| Having flown to Lanzarote and spent 15 days at sea sailing across the Atlantic on Oystercatcher, we were pleasantly surprised to see the greenery of Antigua having had nothing but water to look at for so long. The anticipation of feeling sand between the toes, and actually getting to swim in the sea was hugely exciting. The following 3 and a half weeks after arriving were spent enjoying the comfort of Galleon House, snorkelling, diving, canoeing, "road trips" on the boat with friends to Green Island, dinner on Sarita (Oyster 66), not to mention various nights partying at Shirley Heights, Abra's, Nelson's Dockyard, and Falmouth Harbour with the crew of Disco Inferno knocking back Espresso Martini's! One interesting evening was spent at Cherry's house with numerous locals where we had the dubious pleasure of sampling "goat water". This was basically chunks of goat still on the bone and cloves stewed in some murky soup like substance! The next course was enough food to feed 5,000 people but very tasty all the same. Having politely tried to battle our way through most of this, being incredibly full we chatted to fellow party-goers and then made our way home. Our Christmas celebrations started a day early as we were invited on board Oystercatcher to celebrate Swedish Christmas. Marianne had thought this day out well in advance as she cracked open jars of herring ('sil') and 'peperkokker' biscuits brought all the way from Sweden. Masses of typical Swedish food and drink were provided to all party attendees and celebrations went well on into the evening. The following day we enjoyed a quiet Chirstmas morning together opening presents, speaking to our respective families on the phone, and eating our turkey which was cooked in time for breakfast together with chips and spinach to round off our gourmet meal! Next stop was Nelson's Dockyard where the live band and cheap champagne had drawn the masses. A few bottles later, we took our leave from the crowd to enjoy our own bottle of champagne and turkey sandwiches on the rib at a quiet bay round the corner from the house. Between Christmas and New Year we spent our time diving. During this time Richard and Denette came out and it was nice to see family. Although very busy having dubious plane journeys to the BVI's to check out sailing regatta venues, we were still able to spend a few fun evenings with them including New Year's Eve. On New Year's Eve Day, thanks to Richard and Denette, we were able to take the 4x4 around the island on a slightly rushed but all inclusive tour. First stop was Half Moon Bay followed by Devil's Bridge. Then, back on the topic of food, we enjoyed a magnificent lunch at Harmony Hall which took us a mere 3 hours to complete! Our journey comtinued to the North of the island on a quest to revisit Dickenson Bay but time would have been better spent snorkelling at Pineapple Bay, as the place had been ruined by all-inclusive hotels. Once back at the house we chilled out and wished absent friends and family a Happy New Year on the phone prior to rushing out to take a tot and then move on to dinner. The dinner venue was chosen especially for the prime view of the New Year fireworks. However, last minute changes (which no-one knew about) meant that the fireworks were let off behind a hill at the back of the restaurant, leaving us with just the sound effects and uncontainable laughter at how typically Antiguan this was! The pair of us then ventured out to enjoy the rest of the evening/morning's entertainment at Abracadabra's and staggered home a little worse for wear at about 5 a.m. to have 2 hours sleep before having to leave for the next stage of our adventure. |
| ANTIGUA 7th December 2003 - 1st January 2004 |
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