Beach Day

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Geo: 13.8941, -60.9686

This morning we docked in Castries the main town on the island country of St Lucia. We disembarked about 8-30am and walked in to the centre of the town along the waterfront. It was another warm, humid day with a threat of rain but the few small showers which fell dissipated quickly. The main square is named after Derek Walcott, a Nobel Prize winning poet who was born here. Within the square is his bust and another of the first black man to win a Nobel Prize both born in this small island, The second was for Economics. The other main feature of the square is the massive 400 year old tree which dominates one corner.

We went into the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, a large imposing church which takes up one whole side of the square. Inside this has colourful murals covering the walls in the best Caribbean traditions and stained glass windows which swivel open to allow the breeze to flow through. The altarpiece is very impressive and the overall effect is spectacular. This is what the church in Antigua may look like after it is restored. The rest of the buildings around the square and in downtown Castries are fairly run down and not very impressive.

We walked back to the craft market where we sheltered from the light rain and inspected the stalls. There was a really nice shirt with tropical patterns in black and white but it was too small for Fletcher. We walked out and met Sam, who had accosted us on our way down and to . whom we promised to return. We asked to go to Pigeon Island and Rodney Bay on the northern part of the island. He agreed to drive us to Rodney Bay, drop us off and return to bring us back for $US30 each way. This was OK by us and we set out. He was a good driver, although he did like a turn of speed and we were soon driving into Rodney Bay. There are many resort hotels and shopping centres here but Sam drove us right down to the beachfront. He took us to meet his friend who rented out deckchairs and umbrellas and we were set up with our own close to the water. We were in front of a bar called Spinnakers which had changing facilities and food. So we were set for the day. It was only 10am and we told him to return at 3pm. We could see Pigeon Island across the bay. This had once been the base for the pirate Jean Du Bois, "Pegleg", but now contained just ruins and made a National Park.

We took advantage of Spinnakers WiFi first and spent a good hour or so there checking email and updating my blog. Once finished with that we changed and went to sit on the beach. This is a pretty spot bordered by some resort hotels but a free beach, open to all. It cost to hire the chairs but that ensured us safety of our gear while in the water. The beach sloped down sharply so within a few feet we were well into the cool green water. It was very pleasant just bobbing up and down and watching the world go by. There were jet skis zooming past and a curiously decorated boat with plants and foliage selling fruit, mangoes, bananas etc. I don't know how he expected us to have money on us in the water though!!
After an hour or so we went back up to Spinnakers for lunch. This was great food. I had Coconut battered fish and chips while Fletcher had Creole prawns. Both were excellent. I have refused to eat fish onboard anymore because it is always over-cooked but this was delicious. We even lashed out and had dessert and enjoyed the Argentinian Sauv Blanc with it.

After lunch we went for a walk along the beach to an inlet and back. It was a nice stroll and we then chilled out on our chairs. About 2-30pm we retired to Spinnakers for a G&T and Sam returned right on time at 3pm. He had his daughter with him, about 14 years old, in her school uniform. Her name was Kia and she was a very pretty girl. They then drove us back to the ship. We had a look around the terminal building. There were several shops and bars etc there. In one of them we saw the shirt we had admired earlier and this time they had Fletcher's size so we bought it. After exploring the other shops we decided to return to the ship to cool down and have a shower. It was about 4-15pm and we still had three hours before departure but it had been a big day.

After a shower and change we had a drink in the bar before dinner and then went out onto the back deck for the Sail Away at 7-45pm. After that it was a light meal for dinner. I only had the salad as the breaded pork looked very dry and the other alternative was fish. Interestingly enough, Natalia came and asked us for our opinion on the meal. Fletcher said his pork was dry and hard and my salad , while edible, was exactly what my mother would have made for Sunday night dinner in 1958. Not the most interesting or tasty cuisine. She was embarrassed and apologetic but we reassured her that the staff are great, it is only the food we have a problem with. After that, we retired to our cabin early and enjoyed an early night.

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