Day 3: Mon, 6 Dec 2010
Well this definitely did not feel like a Monday - Mia woke up at 6:30am (Actually 7:30am but with the time change it was now an hour earlier) So we waited till 7am for our morning coffee...then we got dressed & went off to start it all over again.... 1st breakfast....
After that the days blurred together & did get easier... by the 2nd last night I was no longer eating in my roomJ Mia actually sat through a dinner with me – starter & all! The last day was the best... of course – They brought out the baby pool (Thanks guys - cause I didn’t want Mia to play in the for the 1st 3 days ;-/) and she had a blast – I could actually sit on the deck & enjoy a cold beer & some lunch in the sun with the rest of the guests while Mia splashed around right next to me...bliss.
There was also a cocktail evening & a BBQ that night which was fantastic! By that time Mia had made friends with the girls next door to us – aged 10 & 7 they seem to have no problem with Mia being the ring leader – I KNOW – HAVE U EVER ;-) They walked around with Mia & even watched some DVD’s in our cabin.... I did have to cut the evening short as Mia was finally getting cranky & it was time for bed. But I had a lovely night....and that brought us to Day 5...Thursday, 9 Dec 2010 – we arrived at the island at 6am....so when we I woke up & looked out the window – We were here! And the island looked beautiful...something out of Jurassic Park....Mia was still fast asleep & I managed to pack up our overnight bag (They picked the rest of the things up the day before at4pm.) and get everything ready & then woke her up – got her dressed & went on through to customs & immigration to get everything stamped again. We then had some breakfast & got ready to disembark.
They called our number at about 9am & we had to go down to the front desk where we put life jackets on – Mia had her own baby one & which she loved! We then went down the gangway & right onto a little boat. Mia loved every minute of it. We we’re taken to shore & got out against the harbor wall...where again – Mia just took it in her stride. We then hopped on a bus & drove about 300 meters up the road to the little customs room....everyone was super helpful & friendly! We went through – put our bags through the x-ray scanner & then as if perfectly timed Mia was soooo super cute & charmed all the customs ladies whilst sitting on the chair like a little angel whilst mommy got all the bags together. They lady from the tourism department was waiting right there for us & got someone to drive our car to us.... it was so easy! I drove out of the harbor area not knowing where to next & thought I’d stop at the tourism office – if I could find it & take it from there....but as we came out of the gate a lovely lady holding a sign up saying “Yew Tree Cottage”- the name of our house – and so I stopped & she hopped in & drove with me through town, showing me everything on the way including the police station where needed to stop& show them my driver’s license.... we then drove up a ridiculous road called “Ladder Hill Road”- a ONE LANE, 2 way mountain road with bends & blind spots & a sheer cliff on the one side.... car’s coming down the hill have to make way on the one of the designated wider sections of road for traffic coming up the hill...and this actually seems to work.... it definitely is an interesting drive J
So far I had been trying to take in this strangely familiar place – all the research & picture had helped me recognize everything but had not done it justice! What a place! I really can’t explain it – it’s like nothing I’ve ever seen before in all my travels. It has the age & beauty of any great European village, with gardens, castle walls & beautiful old churches, but it all has this really island atmosphere and that was just Jamestown...the main town.
As we drove up through the island the scenery change from harsh volcanic rock to lush green rolling hills & forests. So green & tropical, but with old English lanes, complete with stone walls & hedges....just stunning. A few more windy roads & hills & we were at our holiday house, YEW TREE COTTAGE. They don’t have street numbers here – they name their houses....and that becomes your address. I love the concept & I guess with an island of less than 5000 souls, you really not just a number here.
The house was lovely! A really old colonial house, complete with long veranda & musky smell. I loved it! And so did Mia! Once our host had left it didn’t take long for us to really move in! Toys everywhere, Dore the explorer on the telly & mommy doing some washing & making Mia some tea.... all in all it felt like a really holiday house already!
We went back down into town & I timed the Ladder Hill road decent perfectly – slipping in behind a very pink ford truck that was clearly very local & simply drove when he drove.... it went very well & my 1st up & down ladder hill road was a success!
We had to head back to the harbor to collect our Hold luggage that was now also in the customs room....everything was there & Mia had fallen asleep so I simply let her sleep in the car whist I loaded everything in. I then hung around chatting to some friends who were waiting for their things & then slowly headed back up to our holiday house – I keep saying the whole thing – Holiday House – because I have to practice using it like that with Mia. I made the fatal mistake of call it home once & Mia was so upset it wasn’t our real home in Simon’s Town that it took be an hour calm her down J
By the afternoon it was pretty overcast & very drizzly so mommy and Mia veg’d out on the couch for the rest of the evening & had a pretty chilled 1st night in St. Helena!
Hoping daddy comes home 2morrow. Really missing him now! Was feeling pretty isolated way up here at the top of this Island - that really is in the middle of nowhere.
Living life now.
xxGxx
Day 2 on the Island – 10 Dec 2010
It started with great excitement as I got the house ready for what I hoped would be Daddy’s arrival. We left the house just after 10am – it would have been earlier but as we were about to leave Mia needed to use the loo...perfect timing as always. Anyway – we picked up Di & Arlene (Di is the Dianne – of “Our Dianne”- her husband is Marc’s skipper Billy and Arlene is Di’s twin sister.) on the way – as they hadn’t got their car yet. But speaking to them they said that it looked like They guys would only be in tomorrow, at about 11:30am... L I was so sad to hear I had another night without him.... but we went into town anyway & explored a little... I didn’t want to explore too much without Marc as I wanted to share this with him but we walked around town a little. Mia had a play in the little playground & then we got some ice-cream & sat on one of the white benches in the garden & enjoyed the atmosphere.... it was lovely & very relaxing. We drove back up at about lunch time – and once again Mia fell asleep on the way...which seems to have become island tradition. When we got home Mia stayed a sleep for a change & I put her in bed & just relaxed...which has also become tradition here ;-) I listened to the local radio station – Saint FM – which seems to be the best way to get any info needed.... I must say it really takes some getting used to not having a cell phone here. There’s allot of sort of just running into people & seeing how it goes as you can’t call anyone. But I have managed to get everyone’s numbers – everyone has a landline at least – so that worked – if the person is at home. The highlight of my afternoon was a phone call from Marc! He called from the sat phone on the boat. What a lovely surprise!! I was great to hear from him but afterwards I felt like there were a 100 things I forgot to say! L I really hated feeling so far away from him. Mia woke up right after that & then we just relaxed. Painted, drew a bit, watch a DVD or 2 & then it was bath & bedtime again. So another quiet & early night for me....
Living life now.... quietly but living it J
xxGxx
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