Oldies On Tour

After Jeff and Hillary left, the house felt quite empty, after all they only arrived a couple of days after we arrived, so this was really the first time we could relax on our own before Jane arrives.   We did a quick

No soberano though

shop though to get a bottle of “Brandy” in preparation for jane’s arrival as we know she enjoys a tipple in the evening.

Wednesday we had arranged to view a couple of boats in Jolly Harbour so we were up at an un-reasonable time.  We also missed Jeff at Breakfast today as he had mastered our “quirky” toaster and supplied the table with toast each morning, so we went without!!! 

We arrived at Jolly Harbour at the appointed time, met the yacht broker and was taken to view the main boat we’d arranged to view.

Lovely boat!

This was a Beneteau Oceania 430 kitted out as a live-aboard and strangely it is owned by a Spanish couple, though it sails under a Venezuelan Flag  which can be changed should we go past the looking stage.  Though this boat was 30 years old, it was immaculate both inside and out, and had been constantly upgraded over the years.   I have to say we were very impressed but we have found it a little earlier than we anticipated and are not really ready to go sailing this season: Oh well watch this space.

The other boat we wanted to view was in St Maarten, so that was out of the question; this time anyway.

Next we headed back to Radcliffe Quay in the port area of St Johns.  This historical area is also where the swanky, expensive shops are just outside the cruise ship terminal, strategically placed to catch the

Radcliffe Quay

“cruisers” as they come ashore and as they are boarding.   We had arranged to pay the deposit for 2-buggies for a 3-hour off-roading trip around the island when Lee and Sarah visit us early March.  It was very fortunate we didn’t wait to book as this activity is very popular, early March was the earliest they could accommodate us.  

Will need the Ibuprofen for this trip

Apparently the Cruise ships do block bookings and this time of the year there are many days when there are 3 in at once.

After a quick lunch back at the ranch we headed to Fort James beach for our daily exercise.  Today the beach wasn’t too crowded as we were later than usual and there was only 1 cruise ship in town.

A leisurely morning enjoying our independence and a second attempt by Christine to get our new USA “ESTA’s”, this time everything went to plan, we paid our money and we got confirmation our application had been received, approval should come within a few days.   We then

Lovely beach

prepped lunch and we were off, this time back to Pigeon Beach for the umpteenth time however, there was purpose to this repeat visit, we needed to go into Falmouth Harbour, firstly to confirm the rugby was on the TV at Cloggy’s bar and kickoff times and secondly, Christine’s flip flops had come to the end of their lives.   A new pair was needed and of course they couldn’t be a cheap pair from the local supermarket, oh

Good ones last longer

no, it had to be a “named brand” pair, still look on the bright side, built into the underside of each is a bottle opener; we won’t get caught out again on the beach!!!

Back home and after dinner the cards came out again.   There is a TV in the cottage but like most things here it’s needs an up-grade, poor picture and muffled sound.   We brought out the kit to be able to watch the numerous films I’d downloaded but with such distorted sound it is purgatory to listen to, hence many games of cards.

Week end planned

Today we set about housekeeping in preparation for the “Royal” visit, Jane arrives this afternoon.   

A couple of days ago we had a frog/toad pay us a visit, and this thing must like it here as we see it regularly, it is never far away and today is no exception as Christine found him sitting comfortably inside my swimmers that were hanging on the line.  But was that all, no, when Christine brought the mop bucket in, guess who jumped out and scarpered into the Kitchen, yes it was “Freddie” the frog.   I was quietly minding my own on the verandah when I heard this un-holy scream with the words “Geoff, get inhere quick”. There was Freddie stuck halfway up the. Wall.   After a few moments of jumping around a bit I caught and despatched him back to the garden; when will he visit us again I wonder!

Jane’s flight arrived early so we hot-footed over to the airport to meet her and to our astonishment she was in the first tranche of passengers to exit immigration and customs.   I suspect it was the desire for a fag, after all 8hrs is a long time to wait for one.  We count our blessings that we gave up smoking donkey years ago, none of this anxiety!

Arriving back at base the we broke out the “Rum Punches” and settled in for the evening; Jane is with us!!!!!

