We wake up at a civilised time and after tea and breakfast, Mike goes ashore to deal with the customs and immigration formalities while I wait just in case the fuel boat arrives. To get to shore you have to use the water taxi and those of you who have been reading the blog for some while will know that I have very unpleasant memories of water taxis from Puerto Ayora in the Galapagos Islands, basically taking a tumble from one, as did Jim.
Mike calls me from town and says that if I want the washing done I should get it ready and when the taxi brings him back, I can take it in to town while he waits for the diesel. Great. So now, not only am I going in, but I am going in alone. I feel a tumble coming on!
I tidy up, sweep the floor (still enamoured with my little green floor wizard) and finish applying teak oil to all the bits I missed last night. Jeannius is looking pretty darn smart. Then I hear the dreaded arrival of the water taxi and as Mike gets off, I get on. I warn the driver that I am hopeless and he comes to grab me before I make an exhibit of myself. So far so good.
We pick up crew from Eowyn and Ariane and I stare with horror at the harbour wall as we approach. There are knotted ropes suspended that you have to grab hold of as you step from boat to cement dock. As the waves pound the boat heaves up and then drops. I throw the washing bag ashore, followed by my camera (I don’t want that going for a swim again). Luckily there are three men around me to help ensure that I don’t fall in and I time it right, grabbing onto a rope and an arm on the way up. Phew!
St Helena is a little gem of a place as it turns out. It’s a bit like a little British market town in the 1950’s and everyone smiles. It’s almost uncanny – someone you don’t know walks past and says hello and you almost do a double take as you think you’ve just walked past someone you know.
I leave my washing at the tourist office as it will be picked up and returned by 3.30 pm then go and check out the local shops. I’m not expecting much as the supplies ship doesn’t come that regularly and therefore I am not disappointed. There’s lots of tinned goods, dried goods and the like, but not much in the way of fresh stuff which is what I am after. I buy a cabbage. That’s it. But the town is pretty, all brightly coloured stone cottages, just like an English seaside town.
I walk past the prison – apparently there are 10 cells and only 4 of them are occupied at the moment. There are cannons galore adorning the police station and facing out to sea. And then there’s Jacob’s ladder – a flight of steps up the sheer face of rock from just above the harbour – all 699 of them. Not for me – going up would probably kill me and coming down with my dodgy knee would be suicide.
After my little bit of shopping I head back to the harbour to pick up the water taxi and manage to make it in, back to Jeannius and off without mishap. Mike and I have a spot of lunch and it hardly seems any time at all before we have to go back to town to pick up the washing and see if any more vegetables have miraculously appeared in the shops. However it is now high tide and getting off the water taxi is even more precarious. The waves are breaking over the dock and looking at it I am terrified. Again, and this time, God knows how, I manage to get off without drowning and then I stand and watch others attempting to get on the water taxi. Scary stuff.
We pick up the washing and find out that our free tour is now not free as we are the only people who want it (everyone else went this morning and yesterday). We try to get a hire car but there isn’t one to be had so we book a little man for 4 hours in a taxi for £30. Then I go in search of vegetables, finding some green beans, green tomatoes, butter and a butternut squash – not much for two weeks worth of ‘5 a day’ but it can’t be helped.
We manage to buy a new ‘clicker’ for our gas hob so that I can light it instead of calling the match man (Mike) and go to Ann’s place, a restaurant thoroughly recommended but totally devoid of any character, where we connect to the internet and publish the blog. Then it’s back to the boat to dice with death once more getting on and off the water taxi.
Less than an hour later and it’s time to go out for dinner, this time to a Chinese that has been recommended. Unfortunately, although we have a good evening, it’s in spite of the food rather than because of the food. and the crews from Tzigane, Tucanon and Voyageur all feel the same. It is a very disappointing meal, no flavour at all. It’s after paying for a meal like this that I realise why we enjoy eating in so much – we can cook and we buy good ingredients.
One last dice with death and it’s back to the boat. We have our island tour tomorrow and we might leave in the afternoon or leave it until Sunday. We’ll wait until tomorrow’s weather forecast to make our decision.
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