Diving & sailing

Yesterday we sailed from sandy island, L'esterre where we slept the night before to Mayreau after clearing customs in Hillsborough. We left Grenada to enter St Vincent & the Grenadines and you have to check out and in each time you leave another country or islands part of a country even when on the boat.

 

It was interesting walking around the town of Hillsborough and I took some lovely pictures there which I'll share once we're home.

 

Simone and the guys did their second dive yesterday. It was a wreck dive and they all said how great it was. Lots more video editing for me to come from all the dives they do! Colleen and I enjoyed a relaxing snorkel. We were anchored near a beach with some rocks to one side too. The water was calm and it was sunny so made for a beautiful snorkel. We spotted baby sergeant majors the size of my thumb nail complete with their black and yellow stripes, a large starfish, trumpet fish and many others.

 

Yesterday evening we had sundowners in the shallow water on the beach, hanging around on the water hammocks and noodles until the sun went down. Heaven!

 

 

 

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Snorkelling at an art exhibition

Our flight from Barbados finally left at 8am and we got to Grenada around 9. Last hiccup in our journey: when we got to the immigration desk the lady wanted to know where we'll be staying. I had filled in yacht Madiba but she wanted to know which marina the yacht was in and I didn't even know any marina's name so couldn't even make something up. I explained that we have a taxi waiting to take us to the yacht. I didn't know then that my dad and sister were actually outside waiting for us since 6.30 am already! The guy went out to check that there really was someone waiting for us and after a while came back to say yes it's fine we can go.

 

So we finally made it!

 

We had the most amazing first snorkel here. In a bay artists have placed sculptures under water. You swim around trying to find as many as you can. They are all over. At first it feels creepy when you suddenly come across a ring of people standing under water. They look so real and are life size. They are slaves tied together. We find a guy on a bicycle, a woman on her knees praying, people lying face down in the sand. Statues of people that is of course. We find a mermaid and my dad swims down and places his mask and snorkel on her for a photo. Then a bench and everyone with a long enough breath swims down to sit on it while Andre videos.

 

 

 

The fish here are amazing too. So so many and they're so big! The parrot fish are all huge. Bigger than I've ever seen and so are the blue tangs. I've never seen them so big. We see a school of squid. They always hang round in a line. Strange. I don't know why they do that.

 

Then we come across a man sitting at a desk and again my dad swims down to have a chat with him at his desk.

 

Apparently there is also a statue of a pirate which we didn't find. We start swimming back to the boat when another boat arrives with loads of people. Along the reef my goggles start fogging up for the second time, making it hard to see much so I swim ahead back to the boat. I'll need to clean it with some toothpaste. That helped last time when the anti-fog sea drops didn't do the job. Right before I reach the boat a school of (again larger than I've seen before) bait fish swim right at me as though something's chasing them. They change direction when they get close and spot me. It's a real privilege to be in the water with all these beautiful creatures.

 

 

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A disastrous start to a summer holiday

We were booked to depart on Friday morning. Thursday morning I started our online check in in the hopes to get us some good seats on the flight from London to Barbados. What a shock to then see on the British airways website that the leg from Barbados to Grenada with Liat airways was cancelled. It said there to contact BA which I did. The person confirmed that this flight was indeed cancelled but that I needed to contact the agency who booked our tickets. Andre eventually managed to get hold of them during the day, Thursday. It was booked online so we didn't exactly have a specific person we booked with but anyway, after much correspondence Andre let me know that it's all sorted and the best they could do was to get us onto a flight from Barbados to Grenada the next morning at 6am instead.

So we booked a hotel for the night. I was at first very disappointed that we'd be having a later start to our holiday with our family but in the end made peace with it and thought it could actually be nice to spend an evening in a hotel with my husband. From the website the hotel looked pretty nice with a pool and bar right by the pool so I had visions of us sipping cocktails by the pool (virgin cocktails for me of course) and spending some time together on our own.

Checking in at the hotel was another joke. I booked online through the hotel's own website and was emailed confirmation with the price to pay. But on arrival the receptionist was not expecting us at all. She was like, what you want to stay here? It was so strange and very unprofessional. It took her ages to do what she needed to do. I was hot and bothered and pregnant and not having any nonsense from her.

She got on the phone with our confirmed booking print out I gave her to find out what she needed to charge us. She wanted to still add tax as well as an additional charge per person per room. After it clearly showed on the paper I gave her the tax amount before the total as well as that I paid for two people. After about three phone calls about the price to someone I made her understand I will not pay one extra cent than what their own website quoted me. She agreed and we paid. Then back on the phone to find out whether she needed to give us a receipt. Really?!! Of course you give someone a receipt if they just paid you money! She said we'd have to come back for the receipt later and we left it at that because clearly it was going to take her a long time to work out how to do the actual receipt on the computer. I asked her whether there were other people staying at the hotel as it looked deserted. She started answering me but then as someone walked by she went to speak to this person to order herself a sandwich. In the end we found out there was one other person staying in the hotel. It was a big hotel with 4 conference rooms, a very large pool with green water which we decided might not be safe for swimming in. The rooms were nice, clean and we had a balcony over looking the (green) pool. We stayed in the room, just relaxing and decided to use the time to practise the hypnobirthing exercises. Also to help calm me after dealing with the lady at the reception desk.

