Easter Weekend - Nevis

Mor Toad / Moy Toad
David and Jocelyn Fawcett
Tue 7 Apr 2015 22:50

Having arrived late Wednesday afternoon David went off before 8.00am on Thursday morning to check us in which he needed to do before any of us could go ashore. It took him a while as they opened on Caribbean time. We then spent Thursday exploring Charlestown - pleasant place with colourful wooden houses with balconies on the first floor overhanging the pavement if there was one or road if not. Most probably for the first time since being in The Caribbean we actually found a Tourist Information Office open and a helpful person inside from Birmingham ( she was now back on the island but had been born in the UK) . We spent the day following The Heritage trail which is based on Nelsons stay in Nevis when in charge of a ship for the Navy and his marriage to a Nevisian Francis Nisbet. Then various churches and other buildings in the area together with a couple of museums. Shopping in the fruit and veg. market and the supermarket was also very successful. We are never quite sure what we are going to find on any of these islands and although we read Doyle's Caribbean guide to cruising it's not always quite what is expected. You can usually find what you need not necessarily what you want.

On Good Friday we discovered there was a local tradition of flying kites. So armed with one Dan and Alex already had plus two small ones Dan and the children had made. We found a taxi ( no buses running) and went up to the area where the festival was being held. We spent the afternoon there having fun though very hot. Eventually a lot of people with kites turned up. There was the usual loud music (they do like their music as loud as possible with a definite bass beat!) and stalls selling food. David and I our bought a pirate kite, the only ones for sale and then spent three hours trying to get it to fly with various modifications. I didn't realise kite flying was such a complex process. In the end very successfully but only to lose it as the string broke and off it went. There were kites that were being flown nearby that were way way up in the sky - a dot. There're was also a competition for the making of kites which were then judged on design as well as their ability to fly though we didn't stay long enough to see this.

Saturday we decided to hire bikes and try and cycle round the whole island 16 plus miles. As the cycle hire shop ( the man running it was from Birmingham too - we had even met a lady from Leeds in one of the museums - all born in UK but of Nevisian parents) was some way from where we were in another bay we decided to move the boat to this bay a little further north. It was also the bay where the Nevis to St Kitts swim would start from on Easter Sunday and we fancied watching that - memories of The Castle to Castle Swim in St Mawes but this time 2.5 miles - no wet suits needed and they also had a section for people who could use mask, snorkel and fins 'the assisted swim'.

The bike ride was great fun, hard work but an excellent way to see the island also very hot, very hilly - some hills had to be walked up by some of us but Alex and Dan did extremely well with the children in seats. Having seen various churches, beaches, an old sugar factory with rusting machinery lying around, monkeys for the first time we finally ended up at The Golden Rock - a hotel created from an old sugar plantation. Up another steep hill but worth the effort, beautifully restored, tranquil an oasis situated below The island's volcano . Excellent lunch in the shade followed by a brief swim in the hotel pool to give us strength for the rest of the bike ride. A lot of exhausted people at the end of the day but definitely worth the effort.

Easter Sunday we watched the swim start and then came back to the boat for breakfast with eggs decorated and dyed by Alex and myself and an Easter Egg hunt - now how did the Easter rabbit get there - turtle, jet ski, another boat who knows? We then went for a long walk along the beach and ended up having lunch at The Admirals Inn which we had read about in the guide book. Dan wanted to see the display of old engines (only a few but interesting) there were also a few other artefacts around and the bar stools were made from cross sections of masts. We didn't intend to have lunch but in he end couldn't resist the pizzas - superb and the thinnest of crusts. The first pizza for a number of months. The rest of the day was spent swimming and listening ( not happily I might add) to the loud music coming off the beach from the local bars which did go on until the wee hours of the morning. The locals do enjoy themselves when it comes to holidays.

Easter Monday saw us move the boat across to St Kitts - not far. We anchored in a bay on the south of the island for several hours ( stony beach ) where we swam, snorkelled more turtles spotted and they had play on the beach and generally chilled for several hours and had lunch. We then motored further up the island and found a spot to anchor overnight before heading to Basse Terre the main town in St Kitts where we shall spend a couple of days revictualling and exploring.