Trying to catch up...
Saturday, yesterday, we mixed and poured concrete all morning for the base of the retaining wall at the front of the pad at the house. After lunch there was very little for me to do it seemed so I asked for and got an hour or so to do laundry. Then I returned to the work site, having hung all my clothes, sheets and towels out to dry, to help out with finishing that section of the wall.
There was the usual Saturday Happy Hour at 4:30. I was in charge of doing the ice. After fulfilling that commitment I took a shower and changed into clean clothes. One of the boat owners brought along his guitar and the words to 2 songs he had written about sailing. The second song was one he wrote that afternoon which contained the names of most (if not all) of the boat names in the anchorage. Both songs were comical and had everyone laughing. It was nice to have a little entertainment for the party.
I was exhausted and after a very light supper I went off to write in my journal but did not get far before I was falling asleep. Bedtime was early and I was sound asleep before 9:30. The next thing I knew it was after 6:00am. Good night's sleep. Must have needed it.
The photographs are currently being uploaded to my ftp site and should be up on the blog page sometime this week. The satellite internet connection here is quite alot slower than even a phoneline connection and is often knocked out entirely by high winds and heavy cloud cover. Combine that with a multitude of people wanting to get on the computer and it gets very difficult to accomplish this task. I'll send out a notification to everyone when the photos are posted.
Today was a quiet day for me. My poor, old, out of shape body needed a rest. Every muscle, tendon, ligament and bone was screaming at me for a rest. So today I took a day to do light work. The bookshelves in the office needed straightening up and some of the counters needed cleaning, so that got done. Then I moved on to tidying up the shirt racks. Refolded all the t-shirts, tank tops and bech cover-ups. It all looks pristene and ready for a rush of boaters to mess it up tomorrow.
Afterwards, about mid afternoon, Mary, Mike, the 2 kids, Fran and I took a walk over to the blow holes. There are, of course, photos. The blow holes, for those of you who don't know, are holds on the rock, carved out over many years of the sea pounding against the rocky shore. the force of the crashing waves applies an upward pressure on the underside of the rock ledges, eventually cutting upward, weakening the structure if the limestone and dead-coral rock. The ceilings of the "under ground" caves do end up collapsing. This creates a blow hole. When a wave cuts in under the hole it forces the trapped air out throught the hole. The younger holes are about 6-15 inches in diameter and the gust of air coming out is very concentrated and, therefore, extremely strong. A bit scary at first... people have been caught of guard and been knocked off their feet or lost a hat. The very old holes are huge. They measure 3, 4, 5 even 6 feet across. When you look into them the air currents are weaker but you can see the water rushing in and out of the caves under your feet or climb inside, as I did.
The RBDF guys went into Staniel Cay with Ray, Larry, Mike, Tom and a few others to watch the Super Bowl Game at the Staniel Cay Yacht Club (where there is satellite TV) so it has been very quiet and peaceful here this evening. Rosemary, Eric, Burgess and I watched "Finding Forrester" after supper. Excellent film! I sent photos during the movie. The poor connection meant I could only send 2-3 at a time. A batch of 4 got "stuck"and never completed sending.
Well, I'm off to bed now.
OK... so I'm playing catch up again. It has been a busy week and I have to share the computer with several other people after the office closes at 5:00pm. Excuses made... now for the travel journal.
Monday: Ray Darville, the ECLSP Warden, arrived back home on Monday. Tom went to Staniel Cay to get him while Blew took Larry on a fuel run (going for fuel) and I was left to find things to do for myself.
After helping Judy get the cinnamon rolls (a.k.a. sticky buns) finished for the morning crowd, I went down to the workshops and found parts to make a stopper for the ladies'room sink drain. Then into the office to straighten the books on the shelves. Harrold (retired orthopaedic surgeon) was on the front deck doing more 12-strand splices (rope) for the new mooring ball lines. So I joined him and got him to teach me how it is done. We sat and did the last 4 of his pile left to do... I learned on the one he was doing, he coached me through the next while simultaneously calling home to talk to his wife (she was out) then e-mailing his kids. While he was inside doing all that I finished off the one I was learning on and prepared another. He coached me through starting it and I did the rest of it on my own. Then we worked on the last 2 together with me starting and finishing slightly ahead of him. I am now the "master splicer" for the park. As the only one around (currently) who knows how to do them I will have to do the splicing to the mooring balls when they arrive... if they arrive while I'm still here. It was easy once I knew how it's done.
