More beaches....

Thursday we went with Helen and Owen  to a lovely place on the beach for lunch - I had conch and it was fantastic. So nice to sit under palm trees and look over to an almost deserted beach.

After lunch we played on the beach, and went in the incredible shallow and warm sea.

In the evening we stayed at our hotel, drank lots of cocktails and listened to some reggae!

 Friday we drove up to the top of the island  - Leeward -  and went for a walk along the beach.very busy again as you can see.

When we got back we went to the pool, and were amazed to see a small heron join us. He stayed by the pool, right next to us, for about an hour, and even drank from the pool. 

In the evening Helen, Toby and Owen joined us, and we had a BBQ - there were a couple of communal BBQ areas in the grounds of the hotel with gas BBQs, implements, fridges, and places to eat. We had a great meal of salad, bread, grilled vegetables and steak.

The following day - horror - it was raining. We just managed to get our breakfast before the heavens opened - had to shelter as it was coming down too hard for us to get back to our room.

No trip to the beach as we'd planned, so what better to do than find an ice cream parlour that serves cocktails!

The rain did stop eventually, and we had a lovely walk along the beach

Sunday was our last day, and the sun was shining again

After checking out of the hotel and dropping the hire car off, we went off to the beach again for the day. Another almost deserted beach, warm shallow sea, golden sand....

The only bad thing to happen was I dropped my camera in the sad, face down. Got sand in all of the lens mechanism and completely broke it. Otherwise a lovely lazy day, rounded off with a lovely late lunch in another restaurant with an amazing view.

Back to Toby and Helens, a quick shower and change and off to the airport for our long journey back. A fab time!

Sheffield peregrines in Provo

Woke up on Tuesday to a familiar sound, I thought it was one of our peregrine falcons from Sheffield outside of the window. Looked out, and there it was, tearing a smaller bird to pieces. By the time I'd got my camera, the smaller bird was gone and the falcon was having a rest. Got a reasonable picture of it on my camera, this ones not so good form my phone. From a quick glance at Wikipedia, I think it's an American Kestrel.



Went for a walk along the beach. Really busy, as you can see.



And the sea really is that colour. A pelican thoughtfully stopped to fish right by us.



Then back to the pool for Stuarts daily 40 lengths. Went to see Helen for lunch and delicious tuna sandwiches, and when Owen woke for his nap we tried out their pool which is lovely. Owen enjoyed kicking around and splashing.
Lots of fun time playing with Owen later, who loved Grandpa's car keys.



Another fab meal cooked by Toby at the BBQ, mohito chicken, washed down with mohitos of course! Came back and thought we'd have a nightcap at the resort bar, but it was shut. They obviously go to bed early here.

Wednesday we went for an adventure, and drove to North West Point, most of which is down an unmade road, and the last couple of miles down a sandy track. Probably best if we don't tell the hire car company where we've been. Luckily the tyres stayed undamaged and we didn't get stuck in the sand. Another glorious beach.


And more bird life, an egret and an osprey. The osprey has made its nest on a pole which had think has had a light in it in the past, and the nest is made from all sorts of rubbish it has picked up, including some bright blue rope from Fisherman's nets.



On the way back we stopped for lunch at Da Conch Shack.


Stu had conch, I had jerk chicken and rice and peas, washed down with local beer. Another day, another beach, another beer.


I bought a conch shell from a local seller, and also found a couple in the sand which will look good somewhere at home. Not sure where yet.

Back for a swim and a read by the pool. Then off to see Owen again before bedtime, and dinner at the Tiki Hut with Toby. It was chicken and ribs night. So, we had chicken and ribs. Plus a couple of mohitos of course.


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Provo adventures

Off on our travels again. This time back to Providenciales in the Turks and Caicos Islands to see Toby and Helen. Drove to Heathrow Saturday afternoon, with our suitcases and big box of assorted stuff, mainly presents for Owen and some treats! We did get comments when we posted this on Facebook that it looked like we'd packed a light sabre.


Decent meal at the Sofitel and an early night and early start. Great news on the plane, headsets are allowed during takeoff and landing. I.m not a brilliant flyer, and hate takeoff, so to have loud music in my ears while we took off was great, drowned out the noise of the engines.

Bizarrely we got our first gin and tonic at 1030, and lunch at 1100, but I always think time isn't real in a plane! Then I fell asleep listening to random songs from my iTunes. Everything for folk to musicals, classical to reggae. Think I slept on and off for about 4 hours. Then read and watched TED talks. An hour stop over at Nassau, and we arrived.

Met by Toby and Owen, a short drive to theirs where we met Helen, and unpacked the box. Owen loved his new chair sent to him by his Granny



And all of his birthday presents form is, including his first bike



Had a lovely meal of BBQd chicken, cooked on the communal gas BBQs they have, great idea, and then checked in at our resort, very tired we intended to go straight to sleep, but realised the Oscars were on, and we were for once in the right time zone to watch them, so we did!
Then a very long jet lag induced sleep.