Half Moon Bay

Continuing our theme to get to as many beaches as we can, today is the turn of “Half Moon Bay Beach”, which is situated on the South East of the Antigua.   However before we go, we had to do our usual supermarket run.

Our drive to Half Moon was over roads we hadn’t been on before, driving right past

Cricket stadium

the Sir Vivian Richards cricket stadium, the new stadium built in 2007 for the cricket World Cup, held in the West Indies.  This 10,000 seater stadium sits majestically a few miles out of St Johns but is hardly ever used.  The roads are in desperate need of repair yet there is no money, crazy or what; still it’s all for the love of their main sport,

cricket.  A few years ago we visited their old

Old cricket stadium

cricket stadium, it was adequate, so why not throw about 20% of the cost of the new stadium, and then they could have used the rest to sort the roads!!!!   I suppose, having been on nearly all the roads in Antigua, the only decent bit of road is the bit outside the new stadium.  Moaning over, I  suppose the hot, sunny weather more than compensates for this inconvenience of bad roads!!!

Half Moon Beach was lovely apart from a ring of seaweed on the

Off to the bar

shoreline, I suspect there had been some bad weather in the Atlantic that caused this.

We enjoyed our lunch on some tables provided by the beach bar, probably shouldn’t have used them as they sell food, still we bought a couple of beers!!!

Idyllic settings for a drink

Being on the Atlantic coast we had some rollers which made the dip in the sea more enjoyable, and the beach also had sun beds with sunbrellars, so Jeff and Hillary were content.   Following our swim we went to the bar and I enjoyed the first, hopefully of many, “Pina coladas” whilst watching the world go by.

After an exhausting day, well for Christine and I, we headed back to base.

Sunday, and the four of us had an early start as we headed over to

Falmouth Harbour

Falmouth Harbour to watch the France V England game being televised from Paris.  We watched it in Cloggy’s bar here in the Caribbean, what could be better; we’ll being there I suppose or better still, an England win.  Never mind, we were amongst like-minded people all enjoying

No boats for sale here

the atmosphere.   Following the game we had a wander about the harbour drooling over some of the multi-million pound super yachts moored up before we had a snack lunch, after which we headed to Carlisle beach, number 11 of 365.  Years ago we dropped anchor in this bay and had enjoyed, though a wet day, at the “posh”

Carlisle Bay

resort on Carlisle beach, it was good to get back again.  The beach is in this  sheltered bay and swimming was a pleasure.

Tonight we were treated to a meal at the Italian restaurant in Jolly Harbour, excellent food though I question the “Italian” pedigree!!!!

An action packed Sunday ended with the

Italian restaurant

drive back to base camp.  Driving here at night brings a totally new meaning to “driving skills”; not only is one dodging the pot holes that can’t be seen ‘till the last minute, oncoming traffic have no idea about dipping headlights, they’re on full beam continuously.  No doubt the locals know each pothole individually, but as we are mere visitors we have to search them out, causing us to stop at times due to

Lovely setting overlooking the yachts

being blinded, still we got back safely.  In future going out after dark calls for a taxi.

Monday and it’s Jeff and Hilary’s last day and they elected to visit Fort James Beach, not too far from our cottage so after the usual morning chores we arrived at the beach, 12 of 365.   This beach being close to St Johns and the cruise ship terminal means it is more commercial and therefore busy, still as we were early and we would be

Always tell when the ships are in!

there for 4/5 hours, we also hired a couple of sun beds.

By early afternoon the beach was pretty busy as there were 3 cruise ships in, still the actual water was quiet enough so all was fine but around 1500hrs, there seemed to be mass migration, everybody went back to their ships and when we eventually left around 1700hrs, we were the last 4 people On this beach.

Beach to ourselves again

After our “last” supper 3 of us settled down to a game of Crib.   During the week we had re-aquatinted Jeff on how to play crib, something he used to play in his  youth.   His ambition tonight was to win one game, sadly, though he got very near he just couldn’t win.  During the evening as I was minding my own business concentrating on which card to play I felt something odd on my leg and as one does, I flicked it off.  Christine asked what’s the matter, and I told her, we then looked to see what it was.  Naturally I was accused of imaging it all but then to our surprise we saw a “toad/frog”, the thing on my leg.    It then jumped into the house and as we chased it, it had the good sense to jump into our cool box which had its top open to dry.   How fortunate for us and we dispatched it into the garden.  We didn’t fancy chasing it around the house trying to catch it!!!

