We thoroughly enjoyed having guests aboard for a week, but we were completely exhausted by the time they left. We gladly waited out some wind and weather safely tucked away in Ballast Bay with the amenities of Christophe Harbour Marina at our disposal.
Our plans were to head as soon as weather permits to Montserrat... but our preferred route would be by way of another stop at Nevis for a chance to tour the small island by rental car prior to clearing officially out of the country.
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| What... are we there yet? |
This was what... our third time to make the short sail between St. Kitt's and Nevis? Our sail was comfortable and completely angst free! Even for Jezabelle...
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| This is the Ferry Landing area |
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| Upstairs on the left for Customs and Immigration offices |
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| The old library, still in use |
We picked up our favorite mooring ball and hastily set off for Charlestown, where we would get our clearance out taken care of first, and then make a quick grocery run before lining up a rental car for the next morning so that we could do some last minute touristing!
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| I never tire of looking at this view |
We were up early and picked up our rental car, then off to find this bakery we've heard good things about... All well deserved.
Then without further ado... we'll be OFF!
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| Still a lot of Dutch influence all over the island. |
We realized far too late that this was one island on which we would have enjoyed the services of a taxi/tour guide. We wanted the luxury of taking our time for a full day of exploring, but realized early on that we would have learned a lot more about the island had we gone the other route....
We stumbled upon the
Montpelier Plantation and Beach Club thinking that it would BE a plantation, like a place where tours could be had... We found it and were a little disappointed that it was now just an exclusive resort...
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| Actual road! And some were not so good! |
So, we took a quick look around and continued on to our next stop...
The Botanical Gardens of Nevis
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| It got better as we neared the Botanical Gardens... |
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| No tours available... Low season |
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| We walked the gardens alone... there were very few guests besides ourselves. |
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| Lilipads! |
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| Bruce making friends with a parrot |
The gardens were lovely and well kept, even though it was obviously low season. Many of the amenities there were closed for the season but we enjoyed the solitude as we drank in the floral beauty and serenity.
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Back on the road and a little rain! |
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| Slight delay while this little guy decided which side of the road he likes best... |
Built in the 1600's,
Hermitage House is the oldest wooden house in the Caribbean.
It is now the centerpiece of a popular resort hotel with a restaurant that was, thankfully, open for lunch.
When I say "open"... what I really mean is that there were people on site that could cook us up something since, again... low season, the hotel wasn't exactly at capacity.
We sat in a quiet spot on the porch overlooking a meticulously manicured lawn... entertained by colorful hummingbirds.
While we waited for our lunch to be prepared, we took a stroll through the old house.
It is beautifully decorated and hotel guests are free to use the common rooms during their stay.
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| The hotel bar |
The meal was simple but delicious, and afterward we staved off drowsiness by taking a short walk around the grounds before getting back on the road again!
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| We never SAW a monkey, but we saw signs that they're around somewhere... |
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| Cashew |
The rest of our tour of the island was just a drive along the road between small villages where we could see the people going about their daily lives. We feel like we missed a lot, not having taken a taxi-tour. Especially for an island this small. We really didn't need a car for 24 hours to see it all.
We returned to Charlestwon and turned in our rental, then spent some time at the little bar on the ferry boat landing. They have decent wifi and we've been without for a while...
When the sun dropped low, we packed up and returned to the dinghy for the ride back to the boat. Imagine our dismay when we found that the gear shift lever had been bent down by some other boater in our absence. Another dinghy or fishing boat must have caught their line between the shifter and the engine while they tried to leave... There was no sign of any sort of damage otherwise, except that our stern anchor was now in a heap at the stern, instead of stretched out to keep our dinghy off the dock.
The bar was actually bent and we couldn't force it back into position. This left us with no way to shift gears, and so we had to paddle ourselves all the way back to the boat... no small distance! But, it was good exercise and the view was nice. Thankfully there was no strong wind against us. In fact, the wind was coming from the WEST! Very unusual indeed!
We were a little deflated after such an enjoyable day on Nevis... but we'll get the outboard sorted eventually. For now, up it goes onto the rail, dinghy onto the davits... and we settle into a calm and peaceful evening, our last in Nevis. Tomorrow we continue on to Montserrat!
Our plans were to head as soon as weather permits to Montserrat... but our preferred route would be by way of another stop at Nevis for a chance to tour the small island by rental car prior to clearing officially out of the country.
We were up early and picked up our rental car, then off to find this bakery we've heard good things about... All well deserved. 
We realized far too late that this was one island on which we would have enjoyed the services of a taxi/tour guide. We wanted the luxury of taking our time for a full day of exploring, but realized early on that we would have learned a lot more about the island had we gone the other route....
We stumbled upon the Montpelier Plantation and Beach Club thinking that it would BE a plantation, like a place where tours could be had... We found it and were a little disappointed that it was now just an exclusive resort...
Built in the 1600's, Hermitage House is the oldest wooden house in the Caribbean.
We sat in a quiet spot on the porch overlooking a meticulously manicured lawn... entertained by colorful hummingbirds.
The meal was simple but delicious, and afterward we staved off drowsiness by taking a short walk around the grounds before getting back on the road again!
The rest of our tour of the island was just a drive along the road between small villages where we could see the people going about their daily lives. We feel like we missed a lot, not having taken a taxi-tour. Especially for an island this small. We really didn't need a car for 24 hours to see it all.
The bar was actually bent and we couldn't force it back into position. This left us with no way to shift gears, and so we had to paddle ourselves all the way back to the boat... no small distance! But, it was good exercise and the view was nice. Thankfully there was no strong wind against us. In fact, the wind was coming from the WEST! Very unusual indeed!
We were a little deflated after such an enjoyable day on Nevis... but we'll get the outboard sorted eventually. For now, up it goes onto the rail, dinghy onto the davits... and we settle into a calm and peaceful evening, our last in Nevis. Tomorrow we continue on to Montserrat!
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