I'm trying

I'm in the process of moving. And I have no camera to document the happenings. Tomorrow I shall take pictures of all these boxes and empty walls. I'm a bit sad to be leaving this small haven, my first home since first moving to China I can't remember how many years ago. It doesn't matter. Starting a new life full of possibilities. Exciting, and a bit scary.

Even Lola is freaking a bit! I think she thinks I'm going to leave her again. Right now, shes' purring away, sitting on my lap.

So, what to do while taking a break from packing. Reminisce about three months ago. What day was that? Day 5? 6? No matter. Here are more photos of the best vacation ever. Bahamas..day whatever.

It's Easter. Maybe Sunday. Everything is closed up. We decide to head north somehow, to see what is supposed to be the best beach on the island, Cocoplum Beach. Heading out the door I almost step on a little chameleon. I am astonished at how quickly they turn turn colour, almost instantaneously, to blend in with the environment. OH! Look at my wrinkly fingers! Yikes!


Anyway, as we've discovered, the best way to get around the island is by hitch hiking. People are so friendly here, they even stop to pick you up when you don't really want a ride! The first ride we get is only up to the airport. But it is in a proper taxi, driven by Mr. Rolle. Who just happens to be a cousin of Esther Rolle, the actress. What was she in? Good Times? And Roots? Can't remember. Anyway, the Rolles are famous around here. Mr. Rolle tells us stories of his youth, and the changes he has seen in island life since then. He drops us off, and we promise him, that we will call him to take us to the airport for our departure in a few days. So, we start walking down the road a bit. It's a hot hot day. Humid. Cars , trucks pass, and stop, ask us where we're going. Nope, not going there. But after a few minutes , success. A pickup truck. A young man dropping his girlfriend off after a night of partying on the Easter weekend. He drives us most of the way to the beach and then we walk about a kilometre or so down to the shore.

Yes, it is the best beach we've seen. No one here but us. Well, for a while anyway. The water is shallow and warm. I spend much of the time, combing the sand for shells and other interesting things.


"W", relaxing. Nice hat. Locally woven.


Yeah, hot humid day. And when we get back to the cottage, what is on TV but the World Figure Skating Championships! What a thing to be watching in the tropics! Unbelievable. And the best part! A nice Canadian boy won the gold! Happy happy day.

Half way there. Day five, Good Friday. Everything is closed here. Good thing we stocked up on supplies the day before. The Bahamas makes very little of it's own products, most is imported. Twice a week the mailboat comes in with fresh supplies. We find the supermarkets quite well stocked except for fresh fruit, vegetables and meat. These things sell out very quickly. Anyway, this day we decide to stay close to home and explore the beach next door. One of the owners of the cabins says that when he was a young boy, the very best snorkeling in the islands was off this very beach. At the beach now is an old pier and abandoned beach villa/hotel which is being renovated, very slowly. We find a nice quiet stretch of white sand and settle down. I decide to go do a little beach combing. Conch shells everywhere! I can't believe they eat the animals that live in these things.



Along with the conch , unfortunately I find an enormous quantity of empty beer, wine and liquor bottles, buried in the sand and tossed into the ocean. I decide to do a Good Friday deed and try to clean up things a bit. Here's my collection, hardly a dent in the problem.

After a bit of a swim and snorkel, (which is getting better and better) we retire back to our beach blankets. Over at the beach villa we see a lone figure. He approaches us. With a machete. And two coconuts. He first drills a little hole in one of the coconuts so we can drink the water from it, and then shows us how to open it. The coconut meat is actually like jelly and is not too sweet. Quite refreshing. The old man tells us he is the security officer for the hotel and that anytime we want we are welcome on this beach. He also gives me a detailed explanation on how to kill a conch and then make a stew. Somehow, I don't think I'll do it.


Just off the beach to the right is an old pier. I decide to go snorkeling there for a bit. I was not disappointed! The variety of fish was incredible. Blues and yellows and purples. A parrot fish ( I think), thousand of groupers, snapper, big eyed pink fish and various coloured angelfish. I can only imagine what it was like 50 years ago before the coral began dying off. Fortunately, further north of this island, the government has made the reefs a protected area, a National Marine Park.

Afterwards, refreshments...and

..a little toe fun.

