Ascension : My Trip to Ascension Island Thu 26 Jul 07 – Loo Douglas
Submitted by The Islander (Gavin Yon) 09.08.2007 (Article Archived on 23.08.2007)

It was a wet and windy day at MOD Southwick Park and I thought where can I go to see some sunshine?

It was a wet and windy day at MOD Southwick Park and I thought where can I go to see some sunshine? A few emails and faxes later I found myself at RAF Brize Norton in the queue to fly down to Asi…Hooray I made it on and I was off!

Waiting for me at the other end were my very good friends, Chris & Helen Owen and their son Luke. We’ve all been friends a number of years and they invited me come and stay and show me around the place….on arrival I decided to make a diary of events to remember my adventures in Asi……

• Thu 26 Jul – Made it on board for the flight to Ascension Island!


• Fri 27 Jul - Arrived feeling good as I managed a bit of a sleep in between the movies shown on the flight. Greeted by Chris as he was working the flight. Helen and Luke then took me back to their lovely bungalow for a nice cuppa and catch up. The sky was a bit cloudy so I sat in the garden and had a bit of a dose and woke up to find  I’d burnt my leg….Helen then gives me a bottle of Children’s Factor 30 Sun cream…I should of known better as I am a bit fair being a Ginger! After Chris finished work we went for a bimble around and they showed me the beaches with the turtle’s nests and then onto Comfortless Cove and Bonetta Cemetery…they told me all the details of the sailors buried there…..sad place…I did  expect Johnny Depp to jump out as it looked like a scene from “Pirates of the Caribbean!”


• Sat 28 Jul – Up and out early for a walk to North East Bay heading towards Boatswain Bird Island. Made my name out of some rocks and took a picture of a blow hole before heading onto Two Boats for a dip in the pool. Had my first Savannah cider which went down very well, then headed off to the V.C for lunch.


• Sun 29 Jul – Had a great time at English Bay…took awhile to get used to snorkelling with flippers but with a bit of help from Helen  I got the hang of it and went off in search of Nemo and his friends. Great day out!


• Mon 30 Jul – Chris & Luke took me up to Green Mountain to do the letterbox walk to Dewpond. Great views from the top and amazing to see the difference from the lovely sandy beaches to then feeling like you’re on a misty hill in Wales! Only wish the Red Lion was open as it must have been great having a pub there in the days gone by! In the afternoon we walked along Long Beach to Pirates Cove, then back into Georgetown, to the swimming pool to cool off. In the evening we went night fishing where the boys caught lots of fish.


• Tue 31 Jul – Back to English Bay to top up the bits of me that weren’t burnt…Luke enjoyed using his new spear…I declined to take a turn as I’m far too clumsy and it would have been an accident just waiting to happen if I had had a go! As Luke went of to camp in the hills with the Scouts, the grown-ups went to the Anchorage Restaurant for a lovely meal and a few beers…my tuna was yummy!


• Wed 01 Aug – Helen set off early to print & collate “The Islander” so I popped down and gave her a hand….that’s where we come up with the idea to write this! We then had a treat of fishcakes followed by homemade cake at Reflections (noticed my waistline is expanding) and we followed this by more sunbathing at Dead Mans Beach. We ended the day with a lovely sunset and a bbq where we ate the fish caught earlier in the week…very nice too!


• Thu 02 Aug – My last day…Boo! Headed for the beach for a panic tan…burnt bits now getting slightly better…pleased with that! Got a few last minute gifts then headed off to the V.C for a huge supper…love those onion rings!

Then before I knew it I was saying my farewells and off home…

It was an amazing place to visit and I feel very lucky that I was able to do it!

Big Thanks to Chris, Helen and Luke for being such good hosts and really packing a lot into such a short time….it was brilliant!

Back at my desks now and looking at the cloudy weather….my burnt bits are much better and I did eventually go a bit brown! I’ve now sadly stopped waving at all the cars over here….I think they must of thought I was mad, but I really liked that idea in Asi….lovely place…lovely people!