Category Archives: Caribbean

Islands of the Caribbean including both windward and leeward islands

Sugar Shack Found

Leave a reply

Very last pier, very last slip, very long walk from everywhere.

Happily everything checked out, exhaust hoses replaced, transmission seals looked good. Basically everything looks good, of course there is lots to do before we are really ready to bust on out of here.

Friday was a busy day, rented a car to make getting propane easier, except getting propane happens right at the marina, rented the car to make provisioning easier only to later find that there is a dingy dock near the grocery store. So driving on the left with a left handed steering wheel is sure the challenge. Every time I try to change lanes the stupid windshield wipers signal the lane change.

Working on boat projects all day friday, started the engines, fixed the heads – neither were operable, that would have made for an interesting trip, ordered the Propane, sent a load of laundry out, short provision run for beers and some snacks. Put the cushions back in their designated areas, some spring cleaning etc…

And Friday is also the Jump Up, er island party, thats basically a street vendor affair. We split a couple of Roti one veggie and one chicken as we knew we were going to the jump up street fair for dinner and more beers. The Piton and Red Stripe beers were flowing all day.

Showed and all cleaned up we headed to the Jump Up, stopping off at the Marina Bar for a beverage first then one for the Road, the Rum Punch packs a wallop. Its about a 15min walk to Gros Islet where the Jump Up happens, about one Piton long if you will. Getting there Christine had to have the chicken from the same lady we had last time, and found a nice lady who would give us closer to ‘locals’ prices than the rest. One Piton in the store is 2 EC locals get one for 2.5 EC the rest of the outsiders pay the 5EC for a beer, 5 EC is roughly $2 USD, so its all good. Rum punchers can go as high as 18 EC, but with some smooth talking Christine managed to get hers for 5 EC. It was Christine’s night, talked and danced the night away in the streets of St Lucia. Let me just say it was a long stumble home, was definitely a 2 beer walk, of which I only had one, the other hand was guiding Christine. We had planned on picking up some water for the morning’s dehydration that was inevitable, but the store closed by the time we stumbled by.

Good fun times were had by all. Once back at the boat, Christine took a quick nap, and Wayne and I sat on the bow and finished the rest of our beer and a rum drink to end the evening…

Purveyor of all things Rum Punch

Sweet lady makes a mean Rum Punch

Trinidad is beautiful

Leave a reply

We have been here 12 hours and its been dark the entire time. 6:30 flight means 4:30 at the airport according to both the ticket agent and the hotel clerk, so that’s what we did.

Holiday inn had a free breakfast in the morning that started at 6:00am. Well after our 4am wakeup call and shuttle ride to the airport.

Little hassle at check in, had to check the carry ons as they were either over weight and each person was allowed only one on the island hopper. They made an exception for my back pack with the computer weighing in at 20 lbs.

No problem. Checked out the spots for some breakfast before clearing security and nothing really stood out at 4:30am. We had asked if there was food inside and the ticket agent said there was but it was more expensive. We had hours to burn so we cleared the first security guard and found lots of duty free shops but no food. The couple of places were not open yet. Before doing the fullbody xerox clearing we asked if there was any food beyond the real screening and there wasn’t. Turning around to go past the first security point we now would have to go back through customs and immigration. So we sit here with a beverage from the tourist trinket shop near the gate.

Sounds of carnival and island reggae coming from the trinket shop brighten up the morning as the sun rises and we get our first view of the island.

Fun fact: visiting the liat website and pressing the check-in link clearly states that the check-in counter closes 45 minutes before the flight. Doh! As I said best laid plans…

We are boarding…….

Oops spoke too soon, Liat lives up to the moniker. Leave Island Any Time.

They gave our perfectly good airplane away to another flight. With any luck they will find us a way there. After what seemed like forever when you get up at 4 am they said we’d be leaving around 8am. I sure hope so.

Almost there… Best laid plans

Leave a reply

Even the best laid plans fall through. At least we had a backup plan.

We knew the connection was going to be tight. So we are currently shacked up in a Holiday Inn near the Port of Spain airport in Trinidad.

The worst part of the deal is not the airfare change fees or the extra night in a hotel away form the water. The worst part is either that we have a 6:30am flight or the fact that there is no bar in the general area. We talked to a nice cab driver before we left the airport so we at least had a heads up and grabbed a couple beers at the airport while waiting on the shuttle.

First night of vacation is in Trinidad. Overall an easy travel day, Austin to Houston to Trinidad. We had enough time to make the connection but by the time we made the Liat ticket counter out side of customs they had closed up the counter even though there was still 20 mins till departure. Oh-well, we are now on a direct flight in the weeee hours in the morning. I would have happily stayed at the airport bar all night but…….

Cheers, tomorrow we see the home away from home for the first time in 4+ months.