It was Sir Francis Drake who once said
It isn’t that life ashore is distasteful to me.
But life at sea is better.
His words certainly rung true on our return to Grenada.
We had just spent an enjoyable few days delivering the Catana for Dream Yacht Charters
and they had generously flown us back to Grenada where Luckyfish sat on the hardstand.
However, that is where the fairytale ended.
Tuyas first time driving again, after 4 months, 5 months?
TUYA: Yes
STEW: Driving on the left hand side of the road.
At least the wheel is on the right side.
So far so good.
We hired a car to see some of the island and organize flights home.
We were plunged straight back into reality.
WOMAN ON PHONE: Sir, I'm sorry but Miss Powers is not at her desk
STEW: OK
WOMAN: Did you want to leave a number? Are you calling from Barbados or overseas?
STEW: No, just calling from Grenada
Return flights home to Mongolia were heavily booked.
On top of that, it would take 5 weeks to get the girls transit visas for a measly 3 hour
stopover in London, just so they could travel from Gatwick to Heathrow for their connection.
Without the visas we lost the air-tickets with no refunds.
WOMAN: Oh, ok, you seem to keep missing her. She's ...
Oh, she is on the phone I'm sorry.
STEW: That's fine. Thank you so much
I argued with travel agents.
I argued with Barbadan and Grenadan immigration authorities
I argued with various Caribbean airlines and learned more than I wanted to know about
corruption within one of them.
WOMAN: But, she is on the phone.
So, what you can do is call back in about 15 minutes
STEW: Yes, I will.
Yes, I will call in 15. Thank you.
WOMAN: Yes, OK, alright
STEW: See you now, bye-bye.
HANGS UP
Don't know why it keeps ringing like that. Must be a skype thing. Or their thing.
SIGHS
[RAP MUSIC]
It was a rude shock after the utter freedom we had grown used to.
In the end, there was no one to blame but me.
I should have seen all this coming.
We rented the cheapest apartment we could find and made the best of it.
After all, there are far worse places to be stuck than Grenada.
ZAYA: Are you enjoying your apartment?
STEW: No.
ZAYA: You have got a beautiful kitchen.
STEW: I've got great flatmates and a shit flat.
We took a drive up to Levarra Beach on the north coast, to see the Leatherback turtles.
It was May and breeding season.
We were treated to the sight of two huge females, digging nests and laying eggs.
And to cap it off, one hatchling showed himself as we were returning along the beach.
VISITOR: Oh gosh, look at his little fins flapping...
I had been pondering these extraordinary animals and why they spend almost their entire life
at sea yet invest so much effort returning to land to lay eggs.
Then it struck me that they must have once lived entirely on land, then evolved to live
in the sea, only requiring land for the function of reproduction.
I marveled at evolution and asked the guide
if this was indeed the evolutionary path for sea turtles.
Well, she set me straight and told me they can’t lay eggs in the sea
as they would wash away.
I guess evolution is still a theory in some parts of the Caribbean.
We took the car for a drive into the interior, through the Grand Etang National Forest
and into the high mountains.
I keep seeing Red, Gold and Green and I think the whole nation are Rastafarians
but, it's actually the colour of their flag...
[LAUGHS]
ZAYA: Nice eh?
STEW: Beautiful. Be lovely for a swim.
CAR RADIO: Taken by wicked men, from Africa they came
To a land of slavery. All that Jesus said.
[INAUDIBLE]
Here we found Rosemount House - a remarkably well preserved timber home dating back to
the days of slavery.
The owners of this tropical fruit, herbs and flower plantation, Mr and Mrs Duncan, made
us feel very welcome and gave us a lesson in making chocolate and the fascinating recent
history of the island.
MR DUNCAN: And you crack it open and you pull it.
and we take out the seed. We ferment them
for eight days.
After they have been fermented, we put them out to dry
After they are dry, you bake them
You remove the thin skin on it
you add other spices, you grind them
MRS DUNCAN: A little nutmeg, a little cinnamon, some lime and bay leaf
MR DUNCAN: And then you get the real chocolate that you can drink.
Here, I'm going to crack this one
This is the Cocoa Bean
You can suck on them
You can suck on it but don't bite it because it's bitter, its raw chocolate.
MRS DUNCAN: you can also make juice with it
just lightly blend it with water and you do juice
cocoa juice.
Don't bite it. If you bite it it's going to be bitter because it's raw chocolate.
Mmmmm.
TUYA: Goy amtae! (Tastes good!)
STEW: thank you for that. That's a real treat.
MR DUNCAN: This one is Locust.
but, the Grenadan name, we call it Stinking Toe
STEW: Stinking Too?
MR DUNCAN: In Grenada we call it that way. But the botanical name is Locust.
STEW: And now you are going to tell us why it is called Stinking Toe yeah?
MR DUNCAN: It's a hard shell. You break into it
And I will allow you to taste it if you want to .
STEW: Nah, I don't know about this
Rather nice.
MR DUNCAN: I like it.
STEW: Americans, wasn't it?.
MR DUNCAN: Well it was chaos at that time really.
MR AND MRS DUNCAN: What really happened was it was a revolutionary Government.
MR DUNCAN: Bishop overthrew the Gairy Government in '79
And he led out an Axis
But, he was really thinking of the country.
He was not thinking of his party really. He was thinking of the country.
And, he was looking to see how he could develop the country better.
VO: Mr Duncan went on to explain how Maurice Bishop was Prime Minister for 4 years.
He envisioned a moderate socialist future for Grenada but was executed in 1983 at the
height of the Cold War.
6 days later, the USA, under Ronald Reagan, led a military invasion of the island and
Grenada went back to the polls.
Grenada's International Airport was the brainchild of Maurice Bishop
and, it's named after him.
STEW: But we need to go back to work unfortunately.
If we had the choice, we'd stay here in Grenada.
ZAYA: Lovely road.
Drive lovely, OK? [LAUGHS]
STEW: I will try and miss all the bumps.
STEW: The revolution will be televised.
STEW: Yes?
How is packing going?
ZAYA: Come in.
STEW: Get those mozzies.
How's packing going?
ZAYA: All good, all done, almost.
STEW: What's missing?
ZAYA: Ahhh, little bit of stuff. My make-up.
STEW: Usual crap, bags, computer still not put away, last thing as always
air-conditioner, also last thing.
Dinner is being prepared, last of the food.
Snorkelling gear to go back to the boat.
Things, relatively under control
Well, we finally did get those flights sorted and made one final trip to Luckyfish before
returning to Mongolia and work.
ZAYA: Surrounded by masts...
STEW: Luckyfish's new home. On the hard.
ZAYA: Yeah. She seems happy.
STEW: Yeah. Happy as a boat can be, out of it's element.
ZAYA: Alright. Goodbye Luckyfish. Until next year....
Hey Everyone, next week we have a special treat lined up.
STEW: That was the inspiration for Tangaroa?
JAMES WHARRAM: Yeah.
HANNEKE BOON: There it is. It's the same model.
JW: Now then. That was the inspiration. But the reality is....
Make sure you don’t miss the great man himself, as he and Hanneke Boon talk to us about his
life, his boats and the latest designs from the Wharram Design office.
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