Mid winter in the Seychelles
Mystic of Holyhead (successor to Lynn Rival)
Rachel and Paul Chandler
Wed 22 Jul 2009 14:28
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The hotel at Anse Petite Cour has exclusive rights
to the shoreline so we had to
take the dinghy to the next bay, Anse Possession, to access the public
road. On one of our
shopping expeditions we decided to catch the bus to Bay St Anne, about
4 miles away. We didn't have to wait long at the bus stop before
someone stopped and offered us a lift. Hitching and giving lifts is
common here. The shops are quite strung out so when we found the one with the most things in it that we wanted, we loaded ourselves up and caught the bus back. Our only regret was not being able to stock up on fresh fruit and vegetables. It didn't matter as the following morning Billy (skipper of the hotel's tripper boat) brought us a mountain of fresh fruit from his garden. We were eating star fruit, mangoes and papaya for days after.  West coast of Maha, between showers After a few more days of mostly cloud and rain we left Praslin and returned to Port Victoria. We felt sorry for the tourists who'd paid a lot of money to be there. The usual excursions to surrounding islands were cancelled, and swimming isn't much fun in the rain! Sailing back to Victoria, close-hauled on port tack, was fast and easy. The seas are quite big but not a problem. The anchorage here is even quieter than before. Apparently July is the time when many local people take their boats out of the water for maintenance. And, there are less than ten other foreign cruising yachts still here. Since getting back we've been having a bit of a sort out and pre-spring clean, as well as the usual maintenance! The rain has reminded us of various places where water gets in, including one of the windows which needed resealing.  Here comes the harvest Everything corrodes faster in the tropics and we decided it was time to replace some of the small rusty lengths of chain we use for anchoring and mooring. It gave us an excuse to hire a car and after visiting the chandlers, gas supply depot, etc. we went exploring inland. Luckily the rain held off for our trip to the tea factory, situated on the side of the mountain with spectacular views of the west coast of Mahe. Tea plants were introduced here as recently as the 1960s. We've been enjoying the local "Island tea" and marvelling at how prolific the crop must be, but our suspicions have now been raised by cases of Ceylon tea sitting in the packing area of the factory!  And this is what a tea bag filling machine looks like It keeps raining but we're hoping it will stop soon so we can go cruising again. Stop press! It has eased off a lot so we have set off for Ile Moyenne and La Digue. |