A weekend in the Seychelles

22 Feb. As I type I am struggling to keep my balance as we are now in some very rough seas as we go through the strait between Madagascar and Mozambique and it’s a bit spooky!!

The Seychelles were fabulous and definitely worth a longer visit. Since no-one booked any excursions I had free time and it actually felt like a real weekend which was a bonus! I had found a house on line to rent so 5 of us set out in a rental car to the other side of the island and found Paradise!! The house was on the water’s edge and was part of the German owner’s property, looking out to the ocean and an island. The weather so sunny and temps in the 30s. The island itself is small enough to drive around in one day. We dissected the island from Victoria to Beau Vallon and went a little further north from there to our house at Glacis. The island had a really laid back feel to it and whilst I haven’t been to Jamaica, it felt like it would be similar, if that makes sense. The contrast from the beaches to the dense forest was amazing and the views were stunning as we climbed to nearly 1000m above sea level. Our little car was struggling and as we had the air con on permanently, the gas gauge was going down rapidly. We had stopped at the supermarket soon after leaving the ship which was one of the only shops open on a Sunday and stocked up on essentials for our one night away, ie beer and snacks. As soon as we arrived at the house and once Marija our host from Serbia and Gunther’s wife (incidentally Gunther was away in NZ!) we had to knock the top off a couple of coldies and just soak up the beautiful view and tranquility of our little home. It felt so nice to be in a house again and I even got excited about doing the dishes the next morning!! The locals were very friendly and kind enough to speak English which made life easy as they also speak French and Creole. Once we had all claimed our beds we donned on our togs and headed for the beach. The 5 of us were Kerstin (German living in OZ), Giannni (Italian living in Oz and marrying Kerstin at sea on 10 March), Ashleigh (USA) and Stacey (OZ) and me. As they drive on the left, Kerstin and I were the designated drivers. As I had tucked in to a few beers as we settled in to our house, Kerstin took the wheel and I was navigator with a roadie tucked under my arm for good measure. We headed south in the vain hope of finding a beach without anyone from TSS. We did well and found one – we had loads to choose from – that was a favourite with the locals who had thrown off their Sunday best after the weekly visit to church and were relaxing in the sun having picnics. It was just awesome. We charged in to the water and it felt like getting in the bath it was so warm. We had hoped for some snorkeling but it seems you needed to go out a bit in a boat for that and that was way too much effort for the purpose of our visit. We did see some big white fish – I know, a marine biologist I am not! – and some needlefish at the shores edge so don’t feel quite so ripped off. The water was super salty so you could easily float and float in to relaxed oblivion. Everyone who had done the first voyage was feeling particularly tired at this point and whilst it’s not good for the company not to have sold any excursions I was really pleased of the down time. We had managed to miss lunch on our escapade and were ravenous when we made it back to the house for sunset so once again tried a few of the local brews and took in the picture postcard that was our view from the terrace whilst bats flew over head! The only sound was the rolling waves as they hit the rocks and it was magical. I will eventually get photos loaded to this page but I have to work out how to reduce the resolution so they don’t take forever to upload. With rumbling tummies we headed back down to Beau Vallon for dinner and dined on a Creole buffet and bbq restaurant at the beach. Honestly, they must have thought that we were straight off a refugee boat deprived of food for days as we had no sooner been shown to our table when we grabbed our plates and zoomed to the buffet. The waiter didn’t even have time to tell us what all of the dishes were but we didn’t care, we were on a mission to chow down and it was delicious. There was a snapper on the bbq and it was divine, it just melted in your mouth. I am almost salivating as I type at the memory of it! With all of our sun, swimming and now bursting bellies, we were knackered so once we had demolished dessert, don’t know how we managed to fit that in, we waddled back to the car gazing out to the beach, softly lit by the almost full moon and went back to the house. It had been our intention to have a bit of a session but I made the mistake of lying down ‘just for 10 minutes’ and woke up at 7:30 the next morning! The birds and the ocean made for a delightful wake up call. Stacey was already at the water’s edge watching the big crabs do their side shuffle over the rocks and in to the water. There were these other little creatures that looked like mini eels that were only about 5cm long and stuck to the rocks and then wiggled their way to the water and made a leap in to the water. I also saw a crab that had a black body and bright red claws. Ashley soon joined us and we ventured off to find the bakery as we were having visions of us sitting out on the terrace with croissants and coffee making a slow start to the day. We didn’t have to be back on the ship until 8pm so didn’t need to rush. We found the bakery and only had a choice of baguettes, some