2011 Girl's Trip Day 6
Posted: Mon Nov 28, 2011 10:37 pm
Friday November 4
Ouch!! Even though we'd slept in later than usual three of us only got 5 hours of sleep. Breakfast was leftover strata from the day before and lots of coffee.
It was still overcast and we were moving pretty slow so we decided not to go too far in case of North Shore swells. We set off for Gibney but things did look favorable when we saw a red flag whe we passed Hawksnest. There were no other cars parked at Gibney - another clue. We made the walk down with all of our gear anyway and could hear the surf before we made it to the bottom. The waves were up and there would be no visibility for snorkeling but I was trying to look on the bright side and went in the water for a while to just play in the waves. Everyone else stayed out of the water and the mood seemed as gray as the sky. The late hours the night before seemed to make everyone a little cranky.....OK ....ALOT cranky, except for the teetotaler who was smart enough to get a good night's sleep.
After some discussion it was decided that no one wanted to stay at Gibney since the water was so rough. No one really wanted to drive as far as Salt Pond Bay, plus our newbie had joint issues so we thought it best to avoid that walk down to the beach there, so off we went to Klein Bay. Three of us had been there before and either liked it or tolerated it for various reasons. I liked the snorkeling there, Val liked to pick through the rocks and shells on the beach and Lori didn't mind just being able to sit and read while watching the surf. Our newbie didn't seem to appreciate the rocky nature of that beach at all, but she was outnumbered.
The water was still a little rough even there so I didn't head off to the left towards Ditliff as I would normally do. I headed off to the right and snorkeled along the rock walls with a deep trough in front of it. I spotted some fish despite the roughness - angels, sargent majors and a large parrot fish who looked like it had a big smile on it's face. I came across a lion fish marker at one point and floated there for a while trying to see if I could spot it but no luck....but maybe that was a good thing...maybe it had already been removed.
When I got back I could see that our newbie was bored and Val had plenty of rocks collected so we headed back to the villa to swim in the pool instead. From the pool we could spot several iguanas climbing in the trees, along with some unusual insects that looked like truncated grasshoppers and the sugar birds were in and out of the feeder. When I was showering that day I was mesmerized by a gecko "love story" taking place in the garden area of my bathroom. A large handsome male was pursuing a female across the plants and up the walls. He would periodically stop to inflate the large red pouch under his chin that must have been impressive in gecko love language since the two of them eventually disappeared somewhere together! I guess that explained the multitude of little geckos that would watch me from their hiding spots under the leaves.
Dinner that night was take out from Candie's barbeque. While waiting for our order to be boxed up I noticed that one of the chefs from the Westin was there having his dinner before going to work. That confirmed our good taste in food as far as I was concerned.
Everyone was pretty subdued that night which I assumed was from lack of sleep. Then the newbie decided to vent and complained that she didn't think the beaches on STJ were as good as what she had seen on St. Thomas on a prior trip. What sort of sacrilege was this???!!!! After a little prodding we found out that she had envisioned broad expanses of sandy beach lined with chaise lounges and umbrellas to rent with roving waiters serving blender drinks and food from concession areas made to look like tiki huts. She wanted to find one of THOSE beaches next! After the laughter died down we explained that the closest thing to that would be at Caneel and we wouldn't be able to use the chaise lounges because we weren't paying guests. Even though she had been a world traveler in the past she hadn't bothered to research STJ and didn't realize that the intent of the National Park service was to attempt to keep the beaches as pristine and natural as possible. Yep - some people just don't get it. She would have been happier in Cancun or some other more commericialized location.
We made a plan to take her to Cinnamon Bay the following day since that was expansive and offered some amenities. We all turned in early that night.
Ouch!! Even though we'd slept in later than usual three of us only got 5 hours of sleep. Breakfast was leftover strata from the day before and lots of coffee.
It was still overcast and we were moving pretty slow so we decided not to go too far in case of North Shore swells. We set off for Gibney but things did look favorable when we saw a red flag whe we passed Hawksnest. There were no other cars parked at Gibney - another clue. We made the walk down with all of our gear anyway and could hear the surf before we made it to the bottom. The waves were up and there would be no visibility for snorkeling but I was trying to look on the bright side and went in the water for a while to just play in the waves. Everyone else stayed out of the water and the mood seemed as gray as the sky. The late hours the night before seemed to make everyone a little cranky.....OK ....ALOT cranky, except for the teetotaler who was smart enough to get a good night's sleep.
After some discussion it was decided that no one wanted to stay at Gibney since the water was so rough. No one really wanted to drive as far as Salt Pond Bay, plus our newbie had joint issues so we thought it best to avoid that walk down to the beach there, so off we went to Klein Bay. Three of us had been there before and either liked it or tolerated it for various reasons. I liked the snorkeling there, Val liked to pick through the rocks and shells on the beach and Lori didn't mind just being able to sit and read while watching the surf. Our newbie didn't seem to appreciate the rocky nature of that beach at all, but she was outnumbered.
The water was still a little rough even there so I didn't head off to the left towards Ditliff as I would normally do. I headed off to the right and snorkeled along the rock walls with a deep trough in front of it. I spotted some fish despite the roughness - angels, sargent majors and a large parrot fish who looked like it had a big smile on it's face. I came across a lion fish marker at one point and floated there for a while trying to see if I could spot it but no luck....but maybe that was a good thing...maybe it had already been removed.
When I got back I could see that our newbie was bored and Val had plenty of rocks collected so we headed back to the villa to swim in the pool instead. From the pool we could spot several iguanas climbing in the trees, along with some unusual insects that looked like truncated grasshoppers and the sugar birds were in and out of the feeder. When I was showering that day I was mesmerized by a gecko "love story" taking place in the garden area of my bathroom. A large handsome male was pursuing a female across the plants and up the walls. He would periodically stop to inflate the large red pouch under his chin that must have been impressive in gecko love language since the two of them eventually disappeared somewhere together! I guess that explained the multitude of little geckos that would watch me from their hiding spots under the leaves.
Dinner that night was take out from Candie's barbeque. While waiting for our order to be boxed up I noticed that one of the chefs from the Westin was there having his dinner before going to work. That confirmed our good taste in food as far as I was concerned.
Everyone was pretty subdued that night which I assumed was from lack of sleep. Then the newbie decided to vent and complained that she didn't think the beaches on STJ were as good as what she had seen on St. Thomas on a prior trip. What sort of sacrilege was this???!!!! After a little prodding we found out that she had envisioned broad expanses of sandy beach lined with chaise lounges and umbrellas to rent with roving waiters serving blender drinks and food from concession areas made to look like tiki huts. She wanted to find one of THOSE beaches next! After the laughter died down we explained that the closest thing to that would be at Caneel and we wouldn't be able to use the chaise lounges because we weren't paying guests. Even though she had been a world traveler in the past she hadn't bothered to research STJ and didn't realize that the intent of the National Park service was to attempt to keep the beaches as pristine and natural as possible. Yep - some people just don't get it. She would have been happier in Cancun or some other more commericialized location.
We made a plan to take her to Cinnamon Bay the following day since that was expansive and offered some amenities. We all turned in early that night.