Awoke to another beautiful Virgin Island day. It was nice to awaken in my own time rather than to the crowing of roosters which act as feathered alarm clocks in this part of the world. I have no idea who owns these birds as they are everywhere. The same goes for the herds of goats you constantly see munching happily away at the edge of the roads. I have heard there are pigs and cows also alongside the road too.
Sometimes you no sooner pass a herd of goats and you see a caravan of donkeys heading down the road. Donkeys happen to be Annie's favourite animal and I will save the donkey stories for another day.
Today was an administration day which meant that we had to drive from one side of the island to the other. The main purpose of going into "town" was to send off Annie's application for a Thai visa. That is no easy process as Annie had to provide passport photos, a bank statement, outbound airline ticket, $40USD, her passport, SASE, and a written application. This will allow Annie to stay in Thailand for 60 days with another 30 days on application.
Annie wasn't too keen on sending off her passport especially as it isn't too long before she will need it for the trip to Australia so fingers and toes are crossed for a speedy return.
As the crow flies the trip from Coral Bay to Cruz Bay is a short one of just a few miles. That said the roads on St John would have to be just about the windiest and steepest roads I have seen so the short distance turns into a continual series of switchbacks and hairpin corners.
Not only do you have to worry about the road in front of you but the various animals as previously discussed which wander about the roads with nary a care. Then you have to cope with local drivers who each have a different interpretation of the road rules. The worst offenders on the road are the tourists who make it a habit of stopping suddenly whenever a photo opportunity presents itself or to consult a map or GPS.
What should be a simple drive can turn out to be a stressful marathon.
Cruz Bay St John
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cruz_Bay,_United_States_Virgin_Islands where the majority of the population live. It is also the main shopping precinct and tourist hub. The streets are narrow and there is congestion everywhere. The first problem one faces is where to park the car. Annie said it wasn't worth driving around in the hope a space would open up so we headed to a car parking lot where a friendly local will park your car and look after it for $5 per 1.5 hours.
Cruz Bay
Once on foot you have to dodge water-filled pot halls and narrow to non-existent footpaths. All around there are tourists sauntering down the road looking into shops and deciding where to spend their money.
Our first stop was the local US Post Office where Annie sent off 6 of the18 packages of her special things she did not want to part with. On entering we were confronted by a long line. Only one worker at the counter who was methodical and exact. Randomly she would ask people to leave their parcel slips at the counter and go out back to collect them and hand them out.
I was able to read the entire paper whilst waiting and spend more time looking at all the latest stamps and post office whatnot. Annie who has lived this life for sometime and is used to it just smiled at me knowing when I would send a how long query her way. After 25 minutes it was Annie's turn. She told me she has learned a bit about "patience" in the Virgin Islands.
At the next stop I decided to wait outside. I was just standing around gawking at this and that when I felt a shower of water fall upon my head. I thought that's strange it isn't raining. I heard a deep Caribbean voice behind me say to move out of the way.
Mongoose Junction main shopping precinct
The voice came from an older West Indian man sitting on a low fence. His weather-beaten face creased with a toothless broad grin, and I couldn't understand his English. He pointed to the tree above and said iguana. I looked up and there were three iguanas moving in the tree. The buggers had just pissed on my head!
Not much I could do about it other than look noncholant and nonplussed, whilst feeling a trickle of iguana pee threading its way down my back. When Annie came out and I told her she laughed and said it is good luck. Why I asked is it anytime anything that poops or pisses on you from above it is considered good luck?
Water in the Virgin Islands comes from up above and is precious. Yes, most houses have cisterns collecting the rainwater on their roofs and filtering it for drinking. Annie lives in a housing complex and the water comes from the town and is not nice. We stopped at a water filling station whereby you fill up your own jugs with filtered water. We filled six gallons of water for $4.50.
We paid visits to a number of the local shops. It is amazing how many skilled artisans reside on St John.
Our final town stop was at the local supermarket. By big city standards this would be a very small market but on St John it is the largest. The prices here are very expensive compared to Stateside or even Australia. Obviously almost everything needs to be shipped in which adds to the expense. Earlier in the day we did buy two cucumbers and a mango from one of the only local stalls on St.John for $5. Fresh fruit and vegetables are hard to come by on St John, farming is difficult with the landscape, land is expensive and the scarcity of water.
The biggest shock I received in the supermarket was to see Bundaberg Root Beer and Bundaberg ginger beer on the shelves. Bundaberg Rum
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bundaberg_Rum is an Australian institution and most famous for the rum it produces. To see it this far from home was amazing and double the price at almost $12 for a four-pack.
Finally all our chores were completed and we headed back home. It is almost mandatory to stop for a swim if you have the time and we did so at Hawksnest beach. As it was late in the day the tourists on the beach were thinning out. The sea was refreshing, the water was much clearer than a few days before. A perfect end to the day.
