Its a Pickle!

Our new crew member is a cat called Pickle (not a Parrot, sorry Uncle Brian).

We are looking after Pickle for another cruiser until October.  


Pickle is still settling in.  After three nights, she is finally letting us sleep through the night!  After hiding all day she liked to seek attention at 3am.  She is now out and about during the day, and entertains herself at night - we are very pleased. 

Arrived in Grenada

We have finally arrived in Grenada, our hurricane season destination.  While we may pop down to Trinidad for a month or so to get some new canvas for the bimini and mounts for the solar panels, we are pretty much here until November.

The main bay for cruisers is Prickly Bay, a long sheltered anchorage overlooked by mansions.  There is a small beach close to where we are anchored that we swim to each morning for a bit of exercise.

There are also a number of other anchorages here on Grenada that look beautiful and a little more secluded.  Gary particularly wants to visit Gary Island, for obvious reasons.

While sitting in the same few anchorages for 5 months may sound tedious to some, it doesn't look that way at all.  Firstly, Grenada is beautiful and feels really safe.  I can see us going on lots of trips out and about the island (crossing fingers one of those trips is to the Chocolate Factory!).  Secondly, The cruiser community here is vibrant.  At 8am there is the Cruisers Net over the radio, where announcements are made of arriving and departing boats, social events, and the "treasures of the bilge" trade/exchange section.  There are joint trips to town, quiz nights, domino nights, cooking lessons as well countless impromptu cocktail nights.  Thirdly, we have our new crew member to keep us entertained - but she will feature on the next blog!

We made our first trip into town to the supermarket and I am overjoyed at the range.  It feels so good to know there is a proper supermarket close by that I can actually come back to, so there is no need to go crazy and buy up large on each trip.

The buses (which could better be described as vans) are great here.  One arrives at least every two minutes along the main road and $2.50EC ($1.25NZ) to go just about anywhere.

We look forward to sampling the local cuisine at the countless bars and restaurants close by.

All in all, we are pretty excited to explore our new home and settle into the cruisers hurricane season lifestyle.

New Crew Member

We are heading down the last few islands at a bit of a pace.  We need to pick up a new crew member from Grenada, who will spend the next few months with us over hurricane season.  


I am eagerly awaiting her arrival and very excited to get her on board.  


I only hope that Gary will be able to cope with the attention of two girls in the confined space of a boat.    Somehow I think he is going to be just fine.

Paradise Found

This morning we truly woke up in paradise.  It's called Saltwhistle Bay on Mayreau in the Grenadines.  The water is crystal clear in what can only be described as "travel brochure" blue/green.  We are anchored in only 9 feet of water, close to the perfect horseshoe white sand beach complete with palm trees.


We wake early, and the first thing I do is slip into the water and swim to shore.  I take my time, breathing in the sweet tropical air, relishing in the warm water gliding over my skin, the morning sun on my face and listening to the sound of the sea gently lapping at the beach...Paradise.

Note:  We reserve the right to name any (and/or many) other place(s) "Paradise" notwithstanding the above post.  

In Pursuit of Paradise

The Caribbean is a long way to come in pursuit of the perfect beach, especially when you come from New Zealand, one of the most picturesque places there is.  So far we have seen rain forests, rustic french villages, brightly coloured towns in pinks and blues, markets bursting with produce, waterfalls, hot pools, and many many beaches.  But I still feel like I'm looking for "the one". 


We are nearing the end of the Caribbean chain of islands, and have been told that the Grenadines are right at the top of the list of idyllic islands in the Caribbean.   Tobago Cays just about ticks of the list of paradise: turtles, turquoise water, coral and deserted beaches. 

Worlds End Island

The only thing letting it down is the rolling swell (despite the fringing reef), the boat boys hitting the boat multiple times, and the beaches that look great from a far but just not quite as good up close.  


The search continues...

Tobago Cays Turtle Sanctuary

This blog is not meant to be an elegant literary masterpiece, that is Kates job.  I do better at explaining with pictures. Oooh aaah more turtles (now at Tobago cays).

On my first swim i gave up counting turtles.  On numerous occasions you could see at least three turtles at once, good job this is a marine reserve or someone would have them for dinner.

Hungry Turtle - chomp chomp

Wait, thats not a turtle

Ahh thats better, turtles again

Turtle Sanctuary on Bequia (a gary blog)

Saint Vincent and the Grenadines has many traditions,  including traditional whaling and also eating turtle, even the endangered hawksbill turtle.  However we met one local who is doing his bit to buck the trend, educate people about turtle conservation and also give baby turtles a bit better odds than 1 in 500 of survival.

We took a ride with Terrance to the Old Hegg turtle sanctuary (run by or on the eastern side of the island.  The first thing Kate manages to find is a bunch of furry friends.  It seems that wherever we end up she will always manage to find them even if there are none to be seen.  Maybe we should name her dr dolittle.

Wherever we go Kate seems to find the animals 

At Old Hegg you get to wander around his pools of little turtles, and we managed to arrive at feeding time which was great.  His has managed to increase the odds from 1 in 500 (some other sources suggest 1 in 3000) to around 1 in 7 to the age of 5.

They start off just a bit bigger than your thumb 

Aren't they cute!

I've got a lovely bunch of coconuts....