Spent the rest of the day reading, writing, chatting and puttering before the office closed. When the office closed the computer was available to do e-mail. I try to check it every day.
Tuesday: Fran (long-term volunteer on boat) and Mary (short-term volunteers on boat) and I hawled beach sand from the beach in 3-bucket loads in a wheelbarrow to the generator shed. We were dumping it in the rock base of the fuel pad on the far side of the shed. Then we (Ray and I) hosed it down to fill the gaps between the rocks so that the cement will not be lost to the gaps. The job took about 3 hours total.
The end of the day brought some unwanted excitement. When Fran and Mort returned from their diving at the south anchorage they reported to Ray that while there they noticed a 95ft long barge-like vessel anchored off Hall's Pond Cay. This Cay is the subject of a court battle between the owner (a foreign developer who has destroyed the eco-system on the island and caused a park damaging erosion problem) and the Bahamian Government. There is a cease and desist order against the owner and no one is allowed anywhere near the island. Just setting foot on it can get you arrested.
When the boat was called to by Ray they did not respond. Ray, Mort and the 2 RBDF guys headed out there to check on it. When hailed the vessel still did not respond. The RBDF guys boarded the ship, where they found a crew and captain who were removing some very expensive stuff from the island. So the captain was taken into custody and brought to the Park HQ. The captain, Michael, turned out to be a good friend of Ray's. Then Ray tried contacting the owner of the island but was having no luck. He tried to contact Michael's father, the owner of the boat, but still no luck. So Michael had to bunk in with the RBDF guys for the night.
All through the night, there were people coming and going from the HQ building. The radio was in use all night (it's usually pretty quiet after 7 or 8pm) and Ray was on the phone all night. The RBDF guys shifted watch every 2 hours and the P-43 and Warden's boat were in and out several times. The only qietish time was from midnight to 4 am. I did not sleep much with all that going on directly under my room.
The next morning Michael had to sit around with the RBDF guys watching his every move. His cellphone was not working. Mine has not had good reception for at least 5 days now. He looked very upset, after all, he was losing money every minute that his ship and crew were sitting out there at anchor. There were a bunch of RBDF guys in the P-43 at the ship keeping an eye on things. They left in the early afternoon while I was out snorkelling with Mary and Mike and their kids. They were returning Michael to his boat. His dad and the island's owner "struck a deal" and no charges were pressed. Pretty transparent plot to me and just about anyone else who understands how this stuff works in the Bahamas.
Wednesday: I repainted part (fixed the spelling error) of the Sunshine Causeway sign. Then Mary and I worked at moving 20+ wheelbarrows of sand from the sand heep near the rock pile (where they make sand from the "soft" limestone) to the sand box over by the generator shed where the concrete pad is to be poured. We finished just in time for lunch.
During lunch I took the sign to the causeway where I renailed it to the causeway. After lunch Mary, Mike and the 2 kids (Lidia 22 months and Noel 3 1/2 years) came to get me for snorkelling. We tried a few sights just around the anchorage using their dinghy. We dove around a wreck near mooring ball #9 where we spotted a beautiful big 10 pound snapper. Mary and I both commented on what a lovely meal he'd make. He seemed to be able to read our minds because he was watching us very closely loking like he was warning us not to get too close or he'd demonstrate where he gets his name from.
The best site by far though was right near the cut on the far side of Rader Rock (a.k.a. Trash Island - guess why) just 100 feet west of the HQ building. There were dozens of varieties of exotic fish, several lobsters, one gigantic grouper (probably about 25+ pounds) a huge sea cucumber and more coral varieties than I'd ever seen in one place. The colours were great. I got to snorkel around while Mary and Mike took turns minding the kids in the boat. Mary got back in the water for a final swim and she and I let the strong current take us through the cut to the dock area in front of the warden's house. I wanted to try spotting the giant grouper (estimated at about 50-60 pounds) living under the dock but he was hiding or not there.
