Coffee Picking on St Helena Island

St Helena coffee is renowned as the third most expensive coffee in the world. It is of extremely high quality and totally organic!
We needed to get out and about after all the Christmas festivities so had volunteered to go up to Bill and Jill’s House and coffee plantation near to Rosemary Plain.
We collect a bucket and commence picking of the red coffee cherries that are starting to ripen on the trees. It’s a late harvest Jill tells us – They would have normally finished harvesting by Xmas Eve, but due to late flowering this year, the crop is only just ready for the first pick. Fortunately the sun isn’t at full strength, so the picking is not too hot! There are over 2500 trees planted on the Plantation here which was only established in the 1990’s. The coffee is grown from one of the purest Arabica coffee plants. Due to the isolated nature of the island, the plants have remained pure, which produces the finest coffee almost anywhere in the world.

We’ve been picking for an hour or so when Jill calls us up to the house to indulge in a St Helena Coffee on the Veranda. We have a pleasant chat with Jill who is an excellent hostess and makes us very welcome! Coffee finished, we make our way back to the trees and continue picking. It’s not long before all ripe fruit has been harvested.
Bill now takes us on a tour of the coffee production side which is fascinating.

The cherries are picked.

The (hand) pulping machine removes the ‘beans’ from the shell and is left to ferment for 48 hours.

The beans are allowed to dry to 13⁰ moisture before being stored.

Bill sorts the beans into sizes before it is roasted to perfection and ground.

Bill also grows his own pure plants to keep the authenticity and rare nature.

The coffee is served in the Coffee Shop on the Waterfront and can be purchased locally too. You can also buy it on-line at £20.00 for 125g bag. The coffee won a premier award in the Great Exhibition way back in 1851!
All in all a great morning out helping the producers and where else in the world would you pick St Helena coffee and then drink it!

Getting Ready for Christmas, St Helena Style!

It’s strange. I suppose if you haven’t experienced it, it’s hard to describe. For those of us used to northern hemisphere weather, being in the southern hemisphere for ‘winter’ feels wrong!
As I walk up Main Street in Jamestown, workers are putting up Christmas lights in 26 degrees! Two fabulous Trees have been erected and decorated. Shops have stalls outside and Christmas songs are constantly in earshot.
But it feels wrong.
It should be cold, with a frost on the ground. It should be dark in the afternoons, not bright and sunny! I shouldn’t be in shorts and a T-shirt. I shouldn’t be able to leave the doors and windows open until well into the evening. I’d leave the door open longer, but the cockroaches fly in once it gets to a certain time.
Earlier in the year, on the advice of my Saint colleagues Annie and Tessa, Tessa ordered me a Christmas tree. I did get a bit worried when with little over a week to go there was still no sign. But a quick conversation with Tessa resulted in (or maybe it was just coincidence?) a beautiful real tree being delivered to the door. Time to decorate and wrap presents.

The next point of concern is the arrival (or not) of a turkey. I ordered one from South Africa in September, but hadn’t heard a thing. I bumped into Julia in town from the local restaurant (2 on Main) and she told me that she’d heard that no turkeys had been ordered. Not one to panic and certainly not over a turkey (after all there is pork, gammon and beef in the freezer), I contacted the retailer, who assured me my turkey was awaiting collection.
St Helenians don’t generally have a traditional turkey, so I guess those imported are mainly for us ex-pats! I’ve yet to find ‘pigs in blankets’ though, but did unearth some frozen chipolatas! Why would we import turkey, when we can have fresh pork or gammon – or even more sought after – something with bones – they love their bones! The first curry I had at a local function was full of bones – beef curry – with bones/on the bone, chicken curry with bones/on the bone. It probably wouldn’t have been such a shock, if I had known. The food was lovely, but I am not a ‘bone’ person.

We are a little unsure of our plans now for Xmas Day itself.
Wellington (Governor Mark Capes’ dog) is coming for Xmas! The Governor is going away on 23rd December and has been let down by the appointed ‘dog sitter’ As we don’t know how the dogs will react on their own, we don’t think we can leave them for too long. We have been invited to various friends so will spend an hour or so calling in, before settling in to Christmas Day at home with Skype!

