The rain has been relentless today. Non stop. It’s not as if we hadn’t been warned, of course
but it is rather depressing being stuck inside for a whole day when there is so much to see and do out there. Of course, I could brave the elements as I did in Vancouver but here is different. Vancouver is a big modern city with an efficient infrastructure including decent roads and pavements. Here I would probably drown in a pothole inside 5 minutes if I stepped outside!
I have, though, put my self inflicted incarceration to good use and have sorted out some accommodation for the second half of my trip. Over the past few months I think I have become quite good at understanding the ‘internet speak’ on travel websites. It’s a bit like interpreting estate agents’ bu***hit! ‘Close to the beach’ means anything up to 5 miles away. ‘Compact accomodation’ means tiny room. And ‘partial sea view’ means you can just see the sea if you are a giraffe!
Every half an hour or so, I look out of my window in the hope that the weather is improving
but no luck so far.
By the time I had finished my scribblings yesterday there was a dry bit. So, anticipating (correctly) the weather conditions today, I went out again for a short visit to The Gardens of The Sleeping Giant. The ‘Sleeping Giant’ is, I am told, a rock formation that looks exactly as the description (a little bit like Elephant Mountain in Spain) but I couldn’t tell you as the clouds were so low. As to the gardens, these were developed originally as a breeding place for orchids by a certain Raymond Burr (he of Perry Mason and Ironside fame) and subsequently turned into the most gorgeous tropical acreage – even in the wet!
Inevitably there are loads of orchids
but there is also acre upon acre of a lush tropical landscape full of the most amazing plants, trees and shrubs
most of which I had never seen before
and even including 3 splendid tree huggers!
A truly beautiful place made even more interesting by knowing who it’s most unlikely creator was.
According to today’s newspaper, the centre of the current storm is still a couple of hundred kilometres north of this island and proceeding southwards at a leisurely 10km per hour. So it seems the worst is yet to come. The good news is though that it should all have moved away by next Tuesday ….. just when I’m leaving!
I’m dreaming of a dry Christmas.
Richard
thelasthurrahsite 