Day 511 - St. Lucia

Today was nothing short of interesting! We were in St. Lucia today & after the past few days of diving, I wasn't in the sight-seeing mode. I opted instead, to try & find some wifi in the terminal. 

I like the terminal in St. Lucia. I've found a few cheap bargains over the years & you never what you'll find. I wandered around the shops & found myself in Diamonds International. Now, just for the record, DI is NOT one of the shops I find cheap bargains in. In fact, I am a strictly window shopper when I'm in that shop! 

When I strolled into the shop today, I was immediately approached by some of the salespeople. They asked if they could help & I said I was just looking. They were all smiles. Then, one of them tells me he has the perfect watch to match my laptop bag. My laptop bag is purple. I smiled sweetly. Then he comes over with a Hublot watch. It has a purple band & plenty of diamonds on the face of the watch. He slips it on my wrist & everyone oooh's & aaah's over the stunning timepiece. I said it was nice, but I'd prefer the diamonds on a nice eternity band instead. To which he replied, 'Platinum or gold?' I said, 'Platinum, of course!'

So there I was with this fancy Hublot watch & a stunning eternity band on my left wrist & hand. Sigh. That's a lot of glitter & glam! They told me if I bought the watch, they'd throw in the ring for free. Ha! The watch was only $23,000. Cough.

After I had removed all of their precious gems & metals, I looked around the shop. The salesgirls chatted with me & complimented my haircut. Pretty soon a few of the salesmen joined in. Before I knew it, we were a group of 6 & I was showing them my wig photos from Christmas, as well as wedding photos & pre-chemo hairdo's. We had a good laugh about all of it. Nice bunch of people working there!

From there I ended up at a little picnic bench next to a few crew who were hacking into the rum shop's free wifi. I joined them & settled in to update the blog. I hadn't been there for very long when 2 couple from the UK sat down at the table with me. Turns out they were from Harrogate! I've been to Harrogate! To Betty's for cream tea! Forgive me if I get their names wrong - Bob, Mark, Mary & Grace. The didn't even know they were on the same cruise until they were onboard! Fantastic! I told them about the blog - although I'm so far behind I'm sure they've given up by now! (Sorry guys!)

Today was also our anniversary! Our 1st 2nd Anniversary! 2 years ago today, we married in the Namib desert at a little place called 'Deadvlei'. If you haven't seen the photos, go to this link & scroll down to March 18th. Mario is an AMAZING Photographer. 

Jaco surprised me today with a dozen beautiful red roses! I was so impressed when he told me he did it all on his own accord! I thought surely the girls in the clinic had put him up to it! But nope! We had a lovely dinner at the Pizzeria - funnily enough, so did the rest of the Medics! They were at a different table with Eddie, the Medical Steward, as a farewell/thank you dinner for all parties involved. Rafeeq is the Supervisor in the Pizzeria & he & Jaco hail from South Africa, so they were able to have some chitty-chatty in Afrikaans in between courses. Rafeeq is a real sweetheart. He knows that Jaco likes these little nut squares & always makes an effort to send a plate of them back with Jaco or myself. 

Tonight I also had an email from Dr. Daly regarding my PET scan results. Not exactly what I was hoping for, but not entirely dire, either. Basically they didn't get a great scan so they want me to redo it in 3 months time. They think there *might* be some residual disease, but they aren't sure. (Most likely because they lost the 4th cycle scan of my head & neck. Yeah.) In any case, I'm not panicking & neither should you. Just pray! I'll keep you posted on what's next!

And with that, the day is done. I'm going to spend some time with my husband. Did I mention that I am married to the most wonderful man on the planet? He is more than I could have ever asked for, dreamed for, hoped for, longed for, or wanted for. I love you Jaco. 

xxxxMaria

The crew in Diamonds International

 Beautiful Roses from my Baby!

 My handsome Husband.

 Hmm... What's new on the menu? (Inside joke!) (The menu NEVER changes!)

 Rafeeq & Jaco

 Nic, Nelis, Eddie, Leana & Bronwyn

The Photogs were dining beside us! Larisa, Nacho, Taufiq & Craig

 The work of the AMAZING Mario Sales

Mario's Artistic Talents on our Special Day!

Day 498 - St. Kitts

Today we went to several tourist places. Larisa, Angela, M&D2 & I found a cab driver - Vincent Joseph - and he took us in his van to the Fortress. It is supposedly one of the best views in all the Caribbean! I must say, it didn't really disappoint!

We drove quite a distance to the Fortress & walked around for about 45 minutes. We took photos (of course) of the views & the Fortress. There was a group of about 30+ bikers on Harleys visiting the Fortress at the same time as we were. It was quiet until they started up their bikes. Yikes. What a racket. Apparently they were on the Royal Caribbean ship we were docked next to. I couldn't believe they would allow all those bikes on the ship!

When we were taking photos at the top, some rasta man came up to Angela, Larisa & myself & commented on the three of us. He said something about family - I was the Mom, Larisa was my daughter & ... that was as far as he got! We burst out laughing! Larisa is 3 years younger than myself! Did I really look that old? The more questions I asked & he answered, the deeper he dug himself! It was funny, but my ego was greatly bruised!

From the Fortress we drove to Tower Hill & hopped out for a few photos. We could see the Atlantic ocean on one side & the Caribbean Sea on the other side. It was beautiful! The water looked very inviting.

