Still Trapped in Paradise

Life has been transformed for the Andersons.  No more of the relaxed mornings with coffee in the cockpit and hunting under the couches for forgotten tins of food.  We are all settling down to a land based lifestyle and trying to adjust.  One thing is for sure - the reality is a little different from what we had envisaged when we talked about taking a house in the west Indies.  We thought we would be lounging around the pool, reading books, spending idle mornings finding quaint cafes serving exotic coffee and then retiring to the deck mid afternoon for cocktails or a cool G&T.  However the little realities of life have taken root once again.  Guess what?  We still have to ferry the kids or Calley around to her activities, the kids still need to be taught school and fed, shopping and laundry needs to be done and there is the work on the boat to be looked at as well.  All in all we are busy, busy, busy especially Nic but everyone is enjoying it.

We all love being in the house.  The space is amazing and Nic and Scott have got sore feet just from walking on the tiles which are throughout the house.  Feels like we walk forever to move around the house or just to make a cup of coffee in the kitchen.  The kitchen especially seems huge.  We have been used to the galley of Dulcinea and being able to reach everything with just a stretch of an arm of the twist of a torso and now suddenly everything is a walk away.  You almost have to plan your route if you are making a cup of tea.

Testing safety equipment from the boat

The house is pretty big and very open.  There are lots of windows with louvres on them which remain open all the time allowing a breeze through most of the day and night keeping the temperature exactly what you would expect in the Caribbean.   At night we go to sleep with the breeze blowing through the bedroom and the noises of tree frogs, cicadas and the light surf from the rocks below the house - it is very zen.  When it rains it usually rains hard for a short while and its great to lie and listen to it hitting the roof tiles and then streaming down onto the pathways.  The rain is usually accompanied by a waft of cooler, damper air.  

The house has a caretaker called Charlie who looks after the pool and garden for us.  He is over most mornings and is ably assisted by Bling Dog (no kidding) who does all the raking of leaves etc.  The gardens are beautiful with purple bouganvillea and red flambouyant trees everywhere plus a dozen or so other flowers.  There are also fruit trees which we only discovered a few days ago.  We also have a lady called Sally Anne who comes in twice a week to clean.  Both Charlie and Sally Anne serve as our information source for things Grenadian.  They are both very friendly and helpful to us.

Nic found a summer camp program for Calley which has been fantastic for all concerned.  She drives Calley to camp in the morning at around 0830 and then brings her back all red and exhausted at around 1530.  It gives us all a bit of break and especially Sam who needs to concentrate on catching up on his schoolwork.  Calley has had such fun and so far has been kayaking, snorkeling, fishing, hiking and has even tried scuba diving in the open water, something her brother is extremely jealous of.  The summer camp program is put on by the local Montessori school and Nic has been busy organising enrollment for Calley for September.

Calley's summer camp crew

We have had one weekend here so far and have decided that we want to try and get out and visit one of the sights at least each weekend.  Last Sunday we went up to a place called Mt Carmel Falls.  We pulled up at the roadside and engaged the services of a guide called Colin (well i think he engaged us) and marched off into the undergrowth.  The falls were a short walk from the road and were not as spectacular as some we have seen due to a lack of rain but it was a nice walk in and there was a great swimming hole with a rock slide which we played around in for a while before heading back to the car.  There are lots of other falls to see and some of them require significant walks in so we will leave them to a bit later.  There is also a chocolate factory which is on the agenda for this weekend.

Mt Carmel Falls

The waterslide

We are both getting used to the driving here.  The roads are OK but not fantastic and most of the drivers are pretty good but there are a few lunatics out there.  The roads are all extremely windy which results in slow journeys for even short distances  i.e. the boat yard is only about three miles away but it takes about 10 to 15 minutes to drive there.  One startling aspect is that people pull over anywhere on the road - the crest of a hill, right on a bend, you name it.  Luckily because the roads curve so much speeds are reduced and so you can sneak past with a reasonable chance of avoiding a head on collision.

Market stall

Work on the boat has commenced and we are waiting on the yard to give us quotes on the major jobs.  Everything is delayed at the moment as Grenada has a carnival fortnight going on and so there have been public holidays or half days each week.  Think things will settle down after next week.  Scott has started stripping the varnish from the capping rail and carried out a few other odds and sods inside.  He almost passed out the first day working in the sun for four hours but seems to be getting used to it now.

All in all everything is going well and things should settle down once we get into a routine.  We have some visitors booked and so are looking forward to seeing them.