As I noticed we were approaching the work-beach area I wanted to get out of the water and into the dinghy before we got too close to the HQ dock. That is where the RBDF guys feed the sharks twice a day and it looked like they were there doing just that. I was taking no chances that those lemon sharks could mistake us for special mealtime treats.
Back at HQ there was an impromptu Happy Hour hosted by the captain and crew (husband and wife) of Elysium. Collin and Colleen are from Ottawa (Leslie Park) until quite recently. They sold their house and car and all their possessions and are now living on their boat year round. Ain't retirement grand. They are a very nice couple. I have worked on at least a couple of projects side-by-side with them this past couple of days.
Thursday: this will be short as I am getting tired and want to get to bed soon. Yesterday we did the concrete pour for the generator shed fuel pad. Everybody did what they could to speed up the preparation work. Building of mixing boxes, supporting them on cinder blocks, finishing the wood forms, putting rocks under the reinforcement bar, etc. Then Sherry and I shovel filled buckets with sand and gravel as needed for mixing concrete. The guys carried the filled buckets to the mixing boxes by the pad. There were about 6 1/2 or 8 1/2 mixes. Each mix used 2 bags of concrete aggrigate, 10 5-gallon buckets of sand and 10 5-gallon buckets of stone. The work crew was about 18 or 20 strong and the work went very quickly and a good rythm got going quickly. When not filling buckets with snd and stone I was at the pad spreading, packing down and levelling concrete, dumping out buckets of concrete, helping to mix concrete and washing of tools to keep concrete from hardening on them. After all the concrete work was done, I stuck around to clean the tools to make sure they got good and clean before I put them away. I was back to HQ and getting in the shower by about 3pm right after taking a quick dip in the sea to clean off the worst of the dirt and concrete dust... clothes, shoes and all.
After a shower, change of clothes and washing my work duds I went to the office to straighten books and wait for Tom. Tom got the system working with my camera. So last night I dumped the photos off the camera. But the FTP still does not seem to work well. It is a crappy freebie. When I am able to get it going I'll be able to upload more photos for this blogsite.
I tried phoning my mother but she was at her Thursday night bridge club. By 9:00pm I was in bed, lights out and nodding off to sleep.
Today: another day of hard physical labour. That is why I'm si tired. Today after breakfast it was straight out to the labour crew. My first job was clearing out the area under HQ where a cinder block wall is to be built. Tom helped for awhile with some of the heavier stuff that I couldn't easily handle alone. After finishing with that, Ray put me to work up at the house. After hauling all the shovels, axes, pick axes and a hoe up to the house, I began work joined shortly by Collin and Danny. We were to remove all dirt, stone, rock and clay down to the bedrock in troughs where the concrete walls are to be poured to support a concrete pad going all around the base of the house. Another backbreaking, filthy job. Best thing is that we finished it today. Ray, along with us, never thought it would get done this quickly. He was even able to get the forms cut and installed today. Even the shoring up around the forms got finished. Tomorrow we can pour that concrete.
Now I'm heading to bed. Beat.
Today we're having a day off. The weather is cool and windy (by Bahamian standards) at about 17/18 C or 64/65 F with winds gusting to about 45/55 kph or 25/30mph. Only a few puffy clouds so at least the sun is out. We are all bundled up against the cold. This means that everyone in the anchorage is staying on their bopats and we're staying inside.
Earlier in the day when the sun was high and warming I took Rosemary on an orientation tour of the "sheds" which house workshops, storage and infrastructure. Then we took a short hike out along Julie's trail to the Sunshine Causway. We treated it like a nature walk, stopping to examine flora and fauna and geology enroute.
Then I took the sign for the other end of the causeway bridge, which I painted yesterday afternoon, out there to nail it on. Took my time coming back by detouring up the trail to Brown Dog Beach.
Now a little catch up...
Thursday: In the morning Tom took us (Larry, Graham, Trudy and I), with Leslie of the Defence Force (RBDF) along as our armed guard, out to the Seaquarium just off the northwest side of Obrien's Cay (a private island inside the park). There we erected a sign for the Park (ECLSP). This meant digging a hole, already started by Tom weeks ago, in limestone rock, dropping in the sign, pouring in quikset cement and water. A hand-painted sign was added identifying the Seaquarium. Then it was 45 minutes of playtime.
