Right, we’ve got ONE MORE WEEK OF SCHOOL LEFT! Well, one more week left of this term anyway, but it seems like we’ve reached a bit of a milestone to be honest. This week is assessment week for the kids, which normally means a bit more effort required in lessons towards the end of the week. So the first five days of our last week in St. Lucia is spent on the familiar rotation of buffet breakfast, school, beach, pool, repeat. It’s a good system really, get the work smashed out in the morning then spend the rest of the day chilling out on the beach.
On Monday afternoon we discovered the joys of being towed behind a speedboat on what is essentially an inflatable mattress with a hole in which you sit. The kids were instantly hooked. After spending the whole ten minutes belly laughing amid screams of “Faster!”, they immediately wanted to go again. It turned into a pretty useful dangling carrot for finishing school promptly in the mornings, to then go and have another go on a different inflatable. Luckily I managed to secure a locals discount of a third because we had previously booked the boat trip, with the same company, but it’s always worth haggling anyway.
It turns out that my old friend Craig has previously spent a fair bit of time in St. Lucia. And not just somewhere on the island, but right in Rodney Bay where we’re staying. When I asked him if he had any tips, he suggested going to Chef Robbie’s place to get some grub, as that’s where he went most days after finishing work. So of course we had to try it. We followed Google’s instructions and drove down the dark lane and parked up outside what appeared to be a closed restaurant. Wondering if we were in the right place, we rounded the corner to be greeted by a life size cutout of Chef Robbie at the bottom of a flight of stairs and it all made sense, the main event was upstairs. We were early so it was no problem getting a table in the open sided restaurant. Good job we were early though really, because within no more than half an hour of arriving the place was full with locals and tourists alike, sat at the bar and filling the dining room. The food was tasty and well presented, with some interesting local fish varieties to choose from. I plumped for the Shark cubes in garlic sauce which were soft and delicious. Kate had some curried snapper, and the kids were in luck, chef Robby managed to rustle them up some pretty plain cheesy pasta – not sure how they would have coped with shark and all the trimmings!
Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday are spent in the same old way of school followed by beach fun. The kids did great, every day we got the required lessons finished then headed to the beach for either another ride on an inflatable, some stand-up paddle boarding, or a few more hours for Hunter on the assault course while Bam and I snorkelled for shells. We even managed to get Bam a fancy new hairdo from a lovely lady on the sand. On Thursday we took the day off though, we were heading off to the middle of the island to explore the tree canopy with St Lucia Rainforest Adventures. After driving to the base of the mountain in Chassin, we checked in and were introduced to our guides for a quick safety talk, and to don the necessary safety equipment. Today we were going to ascend through the trees on a serene gondola ride, not dissimilar to a ski lift, before having a short guided tour through the rainforest towards the main event – the zip line course.
I’ve done a fair few zip lines before, and the balance between white-knuckle fun and rider safety varies wildly from country to country. Here in St. Lucia there is a distinct emphasis on safety, with top notch equipment and triple redundancy safety systems, but it doesn’t detract from the thrill. Don’t get me wrong, these aren’t the longest or fastest zips you’re gonna find, but they’re perfect for a day of family fun without scaring the pants off the kids, and what a great way to see the rainforest.
The guides were all really friendly, and pointed out lots of interesting flora and fauna during our three hour session. Bam even managed to catch a little lizard with a little help from our guide. This rainforest is absolutely pristine, and it feels like it is truly cared for and respected. It has been a national park since 1916, and was more recently gifted to the Queens Commonwealth Canopy project in 2016 to ensure it remains untouched in perpetuity. The view as you descend is simply breathtaking as it takes in both the Atlantic and Caribbean coasts at the same time, and your time and money are well worth it for this alone, even if you’re not a fan of zip lines. Indeed, you can miss out the adrenaline part altogether if you would rather just glide quietly up and down the mountain amongst the hummingbirds in the tram.
FRIDAY – THE LAST DAY OF TERM! Well, almost. Hunters got one more final assignment to complete tomorrow morning, and Bam actually has some maths to do when we get back to England. For some reason her workload for maths this week required a fully fitted kitchen, so Kate admitted defeat and resigned herself to the prospect of a bit more home school back in Blighty.
Anyway, as I was saying – THE LAST DAY OF TERM!! We celebrated with the usual – a trip to the beach and a dip in the pool with a few cocktails to follow. Friday once again meant Gros Islet Jump-Up party day though, and another delicious helping of freshly caught and barbecued fish down at Dukes Place. When in St Lucia, do as the St Lucians do!
