Global Roamer 2

Tuesday, July 5, 2016

CRUSIN' THE CARIBBEAN

Yes finally we are on board our ship – the Carnival Glory. Along with 1,000’s of others. This was the smallest ship we could find cruising the eastern Caribbean. Hahaha!!! It is over 12 stories high and we get lost nearly every time we venture out of our cabin, which is delightfully called a Stateroom. Must be because we have a tiny balcony. My biggest bugbear is how far I have to go to get a cup of tea! Otherwise all is good. People are friendly & nice, food is not too bad, shows are awesome and the islands we stop at are amazing. I think it is the colours that make it so mesmerizing. The glorious aqua water and perfect white sand.

You don’t really need to hear about shipboard life. Suffice it to say we boarded Saturday, visit Half Moon Cay Sunday, at sea Monday, St Thomas on Tuesday, Puerto Rico on Wednesday, Grand Turk on Thursday, at sea again on Friday and land early Saturday morning.

1/ Half Moon Cay – a blindingly gorgeous strip of beach owned by the shipping lines. So no shops – just swimming & snorkeling. Best thing we did was bring onboard our own snorkeling gear – so we are not tied to trips. Our ship anchored in the bay and the masses are ferried ashore. A bit of a squeeze with lots of mayhem – but that is the downside of cruising. A magic place & a great BBQ lunch (provided by the ship- bonus)

2/St Thomas – again no tour booked. We have decided to wing it at each stop. As we wait on deck we see Avis & Budget & a row of jeeps. Hmmmm. So we head straight there. Budget has nothing, and Avis nothing, until the people in front of us decide not to take their booking and yes we have a car. Sadly not a jeep, but a van! We head out in to oncoming cars. Stop and ask a police lady. “What side do you drive on?” Answer – “The left hand side”. Crazy as the cars are LH drive. St Thomas is a biggish, very hilly island previously owned by the Danes, but now by the US. As we navigate the streets we find very few road signs & my map is pretty basic. We have been told that Coki Bay & a bay near the airport are good for snorkeling. But we are warned not to go to Magens Bay as all the tours go there and it will be packed. So we find our way to Coki Bay – gorgeous, but pretty busy. So decide to head on. Can’t resist stopping at Magens Bay for a look-see – very, very crowded & has a $5 entry fee per person – I am very unpopular with the guard as I sneak in for a photo. Then get a bit lost (our navigator is not the best – John misses his GPS), but find the lovely & secluded Hull Bay – perfect spot to snorkel amongst some pretty fish. Moving on we head around the island to the beach beside the airport – Brewers Bay. Only a few locals here. Slip on our gear and head in not really expecting much – but wow!! An awesome snorkel watching lots of stingrays (one with big spots) & heaps of turtles happily munching sea grass. John is a bit naughty and holds onto the back of one of the bigger ones for a ride. Finally we pull ourselves away and head in to the old town of Charlotte Amalie for a quick explore. Many of the shops are full of duty free jewellery – and no we don’t buy any! Time to return our car and head back to ship. John got his no plate from an unoccupied scrap yard.

3/San Juan on the island of Puerto Rico. We dock bright and early and this time we are off on our own walking tour to explore the historic fortified town. It is rather like Cartagena in Colombia – that is to say it is amazing. We spend quite a few hot sweaty hours walking to and exploring San Felipe del Morro Fort. Then we hop on the free trolley bus to do the same in town. This time we actually stop and buy some lunch – guessing what we are getting as Spanish is the language here. Then finally we explore the second fort – San Cristobal Castle. John decides he would like to find a no. plate for his collection, so we pick up a taxi and head to a scrap yard. He can now add some more to his collection, and we head back to the ship.

