The harbour is right in the middle of the town which is very touristy. Lots of people checking out this yellow boat and then as it gets dark all the "HomeBoys" start hanging out around there with their suped up 1.5ltr diesel Peugots with the loudest sound systems possible blaring out gangsta ragga and drum and bass! Ha, a little different to quiet old Mauritius, we have arrived in France :)
Michael and Sheila on Kantala arrived shortly after us and we arranged to hire a car and go up into the mountains. Definitely wasn't our idea but we woke up at 4am to do the 2 hour drive up into one of the cirques to see the sunrise, awesome and was well worth it! Absolutely stunning up there with massive canyons and beautiful winding roads. There was no way I was driving on the wrong side of the road so luckily Michael who is from Canada did it all and done a great job without loosing the €1000 deposit!
The rest of the days there were spent around town and doing a few little "jobs". I changed all the fuel filters and then noticed that the raw sea-water pump was leaking water. This is were the fun begins and you don't speak French. Tiny little Johnson water seal but it's a little harder than you think with the language difficulty! All was well though when I ended up spotting a mechanic working on an outboard in the harbour and after taking the pump off and giving it to him he ended up finding me a seal by the next day, perfect.
We tried to catch a bus but even that was quite hard working it all out but we ended up succeeding and seeing a bit more of the island which was nice. We also met a couple of the local yachties which was great and had them over for a couple of beers and get to know a little more about this island.
Friday night came and Julie spotted some flyers for a Colombian band that were playing in town. We got tickets and didn't know really what to expect. It was in a nice little theatre/club with a really good mix of people and 2€ beers. First up was a local band playing drums and some sort of sitar sort of instruments and bells, was different but really good. Then came the Colombians.... Ha, was like bam! 13 of them on stage with congos, sax, 3 trumpets, bells, whistles, keyboards you name it! Young fellas full of energy playing mambo, salsa and sort of jazz was really great fun. Great vibe with everyone having a good time! Great to see some good live music and it was a great night out.
The harbour is great and gives you the first 3 days free and then €15 a day. Fuel we have heard can be got duty free at euro 80c a litre which would have been great if we had of known before filling in Mauritius. Everything else is pretty expensive as it is all shipped in from France. Although saying that it is still cheaper than Australia :)
Good to see a little slice of France in the middle of nowhere and a seriously beautiful rugged place once you get inland.
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