Day 536 - Caledon

Today we actually got up a little earlier. I won't elaborate exactly how much earlier, but we managed to get out & get something accomplished. 


I did 30 minutes of yoga first thing & Jaco went to get his passport photos taken. By the time he came back, I was nearly ready. I would've been ready a little sooner had I not had complications operating the stick blender Petro gave me for my birthday. Operator error. :o) Whoops. In any case, we were off to Caledon.


Jaco needs a new passport & the office we needed to apply at was in Caledon, about 30 minutes from Hermanus. We took the wrong turn & ended up on a dirt road for 1/2 the drive. It was actually a very pretty drive. We drove past many vineyards, olive groves, sheep farms & gorgeous eucalyptus & cypress trees. It was a wide valley & today was a cloudy day, so the clouds were wrapping & twisting around the mountains as we drove along. 


The passport will take one month & unfortunately we were planning on applying for 2 visas. One for Europe & one for New Zealand. We only have 6 weeks. I don't think that we'll be able to make it fly. Boo. We'll see. We'll try our very best!


When we came back to Hermanus, we stopped in a little section of shops & found some trays to grow sprouts in. I also picked up a pill organizer & then we went to the grocery shop. I'm finding that you need to visit all three or four grocery stores in order to find what you need. One shop has this, the other that, this one cheaper, that one cheaper... It's a bit of a mission to get all that you need!


After our grocery stop(s), we drove down the road to a turn off called 'Kwaaiwater' - crazy water - kw-i-vah-tur. We passed several stunning houses. I picked out a few! We parked by the water & I got out & took some photos. It was a very eery sight. The waves were quite aggressive & the shoreline was very rocky. I watched a lone seagull now & then swoop down along the water, barely missing the waves underneath him. As I walked along the beach, mussel shells crunched under my feet. The mist was heavy & I couldn't see too far out to sea. In fact, the horizon line disappeared not too far in the distance. 


Soon the light had waned & I couldn't take a steady shot, so I returned to the car to find Jaco in agony. He had just downed 1L of juice in the few moments I had been gone & was feeling slightly uncomfortable. Sigh. I'm trying to understand his dietary habits. Give me strength. 


We drove back to the house & had dinner. Marisa called & we're going to make plans to get together sometime next week. I can't wait to see her, as she's engaged now & I'm very excited for her. Petro helped me suss out the stick blender - it's  actually quite powerful! We blended the almond milk & her & Jaco gave it a taste test. Tomorrow we'll have protein shakes! Hooray! 


xxxxMaria

 Wide open views

Open road 

Into the mountains (5 minutes later) 

Sheeps 

 Vineyards

Into the mist 

 Blossoms

 More vineyards

I LOVE cypress trees. Makes me feel like I'm in Italy. 

More vineyards 

Turning colour 

 Oranges on a tree

Beautiful flag! 

Waves & rocks 

Moody 

 Relentless

 Shells

 Weathering the endless waves

 Formations

 Crunch, crunch.

 Eery

 Water, rock, sand, shell, mist

 shells turning to sand

The waves roll in.

Day 528 - Barbados For The Night

Oh it was a short night. I finally got to bed at 0330. I was pretty much packed, all things considered. It took me 5 days. It took Jaco 2 hours. I was up at 0730 to go to Immigration. Thankfully the long queue moved swiftly & I was out of there in 20 minutes.

Now that I was up, I thought I should get ready for the day, say the goodbyes I should have said yesterday & tidy up the cabin a little. I wanted to store some things under the bed, so I did my best to get them arranged. I also wanted to leave things a little cleaner for Brian.

I managed to find all the people I wanted to say goodbye to, with the exception of only a few. I know on ships it’s never goodbye, only see you soon, so I’m not too stressed about it. I had a nice chat with Vicky, the Nurse replacing Becky & I think I’ll see her again when we come back to the Sea in August.