Mail arrived on the ship this week – the first mail from Ascension for a while. Of the various cards and letters, the earliest was posted on 23rd October and the latest a month later on 19th November - All arrived together, collected 19th December!!
Boxing Day is sorted though – Hazel, David and Deanna are hosting a Piccolo BBQ, so looking forward to that.

Scuba Diving in St Helena Island

A few weeks ago Andy and Henry started their PADI Open Water Diver certification course. There are a few instructors on the Island and Andy and Henry opted to learn to Dive with Anthony ‘Nails’ Thomas www.stsa.co.sh After a few lessons in the classroom passing theory tests, they advanced on to confined water dives in the swimming pool. As David and Deanna are on the same course, Hazel and I thought we’d take a trip into Town to see them in action, so we set off early one Sunday morning to see how they were getting on.
We had heard so much about it from them all we were looking forward to a cup of coffee in the sun whilst watching the dive lesson.
Well, for us at least, it was a disappointment. It was warm in Jamestown, but not baking hot, so sunbathing was out. If it hadn’t been for bubbles coming to the surface of the pool, we wouldn’t have known they were there! Being used to swimming pools in the UK where you can see the bottom, the pool water here, although ‘clean’ is heavily chlorinated, meaning visibility is low and the water is cloudy. For Hazel and me, it was like watching paint dry. At one point there was a brief shower of rain, but then it cleared and warmed up. We thought we’d go for a coffee. Well St Helena is gearing up for tourism, but not, apparently, on a Sunday morning. We did not find one place open, so returned to bubble watching by the pool! Occasionally someone would surface briefly and they did have to get out all kitted up to take further instruction. I’ve asked Andy to describe the course for the Blog. I’m not keen on being submerged, coupled with a lucky perforated eardrum, means I can’t dive - Happy to watch others – next time I’ll bring an ice cold beer!

Anthony is a good teacher and it is not long before the group have advanced to sea water diving. Their first trip out in the Atlantic Ocean includes a dive around the wreck of the SS Papanui which sunk in James Bay in 1911. They also had to demonstrate a number of skills and manoeuvres under water.
Then disaster strikes! Whilst taking part in the usual Tuesday night 5-a-side football, Andy stops Paul McGinnety scoring a goal, but in doing so he breaks his wrist!
The next day a visit to the local ‘GP’ clinic gets him sent to the hospital for X-rays. These have to be sent to Cape Town for diagnosis. Although there are medically qualified people on the Island, there are knowledge gaps due to the vast range of conditions and low population. Later that evening we get a telephone call from ‘Dr Trevor’ a South African doctor who we know well. The radius bone has fractured and Andy will need to go to hospital the following morning.
By 10 am Andy has been plastered by Linda (Woods) – nurse and friend and returns home to break the news to Anthony – no diving for Andy for 6 weeks.

Deanna, Henry and David continue on the course with Dive 2, 3 and 4 completing all successfully and are now fully qualified PADI Open Water Scuba Divers! Andy will be completing as soon as the plaster is removed! Won’t come too soon for me either! He’s not the best patient and of course is no longer available for cooking, cleaning, washing-up, present wrapping, tree decorating, card writing etc etc – get the picture?
We are now preparing for Xmas! It really doesn’t feel right – too hot to be December. We have a tree ‘on order’ and will be joining Linda (the nurse) and Martin for Xmas dinner, along with several others. I’ve just finished preparing 14 starters . On Boxing Day we are planning a Piccolo BBQ, hosted by David, Hazel and Deanna. Let’s hope the weather stays just like it is this weekend!
The dogs have really settled down too now and have been really enjoying their walks in Plantation Forest. Smudge has made friends with Wellington who belongs to Mark and Tamara Capes (AKA The Governor and his wife)and we have walked the forest together. It is wonderfully cool under the forest canopy and makes it a pleasant stroll.

