Cruise Ship Day

Up and about at the crack of dawn today…we left home at about 7.45 to get to town to set up my jewellery stand to be ready by the time the tourists disembarked their cruise ship at about 8.30. The ship was originally due around 9, but docked at 8 instead. I had a stall next to Jenny who was selling mini Christmas cakes and edible Father Christmas tree decorations, and on my other side was a Saint chap selling keyrings, mugs and mouse pads with St Helena pictures etc. On his other side, Emma Jane was selling her book, “For the Love of the Music”, and then there were a few other stalls – Post Office with post cards, Warrens with other souvenirs.


Nick, Steve and Tony Leo started busking at around 11, until a light drizzle came in at about 1.30, at which time they packed it up.


It was an awesome atmosphere, except for one thing – no people! The tourists, those who weren’t booked on tours, mainly walked straight by the stalls without stopping to look. A couple of them were friendly, and Jennifer was thrilled to chat to a South African couple who lived in PE in her neighbourhood! And the Saints, who we were all hoping also to attract with our wares (well, me and Jenny especially as ours are non-souvenir type things), either didn’t know about the marquee, or weren’t interested. So for all of us, it was disappointing. The musical trio did quite well with their busking, which goes straight to the Restoration Fund, so that was good. I allowed the boys to go to town on their own, twice, to buy things to occupy themselves. The first time they each bought a Kinder egg with the toy inside, which turned out to be a bit of a flop for Caleb especially, so later they went to the Emporium and bought a tub of plastic insects (Caleb) and playing cards (Aaron).

Above: the Captain laughing with the ship's doctor and security chief over his shaky legs after doing Jacob's Ladder. The Captain was very congenial - he bought a necklace, bless him!