Tuesday 7th August
I had stopped off in London for a few days after a very long trip from Mozambique. Only arrived at Russ Hill Hotel near Gatwick at about 10pm. Took a sleeping pill because there seemed to be at least 2 planes a minute flying overhead. I had precisely 3 and a half hours sleep before stumbling out of bed to catch the bus to the airport at 3am. Woke up feeling really excited that in a few hours time, Ibiza would be crawling under my skin again and I was ready for a big two weeks full of fun!
Wednesday 8th August
I nearly vomited from pure excitement as the plane turned and I got my first glimpse of the island this time around. Got a cab to Es Vive Hotel where I had a few hours to kill before check-in, so I changed clothes and took a walk to get acquainted with the area. By the time I got my room, I was so tired, but felt like sleeping would be such a waste, so I fought the urge to lie down, took a shower and messaged Fusion and his crazy Israeli friends. Made plans to meet them in Playa den Bossa near their apartment. I thought the walk might do me good, but I got caught in some heavy rain, and arrived to meet Fusion looking like a drowned rat! Had some rather bizarre encounters with a few Italian men on the way but I took it in my stride and well, that’s Ibiza! Somehow Fusion and co twisted my arm to accompany them to Subliminal at Pacha that night. I went back to the hotel, ate half the portion of an enormous and delicious Thai green curry, took a short nap and woke up feeling a lot better. Milena (who works at Es Vive) kindly got me on the guest list for Pacha, the boys came to get me and off we went on my first night out!
Fusion and the drowned rat
Thursday 9th August
Arrived back from Pacha at about 6am with extremely sore feet and an even worse back after a good session of dancing. Even though I’m not crazy about Pacha, (can’t really decide why that is) I had a great evening out. Harry “Choo Choo” Romeiro played a good set, but Erik Morillo stole the show although Puff Daddy (is that his name these days?) tried to steal it away from him! PD’s obviously no brain surgeon when it comes to understanding that the worst time to talk to the DJ is in the middle of his mix! I had a great view from upstairs as I was in the corner, almost above the DJ box and had a good giggle watching people literally falling over themselves to take pictures of him.
Got a cab home by myself a little earlier than I would have liked, but I was so tired! Funny how plans change in Ibiza though… The minute I walked in to the hotel, I heard the bass oozing out of the Electric Cabaret Bar, so a quick trip up to my room to change shoes and freshen up, and into the bar to see what was happening.
What a great little club/bar this is. Very intimate, awesome music and very very nice to look at! Great bunch of people there that morning too... I got chatting to Jason – the owner, and some of his friends. Superfreq was cancelled at DC10 because of the rain so the party literally just picked up and moved over to Es Vive! So some hours later, I’d managed to meet lots of cool people and get pretty mashed up. Good going for my first day in Ibiza!
Went to bed at about 11am and someone very rudely stole my ‘Do not disturb’ sign so room service woke me up a mere 1 hour into my sleep and disturbed my dream about a ship and flowers, a fire and a broken wrist (!?) which might have been a good thing! I battled to get back to sleep again though, and at about 3pm, got up, got ready and met the crazy Israelis in PdB and went off on my first of many visits to Bora Bora (one of my favourite places on earth!) where Oliver Lang was on the decks.
Bumped into a fellow African (Ryk Neethling) there who also happens to be somewhat of a celebrity in my part of the world.
We danced for hours and hours and eventually dragged ourselves away so we could get ready for Cream @ Amnesia. I had big plans to go to Renaissance that night as Danny Howells was playing, but I couldn’t face going to Pacha again and especially not on my own, so off to Tantra to get tickets for Cream and back to the hotel to get pretty for the night out.
Bora Bora fun
Ferry Corsten was churning out the tunes when we walked into Amnesia – Great set, lots of recognisable ones. The place was not too packed, although it got fuller as time went on.
PvD, sporting a new short hair cut, was in a super duper mood – hopping and skipping and winking at various people including me! I am not sure I’ve ever seen him looking so happy. Enjoyed the night, although I did find myself wondering how Renaissance was going a few times. Fusion and co were great company. They really go all out on the trance nights with cyber gear and flashing lights and battery packs powering various accessories! And they dance like mad and don’t give a **** about anything except the music.
Gotta love Amnesia. It’s definitely my favourite club! J
Tal and I at Cream
Friday 10th August
Got home from Cream at 8am feeling HUNGRY as fack (??) and once again with agonisingly painful back and feet! Decided that Ibuprofen would be added to my cocktail for future big- dancing nights out.
The kitchen was not open at the hotel yet, but Pablo, the deskman at Es Vive very kindly shared his chicken baguette with me! What a legend! Went to bed for some much needed sleep.
Fusion and friends picked me up at the hotel later in the afternoon and we went to Café Mambo for Pete Tong’s Radio One broadcast. Nothing has changed and as usual, there was a huge turnout for sunset. A couple of jugs of Sangria later and I was more drunk than I have been in absolute years!! Had such a fun evening, but by 10pm I was out of control and really needed some quiet and some food. We left the crowded bar and beach and made our way back to PdB. Fusion, Tal and I went out for pizza, and I sobered up a bit. Tried sleeping on the sofa in the boy’s apartment, but I couldn’t get to sleep so took a cab back to the hotel where I fell into bed and slept til 1pm!! Had big plans to go to Matinee but obviously the sangria had other ideas for me.