I typed up a letter commending Brian on a job well done. I printed & signed 4 copies – one for him, his Supervisor, the First Purser Admin & the Hotel General Manager. I was very happy to hand deliver all but one of the letters. I was even more impressed when Brian’s Supervisor came & told me that he would make sure that Brian was taken care of while he was onboard. I hope he’ll get promoted!

Our taxi came to collect us at 1400. I had wanted to pop into Del Sol to see Leandre, but we didn’t have a chance. I guessed that our time would be rushed – I wanted to let her know we were going to be in Barbados for the night, but the last few days were VERY hectic! She would NOT be happy if she knew I was in town & didn’t tell her!

Our taxi was delayed when they saw how much luggage we had. We ended up waiting 5 more minutes for a van vs. a car! The Port Agent was there & he was very pleasant. He knows Jaco & they had a little visit while we waited.

The Grand Barbados Hotel wasn’t very far away. It was downtown Bridgetown & right on the beach. I wouldn’t consider it luxurious, but it was on the water & that was all that mattered! We put our luggage in the room & the swimsuits were on about 5 minutes later. We went to the beach.

The waves were crashing quite hard, but with Jaco’s help, I conquered my fear & managed to pass the crashing waves, only to discover the water was quite shallow beyond the crashing waves! It was so serene & beautiful! White sand, glorious shades of greens & blues – ahhh – this is the life! Jaco swam quite a distance down the shoreline & I fetched the camera to capture a few memories of our first night off the ship. There was a beautiful frangipani tree in the courtyard & the blossoms were dropping onto the ground. They smelled delicious & I couldn’t help but feel sad looking at all the blossoms falling off the tree. Such a beautiful sight & smell coming to an end.

Jaco had stayed here previously & wasn’t too impressed with the food. I suggested we go out for a nice dinner & remembered a restaurant Theo had suggested. I thought he’d said ‘Chalmers’, but I couldn’t find a listing for Chalmers. I did see a listing for Champers. That was it! And it was quite close! We showered & left just past 1800.

When we arrived at the restaurant, it wasn’t too busy, but the Hostess told us we most likely couldn’t sit on the waterfront area because we didn’t have a reservation & they were booked full. She mentioned something about seating us downstairs & I was a little disappointed, as I thought dining shoreside was part of the experience! We lucked out & they sat us inside, but inside with doors open & only 2 tables from the water’s edge. You could hear the waves pounding into the rocks, carved out by years of water erosion. When one woman was splashed sitting at her shoreside table, I was happy we were sat inside!

The food was absolutely incredible. In fact, I can’t remember the last time I ate a meal that remarkable. We shared 2 starters, each had a main course & of course, desserts. We shared coconut shrimp and baked Camembert with spicy apples in pastry. Jaco enjoyed a chicken breast stuffed with plantains & mashed potatoes, while I had sautéed shrimp in a red thai coconut curry sauce. Mmmm! For dessert, Jaco enjoyed coconut sorbet in an edible Florentine dish, while I had chocolate cheesecake. Oh my word. It was seriously 5 desserts in one.

1.    1. Chocolate cheesecake

2.    2. Chocolate fudge-y/pudding on top of cheesecake

3.    3. Caramel sauce to die for

4.    4. Vanilla bean gelato in an edible Florentine dish

5.    5. Ripe Strawberry to finish it off

It’s worth the flight to Barbados just for the dessert! Here’s where to go for reservations.

Filled to the gills, we made our way back to the hotel, completely satisfied with, what we both agreed, was by far one of THE best meals we’ve ever eaten in a really LONG time, if not, THE BEST meal we’ve ever eaten. Full stop.

Once we were back at the hotel room, we packed our things & weighed the luggage one last time & then settled in for our first night off the ship. We had wanted to watch the ship sail away, but by the time we thought of it, it was 3 hours past sailaway. Oops.

Goodnight all & farewell Barbados. I’ll miss you dearly.

xxxxMaria

The World cruise ship - Now I can say I've seen the world! 

