Time is running out

We needed to stock up on a couple of items and luckily we met Netty on the way to breakfast and she walked with us over to her variety store and opened up for us, there were no lights so she opened the back door to allow more light in. It's interesting to note that the only places with locks on the islands are the shops and restaurants. As the weather had taken a turn for the worse, a bit of rain and rough seas we decided to have a leisurely breakfast at Island Thyme and make our way up to Pat's store later in the morning.

We dodged most of the puddles by weaving up the road to see Pat and got slightly damp, she was surprised to see us as most islanders don't go when it is raining and even school is cancelled, it's a good job we don't do the same thing in the UK, eh? Following recommendations from lots of people we arranged to go to Pat's Place for dinner that evening and as we didn't fancy the walk (or bike) in the rain and in the dark we decided to get a taxi. Dinner at Pat's was delicious and we had so many sides, including beets and rice & peas. I had an island omelette and Helen had cracked conch which is prepared by bashing the heck out of it and then battering and frying [very meaty and delicious - Helen].

After a very relaxing day we decided to get SCUBA certified so we spent the morning studying and then aced out written test. We had fun in the harbour doing our practical work and had to breath without our masks (and then put them back on), breathing from a bypassing mouthpiece (sipping air from a full flow) and breathing from each other's back-up regulators which was very cozy :o). The upshot is we can now buy or rent SCUBA equipment and dive world-wide (accompanied by a Dive Master) up to a maximum depth of forty feet. our plan is to get a refresh when we go to Guernsey in the summer and then to get certified as Open Water Divers

Afterwards we sat in Coral Reef Bar and Grill and I tried, with some difficulty, to upload some photographs and update the blog; this is why I am updating the blog the week after our holiday. Some time later, after Helen left, I fell into conversation with Kevin & Don a couple of local fishermen. Now I thought that they used road and line, nets or pots to catch the various fish and lobster but it turned out that they free dived to about eighty feet! Eventually Helen dragged me from the bar and we went round to Island Thyme for dinner, followed by a delicious Coconut Bomb and finally a last howl which Helen bravely joined in with.

The next day we packed, settled our bills, said our goodbyes, went for one last dip in the ocean and flew to Providenciales, along with another couple, in a six seater charter plane. Helen sat next to the pilot and once again we experienced a much better landing than any of the commercial flights on this trip. The departure lounge of Providenciales was heaving and seemed to be mainly populated with very loud people on mobile phones but Miami was even worse. The flight from Miami was very delayed and we didn't get to bed until way past midnight so I was a bit late cycling to work the next day and with sub-zero temperatures it was one heck of a shock to the system.