Sigh!! Trip Report
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Posted by Kurt and Rikki on May 05, 2000 at 13:18:48:
Sorry this didn't come a bit quicker, but the wife and I had to get our land-legs back, and catch up on the business end of things before doing this trip report any justice. I'll try not to make it too wordy, but at the same time, give you what you're looking for: Thursday, April 20th 630 am.
Leave Bozeman, Montana with our good friends Scott and Teresa on the first flight out of Gallatin Field. Connecting flights in Salt Lake, Atlanta, Miami, then on to Nassau for the first leg of our trip.
Nassau wouldn't normally be our first choice to stay in the Bahamas, but we had never been there before, and thought it was important enough to see just once. We arrived at 11:30 pm about half wore out from our day of traveling, and stayed at Orange Hill. The place was clean, and was right across from the ocean, and all of our questions and needs were more than adequately handled by a gentleman named Ricardo. After a good nights rest, we parked the ladies at the uncrowded beach, and set out to find out what it was that drew people to Nassau (still can't figure that one out!) Orange Hill would have been fine for our entire 2 day stint at Nassau, but as some of you well know, our travel plans were sent into a tail spin just 30 days prior to leaving for vacation. Sooo, day 2, we packed up and headed for Crystal Cay Villas and Marine Park. It's a beautiful little place right on the rocky shoales of the ocean with big waves slapping at the coral right off of our deck.
The Marine park seems to be struggling since the Atlantis Hotel/casino moved in and is under new management. We thought that was unfortunate, and could kind of see the writing on the wall as to the future of this quaint little hide-away.
Because it was Easter weekend, the liqour stores were pretty much all closed for the weekend, and Scott and I were in dire need of stocking the refrigerators in our rooms with a couple of Kaliks. Enter adventure number 1. We gave a marine park worker a ride home that day, and because all of the liqour stores were closed downtown, she took us to one near her home...where the locals go. WOW!
There were about fifty people outside of this little shack along an alley-way,with about fifty people milling around outside, and inside, maybe twenty five people all shouting and swearing and threatening three people behind a heavy metal screen. I stayed close to our hostess as she elbowed her way closer to the counter, while Scooter stayed outside and took in the local flavor which included two guys spinning cookies around him with their motorcycles and a fist-fight between a couple of guys who obviously didn't see eye to eye. 40 minutes later we had our Kalik, took the girl home and headed back to see the girls. (we still haven't told them this story). Nassau was OK for a quick visit, but not for us. Saturday, April 22nd
We flew to Marsh, and took a taxi to Rainbow Boat rentals. Charley has a great dry sense of humour, so I thought he was joking when he said we couldn't pick up the boat that day due to the rough waters. He wasn't kidding. So, we hired a taxi for 80 bucks, drove to Treasure Cay, and took the ferry (8 bucks apiece) over to Green Turtle. Heck of a way to start our stay in Abaco huh? Kathy Bethel met us at the docks and took us to our cottage, which was fantastic! It's called Osprey Nest on Gillam Bay and highly reccommend it. It's perfect for 2 couples, and looks over a beautiful sound with Pelican Cay in the background. Day 4 Easter Sunday
Called Charley at Rainbow. He said come on down! We did. Another water ferry, another 70 bucks for the taxi and bingo....our boat! Nippers was our first stop, where the Kalik and goombays flowed freely. We bought a couple of rounds anonomously for Pat and Maggie, then Rikki and I introduced ourselves. Pat then introduced us to a couple of other board members George and Jackie. Ironically, George went to Montana State University here in Bozeman back in the early sixties, and we thouroughly enjoyed visiting with them. (by the way, get ahold of me please Jackie) The trip back to Green Turtle on our boat was beautiful and uneventful.....this time. Day 5
Hung out on our beach and at New Plymouth most of the day as it was waaaay to rough out on the water. Sids grocery is a great place to get your grocery's. Very friendly and helpful folks. Great bread...it makes awesome sandwiches. Had dinner at the New Plymouth Inn...spendy but good. Day 6
Stocked the refrigerator up with Kaliks from Kathys' husband David. He owns the liqour store. The water had laid down a bit, so we ventured over to Treasure Cay and parked the girls on the beach. It's still beautiful, but has become more developed than it was last time. Not a good sign for one of the worlds most beautiful beaches. Meanwhile Scooter and I had packed our golf clubs about 3,000 miles, and by golly we were gonna use 'em. So we did. Didn't hit 'em worth a lick, but we had a great time. From there we zipped down to Marsh, to check out the progress at Abaco Towns. To be honest with you I think things worked out for the best as far as the accomodations go. While I'm sure it will be better than ever, Abaco Towns is still very much under re-construction and that takes away from the ambiance a bit. We all agreed that our little cottage at Green Turtle was a stroke of good luck.