Playtime meant snorkelling in the Seaquarium. A fascinating array of coral, fish and other sealife. Colours beyond description, words are not sufficiently up to the task. It is truly breathtaking. Photos, though beautiful, don't do it justice or express the feeling of swimming within this environment but will be posted later.
We had a Happy-Hour at 4:30 just because the rough weather has most people hanging out in the anchorage waiting for a break in order to move on.
Friday: another great day. Spent the day doing trail clearing. This means walking the trails on Warderick Wells Cay and removing debris from the trails (dead palm fronds, twigs, branches, loose rocks and stones) and cutting back growth that interferes with the trail. I left HQ at 10:30 am arriving at the "plantation" wall on Beryl's tral about 2:00pm. Left the junction of Beryl's and Anita's trails to return to HQ at 2:20 arriving back at 3:50pm. The path was pretty clean on my return. Trash was picked up along the way but there was amazingly little. It got added to the heep at Slaves Dip on the sound side at the end of Beryl's trail.
Here's the route followed from the HQ building: Julie's trail to the Sunshine Causway to Ian's to Mark's to the sound (Exuma Sound - the ocean side of the island) where I stopped for a light snack. Then back along Mark's trail to Dick's to James' to Tabebuia Beach to Buttonwood to Emerald Beach to Emerald trail to Nick's (most treacherous trail) to Rendezvous Pond trail to Rendezvous Beach for a swim.
Then onto Anita's trail to the ruins. The ruins are the Loyalist Davis Plantation circa 1780. The structures were of rock and conch shell mortar walls with what appears to be smooth mortar internal walls. There is, at the end of Anita's, a dry stone wall about two feet thick that runs from Slave Dip on the sound side to Beryl's Beach on the bank side of the island. There are also several very deep banana cisterns of about 30 to 40 feet and deeper. They get the name from the shape of the cisterns which is why it is hard to judge the depth.
Beryl's trail runs along the dry stone wall. After covering the trails I took a short break to make notes about plants, animals, birds, etc. seen enroute. Then I headed back.
My return journey was much faster without the clearing work to slow me down. It was also the most rewarding part of the hike. If I had not been alone and walking silently I may not have had the luck to spot and encounter the Yellow-crested Night Heron. He (colouration indicated a male bird) followed me through the woods by flying along beside me about 10-12 feet into the trees. He flew tree to tree along with me for about 100-200 feet. I am guessing that he was what was making the same noises repeatedly in the trees along the path. Then he decided to fly right across the path near a clearing (or flat) just 5 feet ahead of me. He sat on a branch in the open just 5-6 feet away and allowed me to talk to him and get my camera out to take photos. I got several shots of which 2 turned out beautifully.
Other creatures encountered were lots of Blue-tail Lizards (1-12 inches long), a brown snake about 24-30 inches long and an inch at the thickest part (moved too fast to see any identifying marks and disappeared in the under brush), lots of curly tail lizards (they're everywhere and quite used to people) and hermit crabs (also used to people and everywhere). There was also the smell of skunk in 4 or 5 places near large burrows which I am told is the territorial markings (urine) of the Hutia. This is a cat-sized rodent that looks like a wide-bodied rat. They are reputed to be the only mammal native to the Bahamas.
While I was out the RBDF (Royal Bahamian Defence Force) team was switched. The two new guys are Stephen (lead seaman) and Scott who is here for the first time.
Saturday: Tom and Larry ferried me over to Narrow Water Cay on the west side of the northern anchorage and dropped me off at Pair-a-Dice Beach. There are 3 beaches there that needed clean-up. This means picking up the trash that blows and floats ashore from passing or visiting boats (large and small) and putting it in trash bags. Tom gave me over 3 hours to do 1 or 2 hours work. So I took my time and enjoyed myself a little. There is also a trail that cuts through from Pair-a-Dice Beach on the far westside to the eastside of the island where there is one long beach and one tiny beach. I decided that since I had plenty of time I might as well clear the trail too. When I was done, I left the trash on the eastside and went back to Pair-a-Dice Beach for a swim, actually more of a wade because there is a very large sandbank all around the island. Then I just strolled the beaches until Larry came by to get me about 1:00.
