Postcard from Antigua, December 2009 - January 2010

I departed Gatwick on time on Christmas Eve and landed in Antigua just before 5pm. After picking up my luggage, it was a half an hour taxi ride to Jolly Harbour. I checked into the little villa, which is very basic, and then made a 20 minute walk to the nearest shop to stock up! Thankfully a very nice Security lady saw me struggling back to the villa with my shopping and gave me a ride! So then it was an evening of whisky and unpacking!

The first few days were very quiet – wonderfully sunny so I spent them on the patio relaxing and soaking up the sunshine. Sue arrived late afternoon on the Monday and we had a boozy evening on the patio! The next morning we set off to hire a buggy to make it easier to get around but there were none available so made the long walk back to our villa and then walked up to North Beach which was a bit of a disappointment. We had a picnic lunch beside the beach and then went back to the villa for the afternoon.

On Wednesday Sue and I took a local bus into St John’s and spent the morning walking around the little town, which was rather inundated by passengers off two very large cruise ships! We bussed home by 1pm, picked up some food and had a quiet lunch in our villa. In the afternoon we took delivery of a little buggy so life should be a lot easier – the 20 minute hike into the centre of Jolly Harbour is too much in this heat!

On New Year’s Eve Sue and I started off early again, bussed into St John’s and then bussed on to English Harbour. We walked around the wonderful Nelson’s Dockyard, and then took a water taxi across to Galleon Bay, from there we walked for 30 minutes up the ‘lookout’ trail to Shirley Heights – a really tough climb, especially in the heat. The view up there of Nelson’s Dockyard and English and Falmouth Harbours is amazing and worth the walk. After a drink and a rest we managed to persuade two policemen to drive us back down to the Bay as Sue was suffering from blisters! We then took the water taxi back to Nelson’s Dockyard where we stopped for some lunch and then bussed back to St John’s and on to Jolly Harbour. After a little drive around Jolly Harbour in our newly acquired buggy we relaxed in our villa for the afternoon. In the evening we had a torrential downpour and had quite an experience driving our buggy in the tipping rain to a restaurant for dinner, but we had quite a good, if large, Italian meal, even if we were soaked!
For the next three days we took ourselves to South Beach. We took a picnic and a decent drink with us and just lay there soaking up the sunshine with our books! There is a rip tide at the moment, so swimming has not really been possible, although we did manage to jump around in the waves every now and then. It is however a long beach so we were able to wander along. In the evenings we went down to the resort and had some quite good dinners.

On Sunday 3rd January Sue left for London in the evening and Jackie arrived. The first evening was spent quietly at the villa. For the next couple of days we relaxed on the beach by day and had dinner in the resort in the evening. The rip tide is calming although only just, but the weather continues to be glorious. On Wednesday Jackie and I went into St John’s for a stroll around and we eventually caught up with my friend Euri in her shop Eureka. In the afternoon, after lunch in the villa, we strolled around the North beaches, and had an Italian dinner in the evening.

On Thursday Euri had offered to take us on a drive in the afternoon, so we spent the morning on the beach and came back to the villa for lunch, but sadly the drive did not materialise, so in the end we spent the evening in the villa. However on Friday after another morning on the beach, Euri did materialise and took us to Carlisle Bay where I met up with some of Pineapple Marketing connections, and we were kindly offered a drink, after which Euri then dropped us back at Jolly Harbour.

Saturday and Sunday were quiet days on the beach – just swimming and lying in the sun with the occasional wander along the long beach in search of shells, of which there were many, and in the evening quiet dinners at the local restaurant. Montserrat is very clear from the beach and on Saturday the volcano was steaming! On Monday once again I was off by bus to English Harbour and Nelson’s Dockyard, this time with Jackie. I repeated last week’s excursion! We took a water taxi to Galleon Bay and from there we walked the Lookout Trail up to Shirley Heights. Another tough climb and of course we needed some replenishment once up the top. This time we walked all the way down by tarmac road and took the water taxi back to Nelson’s Dockyard. Once again it was lunch at the Admiral’s Inn before taking the two buses back to Jolly Harbour, and a quiet evening at the Villa.

Tuesday 12 January was a day on the beach – even though it was very warm we had quite a lot more cloud, and then we had a final dinner at Peter’s Steak House. Wednesday was a bit of shell-shock day! I awoke to a text message from a friend telling me that Gatwick was closed, so I checked my flight online to discover that it was cancelled! After struggling to get information for hours, we then decided to go to the beach for an hour or two and let life settle. I then went back to the villa at lunchtime and struggled with all sorts of contacts to try and find a flight home. Eventually a good friend of mine back home used her Travel Department to help and we got a seat for me and Jackie on the BA flight the next day. It was all however a bit of a nightmare especially as BA made no contact with me whatsoever.

The final day was spent quietly on the beach in glorious sunshine before leaving for the airport very early to ensure we get the seats we had booked, and we eventually took off for London well after midnight – well over 24 hours late – but at least we made it!