Reunited in St. Lucia, 2021
Imagine a moment where a holiday dream becomes a reality. It starts with a gentle what if, wondering what it would be like to spontaneously book a flight to somewhere sunny. But reality always comes knocking on the door, telling you that this idea is just an impossible dream. Well perhaps for the first time in our lives, this was not where our holiday dreams ended. In fact, it was just the beginning.
It all began during a conversation with Josh's parents one Sunday morning. They mentioned that they were off on holiday to St Lucia, a beautiful Caribbean island that they have visited a couple of times before. They would be arriving in St Lucia at the start of October, which coincided with a week we had already booked off work. It started with a half joking offer for us to join Philip and Wendy in the sunshine, as we were only a five hour flight away. This got us thinking. We had recently got engaged in July in Canada which meant we hadn't been able to celebrate with our families. Maybe we could celebrate together on a holiday to St Lucia! We laughed for a second, and then looked at each other. Could we do it? The cogs were whirring as we tried to work out if we could actually make it work. There was a sparkling potential in the air that this really could all come together. The next few weeks were spent trying to formulate a plan. This started with searching for flights which were actually quite reasonable. Then I had a bright idea - what if my parents could also join us? This set off a flurry of planning and googling, calling and booking. Finally we did it, all six of us were booked to stay in St Lucia together. This was thanks to Josh's parents who are so kind, generous, encouraging and great planners! My parents were so adaptive and excited too, and we were all thrilled to be going on our first holiday since 2019. COVID had made this year apart feel like forever and we couldn't wait for the adventure to begin.
We had a lot to sort out before the trip, which was only a couple of weeks away. COVID travel restrictions were still in full force so we had to get a PCR test 48 hours before our arrival in St Lucia airport, wear a mask for the journey and have proof of our vaccinations. This was a little overwhelming as it was our first time travelling since our arrival in Canada in November 2020. The preparations were all made and we had our bags packed ready to go. It was a lot of fun to chat to our parents in the UK about how excited they were to finally head off on holiday again. We genuinely feel so lucky to have such kind and helpful parents. They really do care so much, but we are also fortunate that they are so much fun to spend time with. It was like booking a holiday with our best friends, a holiday that just so happens to be in paradise!
Our flight over to St Lucia went very smoothly. Josh and were lucky to be arriving a day before everyone else because there is only one direct flight per week to St Lucia from Canada. We unfortunately had to bring a lot of documentation with us to make sure we could definitely get back into Canada. Our working holiday visa is valid for two years, but the visa itself does not guarantee entry. Immigration reassess you each time you enter Canada at which point you must prove that you meet certain conditions, i.e. are employed, have enough funds, have an apartment rental and have necessities like health insurance. We didn't have to worry about this until the way back, so we enjoyed our stop over in Toronto and excitedly waited for our plane to the Caribbean. Air Canada were a great airline to travel with and before we knew it we were landing in St Lucia. The resort we were staying in sits on the other side of the island to the airport, nestled in Rodney Bay on the Gros Islet. That meant a long taxi ride over, but also gave us a chance to see the island. It was covered in lush green forest and little towns filled with bustling markets. I had a little snooze until we pulled up to the grand gates of our absolutely stunning hotel. It is certainly the biggest place we've ever stayed in. We then settled in to our room that overlooked one of the pools, but we were already keen to get to the beach. We had been lucky with a summer of good Canadian weather, but we couldn't wait for some hot Caribbean sun. We made sure to explore the resort by visiting every single pool, sampling drinks along the way. That night we went to the sushi bar tucked into a new area of the hotel. This was very on brand for us as we always have sushi in Vancouver. We had a few cocktails and enjoyed our first night in paradise.
The next day we woke up full of excitement and a few nerves as our parents would be arriving in the evening. It was quite nice for them as they were both taking the same flight out of London. This meant they had already caught up with each other over dinner in their hotel the night before. Whilst they were in the sky, we spent the day enjoying the sunshine by the ocean which was unbelievably clear and blue. There are a lot of guests in a hotel this big, but wherever you were it always felt relaxed and quiet because there are so many places to go. I counted at least four swimming pools, some with swim-up bars and music, and others quietly tucked into the relaxing jungle. The evening came and we sat down in reception to excitedly await their arrival. We started chatting to the incredibly stylish hotel manager as we sipped sparkling wine. She was asking us some questions about where we were from and what brought us to St Lucia. We ended up telling her our story, that we'd just got engaged and hadn't seen either of our parents for a year. She thought it was so sweet that we were all meeting in the hotel together and it was great to chat to her to pass some time before our parents arrived. Before we knew it the shuttle bus had pulled up, and out jumped our parents. We wanted to run and hug them, but COVID rules meant we had to wait for a temperature check and hand sanitisation. They walked in and we all had a big cuddle, trying to catch up for the last year. They must have been tired after their long day, but we all agreed to meet up for dinner in the main restaurant. We arrived to a big musical performance in the swimming pool. This made us all giggle as we struggled to hear each other over the incredible show. It was simply just amazing to be able to speak in person, but eventually we had to let them get a good rest for the next day.