After lunch I painted the sign for the farside of the Sunshine Causway. Then at 4:30 was the usual Saturday evening Happy Hour.
It rained ever so slightly over night last night. More importantly the winds picked up and cooled off significantly. There is a cold arctic air mass passing our way which means high winds and rough seas for the boaters. It means cool days and nasty weather that forces the rest of us indoors.
So today was a slow day and now I am ready to stop here and go for my supper. The RBDF guys have cooked too much food, as usual, so I don't have to cook. They cooked chicken and I am tempted to try it. No... I will stick to my convictions and not touch the meat. I still have not had a coffe or any other caffeine since November 5th.
So long for now.
Yes, that's right, the propane tanks are all finished... scraped, sanded, painted and labelled. No one is more pleased than me. They look as good as 'battleship grey' propane tanks can look.
Did my first laundry here today. It is quite a system of recycling water. This means that the washer must be babysat in order to turn the recycling pump on and off as well as switching the hoses for filling and draining the washer before the rinse. The only dryer we have is the sun and wind. Today there was not much sun but lots of wind. The only real pain is the rust stains on so many whites and lights. That is the price of using well and rain water on an RO (reverse osmosis) system with filters that are hard to comeby.
The weather today was cloudy and windy but no rain yet. We need rain as it is our only source of fresh water. Drinking water is brought in although, theoretically, we can drink the RO water, it just tastes yucky. Yes I did drink some and no I did not get sick but it does not taste good.
That is all for now. More tomorrow.
I had hoped to do a daily log entry but have been less than successful so far.
For starters... if you go to the bottom of this page you'll find a new feature. The picture gallery is ready. The photos that are currently there are all pictures from my first Bahamas trip, November 5 to December 19.
The first group are pictures taken in and around the Sivananda Ashram Yoga Retreat during my 37 day stay there. In the middle of "Ashram09" you can see my beach hut, W4. "Ashram14" shows the front door of W4 at night.
The second group were taken during two dive trips. The first was a shallow water reef dive to 25 feet. The second was a two tank dive that started with a 45 minute wall dive to 100 feet, followed by a 40 minute wreck dive to about 45 feet.
The third group are pictures taken of Lynn's Clogs that I painted during my stay at the Ashram. She really loved them and that made it worth all the effort.
The fourth group called SPA were taken while I was staying at the British Colonial Hilton Resort in Nassau, December 9-16. Heike, Janette and Nikki are all friends met while at the Ashram. The woman doing Heike's pedicure is Isobel, the director/half owner of the Azure Spa at the Hilton. She did all of my treatments while I was there.
The snorkelling pictures were taken during a half day trip to Rose Island with a group of people from the Ashram. One of the staff members at the Ashram, Kendall, took groups out snorkelling about once a week or so. The divers seen in 2 of the pictures were from a dive boat anchored near us.
And last, but certainly not least, are shots taken around ht eOrange Hill Beach Inn and its beach.
As soon as I can, I'll upload more photos from my current trip and get them posted. All of you who I promised photos to can download copies but be forewarned that these are reduced size. So if you want something at full size (for higher quality) let me know and we'll arrange a file transfer.
As for my activities of yesterday and today... I've been scraping and sanding old paint and rust from propane tanks (four at about 5 feet high and one BBQ size) and repainting them. Tomorrow there is one more to do then I go around and paint "Exuma Park" on all of them and I'm done that job.
I've been meeting all sorts of interesting and nice people. I am having a great time here. Today, I learned how to do a rope splice from a visiting sailor who was doing a little bit of work for the park. Now I have to remember it. Best thing to do is keep doing rope splices.
It's Sunday morning in Warderick Wells.
