"KALEIDOSCOPE"

Picture a kaleidoscope.
Fill it with turquoise water, bright blue skies,
green palm trees and a golden sun
- lovely colours tumbling around,
reflecting smiles and laughs.

In the mood for a couple of turns of our kaleidoscope?

You’ll meet more of our cruising buddies,
some good friends from Canada,
and a family member or two.
And there just might be an island beach along the way.

We left Carriacou in mid-January.
On the way north, we ran into good cruising friends
Charles on ‘Margaret Sharon’ and Kathy and Greg on ‘Indigo’.
The ladies love Charles because he has a ready smile
and he likes to dance.

Here’s Charles dancing on the beach with Kathy and me,
in Friendship Bay, Bequia.

 All the husbands like Charles as well.

One reason might be that he likes to dance
and thus keeps the ladies happy?

The reason for dancing on the beach in Bequia
(not that we need a reason)

was the Bequia Mount Gay Music Fest

and Saturday’s free concert.

Our chosen vantage point changed when a group of young ladies

set up a table in front of us.

The blog photographer called this next photo ‘Rum Bums’.

Look what they were setting up. Mount Gay. Free tasting.

Here’s Greg, Kathy’s husband, checking out the choices with me.
Decisions, decisions.

So. No more pictures of that afternoon.
But there was definitely more dancing. It’s a bit of a blur.

Goodbye to Bequia and on to St. Lucia
to meet up with Dave and Rose Johnston
who were flying in to join us for ten days.
Their arrival night was a party on Beach House.
Fourteen people brought food and libations.
There wasn’t a shrinking violet to be found.
Lots of stories and lots of laughs.

Two days later we headed to Martinique with Dave and Rose.
It was a boisterous sail.

The seas were bigger than the pictures indicate,
with the wind at 20-25 knots, gusting higher.

A great day on the water.

We checked in at Marin, did a walkabout and had lunch.

Ste. Anne is just a short motor around the corner.

The public dinghy docks in the French islands are magnifique.
What a pretty little town.

Next day, Dave took the wheel to take us along the south coast of Martinique.

We passed Diamond Rock and headed up the west coast

to Grande Anse D’Arlet.

 

It was fun to play tourist, walking along the beachside promenade,
stopping for a cool one when needed.
Our last Martinique stop with Rose and Dave was Fort de France,

the capital of the island.

We walked and shopped.

And walked and shopped.

One more turn of the kaleidoscope finds us further up island in Antigua
to meet our daughter, Jodi, and our grandson, Max.

No sooner did Max come aboard and he turned into Gilligan.
But we did a little more than a three hour tour.

On the first full day we took the bus into St. John’s.
Here are the requisite tourist shots.

Next day we were off to the beach where Max gave body-surfing a try.

Grandpa taught Max the ins and outs of driving the dinghy.

He became our number one driver for the rest of the week.

 

And having visitors gave us the chance to see more of Antigua
than we had previously. We rented a car and hit the road.

So much of Eastern Caribbean history

and economy is tied to sugar cane.
Betty’s Hope Plantation is a rustic example of what life was like here
in Antigua for hundreds of years.

Devil’s Bridge is a limestone arch, formed by the pounding

of the Atlantic Ocean over the centuries.
Numerous blowholes surround the arch.

No tour of Antigua is complete without a stop at Shirley Heights
where the view of English and Falmouth Harbours speaks for itself.

Shirley Heights is part of Nelson’s Dockyard National Park.

The grounds and buildings are beautifully kept.

And the museum had a surprise for Max.

Antigua boasts 365 beaches, one for every day of the year,

so we wanted to get Beach House to one more
before the end of Max and Jo’s visit.

What a lovely sail from Jolly Harbour to Deep Bay.
Gentle winds, calm seas, and only five miles. Perfect.

Time for some fun in the water for Frogman Max.

Then a walk.

No beach visit is complete without the ‘dinghy shot’.

No dinghy shot is allowed to stay so normal.

Here's hoping Jodi and Max enjoyed their Antiguan vacation.

We did!

"GETTING TO KNOW YOU"

 

After three weeks in Grenada for the holidays,
catching up with our 'Grenada family',

we’re back in Carriacou.

(Map not to be used for navigation.)

We continue to enjoy getting to know

our ‘new favourite island’ a little better.

The Grenada Grenadines are made up of three primary islands
– Petite Martinique, big sister Grenada,
and the perfect gem in the middle, Carriacou.

At thirteen square miles and a population of less than 7,000 people,

this is an island where everybody knows everybody.

Spend a few months here and you’ll find the locals, the Kayaks,

remembering you with a ready smile.

Belair Park is at the highest elevation in Carriacou
and offers this view looking southwest over Hillsborough,
the capital city.

The main streets of Hillsborough can be busy one day

and empty the next – we’re not sure there’s a rhythm to it.

We take the local bus into the city once a week to go to the

money store and to buy gasoline for our dinghy and generator.