3/ Grand Turk. We land at 11am (just before our sister ship arrives) so a hasty exit as our gangway will be closed while Carnival Magic docks. Again the beach is magic. We decide to walk along the beach front to a wreck we have seen. So off we head, stopping only to look at some underwater propulsion units on the beach – wouldn’t mind one of those. Maybe take one home. 20mins later we reach the shipwreck. Here we plan to snorkel around the wreck. Not much to see, but as usual the water is amazing. A lovely lady on holiday here stops to chat. Paula & her granddaughter are staying on the island. They have a golf buggy and kindly offer it to us. Wow how kind. We can’t say no to such an awesome offer, so in we hop to explore the island. Here they drive on the LHS as it is English. We head along the beachfront to the old town stopping to look at the crumbling old buildings. It is an old salt town & interestingly most of the inhabitants are descendants of Negro slaves that arrived by shipwreck. The local people let them free on the island & imprisoned the crew. Then on out on a very potholed road to the old lighthouse with glorious views of the reef & ocean where lots of shipwrecks occurred. It is said that the light was turned off deliberately so the island could get more goods. Then back to town to hunt down successfully a no. plate, before returning the buggy to Paula. Another swim before being driven back to the ship. Thank you Paula.

And so our cruise is coming to an end. Just one more three course dinner, one more sit & soak in the adults only hot tub at the front of the ship, one more excellent show and one more sleep before we tackle the crowds to get off the ship and head back to GR2. Can’t wait! Key West here we come.

CRUSIN' THE CARIBBEAN - PHOTOS

Leaving Miami

Miami

Miami Beach

Heading in to Half Moon Cay

At sea from our deck

Heading in to St Thomas

Coki Bay

Magens Beach

The Red Fort

The old town

More of Charlotte Amalie town

Heading in to San Juan

San Juan - the fortified town

San Felipe del Morro

Yummy!!!! Lunch

More of the old streets

Views as we cruise away

Heading in to Grand Turk

Our ship

Our wheels for the day thanks to Paula

Cockburn town

The lighthouse

Salt was mined here

Time to leave

We leave our sister ship behind

Every day we have a towel animal on our bed - my favorite

Sunday, July 3, 2016

THE SUNSHINE STATE

We are slowly ticking off our list of States as we head in to “Sweet Home Alabama”. And surprisingly we find it very sweet. Lots of lovely rolling hills & many miles of glorious lakes & rivers. Of course the locals have taken full advantage of their waterfront positions and have built waterfront houses everywhere. Most have their own jetties and some even have a beach house over the water.

But I am getting ahead of myself. Before crossing the border we check in our Lonely Planet to see what the top picks in this State are. There are only about 3 pages! They mention a Space Centre (nah! Just been to one – and this sounds much the same), great lakes and surprise, surprise an Unclaimed Baggage shop. What the heck is this doing way out here in whoop whoop! As we are practically passing by we stop. Looks like a humungous op shop – and a not particularly cheap one at that!

We end up at Lake Guntersville State Park camping area for the night. We find ourselves a primitive (no services & usually only for tents) spot beside the water. A perfect spot to get our boat wet again.

As we are tootling past lots of lakes we see a sign to a Racetrack. We pull up quickly & back track. John is in his element. We have arrived at the Talladega Super Speedway NASCAR Racetrack and Hall of Fame. We tour the track in a little bus. The stand is huge & the camber on the sides of the track amazingly steep. Our guide says it is 4 stories high! Then John spends a few happy hours in the Hall of Fame (I opt out again.)

As we head in to Montgomery- which is the State Capitol – we decide to visit our favorite site. Yes the Capitol Building. It is too late to go in, but we stop in front for a quick pic. On through the old town and straight in to traffic snarls – surprising on Saturday evening. A baseball game is on. The old town is surprisingly nice, but we just do a drive through. On the outskirts of town there is a huge Hyundai plant. But by now we want a spot for the night. Check our helpful GPS as there are few spots in this State on our app. Maybe a Wal-Mart. First one there are signs up. No Overnight stays. Next one the same. Oh well – we head over the road to Lowes and tuck in to a cul de sac. It is nearly dark. It proves to be a great spot.

As we are in town John has decided we really need a pancake breakfast at IHOP (International House of Pancakes) & amazingly there are none in this town, so again we hunt on our ever faithful GPS, Sure enough we find one 50 miles away! We persevere and arrive to find massive queues. It is Fathers Day here, but we head in anyway & are rewarded with very yummy pancakes (probably helped by the fact that we, or should I say me – are starving.)

Finally we head in to the Sunshine State – Florida. And we head straight to the waterfront at Panama City. Of course the first thing we do is stop for a swim – it looks so lovely. All white sand & aqua blue water. From now on we hug the waterfront, down past Mexico Bay & out little peninsulas. We finally head out to Cape San Blas & find the lovely St Joseph Peninsula State Park where there are a few camp spots left – so we grab one and settle in for the night. No hardship as the beach is truly gorgeous.