At about 6pm we started back for Green Turtle. It was a little on the rough side, but hey, Gary Moline said to get Steve Dodges "Cruising the Abacos" and we'd be all set. Not only did we have that, but I had a GPS with all of the way points dialed in so we were ready to navigate! NOT! Ya see, the chart that Charley gave us looked like a page straight out of Dodges book, so I just kind of set it aside not seeing the area outside of Whale Cay was scribbled out on HIS chart......and we proceeded along the GPS way points.....outside of Whale Cay. Big Big mistake. The waves (NOW WE KNOW) are generally HUGE. The day we were out there, the wind was howling out of the East and slamming against the cay. All of the waves were taller than the boat, and a couple of freak waves were over twice as tall, and breaking at the top. Judging by the screams, the girls weren't too happy....Scooter and I were a bit concerned that Charleys unsinkable boat was going to set a new precedent. We tried to tell the girls later that what doesn't kill ya makes you stronger. Didn't go over too well.
Ya see, when we left Nippers on Sunday, we were a little tipsy and made the trip up the inside of Whale Cay. Day 7
With our cruising abilities seriously in doubt, and the water real rough again, the plan was to snorkel in the safe confines of our cove. It was murkier than normal because of the winds, but alot of fun. We saw small, mostly light colored fish. We took the boat over to nearby White Sound and the Green Turtle club for lunch and shopping. We stayed in that night for dinner. Day 8
The waters weren't too bad, so we zipped down to Man-O-War, via the inside of Whale Cay....much better on the inside, but pay attention at low tide. Spent the day on the water. Rougher than it should be at this time of year...but oh well. Dinner that night was at the Green Turtle Club. It's a great place to eat. Super service, great food. Met some super local people. Day 9
The girls spent our final morning on the beach, while Scooter and I decided to take the boat out despite the rough water. We went North around the top of Manjack....absolutely beautiful Cay, and fished between the reefs and the Cay. We caught what I think is a mackerel, and also about a 3 1/2 foot dolphin which managed to cut the line right at the boat. Not much for fishing but it was great to be out on the boat with out having to worry about the girls comfort.
Dinner that night again at the New Plymouth Inn. Then it was on to Miss Emily's Blue Bee Bar, where Violet and her husband and other locals entertained us for the rest of the evening. Day 10
Up at 6am to get ready for the trip back. We definately stayed up too late to be any good at traveling, but we were on the boat by 8:30 and headed back to Marsh Harbour. The water was pretty rough but we didn't have much choice. 2 hours later, we arrived at Rainbow Rentals, soaked to the skin as was all of our luggage despite covering them with garbage bags. Charley thought all of this was pretty funny 'til I told him about the Whale Cay thing. He suggested some type of serious counceling. The girls borrowed his bathroom to change into dry clothes, Scooter and I settled up with Charly, we grabbed a quick bite at the Golden Grouper and had grabbed a cab for the airport. At 1:30 am (Abaco time) we were back in Bozeman...another long travel day. Anyway, sorry to take up so much space, but a trip report needs to have some meat to it right? The conch salad and fritters, the grouper fingers, the smell (and taste) of the sea, the experiences, the Kaliks and goombays, the serenity....and the people, will all remain fresh in our memories.
Thanks to all who helped us in the planning stage....and thanks to you folks who provide this board....it'll keep the Abaco's with us until we return again. If you ever need any info about our area, let us know
See Ya! Kurt and Rikki
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