The journey (so far ...)

We had a great day in Cape Town doing last minute shopping for the things you might need when you're on a small remote island in the middle of (nearly) nowhere. Unfortunately we couldn't find vegemite, unfortunately we could find marmite. So Fran was happy, Mike not so happy. Finally left Cape Town a day behind schedule due to strong winds. Here's a photo of the tug working hard to keep us on course

Met some great Saints (local's name for Saint Helenians) on the bus out to the RMS Saint Helena (affectionately known as the RMS) and met them outside the on-board bar, waiting for it to open. Then followed five days of pretty much eating and drinking ourselves into oblivion. A jaunty little tune was played before each meal and before long we were as well trained as Pavlov's dogs and started salivating and heading for the diner as soon as the first notes were played. Recreation consisted of talking and drinking, playing very English deck games (Quoits??) and drinking, or just drinking and drinking interspersed with some snoozes broken by occasional bouts of sleep. We tried to keep the first beer to the right side of the yard arm, and some times we even managed to do that. I did take a photograph on the boat:

 
Which says it all really.



And then ...




as were were viewing our ever-expanding waistlines with disbelief



and wondering if there is a Saint Helena Chapter of Alcoholocs Amonymous (hic)



We arrived off of Jamestown in the early light of dawn



                                  it wasn't a particularly inviting first view:

But at least it was land, and the possibility of OTHER kinds of beer other than Windhoek Lager or Castle (unfortunately, we were sadly mistaken)

Photo: Fran with Saint Eddie (right) and Saint Eric (left) on first sighting of the island


Next up: some stuff on the island