The sunny days that followed led to lots of lazing in the sun and drinking plenty of cocktails. One day we all got boozy and decided to relax in the floating tub chairs that sit in the ocean. It is like a mesh pool that allows the seawater in, but with a padded side to lean on. The water in St Lucia is so calm and warm that it was easy to lie here all day. The only problem was how to get more drinks. Josh solved this by becoming the nominated drink server and got really good at swimming back with cups held above the water. The hotel is on a very natural area of the island next to a protected park called Pigeon Island. Josh, my dad and I decided to go for a hike to the island to visit some viewpoints and find out about the history. Interestingly it was only connected to the mainland of St Lucia in the 1970s when they created Rodney Bay Marina. We learnt a lot about Piegon Island as we wandered around. It has a series of ruins which were British forts used in the 18th century to spy on the French in Martinique. The forts had excellent views of the ocean, as well as the bay and hotel which is tucked on a thin piece of land with sea on both sides. It was absolutely beautiful and my dad said he'd definitely do the hike again with everyone else.
A fun aspect of being at the resort were the selection of restaurants we could choose from. We'd made reservations for a few nights to make sure the six of us could get a table. This meant we had a fun selection of cuisines planned for the week. The Indian restaurant is tucked away from the main hotel which means it wasn't very busy at all. They offered us an amazing tasting selection of starters and mains which we all loved, minus my dad who doesn't like to share - just kidding. One night we visited the teppanyaki restaurant which was definitely an interactive experience. We all sat around a big grill as the chef arrived and introduced himself. He cooked up some rice, veg and noodles for me and Josh, as well as various fish and meat dishes for everyone else. The best part of the night was watching him fling pieces of egg from his spatula into our parents mouths. It wasn't just dinner that we adored, there is a restaurant called Toscaninis which serves amazing breakfasts in a lovely setting. I am sure they cooked my dad the perfect egg, a rare achievement. We had been going to the Bayside restaurant most mornings which was a beautiful buffet style breakfast. It was very relaxed and the lady made us the best vegan peanut butter oat smoothies we could ask for. In all honesty it was just lovely to spend time together and have the chance to go out for dinner. The bonus was that the restaurants were all really good.
We carried on through the week often heading to Barefoot on the beach for lunch. This was a relaxed restaurant in the sand with the loveliest staff, even when it was just one lady on her own during the lunch rush. Barefoot did some beautiful sandwiches and fried plantain with a view right over the ocean. This got us thinking about what water sports we wanted to try during the holiday. Sadly it was a bit too windy during our stay to go out on the mini sailboats, so instead Josh, my dad and I jumped in kayaks and Wendy and Philip went on paddleboards. We thought they were brave opting for a paddleboard, but it's a well loved hobby for people who live by the sea in Cornwall. They both did exceptionally well on the boards as we were struggling to fight the current in our kayaks. At one point Wendy got caught in a particularly gusty section which sent her the wrong way. She fought the current as long as she could, but eventually we helped them back to the shore like a kayak security guard service. I know if it was me on the paddleboard I would have fallen off at least five times so they did very well. We carried on in our kayaks to take a look around the bay where we saw so many frigates soaring above us. It was beautiful out on the water, but super tiring in the waves. We had such a fun time exploring and headed back to reward ourselves with a refreshing drink. That night we treated ourselves again to a lovely, slightly fancy, restaurant over the water called Gordon's. We'd had a few drinks in the bar before so were a little tipsy going in and then the atmosphere in the restaurant was so nice that the drinks kept flowing. The food was delicious and it was amazing to be so close to the ocean. We were all laughing at the end of the night when Josh's dad was trying to cut through the biscuit part of the dessert. The fork just wouldn't go through as it was frozen solid and left us all giggling. I think it was one of those 'you had to be there' moments, but it still makes me laugh when I think about it now.