Almost sunset at Mambo
Saturday 11th August
It was the first sunny day since arrival so I got my bikini on and ventured downstairs to the pool. Ordered lunch, and was joined by 2 Dutch guys – Tristan and Jan – at my table. Their friends Spiro and Spiri arrived a bit later and they all invited me to go with them to Salinas for the afternoon. Plenty of jellyfish in the sea at Salinas, but we had a good swim anyway, and really good to get a few rays on my lily white body!
By now the new friends and I were getting on quite well, so they invited me to go to dinner with them at Bambuddha Grove with yet more Dutch people!
In the end there were 10 of us at dinner. I thought the food could have been better for the price but we had a good evening there anyway. We stopped in at Tantra to get tickets for WLS the next day and later on ended up back at the Electric Cabaret for some shots of Jaegermeister to see us off to bed.
Sunday 12th August
Woke up at 10am for a big breakfast (my first at the hotel so far!!) before SPACE. Arrived at the club to NO queue at all which was great and we slid onto the side terrace with ease. I was so so happy to be back there. Why is it that SPACE even makes the ugly people look ok? J
I’m not a big house fan, but I loved Jonathan Ulyses’ set and we didn’t stop bouncing for hours! Moved onto the main terrace much later on. I nearly cried from pure joy when I saw the massage chairs as my frigging back was killing me again and Tristan and I took full advantage. 5 euros for 15 minutes – money well spent! The others called us to say we were going to use our pass outs then, so we all piled into the 2 cars and made the short journey back to Es Vive for a quick shower, change and then a stop at MacDonald’s for a bite. Spiri was wearing what I can only describe as a fish-net stocking dress, with not very much underneath it, so we all had a good chuckle when we drove into the car park and saw a bunch of children in McD’s. She had to sit in the car so as to avoid a major stir with the kids and more importantly, their dads and even more importantly, their moms! J
Got back to SPACE and this time there was a queue, and the club was absolutely rammed! First we went to check out James Zabiela in the discoteca. He still has great skills and he’s still cute, but I still can’t dance to the music he plays and the others felt the same so we moved off to the main terrace and found a spot (very crowded everywhere) just under the VIP area. Spiri’s outfit went down a treat wherever we went! Met Catherine and Tomo from the UK, and had a good old dance to Groove Armada’s set. I managed to lose 150 Euros on the floor of the club which burned my arse and soon after that I started thinking about leaving. Managed to stay a little bit into Bob Sinclar’s set, but he wasn’t playing any big tunes and it was a bit heavy, so we went back to the Electric Cabaret for a few hours. But not before a Dutch couple we were there with were thrown out of the toilets as they had been caught shagging in there! Not bad for having been together 21 years!!! When I grow up I also want to be like that! J Got on really well with new friends Catherine and Tomo so we made plans to see each other again a couple of days later.
In the car on the way back from SPACE
Monday 13th August
Got to bed at 9am and got woken up at 11am with Jan and Tristan knocking on my door to say bye! L So so sad to see them go. Guys…You are awesome! Thanks for everything and you know we will always be in touch and we’ll see you in Holland one of these fine days!
I was totally shattered and knowing Circo Loco was going on and that I wouldn’t be making it this week was just a horrible thought, but I still had the next Monday so I made a pact with myself that no matter what, I would be there the following week. I just slept and slept, and woke up at about 6pm feeling very hazy and jaded. Got a text from Catherine and Tomo to meet them at a little Tapas restaurant near their hotel on the beachfront. What a great little place! Friendly, cheap and really yummy food. I just can’t remember the name of it! We then stopped in at their hotel room for the beginnings of what would turn out to be a pretty big night. We met some other friends of theirs who own a beautiful apartment and made our way back there for a great night of talking **** and all the rest of it that goes along with that! Such fun! Tomo, Catherine and I arrived at Es Vive Hotel about 10 minutes before the little club closed. We weren’t keen on bed, but were not sure what else to do, so they left and I decided to tidy my room a bit, catch up on the diary and then go down to the pool.
Tuesday 14th August
Lay there at the pool for ages, watching people and just soaking in the sun. Got chatting to Chris who completely co-incidentally has been booked to play at the Lake of Stars fest in Malawi in October which I go to every year. It’s just so random that I would meet him!!! Ibiza is a funny little place like that!
Later that afternoon I hooked up with Fusion and friends again and we drove to Ibiza town. I lost him and Yaron within minutes of arriving there so wondered around aimlessly, bought a new dress to wear to Armada that night and had a quick bite to eat. I decided that walking around was not for me anymore and that I would go back when I had more energy. Eventually found the boys and we popped into their apartment so I could say goodbye to Tal and Yaron as they were leaving that night – Tal to Rio and Yaron back to Israel.
Back to the hotel. I felt totally washed out but I hadn’t been to a club since WLS 3 days before so felt it was completely necessary to sort myself out and get some dancing done!
Fusion, Tranceman and I hit Armada fairly early. Great crowd in and it was really ace! Bumped into the Dutch people on the dance floor and met some more of their friends. Everyone was pretty hyped up – as was I! We arrived when Markus Schulz was playing. I thought he was just OK, nothing spectacular, but good to start the evening off. Oakie came on after him, looking surprisingly sober for a change and I actually really enjoyed his set. Just a couple of train wrecks, but great tracks – loads of sing-along, hands in the air classics like Southern Sun. I was in a bit of a cheeky mood at Amnesia! A while before Armin came on, a small group of people came onto the dance floor and just stood there next to me. The one girl had her hands covering her ears for the longest time. I’m never aggressive and I am actually shocked that I had the cheek to do this, but I did. This is sort of how the conversation went from there:
Me: What is wrong?
Girl: It’s too loud! (first stupid comment)
Me: Oh! So what are you doing here then?
