Monday, 11th October 2010
06.00hrs Another beautiful day in Paradise, a very much different paradise to the Cocos Islands.
Aileen had a light breakfast with us all and then vanished for the day, meanwhile the rest of us just moped around for a while gathering our thoughts and making lists of the things that needed to be done on the boat, plus trying to make out an itinerary for the 2 weeks we will be here. The tourist office set up a special desk here at the marina for our fleet, organised by the World ARC, so they organised a hire car for us, plus informing us of all the things we could do on the Island, including diving, golf, walking tours, sightseeing trips, etc.
These Islands, 3 in all, Mauritius, Reunion Island, and Rodrigues Island, were used by the Arabs in the middle ages. Then along came this Portuguese sailor/navigator Pedro de Mascarenhas in 1505 and discovered the Islands, and over the years made them a settlement. They also introduced sugar cane as a crop, and today, that sugarcane is still a very important source of income for the Island.
In 1715, the French landed here and took over the Islands, and then in 1810 the British took over the Islands, and it remained under british control until 1968 when it became an Independent country and then in 1992 became a republic.
Neil spent half the day in bed. To much work last night, has him worn out. Terry spent time polishing the Ss things, before going down town with Skipper to get some bits for tonights dinner on board. We explored the town for a while, before plonking our fat bottoms on a bench and having a few cool beers. We were joined there by others from the fleet, so we had a good time!
Later, we ambled back to the boat, where we continued with some wine tasting, chatting to our neighbours while the rack of NZ lamb was cooking in the oven. Aileen and Neil appeared at dinner time, and we all discussed our days experiences over a lovely dinner, on a lovely yacht in a lovely place.
That's all for today,
Signed :- Stephen Hyde (Skipper)