12. Caribbean life. E St Lucia, Antigua and Barbuda, St Thomas and Half Moon Cay.

Here we are for our third and final post of our Caribbean trip.  All jolly amazing and so different to each other!!

St Lucia (pronounced St Lusha) was ruled seven times each by the French and British. One change occurred after the British put 1,000 men on the island in 1664 to defend the island, however after two years, only 89 survived with the rest dying mainly from disease.  The French then took over again, and it wasn't until 1814 when the British took definite control.
The capital  of St Lucia is Castries, a beautiful port.

Early morning arrival in Lucia with another cruise ship following us in. 

A Calabash tree, which is the National Tree of St Lucia.
The fruit look oversize for the tree. 

Like arboreal watermelons. 

Smoking meat for sale in the shop to the left.
We are not sure what was originally in the forty four gallon drum, but it no doubt adds flavour. 

Coconut retaining walls and path bordering. 

Looking like a Waratah, NSW's state emblem, holidaying in the Caribbean. 

Saint Lucia Peewee.
Our guide was rather impressed with this photo as they are reasonably rare and very flighty. 

Green-throated Carib. 

Up until now, we thought cocoa came from tins. 

Australian flag bearer.

Another tropical paradise.  

 Ships need clearance from air traffic control before entering and leaving port due to impeding on airspace.
The ship extends another seven floors above this shot. 

Some residences were very impressive. 

On leaving the port of Castries we voyaged further along the island to the World Heritage Site of  The Pitons, two volcanic spires reaching up from the ocean 800 metres or 2,600 feet.

Scenic cruising to The Pitons.
Flouro shorts are recommended for anyone susceptible to falling overboard. 

In the background, Petit Piton to the left, Gros Piton to the right.
Petit Piton is 55m lower than its sibling.

One of our treks up and back down in Yosemite National Park was about 200m or 600feet higher than this.
The muscles hurt thinking back to the day. 

A lone Aussie yacht a long way from home was sighted in the distance as we cruised off St Lucia.

The yacht can just be seen about one third in from the top right.

Zoomed in 65 times from a relatively unstable platform, the yacht, Alexes, can be motor sailing down the coast.

Punching into the swell with a bone in its teeth.
Alexes looks to be an ideal cruising yacht. 

The dock of Antigua and Barbuda was already crowded when we arrived in town due to the Prime Minister Gaston Alfonso Browne (Gaston Alfonso; what a great name suggestion for a future grandson) and all his cronies were clustered in a tent for the apparent handing over of the port to the cruise line.  It seems to happen elsewhere than just to Australia. 

Another colourful welcome into the tropical paradise. 

The quiet official handing over service was soon to meet about 6,000 people shuffling past from the two ships which just tied up and were being unloaded. 

Heads of the drivers may roll due to cavalcade facing the wrong way following driving onto the dock before crowds arrived.
An official memo will probably ensue, after either the backing up or a five point turn with PM waving to the commoners. 

Presentation for the official party, however we accepted it with much appreciation. 

Four cruise ships at the one time added 12,000 tourists to the small island.
There is always at least one non-conformist who stands out in the crowd.  

St Barnabas Anglican Church, being one of the oldest protestant church buildings in the Western Hemisphere, is in the centre of the island, and has been the centre of Christian faith since being consecrated in 1843.
Its sister church was built in 1672. 

A hard day at the office.
The locals like to boast one beach a day for a year, 365 soft white powdery beaches.

More interesting architecture. 

Sudden downpours would send people very quickly into the shops.
We did so; and for the cost of a doughnut, caught up on emails. 

Three of the four ships in port. 

It is always reassuring to see lifeboat drills. 

A short overnight cruise took us to the US Virgin Islands' St Thomas, landing in the capital Charlotte.
To mix it up, currency is US, language English and cars are left hand drive. It pays to never assume direction of flow in the Caribbean.

Our own "Moonlight Sonata" with no piano and far more than three movements. 

A sailing cat took us out past more super yachts to a snorkelling site over an old wreck. 

Gen 9. 13-17

Leaving port in perfect conditions. 