This morning was about our guests packing etc., and for the first time this trip, Christine cooked us a full English late morning, and I must say it’s not too soon!!!!  To wile away some time, Jeff and I had a last game of crib and to his delight he won a game, he has now left with another happy memory.

Antigua airport built with Chinese money!

It was then time to head to the airport and send our guests off back  to the cold, damp, miserable UK weather whilst we returned to put our feet up ‘till Jane arrives at the end of the week.

Tuesday dawned with a beautiful clear blue sky, obviously the tropical rain showers have now passed, so today we headed to Galleon beach, 8 of 365, a small beach situated opposite the entrance to English

Galleon Bay

Harbour.  The last time we were there, there was a large resort with a taxi rank but sadly nothing now except for a small bar with no electricity.  Apparently the resort complex went bankrupt owing the electricity supplier US $ 485,000, still the beach was fairly empty with many yachts anchored just off, so we had some entertainment we could watch.

 Wednesday was the usual, leisurely morning and after the daily visit to the shop for the day’s food we headed to Runaway beach, one of the nearest to where we are staying; a simple procedure one might say, but no. SatNav directed us, or tried to round a sort of housing estate, well I suppose you call it that, then kept changing its mind telling us to turn

Runaway Beach

direction and we kept going over the same ground until we eventually arrived at an unmade road, nothing strange in that but the ruts and overhanging branches eventually forced us to turn back.  Jeff now consulted trip advisor and when it said this was a very easy beach to get to, well!!!   So we took a management decision and forgot about it for now, we’ll attack it another day and decided to go to Hawksbill beach, number 9 of 365.   En route we drove along the harbour where there were 3 cruise ships moored and one of them, the Crown Princess, is the one we will be travelling to Barcelona in April.

Hawksbill beach gets its name from the single rock sticking out in the

Hawksbill beach

sea shaped like a hawk, but as you keep looking at this rock you will see all sorts of animals.

Today was also the first time Christine and I got our snorkelling gear out as there were rocks at our end of this beach, but after quite a considerable time the only thing we noticed was an old, abandoned outboard engine, so we walked to the other end.  Here we saw another holiday complex, chalets etc but it appeared to be dead, nobody was around and we proved this by sitting on one of their sun beds.  Usually when that happens there is always some flunkey

Happy Carib day

hovering ready to take your money.   Travelling around the island we have come across numerous holiday projects either abandoned before completion, or closed down.  Perhaps Antigua is promoting Cruise ships, easy, take the money with minimal fuss, and they go, who knows.

After a pleasant lunch and swim we headed back but en route went via Runaway beach, by arriving at it from St Johns made it simple and we now discovered why SatNav led us astray.  There is a large body of water between us and Runaway beach with a causeway across the middle and this was the problem, we were unwittingly going along it when we turned round earlier in the day as we discovered the other end of it.  Looking at it I suggest even a 4×4 would have struggled to get along it, still job done.

Runaway beach before boy had raked it

Today; Thursday will be a change from the normal as we are going to Shirley heights tonight, so after the pantomime of yesterday morning we now know how to go straight to Runaway beach.   Breakfast took its normal course before we were on our way to the beach.  Again another change from the norm, we won’t be visiting the supermarket today as our plan is for lunch at “Mistic Bar” on beach 10 of 365

We arrived rather too early, and though the bar was accessible it wasn’t open, everything was locked away and the fellow on duty couldn’t tell us when the lady owner would be opening up.  Still we enjoyed having a table under cover, and off the beach to put our things on whilst we enjoyed “Runaway”, a two mile long stretch of white sand all to ourselves; there was no one there except us. Eventually the owner did turn up just before lunchtime and we managed to get some beers, but after looking at the menu decided not to eat there.  After a short discussion we decided to go to the KFC situated around the

Viewing area top of Shirley National Park

corner from our cottage.