Oh while at the desk another lady came on shift and I thought she might be more clued up so when our lady went off to check our room was ready (twice) I decided to ask this other lady about the airport shuttle they mention on their website for the next morning. She said yes she can book us a taxi. But didn't do anything about it. I gave her the time and asked whether she will be booking it and she said ok. Clearly not all there so I gave up.

The hotel also has a bowling alley and it was clear the local youth enjoyed this on a Friday night. We walked over there to get dinner and asked to have it as take outs so we could have it in our room. While waiting we had some drinks and when the food arrived the girl said we didn't have to pay for the drinks. We paid for the food. Thought it a bit strange but anyway, walked back to our room. We were hardly back in the room when the phone rang. The bartender wanted his money for the drinks we had!! Andre had a burger and chips. The burger was edible but the chips really oily. I really really wanted nachos from when we were still in the UK so I was excited to see it on the menu at the hotel. But they didn't make it anymore so I ordered chilli cheese fries. It would have been edible had I had salt to have over it. I maybe had 6 chips then gave up. We walked back to the bowling alley, Andre had another beer and I wanted to get a bottle of water anyway and we paid for it all this time.

The other funny thing is, they would give you the price in Barbadian dollars. for example our bar total came to B$20. I said we wanted to pay in US$. The bartender thought for a while and then said ok $11. So they just make it up as they go.

We told the receptionist we will be checking out at 4.30 and needed a taxi to the airport. All was pitch dark in the reception area this morning. We found a guy sleeping in a chair nearby. i called to him and he then woke up the receptionist. She said that guy could take us to the airport. He just went back to his chair and back to sleep. I stood in the middle of the room not believing my eyes!! I asked him whether he will be taking us or not, he said he works at the hotel. Eventually the receptionist told him to take us. At he airport I ask him how much, he said to just give him something. I reckoned the airport taxi must have been a rip off, this guy doesn't usually drive guests and would have no cue what taxis charge so gave him just under half what the actual taxi charged. We were happy to have made it safely to the airport.

Finally we can be on our way to see the family in Grenada. Just an hour's flight and we'll be there. Whats the chance! At the flight check in counter we get told we have to pay another US$300 since we changed our flight. We tried to argue but paying was the only way to get us on the flight. Apparently the original flight never was cancelled. We're taking this up with the travel agents and will be fighting to get our money back.

So now were still sitting waiting for our flight to depart from Barbados to Grenada. Our 6am flight has now twice already been delayed by an hour each time. At the moment we're hoping it will leave at 8am...

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Baby bits

daddy built the cot

more to do but the room is looking much
better already. Might need to move the phone
off the windowsill before baby discovers
pressing buttons!

me and baby bump at 24 weeks

and 26 weeks, but this outfit didn't really
make me look very pregnant so I changed...

looking a bit more pregnant! It all depends
on what I'm wearing.

This one from the previous blog was taken
last weekend at 27 weeks. Exactly 3 months
away from my estimated due date. The next
one at 28 weeks will be when we're on holiday.

A summer's evening walk

We went for a walk last Sunday evening. Right here from our home we walked to the forest area, trying out a new route through the forest and then across some fields of the farms in the area and back through the allotments in our village.

start of the walk...

a sea of ferns, sometimes they're waist high

lots of large water lilies 

walking across a recently harvested field

poppy fields on another farm

not many poppies left

exactly 6 months along! 3 more to go!

on our way back home

detour through the allotments to compare their crop

and a chat to the friendly locals scored us this large marrow!
Next time we'll take a basket!

Sunny weather makes for successful gardening

With the lovely warm weather we've been having the garden has been growing really well.

All the flowers my mom helped me plant when they visited
are looking beautiful.

This is the largest of the courgettes. Many more in various
stages so looks like we'll at least have success with
courgettes this year!

This pumpkin plant is winning the race for biggest and best
looking at the moment!

Many butterflies in the garden. They must
also be enjoying the summer weather.

BVI Holiday May 2013

We landed on Tortola the evening of 19 May. Dad and Colleen met us at the airport even though by now we feel very at home in the BVI and know the little path leading down to the beach from the airport. The sticky heat felt wonderful and my skin was happy to have a break from being continuously dry and flaky even with loads of moisturiser in England. We walked down to the dinghy dock together, went back to the yacht to wait for Andre's parents flight to get in.

The next morning we got to go on a helicopter ride over the islands which was just amazing. If you're ever in the BVI, you must make the time to do this. We went with Antilles Helicopter Services. We got some beautiful photos and video (which I'm still editing).

From Trellis Bay after the heli ride we went on to Guana Island for lunch. There is actually a rock sticking out over the sea which looks so much like an iguana when you're approaching. From here we went on to Brewer's Bay, Tortola where we snorkeled, kayaked and some tried out the stand up paddle board.

