We motored along the coast of St John for a couple of hours to pick up another buoy in the very pretty and peaceful Lameshur Bay, mainly because we wanted to walk the trail from there up to the petroglyphs.  It turned out to be a wonderful spot, not least because when evening came we had it all to ourselves and Lindsay was able to snatch the moment for a skinny dip just before the sun went down.  It was a perfect and perfectly dark night and the stars were amazing.  It felt like our own little corner of paradise then.

Lameshure bay from the beach & the walk:

Earlier in the afternoon we went for an enjoyable snorkel around the bay and saw lots lovely corals, vivid coloured fish and a large and truly sinister looking striped barracuda lurking in a gully.  The beach is a nesting one for turtles and in the evening we saw one or two around the boat.

We rowed our dinghy ashore early the next morning and had a good 50 minute walk along the clearly marked trail to find the petroglyphs.  They were carved in the smooth rocks surrounding a pool which is always full despite the season and you could see why pre-Columbian people might have regarded this as a special place.  It was quite exciting to see something finally which predates us Europeans arriving and wiping out the locals.  There were some intriguing shapes amongst the carvings and one very clear full face.  Others looked like eyes to me but David thought they were breasts!  It was great to have the place to ourselves and not have its atmosphere spoiled by the crowds who come up there a bit later in the day.

Petroglyphs:

… and a visitor:

On the walk we saw some humming birds, a mongoose and a deer which seemed a strange mixture.  We returned to our boat for a cool off swim and a coffee before motoring back towards Cruz Bay and picking up exactly the same buoy we had used the day before.  Today we have been back into the town to shop and then we will be heading the 10 miles across to the much more developed island of St Thomas.  We are mainly going there to meet up with some sailing acquaintances from New Zealand we met last in Malta 4 years ago.  It’s a small world in yachting circles sometimes!