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Free & BrEasy - Vive La Reunion!



Circumnavigating with the World ARC is hard work. This week, there are reports on two bus tours and two prize giving events all organised by World ARC with only a days sailing required! The tour on Mauritius started off with an early morning rum tasting in the delightful grounds of a lovingly restored Chateau originally built in the early 18th century by Labourdonnais, the founding father of what was then the Isle de France. There was plain rum, vanilla rum, coffee rum, even vanilla and coffee flavoured rum. It was so hard to decide which the best was and repeated tastings were necessary! Next was the sugar museum which presented the fascinating history of the island which included the sad story of the Dodo which was hunted to extinction on Mauritius in the 17th century. All this was housed in an original sugar factory and rum distillery, complete with giant rollers for squeezing the sugar syrup out of the cane as well as crystallisers and centrifuges to prepare the sugar. We had no idea that there were so many different colours of sugar ranging from very dark brown to white.

The whole fleet then sat down in a restaurant to enjoy a wonderful three course meal of mixed Chinese and Indian food. We then rolled ourselves down the road to the Botanical Gardens where we were given an enthusiastic tour of tropical specimen trees. Of particular interest were the numerous medical applications which various parts of the trees are now being used. High above us giant fruit bats glided from tree to tree reminding us that we were somewhere exotic! The afternoon was hot and after the end of the tour, the grass in the shade was very appealing to full-tummied-circumnavigators, so a small select group (including Alejandro and Michael) were soon asleep. When we woke up we realised that we had missed the bus back! Luckily there was a cheap local bus service back to St Louis.

The prize giving event was on the jetty early one evening and included heartfelt thanks from the crew of American Spirit to the boats that helped ensure they had a safe passage after breaking their forestay. We then celebrated in the inimitable World ARC style with traditional dancing girls, delicious food and generous drinks! The next two days were mainly spent doing boat jobs including a big clean necessary after an enormous cloud of ash landed on the marina, from burning sugar cane residues. The down side of all that lovely rum! Michael was allowed out to walk up "Le Pouce" a thumb-like peak in the hills behind the city.

Unfortunately, Roger aggravated an old lower back problem while fixing a bolt that had come off the steering gear and was in pain. Against his will, Roger was bed bound for a day. As always when one is busy making plans, it was suddenly time to go on the next leg, an overnight 130nm sail to Reunion. A last visit to the colourful Market for fruit and vegetables, and we were off with Roger still nursing his back pain.

After an uneventful sail, Paul and Joel from World ARC were helping us tie up in Le Port, Reunion. This Island is French territory and is the eastern most part of the European Union which has the distinction of being the first part to change to the Euro. Within a few hours of docking we were given another reception and prize giving complete with all the usual World ARC characteristics - traditional dancing girls, delicious food and generous drinks!

To test the stamina of the fleet, Paul decided to organise a Hash House Harriers run, walk or a rog, a bit of both, early the next morning. It was a useful introduction to the streets of Le Port and in particular, the patisseries. Many of the supposedly exercise conscious fleet were spotted chewing pain au chocolat! Within no time we were back on a bus on the World ARC tour to the volcano at the southern end of the island. Unfortunately visibility was very poor due to low cloud and we were exposed to an unusual sensation - feeling chilly! After another fantastic meal with the whole fleet squeezed into a restaurant, spirits were raised enough for a game of Frisbee which was played on black volcanic sands, on the way back to Le Port. The end of an exhausting week! We will be glad to get back to sea for a rest!


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