I’m pretty sure our travel insurance excludes cover for scooters without helmets and on dodgy roads so we hired a ‘mule’ - a form of transport much loved by mid-Wales sheep farmers whose arthritic hips stop them using their quad bikes. This particular Kawasaki mule wasn’t in the first flush of youth and was not as well maintained as it could have been. We discovered the lack of brakes when we crested our first hill!
Circling the island was great fun and was punctuated by a couple of restaurant and cafe stops. First up was Roland’s beach shack with it’s enigmatic owner. Roland was a good host and served us lobster washed down with coconut water and a fresh breeze kept the temperatures comfortable.
A couple of day trip boats circumnavigating the island called by with half a dozen tourists on board to entertain us with their antics. Meanwhile, in the kitchen, a heated domestic row accompanied the preparation of our lobster whilst Bob Marley boomed out of a speaker. An idyllic setting and great food.
We finally found good coffee in South West Bay but there was no breeze there to cool things down.
Tomorrow we go ashore at 0730 to climb the highest hill before the sun gets too high. Let’s hope the diurnally strong morning wind doesn’t make getting ashore in the morning too uncomfortable.
Roland’s restaurant
Roland offering us a choice of lobster
View from the mule
McBean’s marine national park
Shimshal at anchor from Isla Santa Catalina