Day 14, St George's, Grenada

Our penultimate day. Today we dropped anchor in the bay, outside St George's, Grenada, so once again we were tendered to the shore. There was a bloomin' strong onshore wind blowing, which was whipping up the sea and making it difficult for the tenders to hook up. It also meant that the ship was spinning around the anchor! One minute there was sea out of the window, next land, then sea again. I imagined they had an anchor both ends for rougher seas.

In port once again, was the Azura. She had left St Lucia minutes before us last night, before we did a reverse and pirouette to leave our birth in a confined basin.

Alongside Azura was an MSC something, even bigger than her, which meant, when we got to the cruise terminal, it was heaving. We grabbed a map and quickly made our way out into the street, and up the hill to Fort George.  Besides being a tourist attraction, bizarrely, it also doubles as the Police headquarters/training centre. There are loads of cannons and great views of the cruise terminal and also on the other side, of a beautiful little horseshoe bay.

P&O Azura and MSC Even Bigger

We found some tunnels (I don't think anyone else bothered) and were pleasantly surprised to find they housed half a dozen bats. I don't think I have ever seen bats hanging like that before, except for the massive fruit bats in the trees in Sri Lanka. As I disturbed them, they flew over my head. They were perfectly silent, no noise from their wings at all. Brilliant. 

Next stop was a chocolate house. A museum come shop come cafe. It told the story of cocoa in the Grenadines and you could buy cocoa products (Catherine bought some hot choc powder) and also sample it on site. Free wifi enabled me to post the last few days blogs too.

Just down the road was a museum. We spent some time in there before making our way round the little horseshoe bay. Soaking up the sun, we watched some chaps in a small motor boat flogging some fish they had caught, to locals on the quay.

Then it was back to the dock, via a shop, so I could buy some overproof rum, 138 proof or 69% alc.

On the quayside, there were 2 queues. One for our tender and one for the Rhum Runner catamaran trip. Catherine managed to get in the wrong one, so effectively jumped the queue for the tender. There were a few murmurs in the queue and I think people said something when they got on, including  me, who said to her, I hadn't realised she had speedy boarding! We could laugh about it and everybody got on anyway, so no real harm done.

Back on board we had some lunch, did some packing and watched a couple of the tenders struggle against the wind and rough sea, to re-dock. We were in the dining room and having dinner when we saw one still manoeuvring outside. We were possibly 2 hours late leaving port. 

With bags packed and left outside our door for collection, it's time for our last sleep on board. Our next will be on a Boeing dreamliner.  I shall sleep happy tonight though, knowing Spurs have been knocked out of the FA Cup. 🤣

Tomorrow we shall be back in Bridgetown and hopefully we'll touch WiFi, so you can read this before we get back home.

Day 13, Castries, St Lucia

Today was probably the earliest we have been up all cruise, 07:10. We had breakfast in the buffet, to avoid the waiting about in the restaurant. In harbour with us today were P&O's Azura, another massive beast and something called Sirena. Not sure which cruise line but it may even be smaller than us.

By 09:15 we were on our coach for the West Coast and Volcano tour.

St Lucia is probably the hilliest island we have visited, so the roads out were tight and twisty. We made a 'stop' at a spot where we could take a photo of the city/ harbour but weren't allowed off the bus!

The harbour, through the square window!

Next up we stopped at a little fishing village. 15 minutes for the locals to sell as much as they could. Up into the hills and on the edge of the rainforest. Next stop was a viewing point overlooking the former capital Soufriere and with a view of the Pitons, Grande & Petit, St Lucia's two highest mountains. 2 minutes to get a photo but long enough for the locals to try and sell you a piece of weaved palm leaf.

Soufriere and Grand and Petit Pitons

Back on the bus, we drove through Soufriere, a lovely looking town, and on up into the hills to the volcano park. Here there are mud pools where people (not on our tour) could bathe and cover themselves in 'healthy' volcanic mud. We had about a 20 minute tour, with a guide explaining about the geology, sulphur dioxide gas and how hot the mud bubbling in pools is. I've forgotten already!

Hot bubbling mud

Then it was back on the bus and back to Soufriere, where we stopped at an old mill, once part of a sugar plantation. Here we had a very nice lunch. There were six dishes, only one of which Catherine couldn't have, chicken. They had a hot sauce on offer. Catherine took some, tasted it, then went back down the queue, on her way to table, telling everyone to avoid it. Needless to say, I had a dollop. On its own, it was bloody hot but when mixed in with food it wasn't so bad.

Whilst eating we saw some humming birds hovering around the flowers near us. I managed to get a photo but only when one had settled, not in hover mode.

Why don't humming birds sing?

Soon we were on the move again and driving right through Soufriere, back the way we had come. It would have been nice to stop there for a while.

That, effectively, was the end of the tour. The roads are that twisty it took about an hour to get back to the ship.

We got back on board and dropped some gear off, then went back out for a mooch around. We were probably out about an hour, before returning to the ship. On the way back Catherine made a purchase, once again putting her negotiating skills to good use. 

We'll soon be leaving Castries and setting sail for Grenada, the last of the islands on the trip. We don't have a trip booked, so we'll be staying local.

After we leave the ship on Thursday, she visits some of the island's again, before sailing across the Atlantic and carrying on through the Mediterranean, eventually settling in  Cyprus. The last four couples we have got chatting to, are all staying on for that. Not sure I could stand 7 nights across the Atlantic. 

That's all for now.