DAYS 8-11 BEQUIA....G'Day Sport

Fellow traveller Jim. What can we say about him? Well he's a damned good bloke and well traveled too. He likes the occasional tipple, his favourite being Baily's Irish Cream or whatever it's called, poured into a hot cup of coffee. Until this trip..... Now he is a hopeless beer and rum punch convert. I didn't realise how he had been led astray until two days into our Bequia stop. Island hopping out here is so much fun. Each island has its individual character and opportunities to experience the Caribbean way of life. Of course this includes some touristy things as well as sitting around liming. All four of us are good at this. Merlin is a Grand Master. But every now and then you need to get up offa dat 'ting as James Brown would say and do something.

So it was that we decided an excursion, by sea, to Tobago Cays Marine Park, was a pre requisite trip. Trish and I have been twice before, Merlin once. It's an area,  accessible only by boat, of stunning beauty. I am sure the Bounty Chocolate advert was filmed there in the way back of when, and every other such ad since. Snorkelling is a must, swimming with turtles, puffer fish and the occasional scary stingray, not to mention the myriad of less well known characters but nonetheless exquisite in their underwater beauty. The sea is many shades of Caribbean turquoise out there and it does take your breath away even at a second or third visit.

Previously on The Windies Blog, we have sailed out of Bequia in an old schooner 'The Friendship Rose', and I do mean sailed. Not so this time. The  Rose was not sailing this time. Disappointed Jim and I hot footed it down to the Tourist Office in the middle of Bequia 'Town'. And very helpful they were too. An assistant called ahead to Union Island and booked us up on a Catamaran sailing out of there on Saturday. She gave us both the time, the day and the place where it was sailing from. As the information came at us, Jim and I, already victims of a rum punch at our hotel, decided to spilt it up in true thriller style. One of us would remember time and the other the place. Together we would remember cost and other details like free booze and grub for the duration of the trip. So empowered we left the Tourist Office. We would assemble the relevant parts back at The Frangipanni. No problem man. Disaster lurked around the corner.

Our way home we were easily influenced by a ramshackle brick walled bar owned by someone called Sport. For outside, red daubed paint proclaimed the establishment thus......'Sport's Bar...live sport' (that seemed to entail watching locals play pool) and 'rum punch happy hour 6-10'. Unsure of which 6-10 Sport meant we ventured in. Luckily for us it was planned for the exact time slot we gained entry. It seemed rude not to partake as the locals noisily and determinedly argued over their game of pool, played on the baize the equivalent quality of Derby County's Baseball Ground pitch in the mid seventies. I casually sauntered up to the bar and ordered two rum punches. They were cheap. And they were strong. As in The Waltons Farmhouse at bedtime, I saw lights going out in Jim's demeanour. I also realised I was also suffering the equivalent power out. We left.

When we got back, the other two were naturally anxious to find out the details of the forthcoming trip to Tobago Cays. Like two best men frantically searching in their pocket for the missing wedding ring, we were unable to come up with any relevant info, even though it had been trusted to us not an hour before.

After breakfast the following day, two shamefaced individuals and a Swede made their way back to the Bequia Tourist Office. Luckily, they have a sense of humour in these here parts, or they are used to rum punched idiots. Either way, we are off to Tobago Cays in a couple of days. Merlin holds the vital information.........