Cricket Final Barbados

Dominica 27 April 07
Quiet day, day a lovely walk through Roseau which was closed last time we visited. There were lots of stalls and a great produce market open. We tried some plantain which looks like a cross between a banana and a corn cob and tastes a bit like a sweet potato. They cook them slowly over coals. We had some local fish and chicken with fresh vegetables for lunch, very nice. We were going to go to the beach but it has been raining pretty much all day. We also bought some local artwork depicting local Caribbean life, better than a fridge magnet made in China. We are having a quiet night as we have to be up at 5.30am to pass through customs in Barbados and we don’t want to be late and miss the start of the cricket final !

Barbados
Final Australia vs Sri Lanka
Fantastic tremendous day !!!!!
Our seats were ok, we were in the stand next to the score board area and thankfully we were under cover for most of the day, handy for the 3 hour rain delay in the morning and then we suffered the afternoon sun about 3pm. We were also near a great group of Sri Lankans so we were giving each other a hard time throughout the day, they were heaps of fun. I’m glad that Australia got to bat first and they went all out, awesome innings by Gilly and the Queenslanders were happy Roy got a go too. What a fiasco at the end, we were cheering and clapping, the stands etc came out for the presentations, then the field is cleared and the cricket is back on……….in the dark. It looks much brighter on tv, believe me it was dark. It kind of spoiled the atmosphere, of course we didn’t really know what was happening until later but we thought it was rubbish and someone stuffed up, we were all still upset at the reduced overs due to the rain. Anyway Aussies never let a stupid decision ruin their fun and we won regardless and much partying was had by all.










Barbados Last Day
We got up this morning around 11, there were still bodies strewn across the pool deck and other people staggering back on the boat. We took a taxi down to the southern end of Barbados and had a good look around, it’s very different from the north, lots of big houses, it almost looks like suburbia. There is still a Caribbean quality, some homes aren’t painted or even rendered and only a few are fully finished off with a garden. We stopped back at St Lawrences Gap, quite a western area full of hotels, bars and restaurants, it’s on the sea but there aren’t many beaches here. We had lunch at the Flying Fish, it’s in a hotel with great views over the ocean. There is a wall built on the sea cliff edge and the local crabs crawl around the floor for awhile then jump back into the sea. We then stopped back at the Boat Yard where quite a few of us met up for a final drink in Barbados.




Sea Day
Had a final match briefing with Kerry and Merv. Merv usually is quite non committal in regards to players, well anything really, due to his selector duties but he was disgusted with how things ended. Kerry was dismayed that it would overshadow Gilly’s outstanding performance. We caught up with everyone and said our goodbyes, I packed and Steve enjoyed a few more beers.

Depart Galaxy at San Juan, fly to Monroe, Louisiana
Disembarkation wasn’t too horrific, we ignored most of the procedures and just left the ship with our luggage, they have our credit card, what more needs to happen. We made it through immigration and customs in about 20 minutes and jumped in a taxi to the airport. Got our laptops with movies etc to watch to wile away the time.