Bermuda - final week

We are still here.
While the Caribbean is being bashed around, on Friday morning, we had almost no wind so the reflections on my way to work were impressive.

Reflections!!!!!

Some more clouds - at sunset!!!!

On Friday it was "Mad Hair Day" on the island. PALS, which is the palliative care service is the charity that was 'sponsoring' it and getting the donations. The lab as you can see, from the photos below, really got into the mood. A couple of people did their hair-piece at home with ribbons and wigs and such, and the rest of us had our hair spray painted. The really fabulous idea - was to use pipe cleaners and wrap the hair around it. The one girl looked like a Dr Seuss character. Much fun was had by all!! Oh, and of course, being pathology, there was a feast afterwards!!!!

At least half the laboratory participated - didn't see any evidence of participation in the rest of the hospital, which was a bit sad -  we have a rather enthusiastic crew!!!!! 

First thing on Saturday, I had to come to the hospital to sort out a patient. I had been woken at about midnight, with a blood transfusion problem and eventually decided to contact the doctor in casualty myself. I asked the tech for the name, and he struggled, eventually stating' the doctor is a foreigner'!!! This from the Philippino  tech to the South African doctor on the island of Bermuda!!!!

I needed to come in to try and sort out a plan of action! I then scootered into town for some more wool as I have finished my blankets, oh, and some food!!!

Clearwater beach looking towards St David's and the light house. The water was amazingly clear, but interestingly, is definitely colder than when I arrived!

I then was taken down to Clearwater Beach and Cooper's Island, by Nicole, who is in charge of the venesection squad. This is one of her favourite spots on the island and I soon understood why. For a long time this area, on the east side of the island, was 'occupied' by the American army and there was even a NASA tracking station, but many of the buildings are now direlict - not used by the Bermudan government, as they weren't built to the local code. The area also for a long time has been a nature reserve so it has not been over-commercialised or heavily built up

                  On Cooper's Island looking out to the South Shore - the sea was quite churned up.

                              Captured in front of one of carved out rocks!

I unfortunately forgot my snorkel, but there was quite a current and the water was a little murky - it just means that I will have to go back again!!! We had a few lovely swims, in between lazing on the sand and then realised that the weather was changing as this rather threatening cloud arrived!!

Of course, we ended up at the ice cream parlour on the way home - interesting eating ice cream in the heat  - had forgotten how quick one needs to be!

On Sunday, I awoke with the gastro bug that is doing the rounds, so spent a very quiet morning, catching up with household chores, such as washing, plus, of course, started baby blanket no 3!!!

I had to go down to Horseshoe Bay in the afternoon, on the scooter, for my last swim. The ride down was great, and I even managed  to pass my first scooter!!!!! but the water was very choppy and the wind was whipping up the sand, but I got in and had a swim. I then, rather sadly, delivered the scooter back to the rental company, though, I did pass an accident on my way there, so possibly not a moment too soon!!! We will make further use of scooters, Ian and I when we return to the island over Christmas!!!

This was Monday's sunrise - spectacular!! I am going to miss my present morning ritual of coffee on my patio looking out to the south-east of the island, watching the birds and the sunrise.

My last day of work is tomorrow, I handover at 4pm and then catch the plane to Gatwick at 8pm and then my UK holiday starts! I will be spending the first week with my cousin, Carol and we will be exploring! Not quite sure where, but it will be fun. I then join Ian in Cambridge on the 4th and we spend my birthday weekend together - probably taking in a few shows........ and then home. I arrive on 9th October.
I am not sure whether I will blog in the UK! If not, I am sure I will have some more Bermuda adventures to report over Christmas.
I will have wifi intermittently, so please keep your news coming.

Bermuda week 5

We are still here!

Despite Jose's attempts, there is very little damage to the island. The eye of the storm seems to have passed us, and is now heading up the west coast of USA, quite far out to sea. According to the weather channels, they are likely to experience increased rain, wind and storm surge, which appears to be more than we have had.

Sunday night was very windy, with gusts above 50km/h and numerous heavy downpours. Monday remains overcast and windy with fairly heavy squalls and thunderstorms predicted for later. Despite all that, the temperature still stays in the high 20's and humidity in the 70's, so we are still in short sleeves.
Definitely a day to be at work and then curled up with crochet later!!!!

I am pleased to report that my social life didn't suffer with the storm! I went out for cocktails and supper on Thursday night. Irene (a NZ psychiatric nurse who I met at Chatajack) and I walked into town and found a pub offering Happy Hour drinks and enjoyed a mojito and then moved on to "Onion Jack's" where we could sit on the balcony overlooking Front Street and share flatbread and calamari, watch the sun go down and then people watch!!!! Very pleasant.