We drove down to Friar's Beach from there & stayed for some lunch & a swim. Angela & Larisa left for the ship a little sooner than M&D2 & myself. We stayed & enjoyed the water a little longer. There were so many dogs on the beach, I couldn't figure it out. The owners looked American & I was really confused. Were there that many service dogs? Did that many people take their dogs on holidays? Is St. Kitts really that popular with young Americans? Yes. There is a Veterinary School on the island & the dogs belonged to students from the school. Ah ha! No wiener dogs, though.

The water was cool, clear & refreshing. I went in for a little snorkel - beautiful as usual! I collected a little bit of sand & then it was time to go. We headed to the van & Vincent drove us back to the terminal.

This evening was the last & final formal night. I had made arrangements for an anniversary cake for M&D2 to be delivered to the table after dinner. I hadn't told them what I was up to & they were very surprised & very pleased. (Their anniversary was the 3rd, but I wanted to save the cake for a Formal Night) Jaco was able to join us, although we waited quite a while for him! I was happy he was finally able to make it. It was a great evening.

I can't believe tomorrow is the end of the cruise. It has flown past so quickly! It will be strange not to have them onboard next week. Tomorrow is Dominica & it will prove to be an adventure - no doubt!

xxxxMaria

M&D2 & Vincent - Our Driver 

 I've never seen my name tattoo'd on someone's body before

Great Dane! 

Harley on a ship! 

Harley on a ship? 

At the Fortress 

Harley's 

Really bad judge of age. (I'm hoping!) 

Atlantic & Caribbean 

The girls & their twin cameras 

Too cute! 

Friar's Bay 

 3rd Formal

 Happy Anniversary!

 Marzipan cake!

Day 496 - The Baths At Virgin Gorda

The who at what?! The Baths at Virgin Gorda. Google ‘em. British Virgin Islands. It’s a very famous & picturesque beach with massive boulders scattered all over the white sand. Crystal clear, blue-green waters, sunshine – all the things necessary for a perfect Caribbean day!

It was meant to be the 4 of us, but Jaco had to work unexpectedly this morning, so we were three. We took a hydrofoil over to Virgin Gorda from Road Town, Tortola. It took us about 35 minutes to reach the island. From there we boarded a Ford truck converted into a taxi/shuttle & drove to the Baths National Park. From there we hiked down a rocky, dirt path to the actual beach. It was littered with tourists. We were in port with a Carnival ship & a Costa ship, so there were Italian, Spanish, American & British accents all around. It was weird to hear so many accents in one little place!

The beach was even more beautiful than I had imagined. I was really sad that Jaco wasn’t there with me. Maybe we can go together one day. Apparently the scuba diving is good here too.

There are caves you can walk through, but with the sheer number of bodies, I didn’t try to go through, as I wanted to enjoy the beach & take some photographs, not stand in a dark cave with slow moving passengers.

I had taken my ‘real’ camera with me today, so I got everything ready & happily snapped away. I clambered onto the rocks at the far end of the beach & eventually I managed to take a few shots without people in them.

M&D2 enjoyed themselves immensely. Today is their 5 year anniversary. I was happy they were able to come here & do something memorable together. I left them alone & tried to stay out of their way! I found them having some lunch later on & I went back to the beach to collect some sand. Mom2 & I then hit the water to look for unique shells, while Dad2 attempted to climb onto one of the big boulders.

We stopped at a little souvenir stand to get a t-shirt & visited with the man selling the clothing. He told us how he used to work in his Mom’s clothing shop & has become very adept at guessing a woman’s size. Here’s hoping he’s right!

On our way back up the path to the taxi, we spotted a few lizards & some fascinating rock formations. The rock was actually folded – like rolls of skin on a wrinkle dog. It was incredible! What a beautiful day! And it was only noon!

We waited for the last of our tour to board the taxi & while we did, we threw crumbs over the railing to the chickens down below. They were very grateful. Although there will now be some very fussy chickens on Virgin Gorda, as I gave them raw, vegan cracker crumbs!

Back at the pier, we boarded out boat to take us back to Tortola. I snuck upstairs & took photos pretty much the entire way back. They were only happy snaps, but still! Maybe Jaco & I should come & live in Tortola… Hmm…

Dad2 headed up to their room, while Mom2 followed me to our cabin. Much to my sadness, Jaco was already gone. He thought we’d return around noon. It was now 1330. He had left a note that he was going out at 1250. Darn! We’d just missed him. It later turned out that he was still onboard, but had gotten caught up at the Medical Centre.

Mom2 & I headed out to the shops. She was looking for a dress. She managed to find 2 dresses & a funky pant/top combination. She also found mugs, shirts for the kids, pants, and a few other things! We went for gelato at the best place in town – la Dolce Vita. We had grapefruit & passion fruit. Yum.

She was shopped out, so we headed back to the ship. I had a quick shower to get rid of the salt & sand stuck to me & shortly thereafter Jaco returned to the cabin from the gym. He was off to work & I wanted to dash back to a shop to pick up a souvenir I’d missed earlier.

Once back onboard, I ate some more raw lasagna, called home & tried to type a blog post or two… But I’m getting sleepy now…

Yawn… xxxxMaria

 We're here!

 The bug that landed on my camera & scared the 'stuff' out of me!

 We traveled from central Tortola to the southern tip of Virgin Gorda

 Cheers!

 The fancy shuttles you'll find in most of the Virgin Islands

 Tilt much?

 Nice pad. Apparently it comes with an island!

 Nice commute to work.