Intermittent rain marked the passing of the festive days and has continued into the whole week, unfortunately but not surprisingly, as the whole of the Northern Hemisphere seems to be suffering from snow storms and miserable weather!. Here the temperature remains at about 20C but on the colder side and it has been windy. Most of the rain seems to be occurring overnight, so Ian has been able to explore.
We spent a quiet Christmas, cooking the gammon and lots of vegetables and were able to sit outside. Afterwards we went and explored Admiralty Park and Spanish Point - 2 areas that I don't know at all well. The former is an area where both soldiers and smugglers holed out in a series of caves and there is a rock that everyone jumps off. There is also an area where the feral cats are fed on a regular basis as well as a small harbour that is used by the scuba divers.
At the entrance to the main cave which is both big and relatively dry
Holes is the rocks give views either to crystal clear water below or cloudy sky above!
There are numerous feral cats which are fed in the various parks - someone expressed the feeling that they are being fed too much as the rat population is on the increase!
Spanish Point is another picnic area and forms the eastern outcrop that frames the edge of the Great Sound and gives a good view of the Dockyards which edges the Western side.
Catching the rainbow on one of the small islands
Looking out over the Great Sound to the Dockyards
One of the best parts about driving around over these days, has been that the roads are very quiet, mainly because very little was open, even on Boxing Day. We chose to scooter down to the western end of the island, stopping off at Scaur Fort, Lefroy Bay and then wandering round a very quiet dockyard.
The wooden bridge that takes you onto -I think, Hospital Island. It now houses a direlict building, which Ian discovered used to be the slave wash-house. The building on the main island which used to be the contagious diseases hospital is now used for dementia patients
We drove onto the pier where the cruise ships dock and wandered round an almost deserted Dockyards, had a fish lunch and then headed back to Hamilton on the ferry. There is place for the scooters and one is charged the same as a passenger for them!
I have been at work since Wednesday. It has been rather quiet, though there have been a couple of patient's who have kept me busy - because of the cold spell, a number of the sickle cell patient's have been having painful crises, requiring admission and maybe transfusion!
In the meantime, Ian has been exploring Bermuda, though he has found the weather, more than a little challenging as it has been intermittently cold, windy and wet with some humidity thrown in! He is also finding the terrain more challenging to run on than the flatness around Cambridge but has coped with the narrow roads.
Ian's explorations:
He has run down to the Blue Hole and had a swim in it - which was extremely salty plus explored the area round there
Done the tour of the Crystal and Fantasy caves which is a must
Explored the unfinished church in St Georges
Friday night we moved from the housesit. It has been fun and I have enjoyed having a full kitchen to cook in, with various spices and herbs at our disposal. We have seen far more of the cat than expected - she tends to announce that she is around for food, but as she is feral, tends to disappear if she sees you. However I have been allowed to stroke her and yesterday, I came home to find her on my bed! It must be chilly!
Clemmy enjoying home comforts!
Our plans for Saturday have been put on hold as it is pouring, so I am doing the blog!!!!
We were due to go out on the boat from Somerset with Alick and Helen Bush, and Barbara and Paul Boyle to hopefully do some snorkelling, though I suspect it may be chilly. This will hopefully happen tomorrow!!!
There is little planned for NY's eve but I suspect we will be out and about, on our scooters finding new places to explore
So all the best to you for a wonderful 2018
Love Maureen and Ian