Then on Friday, Monica (who I met 10 years ago, when I did my first locum!!!!!!) and I went to the Pink Beach Hotel. Monica is a GP on the island, and has been here from Canada for many years, though did have a break a few years ago, when she went to work in the Cayman Islands! (She is shorter than I am!!!!!!!!!!!)

The surf was already being churned up and there was a pretty strong wind. The Hotel has recently been rebuilt and so is very popular. There was in fact a "Mom's Night Out" on Friday night and I enjoyed the fashions on display. We started the evening with a cocktail which I think was called "Sex on the Pink Beach" though it could also have been called"Pink Sex on the Beach"!!!????
Even the tap water came in a pink bottle

Monica and I doing a selfie in the wind!!!!!

The cocktail!!! Behind us are see-through blinds which protected us from the spray and wind but were still light enough to see the sea!

Dinner was very pleasant, though I was extremely pleased I was paying in Bermuda dollars!!!!

Saturday: The weather was quite threatening. There was high cloud all day and it was quite windy. I climbed on the scooter, and set off for the west side of the island - the Dockyards, which I haven't explored at all this trip. My trip this time was much improved, I am getting the hang of it and am getting up a little bit of speed - even went 50km - downhill with the wind, but as soon as I realised it, I throttled back to a respectable 35km, which is actually the speed limit. No buses chasing me, and I did pass a pedal-bike, only to have him pass me again when I was meandering through the dockyards! 

Bearing in mind, that the America's Cup was held in this area less than 3 months ago, there is very little evidence that it was ever here. I have heard that the Village, was packed up and transported as a whole to South Korea for the Winter Olympics. There are still some of the ' very large hangers' but very little else. Oh, except for the merchandise that is marked down drastically!

The flags of the representatives are still present, flying in the stiff breeze

I have spent a lot of time looking into the water and have been fascinated by the number of fry - those greeny-blue lines in this photo and in the bottom left there are a couple of zebra fish! When chased the fry, tend to jump out of the water in unison in a fountain-like formation with the  hunting fish plopping in and out of the water behind them in an almost comical way!!!

One of the new additions to the island, probably as a result of the America's Cup, are these small electric cars that can be rented. They appear to be based at the main hotels where they can be re-charged and take 2 people - riding in tandem. This one is a Renault Twizzer but there is another make - called Cur-rent - which is rather clever. These are the only cars that can be rented, otherwise it is scooters and pedal-bikes! 

Sunday, I again hopped on the bike. I hoped to get in some snorkelling at Church Bay, but soon realised that the water was not going to be conducive as it was very choppy and unpleasant with poor visibility.
I headed back to Horseshoe Bay and this cove which is usually very pleasant, but even it was churned up. Though I did see a midnight blue parrot fish hiding in the rocks!

I was rather taken with the sand castles on top of this rock - they would withstand the high tides which were expected - the chairs that usually live on the beach above the high water line, were being moved off, but probably washed off with the rain!!!!

The rather threatening sky and choppy waves didn't put too many people off as it is still hot and humid!!!!

If you use your imagination, you can see the pink particles that give the beaches their name! On the left is very clear water and on the right the beach.

I had to fill up the scooter, so despite not using it quite as much as I had hoped to, I have still used a tank of petrol and still have the weekend ahead to explore.

I have finally finished the rainbow blanket. This will be posted to Meg's grand daughter in the UK when I get there next week.

Tuesday: Last night we had quite a bit of wind and regular downpours, so much so, that my walk to work this morning was very wet! Luckily I could use an umbrella with a poncho rain coat, as the wind wasn't too bad. The biggest problem though, is getting wet as the cars pass and kick up the water from the puddles!!! So I was a little more damp and bedraggled than usual on my arrival! but soon dried out.

Work remains quiet! I have another full week before I leave for the UK and proper holiday next Wednesday!

Keep well and keep the news rolling in.

Bermuda Week 4

First up - the weather report! Bermuda is fine, We are not in the path of any hurricanes, at present, though Jose is being watched carefully! We have had some minor affects in that we have had stronger winds, rougher seas with small craft warnings and we have been under a bit more cloud and rain, but this is due to move away later in the week. It was quite scary watching the constant hurricane weather channels and watching the battering which occurred down south, so I am pleased not to be in the thick of things!!!!!

