Sussex University Reunion

Sweet Potato Gratin is in the oven, baby is asleep, power is back on, washing is hung out (I love being in the tropics and being able to dry washing outside, overnight!) Mother-in-Law is downstairs doing a crossword and I have the chance to blog... bliss.
The finger, you'll be pleased to know, is much less painful. On Tuesday I had my first dressing change with Jonathan and it was complete agony. As well as the dressing being changed, silver nitrate (I think that's what it is called, usually used to get rid of warts) is painted along the cut edge to literally burn the skin away so it doesn't re-grow over the nail. So, so, SO painful! It ached all day and I went to sleep dreading today's appointment. It was nowhere near as bad as expected though, thank goodness.
Yesterday I took Grandma Flowerpot off for a real tourist drive around the island. We started at the fabulous Shirley Heights. Sitting above English Harbour, this was the site of the old Fort Shirley put in place to protect the Navel Shipyard in the 18th Century. The views are just stunning, you simply can't beat them. To the east it is just Atlantic ocean all the way to Africa. There are cross Atlantic rowers coming into English Harbour almost daily at the moment and when you see the vastness of this expanse of water you realize the immensity of the feat they undertake.
The islands roads leave a lot to be desired and after a good forty minutes of fairly expert pot-hole dodging on my part, we stopped at La Perla for lunch. This luxury resort is tucked away at the end of a long unmade track, so unmade that I am sure most people turn around, thinking they have taken a wrong turn. The restaurant is set around an amazing infinity pool which Grandma and Coco enjoyed after the meal.
More driving, more pot-holes and we finished the day at the village of Parham, Antigua's first ever port. Although it was close to St John's, you felt like you were in the middle of nowhere and definitely off the usual tourist trail. It felt like real Antigua and also, strangely, a bit like Cornwall!? St Peter's Church is a huge, dilapidated wooden structure on top of a hill in the middle of the village. We went up to have a look and were pleasantly surprised to discover that the interior of the building was far from dilapidated. It was light and airy with a ceiling that looked the the frame of an old wooden ship. Speaking to the church warden, he proudly filled us in on the service schedule and invited us to join them on Easter Sunday for their two hour communion... we'll see! Unbelievably though, we discovered that he went to Sussex University (same as me) to study and graduated in the 1980's. I know it's a cliche but... what a small world!
Angus is home tomorrow... yippee... and then he is in Antigua until the end of the season. I can't believe we are even talking about the end of the season but it will be here before we know it. Until then, there is more swimming to be done, more beaches to explore and coconut ice-cream to be found!