Tuesday 3rd October
A day in Port of Spain
Still more work is going on around engine and propeller today, so I make myself scarce. Port of Spain is only a bus ride away and it will be nice to go shopping for fabrics which are apparently extremely cheap here. The Indian’s population’s influence I guess. Plus the fact that Carnival is big here, there are many shops selling beads and feathers and pretty things. I spend the day checking all the fabric shops out and selecting bit and pieces. Given the prices, I do get carried away, not sure what I will do with them just now, but I am sure I will find a use for it all at some point.
Waiting for the bus at the main city station, we have the usual bible basher haranguing the passengers. The unusual thing is that the man is extremely well dressed and spoken, but there is a lot of mention of the Indians, not in nice words. A couple of young man (black) took exception at his speeches and soon the whole thing turns into a heated argument. I am unable to follow the whole thing, I don’t understand it all. Everyone else keep out of it, even when bottles of drinks are thrown at him, without deterring him. My return journey is made all the more interesting by striking a conversation with one of my fellow passenger. He must be in his eighties and he regales me with stories all the way home. How Trinidad use to be and the issues it is facing now are complicated. The crimes and drugs problems seem out of control and the government is unable to address these issues. It is one of the most developed and prosperous island we have been to but still issues seem insurmountable.
When I get back to the yard, Ian is in dire need to escape. It has been a tough week for him and under the excuse that we could celebrate my birthday early as we will be going back to the water tomorrow, we go and check out Movie Town. We have not been to the cinema since we left and it will make a nice change. I had read a review of a Trinidadian movie just out, “Green days by the River”, the novel is written by a Trinidadian, filmed in Trinidad and it is a gem. We had a lovely meal out and a great movie.
Wednesday 4th October
Splash day
My birthday…not exactly the kind of day I was planning to have. Oh well never mind, I had a big fat pink noodle for my BD. The good news is we are going back to the water today. All the work scheduled and unscheduled has been taken care of, so we can move on. The bad news is we won’t be able to spend anytime exploring Trinidad. We want to spend some time in Tobago so we have to cut it short here. By the time we are put back in the water it is mid afternoon. We tie up alongside the pontoon, not very comfortable; it is going up and down a lot. Falco who wanted to be there to check that the engine is behaving and still need to change the oil is doing his stuff, until gone 5pm. By which time, Ian has the bright idea to ask him if he could drop us off to Movie Town on his way home, so I can have a birthday ice cream…he had noticed yesterday that Haagen Dasz also had a little shop there. Of course, it does not stop there, there is another movie, bang bang shoot them up he quite fancy and a nice Italian restaurant where we can pass the time until the show… it is really shaping up for a night out on my birthday, especially when the glass of prosecco arrive. And I get another present: only thinking that we were going to have an ice cream and then get back to the boat, I have not brought a wrap…and I get so cold in the air conditioned cinema, and Desigual is still open and they have the most beautiful red scarf with humming birds on them… perfect birthday present! I guess Ian is feeling bad that I had to have my birthday on the boat yard and not on a beautiful beach in Tobago!