Day twentysix, Thursday 24th February, St. Johns, Antigua

Awwwwwwww......  Our last Caribbean island, and only a short day while we’re at it.  Me n Peter are doing another tour today, “Spectacular Antigua”, as escorts again.  He went off on coach five, me on coach six.

As l said yesterday, I was quite looking forward to this one. Our guide was knowledgeable, with a sense of humour and kept us entertained during the 45 min drive to our first destination within the national park to the Dows Visitors Centre, where we were given an audio visual presentation that was really intended for the primary school children of the island.  But the views from the centre  were, as per the tour title,  quite spectacular.  

From there we went on to see the ruins of the British fortifications, the “Blockhouse Ruins” from where you could see Eric Clapton’s holiday home, and “Shirley Heights” which overlooked Nelsons Dockyard village and the protected harbour.  We could even see the island of Montserrat.  Again, the views were wonderful.  From there we were taken to the Nelson’s Dockyard, which is now a lovely marina and worth a wander around.  All very nice.

Then back to the ship to meet up with Peter for lunch, after which we took a quick wander around the town to get a feel for the place.  It’s quite nice near the Port, but the further you walk into the outskirts, the grottier and more tumbledown it gets.  We visited the local market, and on returning to the port, found bar with free wi-fi, which is where we spent our last hour until boarding the ship. 

A big brown pelican was diving for fish nearby, difficult to take pictures of, but I tried anyway. 

The ship left Antigua at 4pm, and as usual, we went out on deck to watch the island slowly drift away.  After that, exhausted, it was down to the cabin for a nap.  Later, our dinner was outside on the rear deck, and the show was split between a female singer/impressionist/entertainer, and Barnaby the comedian.  Loads of laughs.

We are going to be at sea now for six days, tonight the boat is rocking more than it has done for a long time.  Not enough to make me feel ill....... yet.  But I remember the Captain saying something about rough seas and a storm, so I now have seasick pills at the ready.  We will be back to the sea day routine tomorrow, methinks I may end up reading another book or two.

St John's visit 2012                     Flying from Antigua 2012