Stir Crazy!!

So we are still floating around at anchor in Falmouth Harbour and starting to go a little stir crazy so we hired a car for a week to have a drive around the Island. There are around 85,000 people live in Antigua and it is not very big so driving was not that bad and they drive on the right side of the road for us ….. though to be honest the majority seem to drive in the middle!

John is having problems with tooth ache so we booked an appointment with a dentist in St. John’s the capital. The big cruise liners come in here and it is set up for this and Redcliffe Quay is full of tiny boutique type shops and cafes all dealing in US dollars and claiming to be duty free. I found it ok for a day out but I am glad we did not anchor there.

                                                        The view from the Boxer Shack

 On our travels going up to St. Johns we travelled along the coast and found a little bar/restaurant close to Morris Beach called the Boxer Shack which had a lovely view and we sat and watched the pelicans dive bombing into the sea for fish. They really take no prisoners diving into the sea like kamikaze pilots. I tried to get a picture of them but you can’t appreciate just how fast they go from the picture the splash is the pelican entering the water. We noticed the restaurant did Sunday lunch so we went back for the full Sunday lunch last Sunday just for a change. We have got quite into Caribbean food and a particular favourite is Roti. They are sort of like pancakes filled with chicken, vegetables or pork. They really are great for lunch and there is a little café in Falmouth called Colin’s Place where we have taken up residence!! I have had fish stew there also which was very good too. For some reason there are quite a lot of Italian restaurants too and we tried the Famous Mauro Pizza restaurant a really excellent pizza and dynamite chilli oil!  He has a proper pizza oven and cooks the pizza in front of you. I would recommend the place to any one going to Falmouth.

Just past St. Johns is Dickenson Bay and St. James Fort. We stopped off in the car and were surprised to see groups of tourists segwaying their way up the beach and odd sight! St James Fort is now sadly in need of renovation but the guns are still in very good condition with the inscriptions very clear. The beach at Dickenson Bay was very clean and crystal clear as well as warm the water temperature here is around 80 degrees Fahrenheit!

                                                 Another way of seeing the Island!!

I should also mention the mongoose which is found all around the island. They were introduced into Antigua to control the snake population. There are no snakes in Antigua now but there are a lot of mongooses which scurry around the place. I have to admit at first I thought they were rats till I took a closer look!  

The Wobbly Bob Rce took plce on Valentines Day teams had to make their own boat in two and a half hours we took our outboard over and ended up giving some guys a tow.... cheating was allowed and it looked good fun!!