Back home after a hearty KFC we leisurely readied ourselves for the night at Shirley heights.   We had never been on a Thursday before so this was going to be a new experience for us as we have always been on a Sunday.   A “Shirley Heights” night, is one big party with steel bands, lots of

Stunning views

drinking and bar-b-q up on top of the hill overlooking English Harbour and Nelson’s Dockyard.  This party takes place amongst the ruins of a lookout post and garrison, built by the British Navy in the 17th century on the south side of the island to keep a lookout for the French should they come and attack.  Apart from the “partying” this

Steel band keeping up entertained

hilltop is also a wonderful place to see the sun setting over the Caribbean; tonight, though quieter than the normal Sunday “bonanza” was not too  disappointing.

Driving home was interesting as I had enjoyed rather a lot of rum punches, still we made it without a hitch.   Note to myself, get taxi’s next time!!!

As a quartet we spoken about visiting other parts if Antigua, namely the north and east of the island but always got seduced with the prospect of doing as many of the 365 beaches as we can.  Today was the day we would have a drive around and find a

Sunset

suitable place to enjoy our packed lunch.

We headed to the North, following, ha ha ha, their coast road, pot holes and all.  This must be where the money is, we passed some magnificent looking houses perched above the sea with uninterrupted sea views.  We drove down several lanes and tracks but just couldn’t get down to the sea, money had seen to that!!!   We carried on and eventually arrived at the backside of V. C. Bird, Antigua’s international airport.   According to the map there is a road but we think the authorities try to discourage you from using it as it is a wide track with more than the usual potholes, they were ruts and the comfort of the passengers was more than a little uncomfortable but naturally we weren’t phased, we soldered on: poor Pepe 2, our Toyota car.   This track just kept going, as we did, alongside the runway of this airport built and paid for by the Chinese.

We eventually escaped and arrived at Parham, probably Antigua’s second “town”, a hamlet  of hand-built houses but as far as we could

Pigeon point bay

see, no shops but several religious buildings.   After another dead end we’d had enough, lunch was calling and as we still hadn’t found a suitable destination, we aborted.  Following another discussion we headed back to Pigeon Point beach, though half an hour away, it was the nearest to us.

Arriving soon after we luckily found a unused beach table and set about our late lunch.  After our usual swim and walk we headed back for our normal evening, funnily enough we were all ready for an early night; too much partying last night on Shirley Heights!!!!  Still a new day tomorrow 

Just love this view!

The weekend starts today, though there doesn’t seem to be much different to a weekday, life continues much the same here; hustle and bustle, noisy excitement from the locals, cruise ships arriving at

Rumbus beach

regular intervals and warm “lovely” weather to-boot; so far so good.

We are quite surprised by the frequency of the tropical showers, our recollection is they weren’t as frequent as they are now, so either we are remembering through rose coloured glasses or it’s global warning; on this occasion I don’t think we can blame Brexit!!!  Anyway we are carrying on regardless and today we’ve selected “Rum Bus Beach”.

After a leisurely breakfast, Jeff and I slipped to the local supermarket to get “stuff” for our picnic lunch before heading off.  Strangely, being Saturday late morning the roads into St Johns were busy and our

St.Johns Market

SatNav took us round the side streets to avoid it: very interesting!!!   

A visit to the central vegetable market in St Johns along the way was an interesting, though disappointing as it wasn’t the bustling centre of activity we had expected.  There were many stalls outside in the surrounding streets, but inside it was virtually closed down.  We weren’t sure if we were too late or if was the wrong day of the week, still we’ll give it another try, on another day.  

En route to this beach, number 5 of 365, we stopped off at Jolly Harbour to book our trip to Montserrat for next Tuesday.  We had been to this tour agent earlier in the week to make the enquires but when we turned up to book, the woman was flabbergasted, she didn’t think we would actually return to book up, she was over the moon!!!