- Next time we must take a bottle of wine or some cold beers to enjoy along with the fab view of Plantation House - picking up any themes here? LOL

St Helena Island Adventures Continues

What a weekend! Certainly one for the scrap book.
It started with our usual after work drink at Donny’s on the seafront. Henry was competing in the Island National Youth Games, representing our ‘District’ (Longwood) in the volleyball. On the previous week the swimming competitions had taken place and Deanna had won a Gold medal in the 200 metres ‘Freestyle’. Henry was keen to get a medal for the District so there was a hard fought battle for the 3rd and 4th place. Longwood triumphed and Henry’s team won the Bronze in deciding match. It was close though and all the participants did really well. We ordered dinner from ‘Get Carters’ in the Mule Yard. The husband and wife team (David and Mercia) hold down full-time jobs in SHG and St Helena Bank and open their private business at the weekend – Usually a themed night on Friday – Mexican this week and pizza on Saturday.
It was really busy, but we ordered dinner and sat at the Mule Yard bar enjoying the local band – The Big Easy – who played some fantastic music well into the evening.
We drove home after a great unplanned evening happy and looking forward to a busy Saturday!
Andy and David (Deanna’s dad) were paired up for the Texas Scramble golf competition starting at midday, so we headed off into ‘Town’ early to pick up a few bits. Andy went off to play golf and I took Henry to the newly opened Barbers – Leroy based at the Business Park Ladder Hill, so another drive across the Island! Henry really rates Leroy and once again, was very pleased with his hair cut.
The afternoon was leisurely, a few household chores completed, when Andy returned from the golf earlier than expected. Families had been invited to join the golfers at the club house for the Presentation and a Curry! The food was good and the drinks flowed! We sat outside with friends – ex-pat and Saint alike, chatting and catching up with the latest news over several glasses of something…
Henry was off into ‘Town’ with friend Louis and they waited for the bus to arrive. In typical Saint fashion, the bus didn’t stop and was 15 minutes early! Luckily another friend was already on the bus and spotted them. Persuading the driver that there were passengers at the bus stop, the bus stopped and reversed back up the road to collect them.
We stayed at the Golf Club for another hour or so, walking back (literally across the road!) home. We had arranged to set off early on Sunday morning to complete another Post Box walk – This time Lot’s Wife’s Ponds at Sandy Bay.

7 of us set out for Sandy Bay – The Wooseys (David, Hazel and Deanna) The Standens (Andy, Helen and Henry) and our fellow Piccolo resident Andy Crowe. The trip to Sandy Bay is a long and very windy road as you drop quickly from a considerable height down to sea-level. On arrival at the parking place, several other intrepid walkers had already arrived and with a few late-comers, the walking party totalled 21. We set off heading up towards Lot’s Wife, initially a steady climb along narrow paths, originally cut into the rock face by donkeys, who transported lime from one area of the Island to another. I am not a donkey and my feet are a bit bigger than hooves. Much of the path is fine as long as you don’t look down! You really are on the edge most of the way. There is a particularly tricky part called Lorna’s Leap – consisting of a very narrow ledge – most of the way where you have to traverse across facing the rock face, whilst holding on for grim death and jumping the final part! It wouldn’t be quite so bad if the final leap is onto a large flat area, but of course it’s not! You leap to another narrow cliff path, whilst praying!
Having got the whole party across, we began the decent down to the Ponds. The kids even participated in a bit of sand surfing down a large dune. It’s hard to grasp the incredible changing terrain here. One minute cliff and volcanic rock, then sand dunes and white sand too, then lush green vegetation.

As we reach the Post Box marker, I spot the rope! I am not sure I was prepared to abseil down the cliff in order to reach the Ponds, but having come this far, it would have been silly not to. The worst part is turning backwards and lowering yourself down with just a rope for company – Andy was waiting at the first ‘staging post’ where you have to let go of one rope and swap to another, traverse around a rock on the cliff edge, before being able to grab the next rope for the final decent to the rocks below. There was a huge sense of relief and achievement when my feet finally made it to the bottom! Once everyone had made it down, some people swam in the Ponds, others took in the fantastic scenery, made even more spectacular by the huge waves that intermittently crashed over the natural breakwater. We stayed for an hour or so, eating lunch next to the massive Ponds. My foot had started to play up during the abseil and I wanted to set off earlier rather than later as I knew I would be quite slow – down is way more painful than up when you have a fracture!
Firstly, the ascent on the rope was fairly nerve-racking, but I managed to haul myself up, leaving just Lorna’s Leap and a lot of steep down slopes to negotiate. In the end, setting off early was a good plan – we were never caught up by those who set off after us, but the other party who got in front of us early on, made it to the cars an hour ahead of me! Still as everyone says, it wasn’t a race and I made it safely and in one piece. A great sense of achievement.
Back to work tomorrow, so an early night was needed, but what a fantastic way to spend the 1st of December 2013 – my first HOT winter ever.