St Lucia We have arrived!

Day one 3/10/07
Weather sunny with some cloud. 30’ C.

After a really easy trip from the UK yesterday, if you can call travelling over 4500 miles on a pressurised mental tube flying through the air at over 400 miles per hour easy! We were landed out of the aircraft, clearing customs and met by our friend Clarence with the hire car, an old-ish jeep in just under and hour, amazing, we had also landed ahead of schedule so to me this all bared well with this journey of discovery in which Bernie and I are embarking on for the next four months or 16 weeks to be precise.

After spending a little time collecting provisions from the local vendors in the main street at Vieux Fort we headed north to our villa that I prayed would be everything we had been promised, always a bonus! We arrived at the local estate agents office early and Sophia who had been in communication with me via the internet for the past few months took us up to the Villa, although only 15 minutes drive from the hustle and bustle of Rodney Bay, Boguis the district in which we are to stay, is in the countryside, busy having a road developed we still made the last ½ mile by dirt track prepared for tarmac but not yet done. We were just beginning to wonder where we were going as it was further ‘in’ than Bernie had expected and we had travelled high enough to make my ears pop and then down low enough to make me hope that we wouldn’t be so low as to loose the view, we finally came across the Heleconia Villa which surprisingly has a name on the gate stating ‘The Farm’ so we would never have found it if Sophia had not shown us. Quaint!

When the keys did not work in the locks so we could not get in did we worry? Did anyone fret? No of course not this is St Lucia, a phone call was made and we all (including the Taxi driver who had driven Sophia up) went for a walk around the 2 acres of garden delighting in the beautiful trees, four king palms, just like the ones you get in Miami, huge, magnificent and beautiful, mangoes falling on the ground sooo many, avocadoes, star fruit literally hundreds so many not eaten lying on the ground seemed almost a crime. We of course by this time were stuffing our faces with samples of all. It was actually a great move by the universe to lock us out of the house for a bit as the walking on the earth finally grounded me and I felt re-energised and complete.

Help arriving in the shape of WD40 the locks were sprayed and all was well. The Villa is wonderful spacious and open, with the pool terrace and garden area just perfect. The only slight criticism is that there could be more abundance in storage/homely touches, plus bathmats would be a nice touch too, but I think we can remedy most of that.

Before writing this at the end of our first full day here I have been resting, swimming, eating, reading and unpacking, what to do but enjoy this space and take advantage of all the beauty. The views are amazing as I look out from the balcony as I write this I can see a small mountain range (probably the best way to describe it) or a huge hill range! In the background, dogs bark the occasional lorry goes by burdened by a few ton of dirt from somewhere lower down the hill, the cockerel sings his song and I can hear the local banter here and there as people go about their daily business. Chickens visit and David our handyman lives behind the main house in a small plywood construction, he has promised to grow some produce if we buy the seeds, seems a good deal to me

The property here is surrounded by high hedging and feels like a calm oasis amidst a vibrant and dynamic community.

Tomorrow we give the jeep back so we will be going to town in the morning to collect my ever-growing list of requirements to facilitate life here. (Could be a good opportunity for personal growth there-!!) We also get on to the internet (I hope) we have asked for somebody from Cable and Wireless to visit, as it doesn’t seem to work right now!

Signing off now with love to all

Caro and Bernie