Cabana’s on beach

Arriving at Rum Bus Beach we booked straight into the bar/Restaurant “arrangement”  and settled into our own “Cabana” but were told we couldn’t eat our food there.  I suppose they wanted us to eat theirs, selfish or what!   Christine and I went first, we sat in the car eating our lunch and Jeff and Hillary followed us.   At the bar we ordered 3 Caribs (local beer) and made them last all afternoon, well not quite as we brought ours from the car and hid them under the table.  When we had finished one bottle we exchanged it for one of ours.   So every time the waitress came around asking if we wanted another drink we told her we hadn’t finished the ones they gave us; a cunning plan or what!!!    I am sure if they had been reasonable about our picnic, we would have spent a lot more money with them!

Because the weather had been a little inclement, the sea wasn’t its

Rumbus beach

usual calm self and getting over the breakers was hard enough, but getting back out was a major task, nearly as bad as Copacabana beech!!!!!   Still a very pleasant afternoon was had with lots of sunshine.   And upon returning home we enjoyed our first, hopefully of many rum punches.

After a hearty dinner prepared by Jeff and Hillary we sat down to play cribbage.  Jeff had played back in his youth but it was new to Hillary so learning was the order of tonight.  We also received a ‘phone call from the tour agent in Jolly Harbour telling us that the ferry between Antigua and Montserrat would not be running next week so our trip was cancelled and we should call by the office Sunday to collect our refund.   Being Antigua, of course our deposits had been paid in “cash”, no credit cards!!!

Jolly Harbour

Sunday arrived with very grey clouds and incessant rain showers so we sat on the porch wondering what to do. Still the rain came down so we eventually got into the car and headed off to Jolly Harbour to either collect our deposit or try and re-book for another day.   

Though the rain kept coming and all the potholes in the roads were full, the drainage system generally seemed to work, but observing how green everything is, they are obviously used to it and take this “inconvenient” rain in their stride.

Arriving at the door to the booking agent, disappointment set in, they

Coffee time

were closed, grrrrrr, why did she tell us to come in today!!!   Oh well it was coffee time so enjoyed one, sitting under a covered gazebo, looking over the marina and being entertained by the comings and goings of the “yachties”.   So it was back home via the Supermarket for a re-think of our plans.

After lunch the rain eventually stopped but the sky was still full of menacing clouds so the decision was taken to cancel the plan to visit Shirley Heights, however to do “nothing” wasn’t an option so Christine, Jeff and I

Dark skies, but lovely and warm

headed to Dickinson Bay, beach number 7 of 365 for a swim.   Though we had had much rain the sea was very calm, as it should be, so getting in and out was a doddle. Christine and I enjoyed a long time in the water as the sun slowly started to emerge from the clouds whilst Jeff caught up with some reading.   After a walk along the beach we packed up and returned home.  Of course by now it was a nice evening and with blue sky appearing everywhere, Shirley heights would have been OK but too late now as

Dickenson Bay

one has to get there at 1600hrs when they open, to have any chance of a good viewing spot.

Tonight the “Creeks” challenged the “Pages” to a game of crib but starting fairly late and taking a bit of time only one game was played and the “Creeks” won, we’ll play again to restore our honour!

Monday dawned bright and beautiful, blue sky and naturally warm so

Hunter too light but very cheap

Turners beach, number 7 of 365 was today’s destination though en route we had to collect our money due to the cancellation of our Montserrat trip.   First we had the daily shopping chore before heading off and once completed we were on our way.   Whilst Jeff was collecting our deposit in Jolly Harbour tours office, I popped into the yacht broker to “just” have a look at what’s available.    OK, slight change of plan.    We dropped Jeff and Hillary off at Turners beach and returned to the broker as we had arranged to view

Another of the boats we looked at

2 sail boats!   Both very different but OK though not quite what we would want “should” we buy one: the broker has our e mail address and telephone number!!!

Back to Turners beach where, hot and sticky we headed straight to the sea to cool off, the weather today is as it should be, hot with wall to wall blue sky and a gentle breeze.   

Back at the ranch the evening went much the same as the others, dinner, crib and earlyish to bed; all this exercise is wearing us out!!!

