Trisha’s Parents, Fabio, Makoto, Ze and his ex girlfriend and off course Trish is there to wish us on our way. We got away at 10am. The drive down to Garopaba was uneventful and the descent from the interior down to the coast through the mid Atlantic rainforest was beautiful as it was scattered with bright purple flowers. Being shortly after New Year the roads were traffic free as most people had returned from holiday or were still at the coast. We spent the evening at the family home of Bebel - Roberto’s girlfriend, the house was full and busy and they were all excited to see Beto. We had a good meal and then I decided to take a walk down to the beach.

Garopaba lies about 70km south of Florianopolis and is a very popular surf town that has grown into a popular holiday town. The streets were crowded and filled with bars, exotic boutiques, surf shops and ice-cream parlours a little reminiscent of Kuta Road in Bali. I find the beach eventually after a slow meander and pluck some flowers from a nearby house and pay my dues to Iemanjá – the Bahian Saint – protector of those that travel on the sea. This is a custom that Trish and I have adopted over the years at New Year. I toss 3 flowers into the sea - one for Trisha and I and one for Beto. In the dark, the waves lapping the shore pick up the reflected light from the town and as I stare at the red clumps being washed backward and forward in the gentle waves, I could not help noticing that two of the flowers kind of stuck together. After a while I figured that those must have been Trish and me. On my way back I gorged my way through a selection of ice cream – I need to put build up my fat layers for the south - I thought … a good excuse at least ?!

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