Checkout is not until 1pm, so we stay and swim. Finally head on along more magic coastline. There are lots of waterways, bridges, swamps & houses built on tall stumps. Here they have no problem building on the sand dunes. In fact lots of the waterfront is covered with beach houses. Decide to head out on the 4 mile bridge to St George Island with its lovely old lighthouse. It is very tempting to head out to the State Park to camp, but we carry on. There are more & more wetlands….in fact water is everywhere. Finally we find a gorgeous spot beside a river for the night. Perfect as we need to sleep with all our windows open.

Lots of driving today. We want to get to Orlando 1/to visit the Fiamma place to order a new awning – it was damaged in a tunnel in Peru quite a few years ago & it will be nice to have a usable awning again, and 2/ to book a last minute cruise – because what else do you do in Miami, but “do a cruise”. But first we head through lots of little towns in what the locals call Old Florida. At our coffee stop beside a river we see huge fish leaping out of the water, and a local couple tell us they are sturgeon. They are so big that just last year one leaped out of the water and killed a girl standing on the boat ramp. Phew! That’s big. Apparently they are also very hard & scaly.

We set the address in to the GPS and follow it – rather a long drive due to the traffic and the frequency of the traffic lights. Orlando is a pretty large city. Anyway, we now have our awning ordered and we will collect it after Independence Day holiday. And we have booked a cruise for Saturday. Actually, a bit harder than expected, as it is vacation time here and so nearly everything is full and naturally the advertised cheap prices have sold out! We finally head out of Orlando in rush hour – but all is good. The worst traffic seems to be going the other way. There is a truck that has dropped its mid section on the motorway – thus causing chaos! But it is getting late & where will we camp? Our freebee spot is padlocked up, so we sneak in beside a tiny lake for the night. Traffic never seemed to stop all night long.

It is Wednesday & we are due on our ship on Saturday, so probably not enough time to explore Key West, so after much map shuffling we decide to cross over to the western beaches. Stopping for coffee at Zolfino Springs we spy our first alligator in the lake. They are apparently everywhere, but as there is so much water – a bit hidden from sight. Anyway on to the coast – and of course the houses & cities. Magnificent – but every inch of the waterfront is used. And of course all the manmade waterfront/canals are also used. John reckons he could live here – there are so many boats and waterways. We head out to lots of glorious keys- again these are totally covered with houses. Even the roads are narrow – don’t think motorhomes are welcome here. Drive down Casey Key –a narrow strip of sand with houses on each side and the narrowest road you have ever seen – definitely not a spot for GR2 for the night. Finally find a carpark & head to the beach. There is a group of muso’s having a jam session on the beach & everyone is taking their deck chairs over to listen & to watch the sun setting over the sea. We join them for some great Cuban music & a glorious sunset. No worries, be happy. Much later we leave – head off the island & find a spot under a bridge & beside a marina.

Stop for a swim in the morning before heading on to Punta Gorda & Port Myers. It is a lovely old town – yes lots more lovely plantation homes & rows of palm trees lining the streets. We are heading to Sanibel Island today, but get waylaid by an Outlet Shopping centre. We just desperately need a few things for the cruise – don’t want to look like waifs and strays! Finally we make it to the island & head in to the National Wildlife area – a pretty drive through mangroves, with the occasional alligator cruising by. By the time we reach the beach carpark (paid parking here of course) it is late – so there is space. We laze in the water before heading off the island (not a spot anywhere here for us) & slink in to the Outlet carpark for the night. Actually a great spot as we pick up free Wifi.

On to our last island at Fort Myers. Time to head on in to the Everglades. It is hot & sticky in the extreme, but we stop & explore the boardwalks. Fortunately we get to see a few more alligators, lots of wetland & miles of water. There are heaps of places offering airboat rides – but we did one with the kids years ago, so give them a miss. Finally we reach the outskirts of Miami and our destination for the night – a proper campground. We need to prepare for our cruise tomorrow. Lots of washing, packing, & booking- we need a spot to store GR2.

Tomorrow new adventures await.