Peter Island; How the other half live.

Stream
Darrell Jackson and Sarah Barnes
Thu 13 Feb 2014 17:00
18:21.35N 64:34.95W

Monday 10th February.
We made an early start, and were surprised to see how many boats had already left the bay. Darrell had a trip to the bakers, but being Monday bread would not be ready until at least 9.30, which was a disappointment as other days people were queuing at 8am.
We had a motor across to Leverick Bay to make us of their Laundrette and buy some provisions. Then we queued for the fuel dock, before sailing back into the channel.
We were treated to the magnificent sight of the international youth sailing teams racing within the bay. Five racing yachts of between 40 and 50 foot length: Swiss, Russian, Italian, French ( we couldn't work out the other team) sailed around us as we crossed the bay, making it all look so easy and graceful at very great speed in comparison to the other yachts.
We sailed twenty nm down to the privately owned Peter Island. We were on a broad reach and were there in under 3 hours. We passed Dead Chest, a rock that looks like a man in a coffin! We sailed passed Deadman's Bay and Spratt Bay, as we decided that $65 a night for a mooring buoy was rather steep. (It would have been $125/ night if we'd wanted a berth and $70 for an electric hook up!) We chose Great Harbour for our stop for the night, only $30! It was a popular stop with a few boats anchored and others on buoys. We sat in the cockpit watching the pelicans, frigates and noddies diving for fish. Not a bad way to end a day.

Tuesday 11th February
We decided that we would explore the island as we had heard it had good hiking trails. We dinghied ashore, avoiding the fishermen who were putting out nets in the east end of the bay and taking care not to land or walk on the ones they had left drying on the beach.
We walked up and through some scrubland until we came to the marina and resort. It is a private island and the resort is high end. They do not mind yachties ashore as long as they do not disturb the guests. We wandered up through the resorts herb garden, which had lots of labels but very few herbs growing. But it is winter. We picked up the trail, well sandy road, called the Sunset Loop and set off. It got very steep quickly, and became a concrete road with deep concrete gullies along the side. This is part of their water harvesting system, they collect the rainfall that runs down the road into large tanks, as part of their Eco friendly credentials.
The walk was super, great views of the other islands in the channel and down to the island's bays and beaches. There was a huge range of plants which smelt very pleasant. Only a few posh looking buildings. In a col near the headland was a huge blue wind turbine and as we wandered past we saw two American Kestrels hovering just in front of the turbine. One then dived and landed on the roof of the maintenance hut, while the other dived after it's prey. From the turbine we could also see and hear a large industrial looking building which we assume was the island's power plant and/or desalination plant.
Around the point on the southerly headland, with fantastic views to the west, we came across a colourful seating area for the guests to watch the sun go down while, if the bottles in the bin were anything to go by, drinking champagne cocktails.
We continued our walk down to Deadman's Bay, voted the most romantic beach in the world. We were pleased to be allowed to walk along it, provided we did not disturb the guests or use any of the facilities. So we walked hand in hand, just to test being romantic.
We did try out the hammocks by the marina when no one was looking and very comfortable they were too. We also appreciated the waterstops that we positioned strategically on the trail. These were next to smart shaded seats and were inside little insulated huts. The water was chilled to perfection and gratefully received, as it was very hot and we were route marching rather than a leisurely stroll. This experience definitely showed us how the other half holiday!

On our return to Stream, we went snorkelling along the shore right next to the pelicans and noddies, who just ignored us and let us get within a metre of them. The coral was fantastic, new varieties; one that looked exactly like a purple cabbage, bright red fingers and more bubble wrap rosettes. The fish were in abundance. There were twenty to thirty of each type swimming around, as well as thousands of little fish. Yellow goat fish, banded butterfly fish and four eye butterfly fish were highlights. The squirrel fish were much in evidence out feeding rather than hiding in holes in the coral and rocks. It is a good a thing that we have a book on board so we can spend hours working out what we have seen and then try to remember the next time we are in the water, but remembering is the hard part!
After lunch we set sail off to Norman Island, for a return visit.