Christmas Holiday - Part I - Cochin

And so after 6 months in College the Mid-Term break finally arrived.  Unfortunately for the Indian Officers they had to continue studying till the 18^th of December as the course took a classified twist.  However, all the International Students broke for the Christmas holidays on the 8^th of December.  This saw all the International Students bomb-burst away from Wellington; some chose to go home such as the Maldives and USA, some opted to travel within the Indian Ocean Region, such as Singapore and Sri Lanka and some decided to stay to explore India.  We chose the Indian option, partially put off by the mountain of paperwork required to leave the country, but also attracted to the idea of such a wonderful country to explore.  Louise had spent the best part of 4 months planning our adventure and we headed off, via Coimbatore, to the west Coast of India for an 18-day extravaganza in Cochin, Allepey, Kovalam and finally South Goa.  We didn’t set off straight away and spent 3 days relaxing at Wellington.  Neil played as much golf as he could as the course was really quiet with all of the Indian officers still in College.  We were also invited to parties every night before we left; life at Wellington really is becoming a social whirl; we even managed to watch tje new james Bond movie, Skyfall, which was shown in the College cinema. The weather at Wellington is lovely at the moment, with the temperature normally around the 25 Degree mark in the day, with it becoming a little chilly in the evening; just like a UK summers day. 

So we set off on 11 December to the Taj Vivanta in Coimbatore, where we relaxed by the pool and had a nice cosy meal in the evening.  The following day we set course for Cochin, a Portuguese, Dutch and British old haunt that has lots of culture and history.  Our Hotel was another Taj Vivanta, right on the headland of Willingdon Island. 

The hotel is an old 1930s cruise passenger hostel, which is now a fantastic hotel.  The greeting we received on arrival was incredible, with Daisy and Ava, once again being treated as superstars.  In fact the attention they received enabled us to get an upgrade to a Heritage Room with a fabulous sea-view.  From now on we will be deploying Daisy and Ava on a charm offensive to enable us to get upgrades at any opportunity; how’s that for exploiting your kids!  They were showered with gifts and Daisy was enchanted by the huge Christmas Tree in the foyer.  This is the first Christmas decoration we’ve really seen this December, but with the warm temperature and sunshine it still doesn’t feel too Christmassy.

Daisy with the morning catch

A rare moment ashore

Our first full day in Cochin saw us visit the Cochin Fort; it’s not a real fort, but just an area of Old Cochin.  We wandered around the sea front, whilst Anandh looked after Ava snoozing in the car and this allowed us to visit one of the real icons of Cochin; the Chinese fishing nets.  These are huge cantilever contraptions that jut out over the estuary some 20 feet and are raised and lowered by a team of 10 men to catch passing fish. 



Fishing the old fashioned way



The Chinese Fishing Nets

They used to be the mainstay of the Cochin fishing industry but are now mainly a tourist attraction.  There are 10 to 20 of these nets along the shoreline and they are so large they seem to resemble some ancient creature of the past reaching into the sea to gather its daily feed.  We also drove around Old Cochin which was bustling with life and visited the Dutch Palace which had an excellent museum of the old Maharajas’ rein.  After lunch we headed to the pool, where both Daisy and Ava had a great time splashing and swimming.  In fact, Daisy loved it so much we couldn’t get her out of the water; this will be a theme for the duration of the holiday we think. 

Daisy's Second Home

At 5pm we all headed down for the hotel tea and tiffin and watched the ships cruise past the hotel.  The place where they serve the tea has everything.  Waiters, hosts, security guards with catapults to keep away the crows and even a pest control man with an electric tennis racket to zap the flies that dare to fly to close to the sandwiches and cake delights! 

Catapult at the ready for the crows

Ready to zap the any wandering fly

After our tea we went for a cruise around the Cochin headland and had a seaborne view of the Chinese Fishing Nets and watched a very red Indian sun set over the ocean; very pretty although Daisy wasn't too chuffed with the cruise or the life jacket! 

'Do I have to wear this Daddy?'

The nets catch the setting sun!

After all our travelling, touring and swimming we all settled in for a family night on the big bed watching Monsters Inc on the DVD.  However, Daisy, Ava and Neil all fell asleep before the end of the film, leaving Louise to tuck them all in for the night!

Flower Girl

The next day, Neil headed off to the Cochin Naval Base, as one of his colleagues on DSSC had arranged for him to play 18 holes of golf.  In fact it was better than that.  Neil was met by one of the station officers and shown to the course, where the resident professional and a young caddie were waiting to accompany Neil on his 18 holes.  Whilst the weather was much hotter than Wellington, the golf was good and Neil thoroughly enjoyed himself on what is a short, but very narrow and tight course.  Unsurprisingly, there were also a lot of water hazards which Neil did well to avoid; well most of them! 

Teeing off on the 18th.

The Golf Course atthe Naval Base in Cochin

When Neil got back to the hotel, he met with Loluise and the girls, who were enjoying the pool once again.  Today, Daisy managed just the 6 hrs constant swimming, jumping and splashing in the pool.  Anandh babysat in the evening, allowing Neil and Louise to head into Cochin to enjoy some of the local cuisine.  The next few days will be spent lounging around the pool, before head off to Allepey and a cruise around the Backwaters on a House Boats.  Let’s hope Daisy enjoys it more than the harbour cruise!

Sunset over Cochin