. It makes me appreciate what I have and am able to enjoy, and also how fortunate I am to be here. And Emily, I know you will be reading this, so just think of what you will be able to do and see and experience once you have those new lungs which you WILL get soon, I promise!

Wow, that was a long blog entry! Whilst I’ve been writing it the grey clouds have moved away and the view in front of me is now of a bright blue sky and a lovely blue sea. There is a beautiful breeze keeping me cool and the pink bourganvillea is gently swaying in the air. I’m off to eat some toast and then jump in the pool to cool off! Byeeeeeeeeeeeee!