Woke up to glorious sunshine, and had breakfast by the beach. The view whilst we were choosing breakfast was pretty impressive.



It was nice to see the resort in sunshine, having arrived in darkness last night.



Stuart needed to get him swimming, a good 40 lengths, whilst I watched and listened to music. And floated in the pool occasionally.


After a quick lunch. Helen and Owen met us on the beach where we had a fun time building sandcastles so Owen could jump on them, and even made it for a paddle. The sun was going down by now but it was still warm and the light was fabulous.



After a quick swim in the pool to get rid of the sand, we ate in the restaurant on the beach, where Owen was completely transfixed by the live music, and amused the whole place by dancing to the reggae music. Finally, my favourite drink of the islands, a mohito.






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Cracking Conch

Saturday we were up early, before 8! Off to catch a boat out to the reef. Fabulous day, and we were only a small party on the boat which was great. First stop was to dive for Conch, but they were playing hard to get, and no-one caught any. Luckily they had some live ones on the boat. Then it was off to the reef for some snorkelling. I really don't like water, ( a wimp, I know) so I stayed on the boat whilst the others went off looking at fish.









And apparently there were lots of fish!

Then it was off to Iguana Island, where we were shown how to crack conch



And get the conch out. Weird looking thing!


Then for a walk to look at the Iguanas which are everywhere


And then a swim, in another turquoise sea off a white sand beach.



When we got back to the boat, the conch had been transformed into ceviche, which we ate with tortilla chips, and very good it was too.



Then a fast dash to the shore. We'd been out on the boat for 4 hours, and were in need of a shower and a rest out of the sun. So we had a lazy afternoon, and then drank a bottle of Prosecco to toast our wedding anniversary, and off to catch the sunset again. Had a lovely meal, and watched the sun go down. Then back for a couple of drinks and bed, only to get up at 5.30am for a quick drive to the airport to catch our plane to Miami. The end of a fantastic week in Provo, it only seems 5 minutes since we got here thanks to our great hosts Toby and Helen, and now we set off on the second part of our Caribbean adventure to Jamaica.


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Dogs, Ospreys and blueberry mohitos

Thursday we set off in the car for another drive, this time to Leeward, parked the car on a lane, and immediately got adopted by 5 very friendly dogs who came for a walk along the beach with us and just wanted to play.




Another deserted beach, another turquoise sea.




Lovely walk along the beach with the dogs, and we got a good look at Iguana Island, more on that later! You can just see it behind the dogs in the picture above.
Then we drove along Turtle Tail, and looked at some beautiful houses, most valued at about $5m. Best start saving. Home for a swim and some great enchiladas cooked by Toby and Helen.
Friday Toby and Helen had off work, so we drove to North West Point, and took the car along the path Stu and I had walked along on Wednesday, a much better idea than walking! At the end we were met by another amazing beach




And some Ospreys. I was really surprised to see them, but we got a great view of them flying,




sitting by the beach:




And on their nest, which they're built in an old light container




Beautiful birds. We had a great walk down the beach




And then back home for lunch and a swim. In the evening we tried to catch the sunset, but we were a bit late, and it was cloudy. But we did catch an amazing bay




And a thunderstorm - the clouds were a wonderful colour




Then it was a couple of blueberry mohitos




Why have I not had this amazing drink before! A steak, and home for an earlish night


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Somewhere in Paradise

Great BBQ on Monday evening, Jerk Chicken and some steak which had been marinaded in rum. Yum!
Tuesday morning we set off for the beach again. Surprise surprise, the sun was out, the sky was blue, the sea was turquoise and the sand was white. Of course, I had to build another dribble castle....



Looks rather good on the rock I think!
Then we walked down the beach to find the famous Rickie's bar, but no-one had told us it wasn't actually called Rickie's :-). We found it anyway, and sat looking at the sea drinking cold beer and eating a leisurely lunch.



Walked back along the beach (did I mention it was deserted),



and back for a swim.



Great take away Pizzas that night for tea.
Wednesday we set off in our hire car to explore the Island. Drove along Chalk Sound, a large inland lagoon separated from the sea by a thin strip of land, with some very expensive looking houses on it. The lagoon was beautiful, full of small islands.



Then we drove up to the north west corner of the island, and hoped to get to North West Point, but got out of the car too early, mainly because it didn't look like it was possible to drive down the path, and set off to walk. After a while we realised a) it was a lot further than we thought and b) we were being eaten alive by insects.



I now am the proud owner of some amazing bites! So, we turned back, and drove to Da Conch Shack for lunch. An idyllic place on the beach, under palm trees, and yes, I did eat conch ( pronounced conck out here). Nice, a bit chewy like squid:



Sat for ages just looking at the sea, watching pelican, and back for a swim, chilling out, and with views like this, who could blame us!



Then a quick drive to Turtle,Cove where walked around the marina, and called in at a bar for a quick mohito.



At night we ate in an amazing bar under the stars, on the beach, called Somewhere. A fab day on paradise island!
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