 View from the balcony

 Frangipani tree in the lobby

 The pool

 The beach

 Where we went into the water

 Hmm...

 A great day!

 My Babe

 One of my favourite flowers

 Sunset

 Fountain by the lobby

 Having dinner at Champers

 Waves crashing at Champers

 Smash!

 Enjoying his coconut sorbet

 The most amazing dessert on the planet!

 A perfect night

 Well worth the visit when you're in Barbados!

Handsome Man o' Mine!

Day 522 - Jamaica

This morning Jaco rang me to let me know I had a tour in one hour. Yay! I was going on a little cruise to Paradise Cove! I haven’t previously done the tour, so I was excited to do something new in Jamaica.

It was a RIOT! I was a little concerned, as the catamaran I boarded was quite full. I’m used to small groups on smaller catamarans. But they made it work!

We sailed down the coast for an hour & on the way we passed a home formerly owned by Mick Jagger with a beautiful waterfall cascading into the ocean. We also passed the infamous Dunn’s River Falls & witnessed the first group of tourists starting their climb up the falls. Shortly after the falls, we arrived at our swimming spot.

It was beautiful! I had taken my snorkeling gear – mostly because I’m a poor swimmer & with my fins & mask I feel much more comfortable! They made us tie on a lifejacket around our waists, which suited me just fine! By the time I let all the other passengers get into the water, some were climbing out already! What gives? The water was BEAUTIFUL! It was so refreshing! I didn’t want to get out! I asked the guides how long we would be in the water – thinking it would be an hour – 25 minutes was the reply! 25 minutes! That’s nothing! I told them I would be the last one out of the water! And I was!

By the time I climbed back on board, the passengers had devoured all the fresh fruit. Oh well. I think I’ve got a nut bar in my bag! I took a few more photos as we sailed down the scenic & stunning coastline. When they announced they were going to sail out into the ocean, I guessed that the waves would be splashing over the front of the catamaran. I guessed right!

I went to put my camera away & join a young girl sitting on the mesh at the front & by the time I returned, the area had cleared! There had been a few big splashes & everyone left! Perfect! I had a blast! It was just like a catamaran tour I did in Barbados with the Photo Department. The highlight was sitting in the front getting splashed! Today was the sequel!

One other fellow sat up front with me, mostly because it was too rough for him to stand up & move elsewhere! He kept getting salt water in his rum punch. I was squealing like a little kid on Christmas morning! When I left the catamaran, the dried salt felt like shards of glass on my skin. All that was missing was the tequila & lime!

I showered & headed back out to visit Island Village one last time. I found a shirt for Jaco at Margaritaville – yes, Jimmy Buffet’s Margaritaville. It looks great on him! (Jaco, not Jimmy Buffet!) I found a few of my friends from the shops & visited with them until I felt the sun piercing my skin. Wow. It is SO hot here!

I left for the ship, got hassled on the way back – as you do in Jamaica – and then went to the Medical Centre to take a few x-rays. Yes, that’s right! I didn’t do the x-rays myself, but one of the Nurses needed a digital file of his wife’s x-rays, so he asked me to take the photos on my higher resolution camera. It was a fun challenge & I edited them straight away.

Once I was finished with that, I helped my Shorex pals for 20 minutes or so & then it was back to the cabin. To begin, ugh, packing. It’s that time. I’ve packed a lot this evening. I still have a LONG ways to go, but I’ve put a pretty big dent in things. At least the cabin steward won’t have to do too much tomorrow! There’s no room to clean anything!

It’s one hour forward tonight, so I’m losing sleep as I type! That’s me for a great day in Jamaica!

Lekker slaap!

xxxxMaria

 The home away from home.

Dolphin Discovery

Mick Jagger used to own this property!

The Infamous Dunn's River Falls

 Not much to see under the water. A shell & one urchin.

 Interesting way to take the rope back!

Yah Mon! Everyting Irie.