Girl: We are here to see Armin.
Me: So you don’t think it’s going to be this loud when he plays?
Girl: I hope not. (second stupid comment)
Me: Hmm .. So why aren’t you dancing?
Girl: Because it’s too loud (DUH!!)
Me: Well can you and your friends please go and stand still somewhere else until then?
Girl: What’s your problem?
Me: You! It’s called a DANCE floor not a STANDSTILLWITHYOURHANDSOVERYOUREARS floor and people like you just clutter the place and annoy me!
They didn’t move so I did. Why would anybody go to a club, complain about the loudness and stand STILL ffs??
Armin was fantastic! I only left the dance floor once and that was entirely necessary else I would have wet my pants. At almost 7am, the music went off - everyone was chanting ‘one more’ and to my complete surprise, I heard the familiar sound of Way out West’s Mindcircus coming through. I nearly passed out from joy as I never thought I would hear this tune in a club ever again. Complete heaven! Sang so loud and danced like a crazy person! Perfect end to a perfect night.
Leaving for Armada
Wednesday 15th August
Couldn’t find Fusion and Tranceman, and on exit from the club, saw that their car was gone! With my camera and room card in it! The Dutch people said I could catch a lift with them as long as I didn’t mind us going via San Antonio to drop the 2 girls off first. We somehow ended up sitting on the beach with some of our party even taking a swim there! Had a laugh at some skinny little guy who had lost all his clothes except his boxers (thank GOD!) and was falling all over the beach and into the sea. He obviously had NO idea where or who he was! Good ol’ San An!
Called Fusion (who was leaving that day) and went over to get my camera and hotel card, and to say goodbye to the rest of them. Thanks guys for taking such good care of me. I really enjoyed partying with you! You’re all mad, and I am not sure I have ever met anybody who can party as hard as Fusion…and all that on vodka red bulls only!! Amazing!
Managed to have my second breakfast so far at the hotel then slept for a few hours. Went back down to the pool in the afternoon, and arbed around not really doing all that much. Went to bed at about midnight. Got a good night’s sleep in.
Thursday 16th August
Went down to the pool quite early, and then at lunchtime met such a cool Aussie couple, Scott and Jane. They pop up later in the story!
Got ready and went to Bora Bora to meet Sven, Brian, Hans and David from Holland. I had met Brian and Sven at Armada through the other Dutch people. Had a really really GREAT afternoon on the beach with them, drinking Bacardi and laughing a lot. I know I’ve said this already, but I love Bora Bora!!! We moved off the beach later in the afternoon and spent the next few hours dancing and sharing smiles and sweat with everyone around us. Left there feeling fairly drunk and stopped in at Sissi’s for a mixed grill dinner, which was really good! David had to sit there with a towel wrapped around him as he didn’t have a shirt and my spare one in my bag was a few sizes too small! We took a long walk back to our hotels – the guys were off to SPACE but I was not so keen on another big night, so I chatted to Ice and Pablo (night staff at Es Vive) for a while before going to bed.
Dinner at Sissi's
Friday 17th August
I set my alarm so I didn’t miss breakfast, but I must have drifted off again and I missed it! Got myself comfy by the pool where I met Iain (UK) and Glenn (Aus). It was the Smirnoff Party that day so the hotel was buzzing with people setting up equipment and the sound and the stage etc. Soon, Scott and Jane arrived to join us. Started drinking at about 1pm and by 5pm we were properly ‘on it’!! J Amanda (the waitress) served us plenty of drinks with lots of smiles and I must just add in here what a great girl she is!
We all went to freshen up and get pretty for the party, and before we knew it, the show was starting. It kicked off with some break dancers doing their thing, and then some synchronised swimming which could have been better, mainly because it was done to “Cotton Eye Joe” – probably the worst song ever written. The human beat box was brilliant as was Bruce the Balloon Man and the Hula Hoop Girl. Smirnoff handed out feather boas and bowler hats so we all had a bit of fun with those, but I couldn’t help noticing that they were a bit shy on the free drinks!! I was chatting to some people I met around and about and some girl just came up behind me and pushed me so that I almost fell over! At first I thought it was an accident, but some other people saw it too and said it was intentional! No idea why…maybe it’s ‘cos she was a minger (new word I learned on holiday and I had to use it somewhere in this story!)
Ended up in the bar for a few hours and then a lengthy goodbye as Scott and Jane were leaving for Thailand the following day for a 6 day relax and recover from Ibiza session! Jane must have said goodbye 100 times!! What legends. I loved meeting those 2 and we will definitely stay in touch.
Paul, me, Scott, Jane, Iain and Glenn
Saturday 18th August
I woke up at 10:45 and managed to make it down to breakfast again! That’s 3 times! I pigged out and then went back to bed for 2 hours so by the time I woke up it was about 1pm and I was ready for the day!! Said goodbyes to Glenn and Iain and walked all the sodding way to Bora Bora as NOT ONE empty cab drove past me the entire way. Met the Dutch boys on the beach again. No Bacardi for me this time as a big night ahead in the form of Tiesto’s Elements of Life tour at Privilege! Spent a few hours people watching, having a giggle and got a bit sunburned. I had been in Ibiza 10 days and was still just about the palest person on the beach!
