Carriacou

Nous sommes arrive!

Okay, that pretty much exhausts my French, such as it is. Fortunately everybody speaks English down here. Sorta.

Our flight out of Ottawa was uneventful; short hop to Toronto, lots of poor layout and inexplicable lines in Pearson, and then six hours down to St Georges, Grenada. The inlaws met us at the airport with big hugs and a beer. Welcome to the Caribbean.

We got a drive from the airport to the dingy, which was conveniently moored at a bar. Driving in Grenada is an interesting experience. The cars are all much newer than you'd expect, the roads are narrow and twisty, people don't worry too much about getting out of your way, the horn is a social instrument and stopping to say hello to pedestrians and other drivers is expected. So we got a winding tour of the island on our way to the bar, had a few more beers, and then made our way to the boat.

My lovely wife's folks were moored off Hogg Island, and it's a gorgeous little spot. Barely any development around it. Feels like you're anchored two hundred years in the past. Just beautiful.

Monday was shopping day. We took the dingy into St Georges and checked out some of the local shops. Then my lovely wife and her mom went to the market to buy veggies and spices, and her dad and I fucked off for a beer, purchased from a guy in a lime-green-painted shack. Most places that sort of spot, well off the beaten track, would be the sort of place I wouldn't feel too comfortable going, but the people of Grenada have an incredibly laid-back, don't-give-a-shit, have a beer and relax attitude. Very friendly and casual.

We wrapped up our expedition with shopping at the grocery store, and then a cashier helped us carry all our goods across the road to load up our dingy. Then a swim, and dinner.

The water is gorgeous, nice and clear all the way down, although I can't say I'm in love with the taste. Also, I float like nobody's business. Could be all the salt, or maybe I'm just getting fat -- probably a little from column A and a little from column B.

Yesterday we sailed from Grenada to Carriacou, which is where we'll be spending Christmas. I didn't love the ride over; my lovely wife had the wheel the whole time and we were making great time with strong winds, but it was very bouncy and my stomach didn't take well to that. So I eventually gave in and took a gravol, which knocked me out, until my lovely wife (entirely accidentally I'm assured) sailed into a wave that washed over the railing and soaked my ass. Woke me up but good, that's for sure.

We went for a snorkel swim after we reached Carriacou, and checked out the coral (just starting to regrow since hurricane Ivan), colourful fishies and sea urchins. Lovely.

I popped on here to do some tech support and figured I'd get a blog in while I had things up and running. There is free wi-fi in the bay here, with encouragement to make a donation to the Carriacou Children's Education Fund, which suits me just fine. There is more snorkelling planned for today and at some point we'll be heading inland to check out the scuba diving options (I haven't gone for a few years so I'll be happy with a nice shallow dive to look at the reefs and the fishies, nothing adventurous).

Oh, and I ate a papaya. Very nice with lime juice, but I'm told to stick with the pink ones, and the white ones are nasty. Mmmm.

That's all for now. More postings to come if I can swing it. All our love from the land of bright sunshine and deep blue water.