Saturday here was a beautiful day, and it was spent on and near the water! Alick, Helen, Barbara and I set off for Castle Harbour, which is on the east side of the island - near the airport, and were kitted out for kayaking. Helen and I were in the one kayak and we ended up, in both directions, always going to the right, so zig-zagged our way across to a very small beach next to the main causeway, leading to the airport, but more importantly near the 'blue hole'. This area of the island has numerous inland ponds which are fed by the sea with the water travelling both above ground and underground through a series of caves. The commercial caves are Crystal Caves and Fantasy Cave which are major tourist attractions, but we concentrated, on Saturday, on some minor caves that are located in 'Tom Moore's Jungle'. The Blue Hole is a large pool between the sea and the caves, which in the old days was used to house the dolphins in captivity. There are still dolphins but the whole experience is down at the dockyards on the west side of the island.

The intrepid explorers, just before we hid the oars, so no-one could steal the kayaks - and then set off into the jungle!!!!

Swimming in the blue hole was great, but even better was jumping off a cliff next to it. Luckily the tide was high, otherwise I don't think I could have done it, as it still felt a long way down. However I couldn't let the side down, as we all jumped!!!

The achievement!!!!!!! It took a few count downs before I made it in!!!!

Walking through Tom Moore's Jungle to the caves. The rocks are really quite amazing

At the Blue Hole, we picked up an American cardiologist who was holidaying on the island with his wife and baby - his parents moved to USA from Johannesburg in the 80's!!!! He kindly took this photo of us swimming in the cave. It was a little weird having stalactites and -mites around! 

We then had to row back, which was quite tough as the wind and swell had come up a bit, plus we had our rowing-to-the-right problem, but our zig-zags seemed to be better controlled!

We lunched at the Grotto Bay Hotel and had this view! This is looking east towards the airport.

The next stop was at the Cathedral Cave which is on the property of Grotto Bay Hotel, where I met my next SA connection - Megan has been on the Island for 4 years and was at school at the same time as Ian and David and mixed in the same crowd - small world!!!! I persuaded her that even though the water in this cave was pretty cold, it was still warmer than Camps Bay! It was a far more enclosed cave than the first one we swam in and the water was beautifully clear.

Our last stop of the day was the icecream parlour - which  was everyone else's stop too. I had a lovely ginger icecream - yum!

Back to work during the week!!! It has kept me quite busy the last few days. Can't wait for the next weekend and further watery adventures!!!


Keep well

Bermuda week 3

Thanks for all the news - it is much appreciated!

But first to say that I haven't got lost in the Triangle and we haven't been badly affected by either hurricane Harvey or Irma. They are very much down south of us and though we might have had a bit more rain and wind, no one here is particularly worried! I notice there has just been a post announcing Tropical Storm Jose, which on talking to locals, could definitely affect the Island, probably during next week!!!! I then was given a lecture on how to prepare for a hurricane and what can possibly happen!! So we watch and wait!

This post is very likely going to be a photo collage given over to the last weekend which was spent in and next to the water!!

This last weekend was the Labour Day weekend and From what I could see, many people took to the water. for once, many of the boats scattered round the island seemed to be out on the water and it wasn't unusual to see whole families in the water around a boat, with cookouts happening on deck and swimming or lounging or snorkelling. As we boated down the island yesterday, there were also numerous camp and picnic sites in use and many of the beaches were packed. The Bermudians are talking about the last warm days of summer and Autumn slipping in, so are making the most of the warmth. They don't swim after October, as it is too cold! Sea temperatures are still in the high teens!!!!

On Sunday, I hopped onto my scooter and made my to the East side of the Island. When you are puttering along, being passed by everything, including someone on a bicycle!!!, and holding up the No 10 bus, it seems to take a long time to scooter 20 miles!!! There are very few roads that cover a straight area for longer than 1/2 km and lots of very sharp bends - so I make slow progress!!!! I got to my destination, however, nice and early. I decided to go to my favourite snorkelling bay, Tobacco Bay, even though there were a number of advertised events and was very pleased to spend about 4 hours there, before it really started filling up. The water was amazingly clear and it was the best snorkelling that I have done on the island and I was able to identify at least 15 different species including various parrot fish, a couple of angel fish, a honeycomb cowfish, blue tang and yellow grunt!!! Unfortunately, like birds, they don't always stay still long enough for identification or look like the chart!!!!

Looking through the various rock formations towards the secluded bay where I saw most of fish

The photo doesn't do justice to the clarity of the water 

On Monday I was invited, again, together with Barbara, to join Alick and Helen, boating and snorkelling. It was heavenly despite the threat of rain early on. We set off from the Somerset bridge dockyard and then went all the way through to the Flatts inlet, travelling down the north shore and through the Great Sound - basically we covered the course that was used in the America's Cup.  It was exhilirating!!!