We stopped in at KFC on the way back to the hotels, and then got ready for our night out. I had made plans to meet up with some people I know from South Africa but for some reason I just could not get hold of them, so it was Holland away from home and me. We piled into yet another ‘private taxi’ and arrived early enough to take in the magnificence of that place without it being too packed. First we sat outside upstairs for a bit, then made our way onto the main floor. Soon enough the place was bouncing and Jes came on to sing a few tunes. The build-up to Tiesto’s arrival was quite something with a computer-generated image of him mixing on the biggest screen I have ever seen. We waited at least 20 minutes for him to eventually arrive and when he did, the place erupted and what with the fireworks and lasers and special effects, I just stood there in complete awe most of the time. I didn’t even have to dance! The floor was bouncing so much! It was truly a magnificent show. The Dutch guys had to leave at 4am as they were going back to Holland. I was extremely sad to see them go – they had been such a big part of my holiday and I will definitely stay in touch with all of them! Sven, Brian, Hans and David – Thanks for taking such good care of me so often! I’ll never forget the fun at Bora Bora with you and thankfully I have a ton of pics to remember you all!
I spent the rest of the time with new Dutch people (Jillis, his wife and her friends) I had met at Bora Bora the previous day. Tiesto played Tears from the moon, Silence and Andagio for strings all in a row – all big tunes from way back when and I loved it!
By 6am though, I was starting to feel tired and the music was a little bit harder so I took a very expensive “private cab” ride back to the hotel and had my usual early morning chats with Ice and Pablo.
Tiesto, here we come!
Sunday 19th August
Slept for about 5 hours. The weather wasn’t great that day, and in the back of my mind I knew that WLS was going on without me, but I wasn’t really up for it. Popped down to Bora Bora for a few hours with Jillis and co. Went back at about 8pm, got Chinese takeaway from the little place just down from Es Vive, and sat in my room feeling sorry for myself, watching FTV. This was the first time I actually felt a little bit lonely! I think the reality that I only had 2 full days left, plus the people I had met and loved spending time with had all flown back home. Oh well, it was bound to happen! So I went to sleep. L
Monday 20th August
Woke up at 11:05am. Just missed breakfast. I had big plans to go to DC10 and nothing was going to stop me!
I sat around the pool for a while, ate my way through more of Es Vive’s delicious menu and tried again in vain to get hold of Sim and Paul (the SA people who were on the island) then decided fack it…I’ll go all on my own!
Funny how just when I thought Ibiza couldn’t possibly get more mashed up – it did! DC10 was crazier that day than I remember it from last time I was out. Absolutely EVERYBODY was off his/her face, crazy outfits, just complete mayhem. I LOVED IT!! I’m not sure of who was playing at the time, but at one point, the entire terrace went on their knees..I looked over and just saw everyone crouched down, and every single mangled person there was smiling! The beat kicked in again and the entire crowd jumped up in unison. I’ve never seen anything like it and wish I had captured the moment on film!!
By the time I left at about 8pm, there were still people queuing to come in and it was getting crazier and crazier by the minute! I met Jim and Dave who were also leaving and we shared a cab back to PdB. Sweet guys! See you on facebook Jim!
I thought about going to Cocoon, but thank fack I didn’t!! I really was not in any state to go out again, especially not on my own! Plus, Ibiza has it’s own way of making sure everything works out….
I heard a strange crackling sound outside my window, so leaned out to find Phil eating a baguette on his balcony – just next door to my room. A few minutes later, I was there too…having a drink with him and his friend Chris! How random!
Some time later we ended up in room 207 where the beginnings of my final party on the island took place. Preston and Kevin were about to go to the airport to fly out – pity, 'cos Kevin (SA) and I got on really well in the 2 seconds we knew each other!! But Joe, Phil and Chris took great care of me, and before I knew it I had my arm twisted and we were going out. We didn’t quite make it out of the hotel grounds though, but the Electric Cabaret is just always a great little fill-in. One by one the boys dropped like flies and in the end, Joe did his country proud, as did I!
Eventually got to bed at 5am after an extremely great night.
Tuesday 21st August
I woke up at 11am feeling really sad that it was my last day. L
Took a walk into Ibiza Town along the beach, did some shopping and walked around for ages and ages and then on my way back, bumped into Amanda, the waitress from the hotel. What a great chick she is!! We did a bit of shopping and then decided that we were both hungry so went for a Chinese meal which set us back a whopping 13 EUROS!! Haha. Said our goodbyes and I got back to the hotel, had a bath, packed up all my tons of frigging shoes and the rest and went downstairs to sort out my bill etc. Chatted to Ice and Pablo again for ages and ended up only going to bed at about 2:30am!
Wednesday 22nd August
As I type this, my belly is in a big knot, just like it was when I got my wakeup call at 7am. Could NOT believe my holiday had come to an end. It felt like crap! Ice helped me with my luggage and we stood chatting in the rain while I waited for my cab. L
As I drove away in the taxi, I felt that really hollow, ****ty, empty feeling that I am sure everyone gets when they are leaving that island. It’s almost like it was raining in sympathy for me and I actually did shed a tear in the back of the cab.
Took off for Gatwick and I found myself crying AGAIN as I caught the last glimpse of Ibiza as the plane disappeared into the clouds.
Mammoth journey home via London, Johannesburg and Malawi. Good to be home, but my god I love that place. What is it? Why do I have post holiday blues now? Why can I not stop thinking about going back ASAP? J
So much for wanting to see lots of the island this time, and so much for my planned day trip to Formentera! I didn’t really do that much exploring at all. This holiday was really centred around meeting lots of new and very cool people (and obviously some real arseholes thrown in for good measure too), and it had a good balance between clubbing and relaxing. There’s always next time! Love ya Ibiza!
PS: I've lost my camera's memory card from the last few days in Ibiza, and with it some of my best photos from dc10 ever!
