Saint Helena

Methodist Church

Anne's Cafe. Anne is gone, but the flags live on. Anne died some years back but it's still the place yachties congregate.

Catholic Church. As the sign says, this church was built on the site of a Chinese temple.

Grafiti in the Fort

Switchback. Switchbacks are everywhere on the steep roads and traffic jams are common: two cars traveling in opposite directions can't pass.

Typical Jamestown Mainstreet Building

Jamestown Mainstreet

The Consulate

Lot's Wife's Ponds Walk

Fairy Tern

Lot's Wife's Ponds Walk. Crab heaven.

Masked Booby. Many nesting boobies along the way to Lot's Wife's Ponds

Masked Booby

Crabs. They love the excitement of the littoral.

Merel . Merel on the way to Lot's Wife's Ponds

Merel. Braving the surf

Merel, Manya and Addy . In the back of Ed's ute returning from Sharks Bay. Dirty but happy.

Addy at Sharks Bay

Manya

Closeup of Atlantic Ocean

Tradewind Surf at Sharks Bay

Ed snapping Manya snapping ...

Living Dangerously. This crab and many of his family live there lives at the base of a waterfall.

Ed and Merel

Me at Sharks Bay. Yes, yes, Cherryl I know I need a haircut.

Merel

Manya

Merel

Me by Merel. At Sharks Bay

Ed. On the way back up Sharks Valley

Manya Descending Sharks Valley

Rain = Green. It's been a wet year so plenty of lush green against the brown hills.

Manya

Manya

Ed

Ed

Me and ???

Merel in the Ute. On the way to Sharks Bay.

Diana's Peak . Being high up, this walk along a ridge is often in the clouds. The vegetation is lush and green and when the clouds permit the views are fabulous.

White Weed. An invasive plant that does extremely well on Saint Helena covering large areas.

Fuschia Flowers

Topiary at Derek's. Derek Roberts provided us with a great tour of the island, which ended with a beer in his wonderful garden.

The Ferry. It's easy enough when the sea is flat but the landing is open to the sea. When the waves get over a couple of metres nobody goes ashore. In between, it gets exciting!

Perfect Rainbow

The Fort

The Fort. In 1657, Oliver Cromwell granted the East India Company a charter to govern Saint Helena and over the next 200 years the island was fortified and settled with planters.

Inside the Fort. Solid stone walls without windows.

Embrasure. You stick your gun thru the slit and hope the guys on the other side don't see your muzzle flash.

Plantation House. The Governor's residence.

Jonathan. The world's oldest living land animal born c 1832.

Contrasts. The contrast between the lush farmland and hills behind could not be more intense.

Road. Roads on the island are narrow and winding.

Merel

Agriculture. Farming on the island is limited. This was the only herd of cows I saw.

Valley

Merel's Church. She'd have bought it if she could, but it's still a functioning church.

Kurt, Caroline and Merel

Jamestown

Steve

A View of Earth from Heaven. The top of Jacob's Ladder is 1,000 feet (~280m) above the bottom.

Approaching Saint Helena. It's an isolated volcanic island.

Ice Bear. We arrived at the same time as Kurt, Caroline and Steven on Ice Bear.

Ice Bear

Longwood House. Where Napolean lived during his imprisonment.

Eucalypts. All the original vegetation has been stripped. Only introduced species and a few isolated native plants servive.

Lot

A Planters House

Geologic Profile. The mix of rocks and soils is amazing.

Jacobs Ladder. A waste of diesel (most electricity on the island is generated by diesel)

Lot's Wife's Ponds Walk

Lot's Wife's Ponds Walk

Lot's Wife's Ponds Walk

The Heart Shaped Waterfall

Wild Mango. The path goes under the tangled wild mangoes -- no fruit unfortunately.

A Field of Marl. Marl is sticky mud formed into tiny balls. It sticks to your shoes.

Marl. Closeup of the mud.

Road to the Start of Diana's Peak Walk

Mount Acheron. The other end of the ridge from Diana's Peak is Mt Acheron

Ringing the Bell. The stone rings like a bell when struck.

Farmland

Stairway to Heaven. Originally 700 steps, one step was removed by roadworkers.

The Last Phone Box?. Telephone boxes are still in use.

Ladder Hill Fort Entrance

The Barracks, Ladder Hill Fort

The Ferry. Getting from Anjea to shore and back is made easy by the ferry service that does the rounds every hour.

Landscape — Weather over Sharks Valley

Roy. Roy is a retired film producer.

Rocks

Swimming in the South Atlantic. When the wind was light we stopped the boat and jumped in. No fear of hitting the bottom -- it's 3.5 km deep.

Gallery: Yes