Our first order of business after getting tied up at the dock and having lunch was to clear customs. In Nassau customs came to us, at Green Turtle Cay, you go to customs. Customs is in New Plymouth, which is the only town on the island and is also at the other end of the island from where we were. There are several ways you can reach the customs office. You can dinghy, which takes 10 minutes, but we had just come from that direction and knew the water was a little rough and it would be a very
wet dinghy ride. You can rent a golf cart for $35 for half a day, we tried and she was out to lunch. You can walk, it is about 3 miles. Or you can take a bicycle. We had been sitting on the boat not exercising much for over 5 weeks, so we decided to rent bicycles, $15 each for 24 hours. With all necessary papers in the backpack we peddled to town. I think of beaches and islands as being flat. Green Turtle Cay is not flat. By the time we got there I could tell it had been a while since I had
been to the gym.
The customs office was a single room. The lady who was our customs officer was very nice and made quick work of getting all of our forms processed. There is a $300 fee for a boat greater than 35 feet. This gives us our permit to be here, plus a fishing license for everyone on board. You have to request special permission to use a spear, which we were granted. Wayne is optimistic that there are lobster dinners in our future!
With business out of the way it was time to explore town. The buildings are all painted vivid colors that make me think of Easter or sherbet. They are pinks, yellows, lavender, orange, lime green and bright blue. The house across from customs is the old home of Captain Roberts. A save the reef group has restored the home and it is now a free museum and information center. There are things that used to belong to Captain Roberts and they have instructions on how to save the reef. We saw the Memorial
Sculpture Garden. At one of the grocery stores we bought bread and bananas. The loaf of Arnolds 12 Grain bread was $4.75. (We took lots of pictures around town and will post them when the wifi connection here at the marina is working again.) Town is maybe 5 blocks long and 3 blocks wide. The churches are the tallest buildings in town. We bicycled down each of the streets stopping to take pictures along the way.
On our ride back to the Green Turtle Club we stopped to check out the beaches on the ocean side and to look at Black Sound. Green Turtle Club and Bluff House are on White Sound. Green Turtle Club and Bluff House both have marinas and resorts that include pools, laundry, four star restaurants, bars, and cottages to rent. From September to March, since it is the slow season at the marinas, they offer a deal that you get a credit for the restaurant/bar for the amount of your dockage, this is known
as "eating your dockage". Tuesday night we enjoyed an elegantly prepared meal of grouper almandine, salad, rice, green beans, corn salsa and orange slices on the screened in restaurant patio. The service was great and we were stuffed! It was nice meeting people from several of the other boats.
Wednesday we still had time left on our 24 hour bicycle rental. Bluff House lies at the opposite end of the island from New Plymouth beyond the Green Turtle Club, so we explored in that direction. The road in that direction was dirt and just as hilly. After we reached the end of the island we decided to go back to walk one of the beaches we had seen the day before. We picked up a few shells. It was great to have our toes in beautiful white sand again and be walking along the turquoise water.
We decided to have lunch at the restaurant, Wayne had a grouper wrap and I had a shrimp and avocado wrap, yummy. The afternoon was spent doing laundry. Our jeans and winter things are clean and we can finally stow them in the bottom of the locker. We love the 78+ degree days, this is how to do winter.
This morning we hung our Christmas wreath from the arch. When we were in Vero Beach I bought a string of white LED Christmas lights and have put them in the salon. We have a small tree, but will wait to put the up later. We walked to another ocean beach and found 2 heart beans and a starnut palm, two Ram's Horn Squid shells along with a sea urchin test and spines. So our shelling season has officially begun! Tonight one of the entrée choices is Rack of Lamb, which is one of my favorites, so
we are headed to the restaurant for dinner tonight. Wayne will have Grilled Mahi Mahi with Lobster and Seafood Sauce. It is a tough life…but someone has to do it.
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