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| Those red blossoming trees are poinsettias - better than Loblaws! You know Christmas is coming when they grow that big! |
Relative to our isolation in port after port in Brazil, our experience in Barbados was nonstop conviviality. Even before arriving, Peter Douglas, a previous acquaintance through our sailor children, secured the use of one of two mooring balls at Port St Charles for our use and, because it was not available immediately upon our arrival, invited us to stay at his private dock in the lovely condo development.
Within minutes of our arrival, Peter arrived in his dinghy to guide us to the required officials and then to his home. He and his wife, Dale, assisted us in tying up and treated us to dinner at the yacht club. Apart from Trinidad, an arrival at a foreign port had never been so easy or so welcoming. The Douglases opened their home to us - we could not flush, or drain our dish water or even our tooth brushing water into the lagoon. The rules are strict to protect their sealife which we fully appreciate so, of course, we complied. We tramped through their house for all ablutions….plus laundry! We washed Milly, inside and out, with their water supply to ready her for our children’s visit. So exciting!
We rented a car - for three weeks! - and picked Em and Gid up at the airport. A military band played at the gate to welcome them. Emily, our darling daughter, finally got to meet her namesake, Milly. And I think she approved. We had a few day sails, one with the Douglases who kindly oriented us to the local bays. Gid was very game. Being his first time living on a sailboat, we were concerned that he enjoy it or else the two might not come as often. I think we managed. At least, he said he would come again!
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| Cherry Hill Road overlooking the east side coast - wild and wonderful |
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| Christmas on Milly. Not quite the tree that we used to have but pretty sweet just the same. |
And then there were two days spent at Rabbit Hill, a small Bajan estate on the east side overlooking the Atlantic and all it’s tumult. It’s owned by Tom and Connie, friends from Stony Lake who will soon be joining us on Milly. Tom came to Port St Charles bearing gifts of homemade banana bread and a grocery bag full of little limes. He picked us up for a day visit, hike, tour and lunch on our second day. Fantastic host, lovely curry and so fun to see his enthusiasm for his beautiful garden. We loved the east side and hiked and lunched again with the Mackenzie’s who were renting Rabbit Hill.
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| A rudimentary shelter for the hill folk on our hike with Tom. |
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| The walls were a little more sophisticated but still primitive shelter. A man came out to greet us on our hike past his home with a big smile, dressed in loincloth. |
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| Huge waves off the north point of Barbados. Tom would have loved them. |
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