sweet dough or other sweet dough so we got a mixture of each. The only coffee shop wasn’t open until 10am and it was only 8:30am but as we were hanging out for a cuppa, we stopped at a hotel and paid 2US for a cup of instant but it did the trick! We went back to the house and Gianni and Kerstin were up and about so we had a lovely mix and match breakfast with Laughing Cow cheese and vegemite for the baguette and we found some tea, coffee and jam in the cupboard so all was good. It was impossible to find fresh milk on the island but we did find little bottles of flavoured UHT milk and you know you can get away with a dash of strawberry milk in a cup of tea! I think they must need to import everything accept coconuts and bananas along with a few vegetables as we didn’t see any livestock or factories on the island except for the brewery. Unreal, a small island and it had 2 different types of local beer! The Seybrew was not as hoppy/malty as the Eku, it seemed only right to try both! We had a tidy up and packed the car to go off in search of another beach recommended in the Lonely Planet that also had a café and was the book’s pick. The petrol was starting to disappear rapidly so we headed to the gas station on the map that turned out to be closed as it was part of a resort and the resort was closed. It was another hike over the hill to another station and I was quietly concerned that as the gas light had been on for some time it might be close. Fortunately we made it to the top of the hill and at least we could then coast all the way down but there was no need, we made it. So with the tank refueled we went back over the hill and after a few tricky roads, came across another piece of paradise at Anse Soliel. Ravenous once again, it must have been the fresh air, we tucked in to fresh seafood, starting with a smoked fish salad and then between us we managed, crab, prawns, grouper and snapper along with a couple of Seybrews to wash it all down. It was another scorcher, so it wasn’t long before we plunged in to the water again. There was a bit of a rip and under tow that you had to be careful with and it caught Ashley a beaut and she hit her forehead on a rock and emerged with blood pouring down her face – very dramatic. Given my useless efforts at First Aid, I remained calm and escorted her to a tissue on the shore and we decided that it looked like it might need stitches so we should head back to the ship. We had all had lots of sun and fun by then and Ashley’s need was more than ours for more r & r. We took the southern route home and managed to cover almost all of the island. We dropped Ash, Kerstin and Gianni at the ship and Stace and I went to the supermarket to spend the few Seychelles rupees we had left as it was too small an amount to convert back. We actually hadn’t seen anything of the main town of Victoria and we had lots of fuel to use so went for a wee drive and the car came to a stop outside the pub, funny that! Had a pint and then tiredness took over again and we went back to the ship. Turns out Ash got 3 stitches so it was a good thing we came back! Earlier in the day I had phoned Cape Town trying to get tickets for the Crusaders v Stormers match on 29 Feb. I had intentions of going to the game myself and thought I would put it out to the community in case anyone else was interested. I will be taking 80 people with me!! I couldn’t believe it – they are all keen as mustard. When I phoned their version of Ticketek, as you could only book a max of 12 tickets on line, they then told me they wouldn’t take a non South African credit card and would only book 15 seats. My desperate pleading fell on deaf ears. My next move was to contact the PR Mgr for the Crusaders as I had emailed him earlier to see if there was a designated area for ‘away’ fans and if there was an after match function! He was so helpful and then emailed his counterpart at the Stormers who is now making the arrangements for us. I have had to hire a couple of buses as I didn’t fancy trying to herd that many people on public buses! We are getting some old sheets to make banners so if you are watching the game, keep an eye out. I might even email Sky Sport and The Press to see if we can get some home coverage. The students are so excited – I do hope Crusaders win!

I am nearing the end of this episode and the seas are still rough so I am thinking about popping a sleeping pill, putting my ear plugs in for a decent nights sleep as the movement wakes me up and the old ship creaks like mad with so much wood in it! We had to cancel the students talent show tonight as so many are seasick and the movement doesn’t make anyone’s life very easy as you have to be hanging on to the railings as you wander around. It’s a no class day tomorrow and there is a competition between the communities and the staff have entered a team so we will be having a laugh with tug of war, water balloon passing, water volleyball, world trivia and more!! Then tomorrow night we have the crew talent night which I have been asked to MC again so that should be fun. Let’s hope the seas calm down by then. The poor students have mid terms at the moment so not much fun for them! I’m looking forward to being a bit busier on the next voyage as these kids just don’t have any money so I’m hardly rushed off my feet but should make the most of the free time but it doesn’t feel right. Okay my lovelies, I will head off and go up to the office and get this uploaded and venture outside for a ciggie whilst holding on to the railings very firmly!! Take care, Kimmy.