There are more photos on my facebook page here:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=13334&l=a9cdf&id=685681125
I had stopped off in London for a few days after a very long trip from Mozambique. Only arrived at Russ Hill Hotel near Gatwick at about 10pm. Took a sleeping pill because there seemed to be at least 2 planes a minute flying overhead. I had precisely 3 and a half hours sleep before stumbling out of bed to catch the bus to the airport at 3am. Woke up feeling really excited that in a few hours time, Ibiza would be crawling under my skin again and I was ready for a big two weeks full of fun!
Wednesday 8th August
I nearly vomited from pure excitement as the plane turned and I got my first glimpse of the island this time around. Got a cab to Es Vive Hotel where I had a few hours to kill before check-in, so I changed clothes and took a walk to get acquainted with the area. By the time I got my room, I was so tired, but felt like sleeping would be such a waste, so I fought the urge to lie down, took a shower and messaged Fusion and his crazy Israeli friends. Made plans to meet them in Playa den Bossa near their apartment. I thought the walk might do me good, but I got caught in some heavy rain, and arrived to meet Fusion looking like a drowned rat! Had some rather bizarre encounters with a few Italian men on the way but I took it in my stride and well, that’s Ibiza! Somehow Fusion and co twisted my arm to accompany them to Subliminal at Pacha that night. I went back to the hotel, ate half the portion of an enormous and delicious Thai green curry, took a short nap and woke up feeling a lot better. Milena (who works at Es Vive) kindly got me on the guest list for Pacha, the boys came to get me and off we went on my first night out!
Fusion and the drowned rat
Thursday 9th August
Arrived back from Pacha at about 6am with extremely sore feet and an even worse back after a good session of dancing. Even though I’m not crazy about Pacha, (can’t really decide why that is) I had a great evening out. Harry “Choo Choo” Romeiro played a good set, but Erik Morillo stole the show although Puff Daddy (is that his name these days?) tried to steal it away from him! PD’s obviously no brain surgeon when it comes to understanding that the worst time to talk to the DJ is in the middle of his mix! I had a great view from upstairs as I was in the corner, almost above the DJ box and had a good giggle watching people literally falling over themselves to take pictures of him.
Got a cab home by myself a little earlier than I would have liked, but I was so tired! Funny how plans change in Ibiza though… The minute I walked in to the hotel, I heard the bass oozing out of the Electric Cabaret Bar, so a quick trip up to my room to change shoes and freshen up, and into the bar to see what was happening.
What a great little club/bar this is. Very intimate, awesome music and very very nice to look at! Great bunch of people there that morning too... I got chatting to Jason – the owner, and some of his friends. Superfreq was cancelled at DC10 because of the rain so the party literally just picked up and moved over to Es Vive! So some hours later, I’d managed to meet lots of cool people and get pretty mashed up. Good going for my first day in Ibiza!
Went to bed at about 11am and someone very rudely stole my ‘Do not disturb’ sign so room service woke me up a mere 1 hour into my sleep and disturbed my dream about a ship and flowers, a fire and a broken wrist (!?) which might have been a good thing! I battled to get back to sleep again though, and at about 3pm, got up, got ready and met the crazy Israelis in PdB and went off on my first of many visits to Bora Bora (one of my favourite places on earth!) where Oliver Lang was on the decks.
Bumped into a fellow African (Ryk Neethling) there who also happens to be somewhat of a celebrity in my part of the world.
We danced for hours and hours and eventually dragged ourselves away so we could get ready for Cream @ Amnesia. I had big plans to go to Renaissance that night as Danny Howells was playing, but I couldn’t face going to Pacha again and especially not on my own, so off to Tantra to get tickets for Cream and back to the hotel to get pretty for the night out.
Bora Bora fun
Ferry Corsten was churning out the tunes when we walked into Amnesia – Great set, lots of recognisable ones. The place was not too packed, although it got fuller as time went on.
PvD, sporting a new short hair cut, was in a super duper mood – hopping and skipping and winking at various people including me! I am not sure I’ve ever seen him looking so happy. Enjoyed the night, although I did find myself wondering how Renaissance was going a few times. Fusion and co were great company. They really go all out on the trance nights with cyber gear and flashing lights and battery packs powering various accessories! And they dance like mad and don’t give a **** about anything except the music.
Gotta love Amnesia. It’s definitely my favourite club! J
Tal and I at Cream
Friday 10th August
Got home from Cream at 8am feeling HUNGRY as fack (??) and once again with agonisingly painful back and feet! Decided that Ibuprofen would be added to my cocktail for future big- dancing nights out.
The kitchen was not open at the hotel yet, but Pablo, the deskman at Es Vive very kindly shared his chicken baguette with me! What a legend! Went to bed for some much needed sleep.
Fusion and friends picked me up at the hotel later in the afternoon and we went to Café Mambo for Pete Tong’s Radio One broadcast. Nothing has changed and as usual, there was a huge turnout for sunset. A couple of jugs of Sangria later and I was more drunk than I have been in absolute years!! Had such a fun evening, but by 10pm I was out of control and really needed some quiet and some food. We left the crowded bar and beach and made our way back to PdB. Fusion, Tal and I went out for pizza, and I sobered up a bit. Tried sleeping on the sofa in the boy’s apartment, but I couldn’t get to sleep so took a cab back to the hotel where I fell into bed and slept til 1pm!! Had big plans to go to Matinee but obviously the sangria had other ideas for me.
