Back to the Islands: Virgin Gorda and St. John - Part 2

jmq · Post by **jmq** » Tue Jul 02, 2013 2:30 pm

Less talky talky and more photo photo than Part 1...thank God...

To pick up first with some misc photos from first few days on Virgin Gorda.

Night blooming flowers that smell like vanilla…

This is all I need to make some mighty fine “rum punch”…

…the added bonus is much less calories than painkillers and bushwackers, which I know is heresy to say, but we just don’t like very much…

Thursday 5/30 third day on Virgin Gorda. Drove up to north end of the island to catch the free water taxi over to the Bitter End Yacht Club (BEYC) for lunch and to join their 2 hr snorkel excursion for $25 each for non-guests.
Stopping along the way…

Water taxi

BEYC – very nice…

Lunch was good there – a buffet with all manner of fresh salads and fruits.

Saba Rock out in the middle of the North Sound…

It was pretty windy and choppy, so they tried to put the boat on the leeward side of some of the smaller islands, which probably did not necessarily jive with the best snorkeling locations. But it was interesting that the first stop was next to Necker Island where Sir Richard is rebuilding after that destructive fire.

Like I said, snorkeling was not great. This is the second time we have done an “off shore” snorkeling excursion (not a daysail) and were thoroughly underwhelmed both times. These were the best I could do photo wise…

We had dinner that night at the Mineshaft Café. Not a good sunset, so didn’t bother to get there in time to view from their elevated deck and be entertained by the chickens making their noisy and clumsy way up into the trees next to the deck (to stay away from nighttime predators). A disappointing meal for the most part – my ribs were pretty good, but the Mahi and chicken wraps were not. The restaurant was pretty empty, as were a lot of places on Virgin Gorda.

Dinner the next night was at the Rock Café – excellent lobster pasta and pasta primavera.

Over the next few days we did a walk and swim to the beautiful beaches just north of Guavaberry = Spring Bay and Little Trunk Bay and to the south = The Baths and Devils Bay.

Top of the Baths – we had breakfast there with this view…

The next day we took a ride up to Hog Heaven on the top of Gorda Peak for lunch.
Some views along the way…

As you might imagine, Hog Heaven specializes in BBQ which was very good. Pretty stunning views from up there, but it was super windy.

Leverick Bay via zoom lens…

Necker Island via zoom lens…

That night we got pizza take out from the Rock Cafe – was pretty good. Enjoyed from our deck with a nice sunset.

Near sunset down at the beach…

Sunday we are scheduled to take 3pm direct ferry to STJ, so we enjoy a late check out and shower and change in the nice bathroom facility adjacent to the GB offices. Earlier that morning we took a quick ride over to the Coppermine Ruins.

The ferry is over an hour late departing as we wait for them to do the paperwork and a group of kids and a class trip from STT. It also isn’t cheap - $60 one way. The BVI ferry system is a big mess. It is driving the folks on the BVI centric forums nuts.

We get into Gallows later than expected, but love the fine views we enjoy over the next 5 days from recently renovated upper ocean 7D.

We clean up and walk into town and decide to eat at Rhumblines because they had a lobster special and my goodness it was awesome.

So begins the next part of the trip in St. John. It feels good to be back after 4 long years.

Next up: more photos and details on the STJ portion to finish out this trip report.

MN_Bhoy · Post by **MN_Bhoy** » Tue Jul 02, 2013 5:58 pm

Great pics!!! Looking fwd to more...!!!

Pickle · Post by **Pickle** » Tue Jul 02, 2013 6:12 pm

I must've missed Part 1. I need to go back and read it.

Beautiful photos as always, jmq. Looking forward to reading the St. John portion of the report!

liamsaunt · Post by **liamsaunt** » Tue Jul 02, 2013 7:49 pm

Thanks for another great installment. Really looking forward to the next section.

lprof · Post by **lprof** » Wed Jul 03, 2013 12:16 am

Of course, I am soaking all this into my starved STJ/VG planning brain. Thank you... thank you!
And of course, the photos are delightful!

AquaGirl · Post by **AquaGirl** » Wed Jul 03, 2013 12:07 pm

Wow - what nice reports (both part 1 and 2) and fantastic pics. We visited VG some years ago and enjoyed it a lot, but haven't been back. Its on the list and these pics make me want to go back soon! Thanks for posting.

Maggy · Post by **Maggy** » Wed Jul 03, 2013 12:15 pm

Thanks for a great report and as always great pictures. Miss VG. The Mineshaft was really empty when we were there too (April) and we were a little worried that it wasn't going to be good, but everyone in our 9 people large group were surprisingly happy with our dishes.
I'm looking forward to next installment too. And I'm also glad that we are doing the same island combo next year.

ColumbiaSCTraveler · Post by **ColumbiaSCTraveler** » Thu Jul 04, 2013 10:52 am

Excellent trip report!

So that landing (that's not what it's called - the wood platform thing....totally escaping my mind right now

) out in front of Gallows in the water....is that just for Gallows guests? We've never snorkeled there, but it looks interesting!

We tried Rhumblines for the first time on our last trip. It was fantastic! Can't wait to go back!

Can't wait for Part 3!

jmq · Post by **jmq** » Mon Jul 08, 2013 8:40 am

I assume that swim platform is owned by Gallows and guests do swim out there, play around/leap from it, or even lay out on it. If you as a non-guest took a brief snorkel break on it, I would imagine it would be unlikely that an extra vigilant security guy from Gallows would: 1. notice that you swam in from the direction of Frank Bay 2. hassle you about it due to its "offshore" location.

ColumbiaSCTraveler · Post by **ColumbiaSCTraveler** » Mon Jul 08, 2013 12:23 pm

Thanks, JMQ.

I wonder if the snorkeling out there is actually good enough to even give it a whirl. Hmmmm.....

Any Ting · Post by **Any Ting** » Wed Jul 17, 2013 9:10 am

Beautiful photos! We've given some thought to VG but have never made it happen. This makes me more inclined to think about it some more!

Myheart'sinSTJ · Post by **Myheart'sinSTJ** » Wed Jul 17, 2013 12:30 pm

Great trip report and the pics from the Baths look like post cards, so beautiful, one of these days I hope to tear myself away from the rock and broaden my horizons....have to think about that

jmq · Post by **jmq** » Wed Jul 17, 2013 12:53 pm

Any Ting wrote:Beautiful photos! We've given some thought to VG but have never made it happen. This makes me more inclined to think about it some more!

Re VG, did you consider hopping over when you were on JVD?

On the photos - thanks, that's high praise considering the stuff I see on flickr and in your blog. Next time to Abaco can I stow-away? I can carry your cameras and lenses and babysit the pups...

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