The flight was long but not too painful. We arrived in Mauritius around 5:30am to a completely deserted airport, and to an overcast sky with occasional rainshowers. Not quite the tropical paradise I was hoping for.

Immigration was quick and easy, and we grabbed a cab to our hotel, about an hour away.

They’re obviously used to the airline timetables, because they were able to put us straight into our rooms despite arriving at 6:30. We went to bed and grabbed a few hours of shut-eye before starting our day. The skies had cleared and we woke to pure blue skies, bright sunshine, and azure waters. It turned out that this would be the pattern for our trip — the weather in the region is very changeable, but seldom rainy for very long.

We stayed at the Voile D’Or hotel, a new resort built about a year ago.

Our room at the Voile D’Or hotel

I was a little worried by the half-board basis offered by most of the hotels in Mauritius. My first thoughts were of budget holidays and the ‘Holidays from Hell’ shows on TV, with cheap, uninteresting food designed for the rather uninspired British palate. I was very pleasantly surprised by the very high-quality, imaginative food at the resort — and those of you who know me well know that I take my food seriously.

Tomorrow morning – diving!