Almost sunset at Mambo
Saturday 11th August
It was the first sunny day since arrival so I got my bikini on and ventured downstairs to the pool. Ordered lunch, and was joined by 2 Dutch guys – Tristan and Jan – at my table. Their friends Spiro and Spiri arrived a bit later and they all invited me to go with them to Salinas for the afternoon. Plenty of jellyfish in the sea at Salinas, but we had a good swim anyway, and really good to get a few rays on my lily white body!
By now the new friends and I were getting on quite well, so they invited me to go to dinner with them at Bambuddha Grove with yet more Dutch people!
In the end there were 10 of us at dinner. I thought the food could have been better for the price but we had a good evening there anyway. We stopped in at Tantra to get tickets for WLS the next day and later on ended up back at the Electric Cabaret for some shots of Jaegermeister to see us off to bed.
Sunday 12th August
Woke up at 10am for a big breakfast (my first at the hotel so far!!) before SPACE. Arrived at the club to NO queue at all which was great and we slid onto the side terrace with ease. I was so so happy to be back there. Why is it that SPACE even makes the ugly people look ok? J
I’m not a big house fan, but I loved Jonathan Ulyses’ set and we didn’t stop bouncing for hours! Moved onto the main terrace much later on. I nearly cried from pure joy when I saw the massage chairs as my frigging back was killing me again and Tristan and I took full advantage. 5 euros for 15 minutes – money well spent! The others called us to say we were going to use our pass outs then, so we all piled into the 2 cars and made the short journey back to Es Vive for a quick shower, change and then a stop at MacDonald’s for a bite. Spiri was wearing what I can only describe as a fish-net stocking dress, with not very much underneath it, so we all had a good chuckle when we drove into the car park and saw a bunch of children in McD’s. She had to sit in the car so as to avoid a major stir with the kids and more importantly, their dads and even more importantly, their moms! J
Got back to SPACE and this time there was a queue, and the club was absolutely rammed! First we went to check out James Zabiela in the discoteca. He still has great skills and he’s still cute, but I still can’t dance to the music he plays and the others felt the same so we moved off to the main terrace and found a spot (very crowded everywhere) just under the VIP area. Spiri’s outfit went down a treat wherever we went! Met Catherine and Tomo from the UK, and had a good old dance to Groove Armada’s set. I managed to lose 150 Euros on the floor of the club which burned my arse and soon after that I started thinking about leaving. Managed to stay a little bit into Bob Sinclar’s set, but he wasn’t playing any big tunes and it was a bit heavy, so we went back to the Electric Cabaret for a few hours. But not before a Dutch couple we were there with were thrown out of the toilets as they had been caught shagging in there! Not bad for having been together 21 years!!! When I grow up I also want to be like that! J Got on really well with new friends Catherine and Tomo so we made plans to see each other again a couple of days later.
In the car on the way back from SPACE
Monday 13th August
Got to bed at 9am and got woken up at 11am with Jan and Tristan knocking on my door to say bye! L So so sad to see them go. Guys…You are awesome! Thanks for everything and you know we will always be in touch and we’ll see you in Holland one of these fine days!
I was totally shattered and knowing Circo Loco was going on and that I wouldn’t be making it this week was just a horrible thought, but I still had the next Monday so I made a pact with myself that no matter what, I would be there the following week. I just slept and slept, and woke up at about 6pm feeling very hazy and jaded. Got a text from Catherine and Tomo to meet them at a little Tapas restaurant near their hotel on the beachfront. What a great little place! Friendly, cheap and really yummy food. I just can’t remember the name of it! We then stopped in at their hotel room for the beginnings of what would turn out to be a pretty big night. We met some other friends of theirs who own a beautiful apartment and made our way back there for a great night of talking **** and all the rest of it that goes along with that! Such fun! Tomo, Catherine and I arrived at Es Vive Hotel about 10 minutes before the little club closed. We weren’t keen on bed, but were not sure what else to do, so they left and I decided to tidy my room a bit, catch up on the diary and then go down to the pool.
Tuesday 14th August
Lay there at the pool for ages, watching people and just soaking in the sun. Got chatting to Chris who completely co-incidentally has been booked to play at the Lake of Stars fest in Malawi in October which I go to every year. It’s just so random that I would meet him!!! Ibiza is a funny little place like that!
Later that afternoon I hooked up with Fusion and friends again and we drove to Ibiza town. I lost him and Yaron within minutes of arriving there so wondered around aimlessly, bought a new dress to wear to Armada that night and had a quick bite to eat. I decided that walking around was not for me anymore and that I would go back when I had more energy. Eventually found the boys and we popped into their apartment so I could say goodbye to Tal and Yaron as they were leaving that night – Tal to Rio and Yaron back to Israel.
Back to the hotel. I felt totally washed out but I hadn’t been to a club since WLS 3 days before so felt it was completely necessary to sort myself out and get some dancing done!
Fusion, Tranceman and I hit Armada fairly early. Great crowd in and it was really ace! Bumped into the Dutch people on the dance floor and met some more of their friends. Everyone was pretty hyped up – as was I! We arrived when Markus Schulz was playing. I thought he was just OK, nothing spectacular, but good to start the evening off. Oakie came on after him, looking surprisingly sober for a change and I actually really enjoyed his set. Just a couple of train wrecks, but great tracks – loads of sing-along, hands in the air classics like Southern Sun. I was in a bit of a cheeky mood at Amnesia! A while before Armin came on, a small group of people came onto the dance floor and just stood there next to me. The one girl had her hands covering her ears for the longest time. I’m never aggressive and I am actually shocked that I had the cheek to do this, but I did. This is sort of how the conversation went from there:
Me: What is wrong?
Girl: It’s too loud! (first stupid comment)
Me: Oh! So what are you doing here then?