In the morning, after Hunter smashed out his final English assignment in the glorious Caribbean sunshine, we decided we were going to brave the hour and a half drive down the twisty-turny highways to Soufrière in order to have one more bask in those balmy sulphuric waters. These roads literally never cease to amaze me. It’s kinda like a video game, requiring maximum concentration to avoid all the various perils that seem to be out to end your game! We made it though, unscathed and in one piece, although we do plan to leave with enough time to make it back in the daylight.
This time we took the guided tour of the volcano, for a close up look at what’s causing this rotten egg smell. It’s very interesting, but don’t expect a walk through the volcanic park as I was, you are simply walked slowly up a set up steps while your guide monotonously spills some rather basic facts about volcanos in general (almost as if she doesn’t enjoy reciting the same script a hundred times every day), before being slowly walked back down again. Pretty cool to see it close up though. We then undertake the same mud and thermal water ritual as we did last week. I was hoping that these fabled waters were going to wipe another 12 years off my rapidly increasing time clock as promised. Alas not, I can confirm that I still look all of my 42 years, I just smell slightly worse.
Before we head back home, there’s just enough daylight left to try out a different waterfall nearby.
Piton Falls is set right in the heart of the rainforest. To access it you have to walk a few hundred metres down through the trees, and for a few extra quid one of the nice chaps at the entrance booth will walk down with you and point out all the different trees and flowers you can spot. To be fair, they would do it for free, but it was definitely worth a tip for the local knowledge they have. He even helped me pick a good handful of hibiscus leaves, which apparently all the local rastafarians use to wash their dreads by soaking them in water to produce a slimy shampoo (although I tried this the next day, and it didn’t work very well!).
At the bottom you are then treated to several concrete pools filled with beautiful (and not smelly) warm water courtesy of the thermal waterfall. These pools are plenty deep enough for the kids to jump into, and Hunter and Bam take it in turns to line up with the locals and perform jumps and backflips while we relax and enjoy. What a place. I’d be here everyday if I lived nearby.
We overstayed slightly here as it was simply too relaxing to rush off, but we knew that would mean we’d never make it all the way home before nightfall! Ah well, it was worth it, as long as we get through the first hour up and over the pothole ravaged mountain roads we knew we’d probably make it back in one piece. We even found a spare two minutes to stop at a viewpoint with a fantastic view through to the Pitons as the sun was making its way down.
The next day was our last full day on the island. As we knew we were about to head back to the depths of a wet english winter, we figured it would be mad not to enjoy the warm Caribbean Sea one last time. There was also a food festival right by the beach, and we figured that would be a fitting final dinner after a bit of snorkelling and one last visit to the aqua assault course for Hunter. After a full two weeks of frequenting it, Hunter had become somewhat of an expert in all things aqua-assaulty. He had even mastered scaling the 5 metre tall iceberg at speed, much to the bemusement of the adult newcomers who, much like myself, struggled to make it past the second set of handholds. After our final dip in the hotel pool, we made it round to the food festival to enjoy the delights of the local food vendors while also soaking in the sights and sounds of local bands and dancers. As darkness fell, the weather took a sudden, violent turn for the worse and the sideways rain forced the crowds to seek shelter under all the available tents. As with most of these tropical downpours however, it was over as quickly as it began and everyone returned to their partying. That’s the nice thing about bad weather here as opposed to in England. You can guarantee if it started raining like that at home, it would continue for hours, if not all day, and would completely ruin the party for everyone. Not here though!
So here it was, the final day – in a few short hours we would be on our way home. After one final slap-up buffet breakfast (thank god, I reckon I’d be dead within a year if I carried on like this!), we packed up our things and said a final sad farewell to our new feline friends Butters and Ginger. Butters must have thought he was coming with us as he refused to get out of my suitcase as I was packing it! With only an hour to spare before we set off on the long drive down to the airport, we had a final walk around the local shopping centre for a few Christmas selfies in shorts and t-shirts for a change, and one final beer by the pool.
The drive back to the airport was far less perilous and much easier than our journey here, due in no small part to the lack of torrential rain and the fact that it’s still daylight. We made it in plenty of time, and settled in for our night flight home.
That’s it, part one of the big adventure is now officially over. We’ve got a few weeks now to recoup, fix everything we need to at home, and prepare for the next chapter to the other side of the world. We do have one small trip planned in the interim though, so stay tuned for the next post coming all the way from Santa’s home in snowy Lapland….