Arrived here after a very easy sail and motor overnight. Didn't use the repaired gennaker as we'll save it for the next leg. We are all tied up alongside a concrete wharf in the hardstand end of the marina so it's a bit dirty and noisy. We've had the welcome drinks and got maps (on the app) and a car and are ready to explore. Yesterday was the ARC organised tour to the main big volcano here that is currently in an active phase with lava and everything! Because of this though, the walking trials are closed so we didn't see any of that. Very impressive and rugged mountains (volcanoes) and huge deep ravines that carve down the mountain sides to the coast. The island is only a few millions of years old so the terrain is still sharp angles and the coast and fringing reef in their infancy (in world creation terms). We looked at one of the craters, a lava flow and had lunch. Today Pete, Oscar and I went to Saint Paul to look around and find an Orange phone shop for a sim card for Oscar. It is a nice little coastal town with cute cafes and bars, and an ice cream shop with a massive range of ice creams and sorbets. Reunion is a French prefecture of France so everything is very French - wonderful cheese and wine selections in the supermarkets and a lovely European feel to things but with a laid back island vibe. We're very impressed. I can definitely feel a revisit here one day coming on. (is that real English or just a fourex beer jingle?)