Girl: We are here to see Armin.
Me: So you don’t think it’s going to be this loud when he plays?
Girl: I hope not. (second stupid comment)
Me: Hmm .. So why aren’t you dancing?
Girl: Because it’s too loud (DUH!!)
Me: Well can you and your friends please go and stand still somewhere else until then?
Girl: What’s your problem?
Me: You! It’s called a DANCE floor not a STANDSTILLWITHYOURHANDSOVERYOUREARS floor and people like you just clutter the place and annoy me!
They didn’t move so I did. Why would anybody go to a club, complain about the loudness and stand STILL ffs??
Armin was fantastic! I only left the dance floor once and that was entirely necessary else I would have wet my pants. At almost 7am, the music went off - everyone was chanting ‘one more’ and to my complete surprise, I heard the familiar sound of Way out West’s Mindcircus coming through. I nearly passed out from joy as I never thought I would hear this tune in a club ever again. Complete heaven! Sang so loud and danced like a crazy person! Perfect end to a perfect night.
Leaving for Armada
Wednesday 15th August
Couldn’t find Fusion and Tranceman, and on exit from the club, saw that their car was gone! With my camera and room card in it! The Dutch people said I could catch a lift with them as long as I didn’t mind us going via San Antonio to drop the 2 girls off first. We somehow ended up sitting on the beach with some of our party even taking a swim there! Had a laugh at some skinny little guy who had lost all his clothes except his boxers (thank GOD!) and was falling all over the beach and into the sea. He obviously had NO idea where or who he was! Good ol’ San An!
Called Fusion (who was leaving that day) and went over to get my camera and hotel card, and to say goodbye to the rest of them. Thanks guys for taking such good care of me. I really enjoyed partying with you! You’re all mad, and I am not sure I have ever met anybody who can party as hard as Fusion…and all that on vodka red bulls only!! Amazing!
Managed to have my second breakfast so far at the hotel then slept for a few hours. Went back down to the pool in the afternoon, and arbed around not really doing all that much. Went to bed at about midnight. Got a good night’s sleep in.
Thursday 16th August
Went down to the pool quite early, and then at lunchtime met such a cool Aussie couple, Scott and Jane. They pop up later in the story!
Got ready and went to Bora Bora to meet Sven, Brian, Hans and David from Holland. I had met Brian and Sven at Armada through the other Dutch people. Had a really really GREAT afternoon on the beach with them, drinking Bacardi and laughing a lot. I know I’ve said this already, but I love Bora Bora!!! We moved off the beach later in the afternoon and spent the next few hours dancing and sharing smiles and sweat with everyone around us. Left there feeling fairly drunk and stopped in at Sissi’s for a mixed grill dinner, which was really good! David had to sit there with a towel wrapped around him as he didn’t have a shirt and my spare one in my bag was a few sizes too small! We took a long walk back to our hotels – the guys were off to SPACE but I was not so keen on another big night, so I chatted to Ice and Pablo (night staff at Es Vive) for a while before going to bed.
Dinner at Sissi's
Friday 17th August
I set my alarm so I didn’t miss breakfast, but I must have drifted off again and I missed it! Got myself comfy by the pool where I met Iain (UK) and Glenn (Aus). It was the Smirnoff Party that day so the hotel was buzzing with people setting up equipment and the sound and the stage etc. Soon, Scott and Jane arrived to join us. Started drinking at about 1pm and by 5pm we were properly ‘on it’!! J Amanda (the waitress) served us plenty of drinks with lots of smiles and I must just add in here what a great girl she is!
We all went to freshen up and get pretty for the party, and before we knew it, the show was starting. It kicked off with some break dancers doing their thing, and then some synchronised swimming which could have been better, mainly because it was done to “Cotton Eye Joe” – probably the worst song ever written. The human beat box was brilliant as was Bruce the Balloon Man and the Hula Hoop Girl. Smirnoff handed out feather boas and bowler hats so we all had a bit of fun with those, but I couldn’t help noticing that they were a bit shy on the free drinks!! I was chatting to some people I met around and about and some girl just came up behind me and pushed me so that I almost fell over! At first I thought it was an accident, but some other people saw it too and said it was intentional! No idea why…maybe it’s ‘cos she was a minger (new word I learned on holiday and I had to use it somewhere in this story!)
Ended up in the bar for a few hours and then a lengthy goodbye as Scott and Jane were leaving for Thailand the following day for a 6 day relax and recover from Ibiza session! Jane must have said goodbye 100 times!! What legends. I loved meeting those 2 and we will definitely stay in touch.
Paul, me, Scott, Jane, Iain and Glenn
Saturday 18th August
I woke up at 10:45 and managed to make it down to breakfast again! That’s 3 times! I pigged out and then went back to bed for 2 hours so by the time I woke up it was about 1pm and I was ready for the day!! Said goodbyes to Glenn and Iain and walked all the sodding way to Bora Bora as NOT ONE empty cab drove past me the entire way. Met the Dutch boys on the beach again. No Bacardi for me this time as a big night ahead in the form of Tiesto’s Elements of Life tour at Privilege! Spent a few hours people watching, having a giggle and got a bit sunburned. I had been in Ibiza 10 days and was still just about the palest person on the beach!
