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Day 13 - Tuesday, May 17, 2016 - Hamilton, Bermuda - Weather forecast: mostly sunny - temperature: 23°C/73°F - winds 5 knots, 2 Beaufort Today we decided to explore the St. George end of the island. Several bus routes serve that end so we selected one that took us along the south shore before heading up to The Causeway that joins St. George’s Island to the main island. Along the way we stopped at the Crystal Cave, which includes the Fantasy Cave. The caves were discovered in 1907 and 1909 respectively and are actually joined through a series of underwater tunnels and are only accessible to very slim scuba divers.
With 88 steps down to the Fantasy Cave & 83 steps Crystal Cave plus a 100 meter 30° ramp Brooke opted to only descend into the Crystal Cave while Brad and I went into both, starting with the Fantasy Cave. Of course the steps down equaled the corresponding number of steps back up.
The Fantasy Cave was discovered in 1909 when a gardener who was burning some brush noticed that the smoke was being sucked into the ground. He reported it to
the landowner who called on a teenager, who had discovered the Crystal Caves two years earlier, to make a descent. He discovered a small two-chambered cave with a large pool of water in it.
The reason why the smoke had been pulled into the cave was that it is in fact connected to the sea through underground passages and is directly influenced by tidal actions. Much like a lung, when the tide was going out it was sucking air from the chamber and the smoke followed. Only a small group opted to descend into this cave, which allowed us plenty of space to move around and take photos. The only prohibition was that we could not touch any of the formations, since they have been forming since the last ice age.
After we ascended we returned to the ticket booth to get our passes for the Crystal Cave and Brooke joined us. Two teenagers discovered the Crystal Cave complex in 1907 when they went in search of their cricket ball, which had fallen down a hole. This cave, as with the Fantasy Cave, contains a large pool of brackish water within it. At one
time during the 1920’s & 30’s tour guides actually gave tourists boat rides on these pools. They no longer do so for environmental reasons. The water is extremely clear and ranges in depth from 5 to 50 feet in the main areas and the tunnels descend to as deep as 250 feet. The humidity in the caves topped out at 100% and the temperature remained a constant 75°F/22°C year round.
Following our ascent we stopped by the café for a quick snack as it was already 1:30 and we needed to refuel before we headed off to the Historic Town of St. George, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Our two day passes for the bus system proved a good buy as we did not have to worry about what zones we were travelling in or to nor did we need transfers.
Once in St. George we went in search of a restaurant where we could get a more substantial meal. We found an excellent restaurant where they served a number of outstanding seafood dishes. What else can you expect when you are surrounded by the bounty of the sea? As we ate on a
balcony by the water the scenery equaled the meal.
Tummies filled we explored a portion of the historic site including: King’s Square, Ordnance Island, Town Hall, State House, Somers’ Garden before we headed down Duke of York Street where we could catch a bus back to Hamilton. We were fortunate that we caught the bus at the start of its run as by the time we got have of the 16.1 km distance to Hamilton, there was standing room only. We had got caught up in the rush hour traffic for the island. This time we opted to take a bus route along the north side of the island affording us a different scenery perspective.
This evening the ship put on a BBQ on the Lido Deck by the main pool so they had the charcoal drums out and the room over the pool open. The colds that both Brooke & I have are affecting our appetites; we could not face a heavy meal so ate very lightly.
While Brooke stayed in the cabin to read & edit the blogs in the hope that I could get them transmitted this evening,
Brad and I went to view the movie The Martian. After the show I took my laptop up to the ship’s library area where there is better Internet connectivity and attempted once again to publish the blogs. Well NO LUCK again! I will attempt to find the hotspot tomorrow morning outside the Bermuda National Library and try again.
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