It’s going to be a full day’s touring day today and poor Mike is still feeling very weak and wobbly. We set off south, on the more scenic coast road rather than the motorway.
The island is wonderfully maintained. Good roads, nice art on the roundabouts, lovely planting everywhere. It’s good to see our EU money being so tastefully spent! Whereas Mauritius was absolutely and definitely an island on a different continent, very Indian, very eastern, La Reunion is very, very, definitely French. In fact, driving through the little seaside towns, you could be forgiven for thinking that you are somewhere in the south of France or on one of the French Caribbean islands.
After travelling down the coast road, we turn off towards the mountains and the volcano and immediately start climbing, ears popping all the way. We go from sunshine at the coast, through cloud and drizzle as we go higher, passing the Volcano Museum, shaped like a volcano itself.
Photo: The Volcano Museum
We go through a mile of mountain mist then suddenly burst through the cloud and, hey presto, we are in the Alps! Just like that we have changed countries, or at least it looks like it. I expect an big, white cow with a bell around its neck to appear but it doesn’t.
Photo: La Reunion or the Swiss Alps?
Given the amount of mist hanging around the volcano, we decide to give the actual crater a miss as we wouldn’t be able to see anything. None of us fancy the five hour return hike either and after the electrifying experience of the live volcano on Tanna, nothing else will come close anyway.
Heading back down the mountain on its northern side gives us the most beautiful views. White and yellow wild lilies grow at the side of the road, mixed in with alpine flowers, huge ferns, and bush after bush of “Bridal Wreath”, one of my favourite shrubs that I used to have in my garden in the UK.
We stop for lunch at a restaurant on the east coast before continuing on to the lava flow area to the east of the volcano. Rounding a corner, there is the first flow, thick, black stuff going right down to the sea, forming a few new yards of land.
Photos: The first lava flow
This first flow is the oldest and vegetation has started to grow on it. Walking across it is like walking over lumps of coal. When I pick a lump up it is as light and black as coal is completely different to what I saw on Tanna and previously on Montserrat. We drive on.
The next flow is completely different. This looks like hundreds of giant cow pats all dumped together. Basically, it looks at if it was molten when it was spewed out of the volcano.
Photos: Cow pat lava flow
Again, this stuff is old enough to have vegetation starting to grow in it. Further on, we find the most recent flow, different again from the other two and too young to support life yet.
Photos: The most recent flow
You can clearly see the cut through the landscape where the lava formed its path of destruction. Luckily though, this is not a populated area and the lava always flows in the same direction. All the French authorities have to do is scrape the stuff off the main road which goes around the island every time it blows it out far enough to block it.
As we start to head back towards the marina, the roads become gridlocked with traffic. Mike is still not feeling well and we are all pretty tired. It’s a painful two hours back and when we get there Mike goes straight to bed for a nap. I prepare dinner for tomorrow night as Maggie and Bob are coming over and we are going to be out again during the day.
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