Update from Antigua

Mor Toad / Moy Toad
David and Jocelyn Fawcett
Tue 12 May 2015 19:44
I'm writing this waiting for our flight home. We have had a good 4 days here in Antigua generally calming down/debriefing and relaxing. It's been quite some journey since we left St Mawes harbour at the end of August last year and a lot to talk about and reflect on.

We have done quite a lot of beach walks including one before breakfast this morning mostly on Jolly Harbour Beach where we were a number of weeks ago. We've spent time relaxing and reading on the beach as well as swimming. The hotel also had a nice pool.

One day we hired a Jumby from a company called Spotty Dog. It was very much like a Mini Moke but made in Antigua . We drove all round the island visiting English Harbour and Falmouth Harbour where we had had the boat - both harbours now extremely quiet as was Jolly Harbour. very definitely the end of the sailing season. Lot of boats now out of the water on the hard as they were in the BVI. We visited a number of beaches too and another derelict sugar plantation site and generally got a feel for the whole island including seeing the one bit of rainforest they have off Fig Tree Drive. Definitely the greenest spot on the island everywhere else is pretty arid as it was in the BVI - these islands are in need of rain.

We had a fun day albeit quite bumpy and noisy - very little suspension if any but we failed to get any lunch as Sunday and nowhere seemed to be open and the one place we did find after driving down a dirt road was fully booked as Mothering Sunday. We did make up for this later by having a large ice cream back in Jolly Harbour though again the place was pretty shut up.

So this is it - the end of this adventure. We have our favourite islands, beaches and snorkelling spots, walks and activities and the best Lobster was definitely Mr Sweet Deals in Tobago Cays though we didn't realise it at the time and the best rum punch Killer B in a beach bar in Nevis. Who knows what next or where we shall take Mor Toad in the future.

Alex completed her PADI course on Monday by diving The Rhone and through it. She is very pleased with her achievement and what she saw underwater including a nurse shark. They have also managed to get a couple of surfs ( the board travelled all the way across on Mor Toad and has had little use but is being left in the BVI ) and they are, I'm sure enjoying their last few days in the BVI and we shall see them back in the UK next week.

Hopefully we will get coordinates from Oliver as they cross the Atlantic but wind seems to be in short supply at present so we are not sure when we shall see them back. They are still in Bermuda at present but hoping to leave in the next 24 hours