The Day I Did A COVID PCR Test At Windsor Park, The National Football Stadium In Dominica
“Cold cold heart – hard done by you. Some things look better, baby, just passing through” – Elton John.
Northern Ireland play their home matches at Windsor Park in Belfast. I’ve been watching them there for 5 decades now and I know the stadium well, through the years of it changing. The last night of the Windsor Park Kop was June 1996, a 1-1 draw with Germany, where we went 1-0 up through George O’Boyle and they pulled it back to equalise as well as missing two penalties. The newest upgrade occured between 2015 and 2016, when the Kop collapsed after we bate Finland 2-0 at home. I was a block booker there for years, part of the GAWA (Green and White Army). At one point I went 13 years without missing a home match, missing only 3 when I was in the country in a 20 year period (1990 to 2009). But life moved on when the backpacking dream all began. I couldn’t fly back suddenly to Belfast for every match. Unfeasible, unmanageable and unaffordable. The GAWA dream marches on around the globe, including this nuts day in Dominica…or should I say 3 day period…
In December 2021, I set out on a Caribbean tour. The original plan was to backpack 12 countries on one trip. This was going to prove one of my toughest in years due to COVID, PCR tests and a tight flight schedule. Somehow, I managed to backpack 11 of those 12 countries, with only Martinique missing out due to a missed boat. It meant that every other day, or every 48 to 72 hours, I’d need to get a brand new COVID PCR test to prove I was negative. Of course I was negative every time, still never contracted this “coronavirus”. I did 17 PCR tests – 16 were negative and 1 was “unable to detect” and here are the countries I did those tests in –
- Poland 4
- Northern Ireland
- Germany
- England 2
- Barbados 2
- Grenada
- Saint Vincent
- Saint Martin
- British Virgin Islands
- Dominica 2
- Saint Lucia
- The Seychelles
It was a zany time, I hated it. I must have spent about £2,000 on PCR tests and COVID scandals alone but for the love of whackpacking, I had to do it. After getting my Dominica Visa at the second time of asking (it was rejected first time), I landed on this green natural island in December 2021. I had to do a PCR test on arrival and the NEXT day I had to do ANOTHER PCR test just so that I could leave the day after. Looking back it feels like I spent most of those days in and out of hospitals and PCR test wards. I don’t know how I did it all in retrospect. I must have more patience than I thought. Sigh!
So on the 27th December I was allowed into Dominica at the airport as my PCR test on arrival was negative. They gave me the result straightaway! This “straightaway result” was something that also infuriated me at the time as other places would make you wait 48 hours, sometimes 72 hours for the result back in 2021 and 2022. Why can’t they just get the result immediately? If Dominica Airport can do it, why not everywhere? This was my PCR test timeline for Dominica
- 26th December I got a negative PCR test in Barbados. Allowed to board for Dominica.
- 27th December I landed in Dominica at dusk and got a negative PCR test. Allowed into Dominica (but not allowed to leave unless I had another negative test valid for 72 hours.
- 28th December I went at 8 a.m. to Windsor Park in Roseau, Dominica and did a PCR test. I had to wait in a queue for 4 hours. By midday I had done the test and had the rest of the day to backpack the sights of Roseau, tour the bars of Roseau and chill out at the excellent Roseau Valley Hotel. They told me the result would be given the next day, within 24 hours.
- 29th December I awoke at 8 a.m. and logged in online looking for PCR test results. Nothing. I toured the local area in the morning then at 12 noon I went back to Windsor Park. I had a negative result! Obviously! Then I toured two waterfalls in the afternoon – Jacko Falls and Emerald Falls. Early evening I flew to Guadeloupe. It was a nuts time, but I had actually seen and done all I wanted to do on Dominica so despite all the issues, I thank you Dominica for that.
Here are some photos and videos from that day queuing at Windsor Park, Dominica for the PCR Test…
Here are a few videos I made the day I did a PCR test at Windsor Park in Dominica:
