Wednesday:

We are anchored at Jolly Harbour. This is such a strange place. Built from scratch about twenty years ago, it is maturing but still looks like a set from The Stepford Wives. It’s too perfect. Little rows of chalet houses with boats neatly moored in front of them like parked cars. It’s supposed to look Mediterranean but there is something quite weird about the place.

We went ashore to a supermarket where I was in a complete daze.  Having spent two weeks on a boat I sway slightly when ashore. Roddy & Jess were like children with new toys as they haven’t been in a supermarket since the Canaries! We are going to stock up the cupboards later.

There are bars & restaurants all over the complex, all decorated for Christmas with Christmas music blaring out but no one there. The place is empty.

When we were here for a few months when the children were young, my friend & I used to bring the kids up for a day & use the swimming pool which made a lovely outing.

On the way here we sailed past several lovely bays. There are supposed to be 365 beaches on Antigua  – one for every day of the year. I doubt that but the beaches are lovely. My boss & I used to bring the boys to Dark wood beach – a picture postcard beach with two palm trees growing right over the water. It was devastated in Hurricane Hugo & looked awful for years. Now the trees have gone & another holiday complex is being built.

We anchored at Fife bay a favourite of ours.

It was here where we retreated to a small beach café when the one we intended to have lunch in was filled by a busl oad of tourists. We wanted to find a quiet spot so walked along the beach.  We had heard that the ex-James Bond actor Timothy Dalton was on the island ( I remember him better as Mr Rochester ) The café owner was speaking in French, but we picked up the words Timothy Dalton and sure enough, a few minutes later, he, his stunning wife & young son arrived. We were very cool & just nodded our hellos. Later, on the beach he & Roddy chatted about the boys playing in the sand. He was very actory (Dahlink) Jess & I was sitting near him and his son & heard him say,

 “Ah, Sasha, a shell “ in a very actory (dahlink) voice. We’ve always giggled about this & mimicked him!

A week or so later I was in a café in St Johns with my friend Avril. I was facing the room & she had her back to it. I saw Timothy Dalton come in and sit near us but Avril didn’t. When we got up to leave she spotted him & her mouth fell open.  She started blinking rapidly & pointing at him… he did the same right back. It was hysterical & we giggled all the way home.

I swam to the shore with Jess & Joe yesterday & afterwards my neck was in agony again. Ironic – I thought swimming was good for you. I’m living on Ibuprophen at the moment.

We did our Christmas shopping the other day but didn’t get to hear the carols as it was hubby’s time to have a jippy tummy. We had another quiet night in. This has become a standing joke as when I emailed Roddy during the crossing & mentioned I was going out that night he replied that he & Jess were having a quintet night in. Funny.

When Roddy & Jess were here waiting for Joe & me to arrive they got into a routine.  Jobs on the boat, ashore for emails, Facebook, Skype Joe & me. Lunch, swim veg out supper read or film on the laptop. Roddy received several looks walking around with this gorgeous young blonde girl in tow!

Walking around now, he & I are constantly waving & being beeped at by people we knew. Roddy knew all the boat service companies & the people who ran them had children at the school I helped at. It’s lovely to be in a place we both know so well & feel very comfortable here but both say we would not have wanted to live here long term.

The schools are a major problem, were when I had to get Jess to a school here aged seven. (The pre-school & primary my employer built long since gone. (Someone burned it down) at secondary age, most of our old friends have sent their children to boarding school in England or the States. I would have hated this & I can’t even begin to think how people afford it.

It’s wonderful to be back but I would miss home if I lived here.

Wednesday pm: Returned to English harbour. When I worked as a nanny, the wife had organised & raised funds to build Rainbow pre-school & was in the process of building a primary. The husband was manager of a hotel - The Inn at English harbour.

The Inn nestling in the trees

& beach fronted chalet below.

 When Hurricane Hugo was approaching we spent the night at the hotel as it was safe being one of the stone buildings built in Nelson’s time. We were safe & the school was fine but the roof of our house was destroyed! For a while we “camped out “ in one of the hotel’s chalets but as repairs to the house took so long, the hotel’s owner allowed us to move into his lovely house.  It was luxury as our house didn’t have electricity. We had a gas run fridge & cooker & a wind generator which was always broken.  Water came from a rain water tank & lights were like camping ones. So staying at this lovely house was magic!

The house ( lower building ) & beach bar.

There was a little beach bar where we would take the boys. I met the nanny of one of the Rolling Stones’ wives. Years later I read an article about the stones wives & how they had never had nannies….liars!

I have two more stories to tell you about our encounters with the rich & famous when we lived here but you will have to wait til my next post - the lat one before Christmas !