Ibiza; Saturday, 20 February, 2016

When I opened the curtains it was clear that the weather forecast on the app on my phone was a little wrong. It was suggesting it would be cloudy and overcast with a 60% chance of rain, the crystal clear blue skies with only the occasional wisp of fluffy cloud suggested otherwise, and therefore my plan of spending the day visiting the neighbouring island was still a good one

After breakfast I headed down to the harbour to pick up the ferry over to Formentera. The island is the only other inhabited island in the small archipelago of the Pityusic Islands, of which Ibiza is by a large margin the biggest. According to the guidebooks one of the key defining features of the island is that it is flat and very good for cycling.

I was a little cynical of this boast, mostly because even to the naked eye from Ibiza the island clearly rose up quite a bit from the sea. On arrival I hired a bike anyway and headed off down one of the cycle paths to explore the island.

Almost immediately I was confronted with the main road into the islands capital – St Francis – which was a 2KM almost continuous climb. I decided at that point that instead I would have a look around the beaches and salt pans of the area around near the harbour as they were clearly flat.

I spent several hours exploring the quiet coves, bays and beaches and the stunning disused salt pans. In that time I barely met another person – it was very peaceful and quiet.

I got back to the harbour about 50 minutes before the ferry was due to leave so that I could drop the bike back with the hire shop and then grab a drink in the harbour café before the 40-minute crossing back to Ibiza.

The final approach into Ibiza harbour with the sun starting to dip behind the peak of the Dalt Vila was very impressive. From the harbour it was a short walk back to the hotel where I dropped some stuff off before heading out for a wander around town to while away the time until the restaurants opened at 8pm.

I eventually found a very nice restaurant just off one of the main squares and had an excellent meal there before returning back to the hotel for a good night’s rest.