We stopped in at KFC on the way back to the hotels, and then got ready for our night out. I had made plans to meet up with some people I know from South Africa but for some reason I just could not get hold of them, so it was Holland away from home and me. We piled into yet another ‘private taxi’ and arrived early enough to take in the magnificence of that place without it being too packed. First we sat outside upstairs for a bit, then made our way onto the main floor. Soon enough the place was bouncing and Jes came on to sing a few tunes. The build-up to Tiesto’s arrival was quite something with a computer-generated image of him mixing on the biggest screen I have ever seen. We waited at least 20 minutes for him to eventually arrive and when he did, the place erupted and what with the fireworks and lasers and special effects, I just stood there in complete awe most of the time. I didn’t even have to dance! The floor was bouncing so much! It was truly a magnificent show. The Dutch guys had to leave at 4am as they were going back to Holland. I was extremely sad to see them go – they had been such a big part of my holiday and I will definitely stay in touch with all of them! Sven, Brian, Hans and David – Thanks for taking such good care of me so often! I’ll never forget the fun at Bora Bora with you and thankfully I have a ton of pics to remember you all!
I spent the rest of the time with new Dutch people (Jillis, his wife and her friends) I had met at Bora Bora the previous day. Tiesto played Tears from the moon, Silence and Andagio for strings all in a row – all big tunes from way back when and I loved it!
By 6am though, I was starting to feel tired and the music was a little bit harder so I took a very expensive “private cab” ride back to the hotel and had my usual early morning chats with Ice and Pablo.
Tiesto, here we come!
Sunday 19th August
Slept for about 5 hours. The weather wasn’t great that day, and in the back of my mind I knew that WLS was going on without me, but I wasn’t really up for it. Popped down to Bora Bora for a few hours with Jillis and co. Went back at about 8pm, got Chinese takeaway from the little place just down from Es Vive, and sat in my room feeling sorry for myself, watching FTV. This was the first time I actually felt a little bit lonely! I think the reality that I only had 2 full days left, plus the people I had met and loved spending time with had all flown back home. Oh well, it was bound to happen! So I went to sleep. L
Monday 20th August
Woke up at 11:05am. Just missed breakfast. I had big plans to go to DC10 and nothing was going to stop me!
I sat around the pool for a while, ate my way through more of Es Vive’s delicious menu and tried again in vain to get hold of Sim and Paul (the SA people who were on the island) then decided fack it…I’ll go all on my own!
Funny how just when I thought Ibiza couldn’t possibly get more mashed up – it did! DC10 was crazier that day than I remember it from last time I was out. Absolutely EVERYBODY was off his/her face, crazy outfits, just complete mayhem. I LOVED IT!! I’m not sure of who was playing at the time, but at one point, the entire terrace went on their knees..I looked over and just saw everyone crouched down, and every single mangled person there was smiling! The beat kicked in again and the entire crowd jumped up in unison. I’ve never seen anything like it and wish I had captured the moment on film!!
By the time I left at about 8pm, there were still people queuing to come in and it was getting crazier and crazier by the minute! I met Jim and Dave who were also leaving and we shared a cab back to PdB. Sweet guys! See you on facebook Jim!
I thought about going to Cocoon, but thank fack I didn’t!! I really was not in any state to go out again, especially not on my own! Plus, Ibiza has it’s own way of making sure everything works out….
I heard a strange crackling sound outside my window, so leaned out to find Phil eating a baguette on his balcony – just next door to my room. A few minutes later, I was there too…having a drink with him and his friend Chris! How random!
Some time later we ended up in room 207 where the beginnings of my final party on the island took place. Preston and Kevin were about to go to the airport to fly out – pity, 'cos Kevin (SA) and I got on really well in the 2 seconds we knew each other!! But Joe, Phil and Chris took great care of me, and before I knew it I had my arm twisted and we were going out. We didn’t quite make it out of the hotel grounds though, but the Electric Cabaret is just always a great little fill-in. One by one the boys dropped like flies and in the end, Joe did his country proud, as did I!
Eventually got to bed at 5am after an extremely great night.
Tuesday 21st August
I woke up at 11am feeling really sad that it was my last day. L
Took a walk into Ibiza Town along the beach, did some shopping and walked around for ages and ages and then on my way back, bumped into Amanda, the waitress from the hotel. What a great chick she is!! We did a bit of shopping and then decided that we were both hungry so went for a Chinese meal which set us back a whopping 13 EUROS!! Haha. Said our goodbyes and I got back to the hotel, had a bath, packed up all my tons of frigging shoes and the rest and went downstairs to sort out my bill etc. Chatted to Ice and Pablo again for ages and ended up only going to bed at about 2:30am!
Wednesday 22nd August
As I type this, my belly is in a big knot, just like it was when I got my wakeup call at 7am. Could NOT believe my holiday had come to an end. It felt like crap! Ice helped me with my luggage and we stood chatting in the rain while I waited for my cab. L
As I drove away in the taxi, I felt that really hollow, ****ty, empty feeling that I am sure everyone gets when they are leaving that island. It’s almost like it was raining in sympathy for me and I actually did shed a tear in the back of the cab.
Took off for Gatwick and I found myself crying AGAIN as I caught the last glimpse of Ibiza as the plane disappeared into the clouds.
Mammoth journey home via London, Johannesburg and Malawi. Good to be home, but my god I love that place. What is it? Why do I have post holiday blues now? Why can I not stop thinking about going back ASAP? J
So much for wanting to see lots of the island this time, and so much for my planned day trip to Formentera! I didn’t really do that much exploring at all. This holiday was really centred around meeting lots of new and very cool people (and obviously some real arseholes thrown in for good measure too), and it had a good balance between clubbing and relaxing. There’s always next time! Love ya Ibiza!
PS: I've lost my camera's memory card from the last few days in Ibiza, and with it some of my best photos from dc10 ever!
There are more photos on my facebook page here:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=13334&l=a9cdf&id=685681125