Soon after the previous shot, a squall came across with 35knot winds and horizontal rain soaking everyone on board, even those sheltering under the large awning.
Fortunately all were dressed in preparation for snorkelling, hence it was like water off a duck's back. 

The wreck lies in about five metres of water off the starboard bow. 

Running back to port. 

The old customs house near one of the forts which guarded the entrance to St Thomas. 

Back on board for some late lunch, then up on the funicular for great views of the Caribbean playground.

Our home away from home taken on the way up the hill. 

Solar power makes such sense. 

Glorious blue waters

So similar to government buses!
Wait for ages, then three come altogether. 

Super super-yachts. 

Large cruising cats are very much in vogue. 

There is no doubt, St Thomas is a beautiful part of the Caribbean. 

Leaving the harbour in the distance, we noticed a strange looking vessel with sun shining through the centre of it, travelling at speed and overtaking speed boats travelling in the same direction.
Upon researching, we found it is a relatively rare tandem cat, four hulls to one ferry.

70kms trip from St Croix to St Thomas takes around 2 hours, 20 minutes.

Overtaking speed boats with ease. 

Weird, but sounds as if it rides well. 

As we were about to board the funicular for our trip downhill, this Mongoose showed himself before disappearing in the undergrowth.
Mongooses were brought to the island in the 1800s in an attempt to control tree rats however no-one realised that mongooses don't climb trees and are diurnal, whereas tree rats love trees and are nocturnal.
Hence now 150 years later, both are problems. 

Half Moon Cay is a private island owned by the Holland America cruise line exclusively for their use.

Ideal ferries to take us ashore 350 at a time.
Ramps allow wheel chair access without any difficulty. 

Sun awareness and selfies are always forefront in peoples' minds.
Too much sun can turn the hair blue. 

Once at the dock, the bow drawbridge drops down and passengers can exit 5 abreast.
Emergency exits can be seen all around. 

Shell Service Station 

The serenity disappeared shortly after this photo. 

Our ship to the right, another one over the breakwater.
Paradise!

One could easily feel blue in this environment.

The channel into the small docking area is tight, hence this mirror makes navigating safer from head-on collisions. 

The Koningsdam looked so sleek as we approached, not knowing we were being followed.

The 1954 Creature from the Black Lagoon found us even out at sea. 

Half Moon Cay was our last island visit, so we took advantage of our time to relax and take in the various features of the Koningsdam.

Relaxing by the centre pool.
Note the opening sun roof. 

Three spas and theatre screen for night-time movie viewing when lazing around the pools.

Lido cafe for quick informal dining. 

The Dutch cafe featuring delectable dutch treats. 

Hinting at Christmas. 

Two levels of formal dining. 

This is as formal as it got!

We were entertained by five of the most brilliant musicians from the Lincoln Centre for Performing Arts in New York.

Christmas almost here, hence beautiful ginger bread houses made from plywood, clad in decorative icing and sweets. 

Nightly sing along to two pianos. 

Artwork on board

Impressive artwork, even more impressive when studied in detail. 

Looking closer!

The artwork was actually made from hundreds of toy cars. 

We now head north to Fort Lauderdale, before catching three flights to the bottom of South America to the most southerly city in the world, Ushuaia, for two days before boarding our ship, the Greg Mortimer for our Antarctica expedition. Ushuaia turned out to be totally unique from any other city.

Hence we finish the Caribbean part of our tripping with two contrasting photos; one of the Caribbean and the next from Awesome Antarctica.

Leaving the blue paradise of the Caribbean.

For the blue wonder of Antarctica.
After all this travel, Don is still Carrol's right hand man.
The Christmas Day swim by Don confirmed his guess that the water temperature had dropped since the Caribbean.  

How great thou art!!

Hoping you have enjoyed our Caribbean and US mainland trip to date.  Now for something completely different as we head south.  Trusting you will be inspired by more of our beautiful world.
Beauty beyond words in the upcoming posts, after our departure from Ushuaia towards the bottom of the world.

As Louie Armstrong once sang:

I see skies of blue and clouds of white
The bright blessed day, and the dark sacred night
And I think to myself, what a wonderful world!!

God bless and happy travels,
Don and Carrol.