antigua – 2 J's World of Adventure

21st November 2024….a very special day….it’s our 10th Wedding Anniversary. We had a lovely day which started with us giving each other a card and gift… John gave me a gorgeous diamond eternity ring which fits perfectly below my two other rings. I gave him an engraved tin containing cuff links with J&J on … So I went for the traditional 10th anniversary gift-tin and John went for the modern-diamond.
After breakfast before going out on the beautiful island of Antigua we decided to reflect on our 10 years of married life so we made a list, in no particular order, of all the countries we’ve visited together … England, Wales, Scotland, St Kitts & Nevis, Tortola, St Maarten, St Thomas & St John, Grand Turk, Trinidad & Tobago, Martinique, Antigua, Grenada, Dominica, St Lucia, Aruba, Bonaire, Curaçao, Bahamas , Cayman Island, Honduras, Mexico, Panama, Colombia, Costa Rica, Puerto Rico, USA & Alaska, Canada, Singapore, Vietnam , Borneo, Bali, Thailand, Malaysia, Sri Lanka, India, France, Germany, Netherlands, Denmark, Poland, Estonia, Sweden, Norway, Spain, Gibraltar, Madeira, Monaco , Portugal, Vatican City, Italy, Morocco , Malta, Gozo, Gran Canaria , Lanzarote, Tenerife , Las Palmas, Cyprus, Egypt, Hungary , Croatia, Montenegro, Czech Republic, Botswana, Namibia, South Africa, Mozambique, Zimbabwe , Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Sharjah, Ras Al Khaimah, Oman, Umm Al-Quwain, Fujairah, Greece… quite a list 75 countries in total.

Around mid morning we ventured out ….it had been raining but the sky showed promise of a beautiful day. Wandering up the main terminal shopping area we noticed two ladies with a tour board. We asked if they were waiting for booked customers, which they were. However it turns out the customers hadn’t turned up so they asked what we were looking for. We had already decided to go up to Shirley’s Heights and the Block house on Dow hill so we could see the magnificent sights, and a little sight seeing around the island. One of the ladies said she would take us for $40 each and we would need to pay an entrance fee of $15 each to go up to Shirley’s Heights and the block house. We agreed and off we went. Auntie P was a very knowledgable, fun loving person and we were soon installed into her very comfortable air conditioned 7 seater SUV. We then embarked on a quick tour of St Johns with Auntie P pointing out all the sights. Passing the cricket ground and the Hero’s board we headed into the countryside towards Nelson Dockyards.

As we traversed the beautiful island of Antigua Auntie P pointed out lots of the different vegetation, including coco pod, sugar apple and Ackee. The later is poisonous if eaten before it is fully mature and if it’s not cooked in the correct way. Auntie P said they eat a lot of it in Jamaica and many a wife incorrectly cooks it if she finds her husband is unfaithful …or so the stories go !!!

We enjoyed meandering through the villages. Coming across a taxi with the driver flagging Auntie P down we stopped. They had broken down and our kind driver offered the 4 French speaking Canadians from Quebec a lift to Nelson Dockyard so they could get a taxi from there back to their ship. We were pleased when they got out as they were very noisy and we couldn’t hear what Auntie P was telling us about the island. We stopped on the way to the Heritage site dockyard to take a photo of Clarence House on the opposite side of the harbour. This is where the Queen Elizabeth II had stayed. However due to the rain the photo didn’t really do the area justice. We didn’t go into the heritage site as we had done this on a previous visit to the Island. We passed by many disused windmills which would have been on sugar cane plantations in the olden days…we also experienced a variety of domestic animals roaming freely by the roadside.

When we got to Shirley’s Heights and Dows Hill we went up to The Block house first of all. This is where the soldiers monitored the southern Atlantic and Caribbean approaches to English Harbour. The remains of the ammunition store and the barracks are still clearly visible. The view is magnificent. The white building was built by Eric Clapton and is a rehabilitation centre.

After this we went up to Shirley Heights. This was first used as a lookout and a signal station since the days of the war of American independence in 1774. The sentry would spot approaching ships and use flags during the day and guns at night to spread the alarm across the country…evidently the whole island could be on alert within 10 minutes. Today it’s regarded as offering the finest view of English Harbour and the dockland. Unfortunately the rain didn’t do the views any justice in the photos.

On we continued to Curtain Bluff and Tamarind Cove before getting to Fryes Bay. Here we stopped for a complimentary drink. While people watching we saw a Monarch Butterfly which Aunty P told us were quite rare these days.

We returned to the ship past Auntie P’s house and the primary school she had attended. Auntie P was a preschool teacher and had also had her own day care centre prior to becoming a tour guide. Her love for children still means that she does occasional supply work in the local school. She was a really interesting person who shared her knowledge of the island and island life generously with us….a wonderful tour. We can recommend her to you… . You can contact her directly either by email or phone her email address is kidsplace63@hotmail.com phone number (268)770-9195

Once back on the ship we rested a little before getting ready for supper and our photo session. We were gifted a complimentary photo session by Princess Cruises so we got ready for supper early and went up to the photographic studio…. Tomorrow we’ll see what they turn out like. We had booked a table in the Crown Grill restaurant -which you pay to eat in, unlike most the restaurants on the ship which are covered within your cruise fare.
We had a lovely meal of crab cake starter, surf and turf, both the fillet and lobster were cooked to perfection, I then had sugar free ice cream and John had caramel creme brûlée. A perfect meal to end a perfect day….

Thanks to everyone for making our Anniversary an extra special day.

Antigua

The Caribbean island of Antigua is one of the Leeward Islands and, together with the neighbouring island of Barbuda, is home to around 100,000 people. Its capital, St. John’s, on the northwest corner of the island, has a deep harbour and is a popular calling point for cruise ships. It has wonderful beaches – and there are said to be 365 of them, one for each day of the year, making it one of the area’s most popular tourist destinations in the Caribbean.
Having said that a lot of the American cruise ships don’t go there, it’s quite ‘British’ and the Americans tend to prefer to cruise to their own islands. We visited on a cruise in 2023.

It was Jenny’s first time visiting Antigua, where as I had been several times many, many years ago. Jenny was ultra excited. We’ve cruised the Caribbean many times and this is only the second time Antigua had been on our itinerary. On the previous occasion it was dropped from the itinerary due to the ship having engine trouble, Jenny had been very disappointed. So on this occasion we were fortunate to be able to sightsee the island. Strangely enough it’s on our itinerary again when we visit later this year..a Celebratory Cruise for our 10th Wedding Anniversary.

Since 1981, Antigua and Barbuda has been an independent state, although it remains within the Commonwealth of Nations.

Not surprisingly, the island has produced many fine cricketers representing the West Indies including Curtly Ambrose, whose mother used to ring a bell at her front door every time her son took a wicket! For me, though, he is eclipsed (just) by one of my alltime boyhood heroes, Sir Vivian Richards.

To the southeast of the island is English Harbour, home to the UNESCO site now referred to as Nelson’s Dockyard in recognition of Lord Hortaio Nelson’s time here as Senior Naval Officer of the Leeward Islands.

The dockyard is a popular attraction today, having been carefully restored and preserved reflecting life here 250 years ago. It is one of the deepest, protected harbours in the Eastern Caribbean Sea.

A popular view point is Shirley Heights. From here you get magnificent views of the beautiful surrounding area.