By bike to Princess Di's and Nelson's retreat; a dip in Dieppe

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6 February Monday: Nevis

We got the ferry from Basseterre to Nevis. Taking the bikes meant that we could see a fair bit of the island.

Nevis is much greener than St.Kitts, with more of its area forested. It is a smaller island and has a smaller population. Consequently it has a more intimate feel than St. Kitts. Strangley though, the traffic seems worse.

We started off in Charlestown and headed towards Bath where warm springs are still used.
Though the maps looked better that the St. Kitts maps, they were still fairly misleading. It was a hot climb out of Charlestown and after threading our way down a pretty lane to a place called Fig Tree, we asked for directions to the Botanical Gardens and found ourselves confronted by a bloody big hill. Kasia went for it but I felt the sun, temperature and thought “stuff that”. On the way down, later, it felt and looked very much like a 1:5 gradient.

The Botanical Gardens are set in a fairly exclusive neighbourhood - villas set in opulent grounds. Next door to the gardens is Montpelier Plantation Inn where Princess Diana and Admiral Nelson liked to hang out*. We had a peek from the outside, but it seemed like major rebuilding work was going on.

* well, "hang out", for Nelson, is in terms of he got married there.

The Botanical Gardens were very scenic, though it does cost about £5 to get in. Feeling a bit hot, an opportunity of economic refreshment presented itself. A party of Americans trooped in guided by the staff of the gardens. A lady produced an ice bucket and rum cocktails, so we innocently queued up (I had retrieved a plastic cup that had blown onto the lawn). Thank you once again, good citizens of the USA, for slaking our thirst! We re-invested our gains by getting a meal at the restaurant, where we had the best meal out - equal to the Shipwreck Bar. The garden were a great place to chill in a shady spot and admire the plants.

We cycled back trying to locate a bike route along the south west coast but could not find it. Instead we took a loop though Fig Tree village, stopping off to buy something cold and wet, with an industrial level of sugar. We freewheeled most of the way back down the Charlestown, and stopped off for ice cream (enough cumulative sucrose to place one neatly into orbit) before catching the noisiest ferry that runs between St Kitts and Nevis.


8 February Wednesday

We caught a bus up to Dieppe Bay, on the northern tip of the island. Dieppe Bay was the site of the first French settlement on St. Kitts, arriving soon after the English. From this side of the island there are good views to St. Eustatius and Saba, part of the Dutch Antilles. At Dieppe Bay the sea was a bit capricious, with strong currents, so we moved over, past where fishing boats were beached. Though we were exposed to the sun, the cool Atlantic breeze kept a balmy feel to the air. Swimming was fine in this location, backed with a vista of the coast leading up to the summit of Mt. Liamuiga. When we walked a few metres inland, it felt really hot.

In the late afternoon we called in at the "Golden Lemon Hotel", which is famed for its food. So famous in fact, they can’t be arsed to serve unless you have booked in for the evening. Finding nowt else on offer at Dieppe Bay, we caught a bus, and rolled down the Atlantic coast back down to Basseterre. Our hunt for a big feed wasn’t to be. We headed for the Fisherman’s Wharf, (it’d been recommended) but again they were not serving until evening. We had a drink and sandwiches in the hotel next door after being invited in, and topped up with our own stew back at the hotel.

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Photos

Botanical Gardens,Nevis
Fine bloom. Orchid.

Botanical Gardens,Nevis
Shady grounds to walk through

Fig Tree village, Nevis
Some of the houses in Fig Tree were made of three wooden sections.

Back Lane/ginnel, Dieppe Bay, St Kitts
We met a friendly 83 year old lady walking along here.

Dieppe Bay
View of summit of Mt. Liamuiga (all 3700 ft of it) from the coast.

Comments

[Fay Quashie]

The wall
I fell off this wall 30+ years ago. During recess we would walk along the wall. Great memories. Fay