The remote island of St Helena (easier to get to now)

[Fullerene]

I am just back from a wonderful trip to St Helena.  I have known about the place for decades but never imagined I would ever go there.  Until recently this would have involved a five day boat journey from Cape Town but now it has an airport.
The airport was slow to get started.  The first flight in was with the Boeing 737 Max plane that has now been grounded.  The flight was a scary experience but basically they were using the wrong plane.  I flew in on an Embraer 190, which is a smaller plane with about 60 passengers.  It was the inaugural flight from Cape Town.  There have now been hundreds of flights from Johannesburg.  
The flight was with FlyAirLink which is a subsidiary of South African Airways and I was able to buy a ticket on-line for about £600.  I needed to prove I had travel insurance that include medical evacuation if necessary – fairly common requirement for many African countries.  The flight out started with a two hour flight to Walvis Bay in Namibia where the plane was refuelled followed by a three hour flight to St Helena.  I was a little nervous about the landing but actually it was straightforward and not unpleasant at all.
I stayed in the capital Jamestown which is located in a valley at sea level and is generally 5 degrees warmer than the rest of the island.
The first day involved climbing Jacob’s Ladder, which is the tallest single staircase in the world with 699 steps.  The fastest climb up and back down was by a Scotsman who took 5 minutes and 16.78 seconds.  I took longer.
I went to Plantation House where the island governor lives.  They had a portrait of Prince Andrew and were debating whether to take it down.  Outside in the garden I saw the tortoises including Jonathan who at the age of 187 years is the oldest land creature in the world.  He still has eyes for Emma but she is only 50.  Like everywhere on the island the view is of the ocean, where the rest of the world is a long way away.
I also went to Briars Pavilion and Longwood House where Napoleon lived in exile.  Along with Napoleon’s Tomb (where Napoleon no longer is) these properties are owned by the French Government who pay the people who work there.  Across the road from Longwood house is a children’s play park, a supermarket and a petrol station.  I doubt any of these were around when Napoleon was living there.
I drove to Sandy Bay on the far side of the island.  If you want to get away from everyone then this is the place to go.  Antarctica would be another place but Sandy Bay is much warmer.  The cactus plants make that obvious.
I climbed to the top Diane’s Peak which is the highest point on the island.  It was fairly easy to do and about an hour each way.
For anyone who gets homesick, it is possible to visit Scotland although it is actually a small place that has a roundabout with a tree in the middle.
I also went to Blue Hill in the south west which was very scenic.
The whole island is beautiful.  Every picture is a postcard.  The natives are friendly and everybody wants to talk to you.  It was a truly memorable holiday.
 

[Sergeant Wilson]

Whit's it like for pubs, bookies 'n 'at?

[Fullerene]

6 minutes ago, Sergeant Wilson said:

Whit's it like for pubs, bookies 'n 'at?

Better than anywhere else within a thousand miles obviously!

There were three or four pubs in Jamestown and the nightclub Donnie's is where everyone goes on Friday and Saturday night.  You can certainly hear it.

Did not spot any bookies but I could be wrong.

There are no ATM machines and almost everywhere is cash.  Some places accept credit cards but add a 5% surcharge.

[welshbairn]

2 minutes ago, Fullerene said:

Better than anywhere else within a thousand miles obviously!

There were three or four pubs in Jamestown and the nightclub Donnie's is where everyone goes on Friday and Saturday night.  You can certainly hear it.

Did not spot any bookies but I could be wrong.

There are no ATM machines and almost everywhere is cash.  Some places accept credit cards but add a 5% surcharge.

Do they take Scottish notes?

[Fullerene]

4 hours ago, welshbairn said:

Do they take Scottish notes?

TBH I don't know.  I had to pay my hotel bill, car hire and everything in cash and it would have been a problem if they did not accept them.

Possibly the Bank of St Helena would but would charge a commission to change them into St Helena notes.

They have their own notes and coins.  The coins look identical to ours but the notes do not.  The bank charges commission to convert their own notes into Bank of England notes even though they are worth the same amount.  It is a challenge to offload their notes before you leave the island.

Unless you are going up to Ascension Island which uses the same notes but I guess you probably already knew that! 

[Fullerene]

There are only two flights a week and previously only one a week so lots of people head down to the airport to watch the plane come and go.

When I was leaving the local radio announced that the plane would arrive early and suggested we do the same.  Apparently everybody did.  So we all got on board and the plane left an hour early.  That's a first for me!

[Sergeant Wilson]

On 20/12/2019 at 23:44, Fullerene said:

There are only two flights a week and previously only one a week so lots of people head down to the airport to watch the plane come and go.

When I was leaving the local radio announced that the plane would arrive early and suggested we do the same.  Apparently everybody did.  So we all got on board and the plane left an hour early.  That's a first for me!

Claim your money back.