Woke up at 7:00 a.m. which is really 4:00 a.m. my time, so I decide to go back to sleep until 9:30 !
After a big breakfast of pancakes and bacon we set off to town. First destination is the tourist bureau. It's a hot day, maybe close to 30 degrees, so when we enter the office it's a bit of a relief to get a blast of cold air from the air conditioning. The manager is on the phone. She is wearing a full suit with coat! I'm thinking, why not turn down the air? We look at a few brochures while waiting for her to finish. I listen to one of the conversations and what she is doing is giving out the menu of the day for the local restaurants! We ask her a few questions all of which she cannot really help us with. One of which is, where do we catch the bus? Oh, there's no bus anymore. So...what do we do? How do we get to the various beaches and sites around the island? It's not a big island, but 30 miles is a bit far to walk, even with Walky's help. So, when in Rome...


What do the locals do? Hitchhike! Hey, I've never hitchhiked before. Never. But, the people are so friendly here, and it feels safe. It's not long before a nice young man with dreads pulls over in his big truck and asks us where we're going. Man-o-war-cay. Well, he's not going that far, but he'll drive us anyway. We start chatting. Life. Island life. The important things in life. He's a young man but he's got it right. Moved from Nassau to this island because his family had a big section of what is called generational land. He's going to build a house on it now.

He drops us off, asks a couple of local girls how we can get to the cay. When speaking amongst themselves the locals have a totally different accent. Very hard to understand, a bit Jamaican/Haitian/Creole/English. But when speaking to us, the accent is very neutral.

Off we go, through an old cemetery, up over a small hill, and there it is. WOW! Blue. Green. Water. White sand. Man-o-war Cay. When the tide is low, like now, you can walk across!

Here we go. Walking across! I'm speechless. It's unbelievably beautiful. And we are all alone!

Well, almost alone.

After about one kilometre we make it to the other side. The Atlantic Ocean!
Ah, we are not alone. One lone kite surfer battles the waves. Looks like fun.

Relaxing once more. I think this is going to be a pretty good holiday.

Hmmm..I wonder when the tide starts coming in?

Up at 4:00 a.m. the first day to catch early and cheap flight to the Bahamas. Dressed in summer clothes and the weather is cold and rainy as usual in Vancouver. No matter, we'll be warm soon. Rab and Jazz are along for the trip, they travel free because they can fit in the seat pouch. Of course it will be Easter soon, and it just so happens that it is their birthdays as well. How could we leave them home?

"Hey dad, didya 'member the sunskween?"


We fly into Calgary first with a short wait for the connecting flight. Weather is good so far! Westjet is awesome. Every seat has its own television screen so you can watch any show or movie you want without fighting over the channel changer.

Somewhere over someplace flat.



Arrive into Nassau in the early evening. Weather is blustery but warm. Only an overnight stay here. The hotel is only 5 minutes from the airport and yet very quiet. No desire to stay in Nassau due to all those silly spring-breakers . We prefer secluded beaches with no noise and no vomiting teenagers.

Lookit the turquoise water!


The hotel is not as nice as I had hoped. First of all the owner is quite eccentric and has a "Fawlty Towers" sign over the front door. Hmm, is that something to be proud of? He rattles off the rules for dinner and drinks so fast I can't understand him. He gives us strange directions to the room. Was that 17 steps or room 17? The electronic key has a piece of tape on it that says 16. We manage to find the room after a few misturns. Put the key into the slot of room 16. Nothing. Try 17. Nothing. Go back to the office. All he says is , "Oh that happens sometimes." Then he gives me another key, and as I'm leaving, I hear him call out, "#16 poolside". Back to room 16 then. But guess what? The key doesn't work. Grrr. I then try #15 just for the heck of it. Guess what? Yeah, it works. The room is a little tacky but clean. We freshen up a bit and then decide to try some dinner. Not really hungry but we figure it best to try to get our internal clocks changed to island time.

"Hey dad, whatz the drinkin' age here?"



After dinner we walk a bit on the beach. The sand is so fine and white, it sticks to your feet.. The sunset is glorious but the clouds are a bit ominous. We fear bad weather for our holiday. Early rise again tomorrow, destination Exuma !

Exuma...in the Bahamas...stay tuned for more info.