There’s surely something appealing about a place

that boasts one hundred rum shops and only one gas station.

The bus waits while we arrange to get the jerry can filled and

when we’re finished doing other shopping, the bus stops for pick up.

Try that in the big city.

And Patty’s Deli is a must-stop in Hillsborough for some treats.

That’s Christine behind the counter.

She knows we’ll be getting baguette, olives and blue cheese.

Possibly some chocolate. And maybe some sausages.

Is there any smoked fish today?

http://www.pattysdeli.com/

Carriacou was ceded to England in the mid 18th century,

but was originally settled by France, so French heritage

remains in some of the names, especially around L’Esterre.

We’ve walked from Tyrrel Bay to L’Esterre Bay several times,

passing this sign for a local restaurant on Sunset Beach.

We’ll check it out when we’re back in the fall.

And L’Esterre is home to the lovely Paradise Beach.

Note the crowds.

The Hardwood Bar and Snacket is cheap and cheerful.

We recommend the wings and fries. 

And also on Paradise Beach you’ll find this little boutique

in an old container. Fidel Productions sells local arts and crafts

with the emphasis on ‘art’.

There are t-shirts printed with local paintings,

wonderful ‘mojo’ jewelry that makes you smile,

hand-painted calabash shells, and colourful trinkets of every sort.

It feels more like a gallery than a shop.

http://www.fidelproductions.com/

Across L’Esterre Bay is the tiny island beach, Sandy Island.

It was stripped bare in a storm some years ago

– regrowth is slowly happening.

There are moorings there now, in an effort to protect the reefs.

Windward, a quiet little town on the northeast corner of Carriacou,

has a rich heritage of boat building.

It's clear that this boat had been under construction for some time.

Some of the frame pieces were weathered

while the recent additions were fresh, new wood.

Carriacou boats are built without written plans or molds

– everything is judged by eye. When a boat is finished,

word spreads, and there is a huge party as the new sloop is launched.

It would be wonderful to be on-island for one of these celebrations.

As we walked north beyond Windward,

every bend in the road brought another postcard scene.

At the northernmost point of our walk,

we turned to see this valley view.

 

There was a new concrete road through the valley.

Until there wasn’t.

Check out what awaited.

The walk was turning into a hike with the admiral lagging behind. 

But there were no significant inclines, the day wasn’t a scorcher,

and we were continually rewarded with views

of the rugged northwest coast of Carriacou.

We also had an end plan – the town of Bogles and The Round House.

This is a very popular restaurant – reservations are necessary.

We hadn’t booked so we were just stopping for a look-see

and maybe an ice cube.

The grounds are beautifully kept and there are two ‘cottages’.

This is the Mango Cottage.

But the main event is the restaurant – a visual treat for kids of all ages.

The restaurant wasn’t open on this particular day but the owner saw us

and opened the bar so we could have a cool refresher.

If you’re interested in the unusual story behind The Round House

and the family who conceived and built it,

get comfortable and check out the website.

http://www.boglesroundhouse.com/

The home base for cruisers in Carriacou is Tyrrel Bay.

The main road hugging the bay is home

to most of the businesses in Harvey Vale.

Restaurants abound. The Lambi Queen is well-known

for delicious lambi and lobster served up with fine local music.

The Twilight Bar and Restaurant offers free wireless

at their beachside 'branch'.......

 

......the Lazy Turtle has terrific pizza to eat-in or for take-away......

......and the Slipway Restaurant next to the yacht club,

at barely a year old, is fast becoming

a favourite happy hour hang out.

There are a handful of other little restaurants and rum shops

– gotta save something for our return trip.

We do most of our grocery shopping in Harvey Vale

at the Alexis Supermarket and the After Ours Market,

but on Saturday morning we buy our week’s worth of fresh produce

from two local entrepreneurs.

Rufus brings his own local produce so his inventory is small,

but he always has several kinds of basil and fresh chadon beni,

a great substitute for cilantro.

 

I’m also a big fan of his leaf lettuce – hardy and delicious.

Just off the commercial dock, Lucy makes us laugh

as she sells her produce from Grenada.

She has variety, quantity and quality.

We do a regular trip ashore on Saturday mornings 

to replenish our fresh stores.

Another Saturday event is watching the Carriacou

Junior Sailing Club have some fun.

Through donations and volunteer work from ex-pats who live here,

this lucky group of kids learn to sail and race in their Optimist dinghies.

We’ve enjoyed chatting with locals we’ve met

during our stays in Carriacou, and catching up with other cruisers,

old friends and new. We were recently invited

to a lime and barbeque on the beach, hosted by Rick and Carolyn,

former cruisers who now live here much of the year.

What a lovely way to say ‘goodbye for now’.

We’ll be on the ‘road’ north up the island chain in a few days
– literally with places to go and people to see.
But Carriacou has found a place in our hearts
and we look forward to coming back in the fall.