Monday 20th and after breakfast; first things first, we had to find a car.   We had been advised that one had to hire from the recognised

Pepe

car hire company at the airport who generally charge around US$40 per day + tax.  Normally that would have been fine but for 65 days, well!!!! So we went searching and eventually found a local outfit who gave us a weekly rate, including tax that worked out around US$25, that’ll do.  The car was delivered, and additionally the drop-off point can be the airport with no extra costs, very good.  Naturally for theses

Jolly Harbour

rates it isn’t a brand new shiny model with only a handful of miles on the clock, no, it’s more of a yesterday car with about 90k miles on the clock, and though it rattles as it goes over or through the numerous potholes there are on the roads around here, it comes out the other side just like a brand new shiny one. 

For our first run out we went to Jolly harbour, a large marina and resort complex with numerous condos,

Jolly harbour rentals

golf course etc.,  where of course memories of our earlier trips aboard “Whitbread” and “ Anam Cara” came flooding back; oh well things have to move on.  On the way we bought ourselves a local SIM card, a far cheaper option than using roaming for local calls etc.    We sat in the waterside bar enjoying a couple of beers, reminiscing before we headed back.

Tuesday; Jeff and Hillary, friends from the U.K. fly in today but unfortunately our car, known as “Pepe” is far too small so Christine elected to stay back at “the ranch”.   Prior to me heading to the airport we had a change around with furniture etc., to give us more room and make things “flow” properly.

After lunch I set off knowing the flight was predicted to arrive about 30 minutes ahead of schedule but when I arrived at the airport, an Air Canada flight running late piped them,and landed first so much of the

Geoff daydreaming over boats

30 minutes gained was wasted. Naturally it didn’t end there as the Canadian flight, with over 200 people on board arrived into the immigration hall first!!!  the bottom line was a wait for well over an hour before they appeared.   Now to get into the car, a feat in its self and a jolly good job Christine stayed behind, there was definitely no space for 4 people with luggage for two!   Note to self, upgrade to a bigger car.  We had a quiet evening with the 4 of us getting acclimatised, after all we will be living in this quaint cottage for the next two weeks!!!

After a leisurely morning and a supermarket shop we headed to Darkwood beach, one of the 365 beaches in Antigua.  It was good to get into the sea, our holiday had now started, though it did take us a

Dark wood beach

little by surprise temperature wise, but we soon acclimatised!!  A not to healthy lunch was had on the beach and after another dip and a walk, we headed to Jolly harbour as we wanted to visit a travel agent and enquire about day trips to Montserrat and Barbuda.   Whilst there I took the opportunity to visit a broker and see what was for sale, fatal!!!!!   Arriving back at the house a larger car was delivered, still a yesterday one but far better.

English harbour

Today we went to Nelson’s Dockyard at English Harbour for some history, always an entertaining place to visit and see how the other half live on their 150ft yachts crawling with crew.    This week also saw the Atlantic rowers arriving so there was a lot of activity on the quayside.   Today we had the healthy option, a picnic of salad,

English harbour

cold meat and fruit on Pigeon point beach, number 2 of 365 where we also enjoyed the warm waters of the Caribbean looking across at all the boats moored in Falmouth Harbour; my mouth was drooling!

Driving to and from English harbour in the

English harbour

larger car was much more of a pleasure, comfortable, leg room and a tiny bit more “poke” all added to the day’s enjoyment.i

The weather forecast for today, Friday, is overcast, though still around 27-degrees with showers so a morning of chores and shopping took place. Unfortunately our fridge is rather small, especially for 4, so daily shopping is a must.  After an early lunch accompanied by a tropical rain shower, we headed back to jolly harbour to book a trip to Montserrat for next week.  This was followed by a trip to “Ffryes beech”, number 3 of 365. This mile long beach of white sand was

Dispite the clouds, it was a lovely swim

completely empty,  due to the inclement weather we suspect but it was stunning nevertheless and we enjoyed a rather long time in the warm Caribbean water.  Today also saw me trying to contact a yacht broker to view a particular yacht that is for sale here, “head and heart”, but unfortunately the brokerage was closed, Christine thinks she got away with this one!!!!

Driving here in Antigua is very interesting, apart from dodging all the pot holes, one has to dodge the other cars, vans, taxis and buses that

So many empty beaches

try and attack you; rules, what rules, still it’s all good fun, ant thanks to SatNav, one doesn’t have to keep looking for signposts that don’t exist.

Tomorrow we head for beach 4 of 365