A few common themes to our trip were drinking, eating and spending time in the ocean. One day Josh and I went scuba diving, our first time in the Caribbean. It had been a year and a half since our last dives in Thailand, before COVID, so we had to complete a skills refresher in the pool. It went smoothly except that Josh had a mega nosebleed when clearing his mask. This was actually quite terrifying to watch, as red blood filled the little pool we were in, but he was absolutely fine. After this was complete, we went out on the boat to a little rocky island and got ready to jump in the water. It was a great dive and we were lucky to see masses of giant lobsters hiding under the rock. The water around here is well protected so it was lovely to see the glowing coral and big shoals of fish swimming around. Josh and his mum also welcomed the ocean when they tried water-skiing. Josh took to it immediately, possibly helped by his insanely good balance and ice hockey skills. He was whizzing around in no time and it was amazing to watch. Wendy also got the hang of it quickly, those sporting skills and balance must be genetic. Whilst they were zipping around on the water, the rest of us decided to sit in the sunshine and have some more drinks, what a hard life! A couple of times in the evening my dad and I went to the very little gym in the hotel. I don't think people really care about working out on holiday, so it was a simple set-up but it had a running machine so I was happy. A couple of times we went in to find a very muscular man scream grunting to himself in the mirror. He would do this for each rep and I'm sure he looked at himself more in an hour than I've ever looked at myself in my life.
We all agreed to go on an exciting excursion outside of the hotel which ended up being a boat trip around the island. It sounded amazing and we were all very excited for the adventure. The sun was shining as the day arrived for our boat trip and we were ready for some sightseeing. It was still quite windy which made for some very funny photos of our hair blowing sideways in the breeze. Our first stop was to see some stunning caves and rock formations. There was even one tiny cave that I didn't think the boat would make it through. We all had to duck and lean into the boat as we moved by the wall of rock. Well maybe that's an exaggeration and only Philip needed to duck, as he's the tallest out of us all by a long way. The turquoise ocean was glowing alongside the bright blue sky, which made for some beautiful photos. We were enjoying the views when suddenly we stopped at a 15m cliff. Our captain told us to look up and we watched a guy do a backflip into the water. It was executed to perfection and luckily they didn't ask if any of us if we wanted to have a go. We then sailed into Marigot Bay which was full of luxury hotels and bars. The scenery was like a postcard of the Caribbean with palm trees lining the white sandy shore. I did not realise that the topography of St Lucia was so interesting and mountainous. We were in luck today as we'd be seeing the Pitons, which are two volcanic spires formed 200,000 years ago. These two beautiful pointy mountains are covered in lush green forest. It was a perfect moment to get some photos, which our captain helped us with. Josh ended up saving me from embarrassment during these photos when I nearly flashed my leopard print bikini bottoms. I was positioned in the middle which unfortunately gave a perfect accidental upskirt shot in my tight dress. Josh ever my knight in shining armour, kindly put his beer bottle in front without even saying a word. The rest of the trip involved stopping at a tranquil lunch spot on a private beach and some snorkelling at a protected marine park by the cliffs. We really did have a perfect day that ended with us all doing shots of rum punch in the boat as we came back to shore. We left merry from the amazing day we'd had, and maybe a bit merry from the alcohol too. We want to say a special thank you to our parents for their kindness on this trip as well as their willingness to enjoy the holiday to the full. Legends!
There were only a couple of days left in paradise which we chose to spend relaxing on the beach together. One morning my mum, Wendy and I got up early for a yoga class by the water. It was a relaxed class with just the three of us and not as vinyasa flow as we are used to, but the setting made it all worth it. It's not often you can say you've watched the sun rising over the Caribbean sea. Speaking of sun rises, we enjoyed watching many beautiful sunsets whilst on the island. The bay is such an amazing backdrop for a sunset and we enjoyed sipping cocktails whilst watching the sky turn golden. During one of these evenings Josh's family managed to catch a very mysterious creature in a cup. They named it blob which was a fitting name as it was a clear jelly like creature. It had brown spots and four kind of leg/arms that it would occasionally use to move. It definitely wasn't a jelly fish so we were safe to gaze at it in wonder. We put it back in the ocean so it could float its way back home, or to wherever it fancied. On our last night we decided to go up to the raised seating area that overlooked the pool. We took some pictures together and fussed our new friends, the group of stray dogs who had joined us. We of course all loved our dog pals and we fussed them as they took a little nap.
Sadly the time came for Josh and I to leave. We were due to fly before our parents, who had another couple of days, so we had an emotional goodbye ahead of us. We were going back to Vancouver whilst they were of course heading to the UK. We met at reception where there were lots of cuddles and a few tears. We also talked about how it had been the most wonderful holiday and how lucky we felt. We kept reminding ourselves that it wouldn't be long before we would all see each other again. Winter would fly by and we'd soon be back in the UK for a visit in April 2022 for some very special weddings. We felt so honoured to have such a beautiful holiday with both our parents, full of a lot of fun, laughter and love. We left on the plane feeling lucky to have all this love in our life and dreaming of meeting on a sandy beach again.
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