Conch blowing competition!

The following day the divers got to go on their first dive at Brewer's East while the rest of us snorkelled. We had  lunch at the beautiful White Bay with sundowners at Foxy's. We even spotted a southern ray right under the pier before getting back into the dinghy.

Now here's something funny and a warning too: Don't go on hammocks after enjoying sundowners! (This was on a walk along the beach at Foxy's.)

Posing on the hammock:

Oh so relaxing...

Let's put our feet up... whoops!!

Keep your feet firmly on the ground when hammocking!

On Wednesday there was more diving at Rainbow Canyon, Peter Island where the guys also managed to get a lion fish. These beautiful fish unfortunately destroy the reef fish and coral as they are not native to this area. They have no natural predators and so just multiply becoming a problem in the BVI. Wednesday evening we enjoyed sundowners on the beach at Pirate's Bight which they have now completely renovated and looks amazing.

Thursday morning the guys dived at Ring Dove Rock before we went on to Tortola where Marietjie and I went to swim with the dolphins. Always a great experience.

The next morning the guys did two dives on the RMS Rhone, the Royal Mail Steamer which stranded off Salt Island in 1876. I wrote more about it in a previous post which you can find here. Marietjie and I snorkelled above the wreck. The water was rather choppy which didn't make it all that comfortable but worth seeing the wreck from above. You can watch a video of a previous dive the guys with Simone did at the Rhone.

The evening was spent at Leverick Bay to watch the Jumbies show.

The following day the guys did a dive at Cow's Mouth, Virgin Gorda while us girls snorkelled there and then went on toe Eustasia Island where we spent the night.

Saturday morning it was time for the Poker Run. A well known cigarette boat race for charity. It was a hot day, loads of people, many coming across from nearby Puerto Rico. We spent some time before the race on land at Leverick Bay admiring the boats showing off their engines and blaring music! There was quite a party atmosphere. Before the race was about to start we made our way back to Madiba. We had an absolute prime spot - affording us to be in some heli shots taken from the air as well! From the boat we were able to see the dock and the boats pass towards the start of the race. There is not that much to see as they race actually starts but lots of white water as the boats speed away. Apparently Prince Harry joined a leg of the race, but must have been well protected as we weren't able to spot him.

From Leverick Bay we went on to Long Bay, Virgin Gorda for the night where we enjoyed another beautiful snorkel.

On Sunday the divers went for another two dives, one at a dive site called Broncho Billy at George Dog, and another at Coral Gardens where there is the plane wreck. Again Marietjie and I got to snorkel above the wreck, following the divers all the way from above. I've made a video of a previous dive here.

From here we went on to Trunk Bay where we spent the night. This was near The Baths. We also went in to Spanish Town to fill the tanks and get some groceries here. I always enjoy nosing around foreign grocery stores.

Early the next morning dad took us to The Baths. Good thing we went so early too as we were practically the only ones there and so were able to get lots of good photos without other tourists in our shots! On our way back a tour bus arrived at the top and people flooded the little beach. Luckily we had all our photos and were on our way back to Madiba by then.

After visiting The Baths the guys did two more dives that day. Busy diving holiday but they loved it! First one was Ginger's Backside. I know, strange name!! And the second was called Cistern Point. These were more new dive sites Andre had not done on previous trips. 

For lunch we went to Cooper Island which is another of my favourites. Really pretty and calm little bay, with lovely snorkelling. The restaurant here has also been renovated or was perhaps just in the process of being renovated when we were here previously as it looks really nice now. They even have a camera underwater and when you sit in the restaurant bar you can then watch the fish live as they swim past the camera.

Another two dives on Wednesday: first was the wrecks Fearless and Willy T off Peter Island and after that they did Randy's Reef nearby. We spent the night at Great Harbour, Peter Island, another favourite snorkelling spot, where we were so lucky to see a ray jumping out of the water. My first time seeing that!

Early the next morning I was on a mission to see the big five, well two. I did the same here before: jumped in early on the day before we're due to leave the islands to go for a last really good snorkel, searching for turtles and rays. And as before I got to see a big turtle practically as I got in the water. I followed him for quite a while, he was really peaceful and not at all bothered by my being there. As I turned, right beneath me was a big spotted eagle ray. They're so beautiful. It too was very relaxed, I suppose with not anyone else in the water yet, they were calmly enjoying their early morning breakfasts and not in a hurry anywhere. After a while the spotted eagle ray swam off and next there was a southern ray. A successful early morning snorkel!

We sailed to Trellis Bay where the airport is as we had to leave the next day and had dinner at The Last Resort on the little island in the bay there. The next morning we had a last snorkel all around this little island where we spotted more rays among other fish.

Ended off walking up the beach to the airport with Sir Richard Branson behind us on his way to his private plane. We wished we could have joined him in his more comfortable and faster means of transport!

Another amazing holiday with our family on Madiba in the BVI. (12 days and 11 dives- a dream for the divers and just as perfect for the non-divers!)