It was with much anticipation that I flew into Barbados; the exotic land of my great grandfather, as much a family legend as a reality. To my knowledge I was the first family member to return in the over 100 years since his arrival in New Zealand. I never knew my great grandfather; he was gone long before I was born. Memories of my grandfather and his two unmarried sisters were my closest link. It seems to me I have more in contrast than commonality; my grandfather was short while I am tall, he was dark while I have very pale skin, he was fleet of foot and a great sportsman while I only have enthusiasm but no ability, he worked with his hands as a carpenter while I have to be content tapping at a ... read more

We made our way to Fort Lauderdale the day before our USA departure. After we arrived at our hotel, we had time to saunter along the main street and take in the atmosphere before heading to the beach. The beach was very crowded with families, couples, groups of young men playing ball sports, groups of young women watching the young men, joggers, and people walking their dogs. We spotted lots of square roped-off areas in the sand and so we went to investigate the small signs attached. They turned out to be turtle nests which had been marked so they would not be disturbed. Coming from New Zealand with all our regulations and conservation efforts, it seemed strange to us that these people could be trusted to respect the turtles’ space. Eileen decided to relax and ... read more

On the trip from Key West to Orlando we headed inland to see some different scenery. We purchased some mangos directly from an orchard. They grew 40 different varieties of mango so we took the advice of the owner’s son and purchased some Southern Blush mangos. They were simply superb! Our GPS showed our route as tracking alongside a large lake, Lake Okeechobee. Unfortunately we could not see it from the road as there was a substantial stop bank erected all round the lake. We were able to drive up onto the stop bank by the lake exit and enjoy the view where we watched a crane at the water's edge. We then travelled through an area of massive sugar cane farms. The canes and the tracks through them seemed to go on just about as ... read more

Wow, ten nights in the USA! We landed in Miami and stayed at the beach where I enjoyed the swimming. The sea was lovely and warm with none of the difficulty of getting into the water past your ‘goolies’ which you experience in New Zealand. The surf was very broken but I was able to do a bit of body surfing. We visited South Beach to window shop, to purchase a GPS unit, and to ‘people watch’. While Eileen was consulting the map to find the Post Office, she accidentally walked into a passing woman. This was how we met the mature and slightly eccentric Marie Clare. Eileen describes her as “a very charming, beautiful, full of ‘joie de vivre’, resident French woman”. Marie Clare spoke several languages and she said she had been a translator ... read more

10 July 2012 began with a couple of unexpected challenges. First there was the heated argument over the phone with the hostel owner about the last minute hidden insurance and tax charges. These were not mentioned in the “balance to pay” email we received and so were a complete surprise when we were settling the bill. It ended with the arrogant owner admitting “this happens a lot and other people pay” then he declared that he had Leigh’s credit card number and so he could easily deduct the disputed amount. An unfortunate end to a lovely stay! The next challenge proved to be changing our Colombian dollars into US dollars in order to pay the balance of our yacht fare. Leigh walked for an hour in the heat and visited four banks to discover each had ... read more