St Helena Marine Awareness Week and the Costa Neorivieria

7/4/2014

Costa Neorivieria from the top of Jacob's Ladder

Monday saw the arrival of the Costa Neoriveria with over 1000 passengers on it. Considering previous cruise ship visits, there was some concern as to whether the ship would allow its passengers ashore. She arrived at 7.00am and by 9.00 the little orange tenders were shuttling the mainly Italian visitors across to the island. Tours were booked and Jamestown took on a cosmopolitan feel with tourists strolling around and taking in the scenery. By 4.00pm it was all back to normal with everyone back on board and the ship departing for its next port of call.

Sushi St Helena Style

The arrival coincided with the start of Marine awareness week which as we are surrounded by such a large expanse of ocean is probably one of the most appropriate events in the calendar.

The week includes a variety of events, pitched at education and raising awareness of marine issues.
Our part to play was to provide a stall offering a variety of seafood items which were not normally available here. We chose Sushi as the leading food item as it’s something that most people have heard of but over here many have never tried it.

Induction cooking on St Helena!

Are the Fishcakes cooked?

Checking out the Sushi

There was some thought over how to make the Sushi easier to accept and enjoy as the trend here is to cook tuna very well. It is used in many curry dishes over here.

Also there was the wasabi issue! Wasabi, as anyone who has tasted it, is somewhat like chilli or oysters, in that it is an acquired taste which needs to be developed gradually.

Eventually a variety of Sushi and Sashimi were decided upon, including some sweet sushi which were made with coconut rice and mango. We need not have worried; the sushi went down a storm and was soon gone, as were the trio of flavoured fishcakes which the students had made to their own recipes.

The grand finale of the day was the fishing competition which entailed most boats leaving at 4.00am and returning at 3.00pm with their catch.

A variety of fish were caught with the largest of each species attracting prizes. There was also a prize for the biggest catch by weight. By 4.00pm when the catches were being weighed, everyone on the island seemed to have made their way to the wharf.

Children were waiting in line for a go on a jet ski or a large inflatable tyre which was dragged at high speed across the bay. I would have loved to have had a go on that one! Music drifted across the bay as more and more folk made it down to the wharf. I left at around 6.30pm and things were just getting started for the evening. The Saints really do know how to put on a community event; it was a marvellous day for all with an atmosphere of warmth