Melons

Kirsty demonstrating her strength !

Melons!
Beware when ordering food items in units and  taking for granted that the size is going to be the same as the UK!  

Over here we get our fresh fruit from South Africa.  It is ordered in advance by only a few purveyors who have to get clearance from South Africa’s food administration and then Saint Helena Customs to get it to the shops. 
It travels for five days on the RMS St Helena and then spends possibly another day on the wharf over here. 

 I was looking forward to some oranges only to be told that they had been refused by the South Africans as not being fit for shipment. I was offered a variety of other fruits such as nectarines, plums, ruby grapefruit and watermelons.  As this is a once a month occasion I ordered the fruit as soon as I knew what might be available. 

Included in the order were two watermelons which from a UK perspective would have come to around £6.00 in cost and 6KG in weight.  Therefore it was much to my surprise that the invoice from the store stated two watermelons at  £19.00!  Now I know there are shipping costs and other extras but nearly £20 for two watermelons is a bit steep.  When I saw the items I could see why I paid so much for them, I have NEVER seen anything so large in the fruit line in my life!  These things could hardly be lifted and if one had been carved out it would made a cradle for a baby!  The lesson here is to check what size something is before ordering although when this is in a container on the ship it’s a tad awkward!

Trawling the internet for Watermelon recipes is now one of my hobbies!  Watermelon Sorbet is a permenant fixture on the menu which is no bad thing as the temperatures here at the moment are in the high 20's C!!

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