Saturday, September 27, 2014

Barbados September 2014 (MASSIVE picture post below)

Ladies and Gentlemen, we have arrived!
All of the posts below were taken from my iPhone, with the exception of a few I took from Jeff's GoPro pics in the water.  I'll post camera pics in another post.  For now, Enjoy and sorry for taking up a ton of bandwidth getting these badboys to load.

We did six days straight of diving, which was 11 dives and we added about 10 hours of bottom time to our logs.  We saw many turtles, our divemaster killed many a Lionfish (so pretty, but vermin of the ocean), saw many new things I`d never seen or noticed before (shark-fin eel, garden eel), two breath-takingly beautiful spotted manta rays (you almost forget to breathe when you see them!!), angelfish, seahorses, sea cucumbers, trumpetfish, spotted eels, barracuda, big-eyed jacks.. and much much more.

We toured around in our rental car quite a bit, too.  When we were diving, my mom and step-dad were happy to lounge at the pool and frolic in the ocean (as well as partake in many-a-happy hour).  Saw so many faces at the hotel that have become like family, did some sopping in HoletownéSpeightstown and Bridgetown. Made a good friend that`s taking a leap and starting up his very own dive company (which should launch in December).  Best investment was the GoPro.  What an awesome camera that was to take diving.  

The pictures speak for themselves, though, so enjoy. xo
And this is the view that Jeff is taking in.  Stunning blues and turquoises.  So beautiful!








The sunsets each evening were always different from the last and always beautiful.


The first Saturday (day 4) we went out on an adventure in our rental.  No matter how many times we've/I've been there, we always manage to find more beauty and stunning views.


An old, abandoned, condemned parish (or church).  You could see the wood damage from the termites inside the church.  But, it was stunning to walk around and explore.





East coast, known for surfers.  There are more waves on the east coast because of the Atlantic ocean.


Bathsheba, down below.Views from Cherry Hill.

These were taken at Bay Cove, a really cool, off the beaten track place we found (after driving off-road through two farmers fields).


The brown in the water is seaweed.  Sometimes the seaweed that's kicked up and comes ashore is ridiculous, but most day you see none.  



Little Cove, just up the way from Bay Cove.


More views from our hotel, from our penthouse, 2-bedroom condo we stayed in (I stayed there last May as well - such a nice place and spacious for the four of us).
Another stunning sunset






My funny shorty wetsuit burn (tan) lines lol

Crabs everywhere on the beach, by any of the rocks





We had I`d say about 12 days of great weather and two days of rain, getting most of it remnants from tropical storms in the area.

The obvious, dinner selfie. 



WARNING - Nasty picture AHEAD
And............ this is the aftermath of 6 days straight of diving.  Do I regret it for one second, not at all  It looked much worse than what it was and was for the most part just itchy as hell.

This was taken the day we went out on the Jammin`Catamaran.  First stop was up near Paynes Bay, where they have a marine sanctuary and they study the sea turtles.

And this is before I just plain drank too much.  I was fine until we got back to the hotel but once we were there, my memory is blank.  LOL.  We fell asleep for two hours, woke up to eat and I felt fine apart from the raging sun burn.  Jeff was a write off for the rest of the night.  LOL Lots of fun had, though.

Snorkeling with Jeff

And more adventures touring around in the rental
 



 

One of my favorite places on the trip and somewhere I`d never been before.  St. Nicholas Abbey.  An 18th century Jacobean Plantation House and Rum Distillery.  It was stunning!

 


 









 

They had two Molluccan Cockatoos (or salmon-crested cockatoos).  One named Honey and the other, Lance.  Honey was the friendliest.  One came from Alberta I believe and the other from the U.S., both 18 years old.  Lance looked like he wanted to bite your finger off but Honey, she was such a lovebug.

 And, The Lovebug, Honey. :)



 




 

Lance in the forefront and Honey showing off her beautiful crest.
 
 






Mom and Jeff talking to the pretty birds

Couldn't`help myself... Thomas Crapper and Sons lol


 Cherry Hill again, after leaving the Abbey
 

Codrington`s College, a seminary school.  And the ducks on the property.
 
 

 Such curious little things and not shy in the least bit.
 



 

And the last two days of trying to get as much of a glow as possible :)

Our last day.... Perfection.   





 


   


Goodbye Barbados, you`ve been so good to us.  Until next time..... 

 Random chicken in the airport (chickens are everywhere on the island lol)
 
 
 Lake Erie.. Almost back to Toronto.

And............ Back to reality.  It sucks.  I need to find a way to live down there permanently.


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