Martin and Fabio had to be up for 6am, as they were getting a plane to South America, so I thanked them profusely, got their photos for the ‘heroes’ page and had a much-needed shower before sneaking out of the hotel before the receptionist woke up. Ha! I win Martinique! I WIN!!
I’m now on the ferry (another one – bliss!) to Dominica, where, if all is fair in love and war, I might just be able to smuggle my no-good hide onto a cargo boat bound for St. Kitts. As always, nothing is confirmed, so fingers crossed!
[later…]
Had to argue my way through immigration – not having an onward ticket is like showing up to a funeral in the nack around these parts. A bit of over-earnest “it’s okay – I’m booked on the Eastpack cargo ship heading for St. Kitts” (even though I wasn’t) and flashing my dog-eared saltwater-smudged letter from Lonely Planet explaining this whole idiotic mission and they soon let me through. Although it might have more to do with the crowd of 100 or so people in the queue behind me tapping their collective feet impatiently.
So I crashed through Roseau, the capital of Dominica, heading FULL PELT towards Whitchurch and co. Roseau city is tiny, so it was no problem getting there. My man on the case John Howell had spent the best part of the day trying to contact the captain of the Eastpack, George Solomon, without success.
The nice man in the office rang the captain. He didn’t exactly go out of his way to sell this thing, so the captain (unsurprisingly) said no. Can I – er… can I speak to him?
Bang straight into bam-bam-bamboozle mode, I made quick work of Captain George Solomon (practicing on Captain Ainsley Adams helped) with the old I-can-sleep-on-the-floor-I-won’t-eat-anything-you-won’t-even-see-me-it’s-for-charity-if-I-miss-this-boat-I-miss-all-my-connections-you-want-a-bribe-how-much? routine.
He said yes. Good ol’ cap’n Solomon.
I felt like Derren Brown.
So now I’m sitting on the dock of the bay, quite literally, Woodbridge Bay in Dominica, watching the Eastpack load up. The sun is silently setting behind me and in the morning (all being well) I’ll be in St. Kitts. 7 down, 6 to go…
Hey Graham,
Just wanted to say that we’re digging the videos and updates, keep ’em coming! Hope that life on the road isn’t taking it’s toll too much… so when can we expect to see some emotive pieces to camera about the state of the lavvies in these places? You could keep a ‘Log Book’ 🙂 in seriousness, how much of the route is meticulously planned and how much is down to dumb luck? If so, are you gonna let us know what your route’ll be for after the UK? If you’re made up about Lost being online, you should try and track down the latest series of 24, it’s not crap anymore. Let us know when you’re heading to Hong Kong/Macau and we’ll try and meet up with you. All the best, C & D
Dave Huntley says:
Inspirational dude! Good luck, we’re all watching you here in Sheffield!
Seamus Kelly says:
Hope you enjoyed and got off St Kitts. Good luck with the rest off your journey,
Seamus