Life has felt very film-worthy this week. It’s not every day you’re stranded in the middle of the Maldives…
I woke up at 3am, suitcase heaving and eyelids watering. Ready for our super early departure. Thinking about life back home. Quick shower, clothes pulled on, passport checked – and the phone rings. I assume it’s the early morning wake up call. It’s not.
“Miss, you’ll need to go back to bed. It’s too rough to leave the island right now – we’ll call again later.”
Bleary-eyed, I put the phone down, wander over to the windows. Wave, after wave, after wave. Crashing against the glass, lapping up by my ocean terrace. The wind’s howling and now that I’m awake, I realise that the building is moving with the water.
There’s no chance of a seaplane right now, no chance of anything at all – so I grab a robe, go back to sleep, get back in bed, ready to wait it out.
7am – eyes snap open. There’s been no call. No updates on departure. The wind’s a little louder now. Phone pings, but it’s with bad news. No domestic flights can leave the Maldives now, let alone a little boat or seaplane. So now, with howling skies tearing up the water around us, we wait.
There are worse places to be stranded, of course – but storms are never fun. The answer to most of my problems – a few giant bowls of fruit and a plan of cardio. And of course, the work I’ve been saving up for the next 14hr flight!
If you read my blog regularly, you’ll know that I fell in the water yesterday from the pier. I got off pretty lucky, considering I landed on my back in shallow water with a bike two seconds behind me. Looking at the same spot this morning, with the angry water swirling around like fiery tango dancers, I’m very glad it wasn’t today!
Time to go live in the gym and wait this out…
Sophie x