Worked hard yesterday. Started the day scrubbing years of abuse off the hatch bezels and covers for the boat we're working on. The job was made easier by the fact that they weren't on the boat. Took a short break before climbing onto the boat to tape the floor for "non-skid"painting. Mixed the paint, grabbed the sand shaker and got on board. First I scraped the "decomposed" rubber glove from the floor of the locker in the pulpit/console and painted over the entire thing. Once Larry was finished his work in the bow I started painting and sprinkling sand. The last 30 minutes was complicated by the boat being tipped over so Graham and Trudy could get started on cleaning, sanding and painting the bottom. It took about 3 hours total but it looked great when I finished.
Back to the HQ building, where the volunteers live, to shower and change clothes for the 4:30 Happy Hour. This is a weekly event at the Warden's Station where everyone in the anchorages of Warderick Wells is invited over for a social gathering. Most boaters will bring a snack (cheese balls, dips, crackers, fish pates, brownies, chips, nuts, etc.) and their own beverages. It was quite enjoyable but I was exhausted after a long day of working in the hot sun and not very lively.
Did I mention... we are working on what is referred to as the "work beach" so despite all the sunscreen (40-60 SPF) I am getting a little tanned.
I went to bed early last night and slept like a dead body. Was up early this morning because the Defence Force guys were up at 6:30 cleaning the baracuda they caught yesterday right under my window.
The weather has been gorgeous since I arrived. Cloudless skies, warm, balmy breezes, calm seas. The beauty of these islands is hard to describe with words. All those pictures you see in the brochures that you think are so wonderful... they don't do it full justice either. I'll let everyone know when the gallery is ready and there are pictures to see.
I left Orange Hill Inn yesterday but not until after a visit with a couple of friends from the Yoga Retreat. Ivan and Hailey came out to see me and have breakfast first thing in the morning. We all took a walk on the beach to Travellers'Rest where we stopped for coffee (Ivan) and ginger ale. We had to talk them into serving us because they weren't open yet.
I am now in Warderick Wells. Arrived yesterday evening. There was a group of 4 boaters from the northern anchorage (at Warderick Wells) who met me at the Staniel Cay landing strip. My Flamingo flight from Nassau left right on time at 3:00pm and landed at about 3:40pm. There were just two of us in the 5-seater twin-engine plane along with the pilot. The skies were perfectly clear, the water and winds were calm and I could not have asked for a better day to fly over the Exuma Cays. I took many photos. Hopefully I'll have my photo gallery up and running soon so that I can post pitures fir you all to enjoy.
The deputy warden, Tom, and his wife Judy had all the staff and volunteers up to the warden's house for supper... homemade pizza... very nice welcome. I met all the people I'll be sharing accommodations with. I'm the only woman. There are 2 members of the Defence Force stationed here at all times. A new pair are sent every two weeks. Smitty and Knowles, who are here now, will be replaced in a week. There is a new volunteer who joined us this evening, Larry. He has been working on a refitted shrimpboat for the past 5 months doing research and installing mooringsfor a Florida based diving company. There are a few other volunteers as well but they all live aboard their boats in the anchorage. Larry and his former crew mates Andy, Andrew and Danny were also at dinner last night.
Today I started off with an easy day. I sanded and painted some hatch covers for a boat that is being fixed, painted and rebuilt... it took about 1 1/2 hours. Tomorrow I'll be painting the deck with the same non-skid I used this morning. This afternoon we went to the shrimpboat to get about 10 94-pound bags of cement for work being done around the wardens station here. That was an easy job too because we had to wait 'til the guys finished their work on the mooring they were working on. That meant sitting around on the deck for an hour or so. Loading the bags on our boat took about 10 minutes and we were off. Then we went to trash-island to dump and burn trash. That also took an hour... my work there took about 5 minutes.
Then I took a walk to Boo Boo Hill with Smitty. We spent about 15 minutes there, mostly admiring the view. Then we returned to the station where Knowles had been preparing supper. We ate just minutes after arriving back. The guys now have "Meet Joe Black" in the VCR.
Warderick Wells is still one of the most beautiful places on earth. I wish everyone of you were here to enjoy it. This is truly a place that proves this planet is worth saving. Well, that's it for tonight. I'm off to take a shower and get to bed.
