Jellyfish

Medussa jellyfish sting

Today I swam off the Lido il Defino, just a cable car ride dowm from Taormina. It was beautiful. The water was the clearest I've ever seen. It was like swimming in an aquarium. There were fish everywhere. I had to go back to the lifeguard and hire some snorkels and goggles for my daughter Kate and me!

Then we spent literally the whole day swimming underwater looking at all the aquatic wildlife.

Kate's highlight was spotting a starfish. It was such a bright orange colour, I didn't think it was real. I dived down to retrieve it, and Kate became the celebrity of the beach, showing her pet starfish to everyone. We did put it back gently later.

Kate with her starfish

We saw other creatures too, including sea urchins and huge weever fish. What we didn't spot were the medussa jellyfish. A very brave Kate was stung on the knee, and I was stung loads and loads of times across the stomach. Kate was lucky she was wearing a rash vest. I suppose it was great training for swimming the channel where we'll meet lots of jellyfish (and getting back into the water numbed the pain), but I'm a bit miserable at the moment. My stomach is very tender, and even putting a t-shirt on is excruciating. 

Jellyfish is something we don't get in Brockwell Lido!