Alick, Barbara and Helen 

A casualty from a previous hurricane

We fed the fishes off the wreck of the Vixen

After the day on the water, we went up to the Scaur Fort, which is a fabulous vantage point to look out over the Great Sound and then towards the south and west shores. The sunset was spectacular and I even caught the rising almost full moon!

The whole crew looking a little sunburnt!!!

Sunset 1 - I got some amazing shots!!!

My favourite - the main island on the right is Morgan's Island where we picnicked last Saturday.

As the light was fading

The moon hiding!!!

In case you all think that I am being lazy, below is the almost-finished rainbow baby blanket that is going to a friend's granddaughter in England, so I am not doing nothing!!!!!

Keep well and send news.

Missing you all

August Week 2

Hello again from Bermuda!
Thanks for the replies and the news. It is really appreciated.

I am still safely ensconced on the Island despite fears of the Bermuda Triangle! And the hurricane season. Harvey isn't having any major effect on us, unlike Texas, though we have had more wind and a number of heavy downpours. I am working on the 'Maureen humidity index' - it requires only a pair of sunglasses and will measure both the speed and the depth of puddling of sweat above the lip of the sunglasses as they rest on your cheek!!!! Might have to add in a further measurement - how many times the puddle is emptied!!!! It is being refined before I apply for the patent!!

View from my office

My accommodation woes seem to have settled, though I did have to request a change of TV - the one I now have, at least was made in this century! Though there are numerous TV channels, there is very little to watch - I can't face reruns of 'The Golden Girls' and 'The Cosby Show'. I have also been rather disappointed in the coverage of the US Tennis Open - there are 3 channels covering it, but they all show the same match! DSTV, I miss you!!!!!!!!!!!!

Work continues to be pretty quiet, so I am struggling to keep myself occupied. I have continued to work to and from work and enjoy the flowers - numerous azaleas, in different shades, this flowering tree; I have also some mangrove crabs and a heron or two.

On Saturday, I was invited, together with Barbara, a psychiatry community nurse, to join Alick and Helen on their boat. We set off from the boatyard at Somerset Bridge and putt-putted through Ely's Bay looking for turtles and then moored off Morgan's island and picnicked, snorkelled and chatted our way through the day. The water was unfortunately quite murky but we still saw quite a bit. I tested out a full face mask that I had borrowed, and am much more comfortable with it than the old-fashioned one. It was passed round to the others and declared a hit - so some more will be bought.
We also boated out to the wreck of the Vixen - a ship that was sunk in the 1800's, in order to block the mouth of the bay and watched numerous fish surface to eat bits of bread. Further snorkelling was enjoyed in Somerset Long Beach area where we all lucky enough to be able to swim alongside some of the turtles. A magic day.

Sunday I wobbled down to Hamilton on my scooter, through numerous puddles but between downpours, as I needed food plus a supply of 'quarters' so that I could use both the washing and drying machines.The rest of the day was spent a quietly, catching up and the rainbow baby blanket grew a bit. The scooter and I are still living in an uneasy peace - I both struggle to get moving - the foot doesn't really want to leave the ground on take-off; plus I  have developed a rather large bruise on my right forearm, from trying to get it back on it;s stand after we have gainfully manouvered our way through traffic - slow and steady!!!!! However I did venture out to Horseshoe Bay on Tuesday afternoon and the confidence is growing. It was so nice to get into the sea and I spent some time watching families and couples in the water. There was a group of 3 young girls, playing mermaids - the one even had a single tail flipper which fitted over both feet!

Horseshoe Bay on Tuesday Evening

The 'symbiotic' relationship between my bike and me!!!!

Wednesday evening during the season, is Harbour Nights in Hamilton. This last Wednesday, was due to be the last one of the season but was cancelled due to strong winds and heavy downpours, but a few of us met up anyway and had supper at the Portofino restaurant. It seemingly has been in the same venue with the same menu for at least the last 30 years - Alick and Helen ate there regularly 30 yrs ago - and it reminded me a bit of La Perla (in Sea Point), though the food was better, but the Rum swizzle - my first of this visit - was not up to standard. We had a raucous evening with lots of belly laughs.

I have also paid a visit to the local wool shop and bought some Lionbrand Mandala wool to make a baby's blanket, so am haaaaapppppy!!! though am battling a bit with the pattern that I have chosen!

This coming weekend is the Labour Day weekend, so I am not working on Monday. There is a sand-castle building competition at Horseshoe Bay that I will probably go and see and I want to investigate the Blue Hole and Coopers Bay island - the weather is due to be decent!

Go well and enjoy spring!