Hello Everybody
As you read in my last entry (2 Jan) I was unlucky enough to have picked up a cold virus while in Ottawa. Well it turned into a secondary infection of the throat and sinuses. I finally went to a medical clinic near Orange Hill, where I've been staying. Now I'm on antibiotics and nasal spray to control the infection so that I can get back to normal. This is day 3 of the medications and I am feeling better already. The cough is almost all gone and the congested head is clearing very well. Have not been able to go diving and this is very frustrating. I had wanted to get a couple more dives in before leaving here but I am anxious to get to the Exumas.
So I am booked onto a flight tomorrow to Staniel Cay. The flight is due to leave at 3:00 but "Bahama time" may have it leaving as much as an hour later. The luggage is very limited because it is a 5 seater plane. The flight only takes about 20-30 minutes. Somebody from the Exuma Cays Land and Sea Park will meet me in Staniel Cay to boat me to the Park Headquarters at Warderick Wells.
I will be in the park doing volunteer work for about a month. The plan is to be on a sailboat to leave there but I am thinking of staying in Staniel Cay for a few days before moving on.
There is also a possibility of sailing on the boat of a fellow I met a few days ago at Orange Hill. He is back home in Georgia now getting the boat ready and rigged for the trip. If the timing works out and he decides to, he will pick me up at either Warderick Wells or Staniel Cay.
This last week has been relaxing because I've been too ill to do much of anything. I have spent lots of time just sitting and reading but have also been walking a lot. I come into town (Nassau) every couple of days to do errands, shop, email, etc. Today I had a chiropractor appointment with Michael Pyfrom, my chiropractor here. He's an excellent chiropractor.
There has not been an opportunity to go over to the Yoga Retreat either. I have tried doing yoga on my own and found it very difficult with this cold/infection. Everytime I bend over or turn my head upside down my sinuses flood and I get a headache. I really wanted to get over there for a visit but don't want to take over my germs. I will make a call over this afternoon though.
Well that's all for this entry. I'll try another update later this week.
Hello everyone.
Here I am back in the Bahamas at the Orange Hill Beach Inn.
The cold & cough are still with me. I was unable to change my flight to a later date so I got lots of decongestants and cough medicine and flew on drugs. Actually, it was not too bad. All my flights were on schedule and I arrived in Nassau right on schedule at 6:01pm.
The diving for today and tomorrow had to be cancelled so I will stay here for an extra couple of days and get the diving in later. First I am going to get some new diving equipment for myself. A regulator, mask&snorkel, fins and a wetsuit are at the top of the list as my minimum requirements.
Christmas holidays at home were fun and hectic. I really enjoyed my visits with everyone. My apologies to those I was not able to get in contact with. Unfortunately my time was very limited and getting a cold cut my visiting time down by 2 whole days. I never had time to do everything I wanted to, including buying dive equipment at home where it is considerably less expensive.
Junkanoo was great. I arrived at Orange Hill in the middle of a New Year's Eve barbecue dinner party. Immediately befriended two women from Madoc, Ontario (yes, there are lots of Canadians here) who I ate supper with. We all got along like old friends. After eating we talked until 1:15am with a bar full of people coming and going all evening. Then we freshened up and got a ride into Nassau in the Orange Hill Inn vans. There was a crowd of 15 going.
Diane, Edie and I went down to Bay Street and stood on the sidewalk enjoying the Junkanoo Parade of colours. The costumes are fantabulous. Bright colours, mirror tiles, reflectors of every type, and anything that blows in the breeze. The "head pieces" are large enough that only large, heavy men can carry them. Every costume, mask and headpiece is an engineering feat and an artistic delight. The music is loud beyond belief (one band had over 40 drums and 50 brass instruments alone. Then there are the whistles and cowbells. The rhythms are intoxicating and powerful. Nobody can stand still and just watch. The whole crowd is alive with the energy and moving to the rhythms.
We arrived back to the Inn at 5:00am so Diane and Edie could catch their 6:00am flight to Long Island Cay. It was a good thing though, as I should have been in bed resting the cold. So by the time I got to bed at 5:30 I had been up and going for more than 25 hours. There were a few short naps on the plane and in the Atlanta airport (5 hour wait for the next flight) but that was all.
That's it for now. Gotta go get some lunch.