Today was supposed to be a sea day but instead we had an extra day in Martinique. I was here last November and only strolled around the town for a couple of hours because I knew I’d be back with friends.

After leaving the ship we agreed an island tour for €10 per person per hour. We had a couple of people join the six of us. We first drove to see the Sacre Coeur church at Balata. Then past the Alma River and up some steep hills. We could see the local volcano with it’s head in the clouds.

We stopped at the Distillerie Depaz, which is a rum distillery. I saw a water wheel and the grounds. There was sugar cane growing between the distillery and the sea, which was below the cliffs. Then I tasted some different flavoured rums. Something really odd that I’ve never seen before were the large piles of wine boxes, except they weren’t wine, they were 3 litre rum boxes!

Then a drive along the coast and back to the ship. When we got off, the driver tried to rip us off. He wanted €40 each, but had only given us just under 3 hours. He got €30 from each of and wasn’t happy.

After lunch Barbara and I strolled back into town scoping out restaurants for the evening. The Marella Celebrity was docked next to us and it’s the first time I’ve seen Aurora dwarf another cruise liner.

Rob, Linda, Barbara and I walked back into the town, which was about a ten minute amble. The choice had been between Mexican or pizza restaurants. In the event, pizza won. The restaurant was busy and the grumpy, frazzled manager was pushing tables together into fours as so many cruisers were eating there. He wasn’t happy, but his profits for the evening must have been way higher than usual. We each ordered a different pizza and shared it among us. Three of us had a draught Leffe each and Linda had a Sprite. It was nice to eat outside for a change.

Back on board we did quite well in the British soaps quiz, losing by two points. Then the other three went to bed, but the Hinds and I went to the music quiz in Masquerades as there was no Syndicate on tonight. We won with 36/40, mostly thanks to Linda. Unfortunately, you only get a stamp (they’ve replaced the stickers). I didn’t want mine, so let the Hinds have it.