January exploring Antiguan beaches

It is time to explore some of Antigua's 365 beaches. Yes yes, one for every day of the year and all that. Tragically our beach visits have been kiteless. We learnt our lesson the hard way. To back track a few months: We wanted to learn how to kite-surf in Sicily during winter. Due to the lack of cold enthusiast instructors, the only way open to us was to buy our stuff from the friend of a friend (yes, an offer we couldn't refuse..and all that) and basically make our own way after a 'lesson' with the kite seller. This is Sicily so things are of a certain um quality but whats a girl to do? We struggled with our depowered kites in the winter gusts, watching them fall out of the sky, all the time knowing there was something set up wrong. So now we're finally in kite-surfing paradise, on a beach perfectly designed to learn, with an instructor who has American enthusiasim and Swiss precision, and he even fixed our depower problem by resetting our lines. What happens? The Captain's kite leaked on inflation and mine started whistling after a couple of hours use. Yes, Tonno kites are an awesome design but well, the quality is um shall we say at the lower end of the Chinese scale. After taking them apart to try and fix the offending bladders we saw the extent of the poor construction. After exploring internet options we have found bladder replacement is an option but of course that requires time and organisation. So for now, kiteless beach exploration.

The conclusion of the babble is that we are currently choosing our beaches for their view and swimming as opposed to their wind angle and easy launches.

Rendezvous Beach, a welcome sight after a beautiful albeit hot hike.

Saturday was picnic day. Having recently procured some proper bacon (not the American kind that is 90% fat surrounding small islands of meat) Bacon sandwiches were made and we were on our way to Rendezvous Beach. Driving almost to the top of the hill dividing our bay from its, we parked and readied ourselves for the hike. It was a lot shorter than we thought and well worth the effort. It’s a stretch of shoreline only accessible on foot, by boat or a decently driven 4x4.

Rendezvous Beach, Swim as far as you like in this 'Caribbean Blue' swimming pool

After helping a motor boat set their anchor we got down to some serious snorkeling (hmmm what do you call it when you dont use a snorkle? I spend most of my time under the water and havent mastered the use of a snorkel under these conditions...so i dont bother with one. Cinderellasis, you might appreciate that)

Beautiful fun.

Returning we passed a rare sight: Cows!!! On an island of goats, the cow is king!

Sunday was designated cooking day as the Captain has been craving fresh pasta which, despite the oddly large Italian population on the island, is not available at a Sicilian standard (their cooking beats their kites any day!) So Raviolli stuffed with Wahoo in a tomato garlic sauce it was. With lunch done and the Captain on a biscotti making mission, I had to escape before cabin fever set in and so began a solo mission to a beach near Jolly Harbour.

Beach near Jolly Harbour. Perfect for some desert flying...

When on a food hunt i drove past it and swore there would be a return trip. Back i was and so were the sandflies. But the breeze kept them off and the swimming was incredible....flat blue waters so clear you can see the patterns in the sand 3m down. Hmmmm, Imagine flying high over an extensive sand desert. Crystal clear, essentially still water has that effect on the swimming view.

Wonderfully free!

Making Lasagne with the fresh pasta.

When you have fresh pasta what do you do? Make Lasagne. Of course there is the required bottle of wine (um I'm sure you could put some in the lasagne if you wanted to). This is the bottle of Eolian Rescue fame. Yip, the one and the same bottle that the captain was given for rescuing the media mogul from down under with the same name as a member of the A-team. It was yummy!

The galley turned into a pasta factory.

I assure you with no bias at all that that tagliatelle is by far the best I have ever tasted. Italian chefs weep, you have been outdone by a British-German. It is tasty and light, fulling you up without 'sitting' in your stomach or overpowering the sauce (which in all honesty is unnecessary if you have a good bottle of olive oil, a little pepper and maybe even a sprinkle of parmesan for the sake of extravagance....)

Interesting mud-stone rock formations at the point of Half Moon Bay

Another Weekend brings another beach. This time the gorgeous Half Moon Bay.

There were quite a few Americans frequenting this corner of paradise, recognised by the enthusiasm surrounding them, their coolerboxes filled with Corona and of course the mandatory ‘football’ (not to be mistaken for a soccer ball, a mistake which is obviously only possible in print).

The um tarantula holes

We walked the curve of the bay and noticed rather a lot of people decorated with dry mud in a sort of health spa fashion. Intrigued we rounded the point following the trail of mud-people. We discovered some intriguing mud-rock rock formations, another bay with a resort, an island within swimming distance, some alleged tarantula holes (um near the sea could they possibly be crab holes?) but no communal mud-source

A Panoramic view of Half Moon Bay.

Half Moon Bay from the centre of the beach curve. Um yes, stitching photos when there are waves involved is well yes, you see.