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.
2 J's World of Adventure 