Hi! I am from New Zealand and am Mum of 2 beautiful daughters and partner of Chris. Chris and I are currently travelling the world house and pet sitting as we go! Live in the now!
We are here on this tiny island as if in a time warp. The time goes by so fast. One minute it’s the weekend and then the next it is Friday night again, how does that happen? We have 6 weeks left of this house sit, we have been here for over 5 months already!
I sit here on my deck chair under a coconut trees shade, at Caracas beach. This is one of our favourite places on the island. Not because it is the most beautiful, there are some spectacular beaches, I think it is because we have the best memories here. Last time we only had bike power for getting around and this was the best beach we could reach by bike – still a 9 km cycle over the spine of the island. We were so much fitter then! And it is just as memorable now. The water is as clear as crystal, gently lapping on the perfectly white sand. The sky is deep blue and the clouds are so white.
Playa Caracas
Today is very quiet. It is Sunday, it is usually “Sunday Fun-day”, where crowds of friends and family gather for a day at the beach. Bringing with them BBQ’s, hammocks, cooler boxes groaning with food and alcohol, chairs, tables and gazebos and music. That’s what we are missing today – Music! The thump thump thump of the Puerto Rican rhythm. It is very distinctive and very conspicuous in its absence.
This is the off season. Not many tourists come to the island at this time of the year and a lot of the businesses close down for a month – 6 weeks. Holiday rentals shut down, restaurants and bars, some tour operators, it is very quite. The supermarket and the roads reflect this. The fruit truck doesn’t have as much to offer at the moment. We didn’t notice this the last time here as we had just had Hurricane Irma, it was a very different place then.
It is so hot! I have just been reading through my story of the last time here. It got to “feels like” 46°C then! It hasn’t got to that this time – well not that I have captured! So hot though. You can’t have a cold shower because the water out of the cold tap is always warm. I am sweating buckets every day! It drips off my chin and runs in my eyes, and that is just going outside to the washing line! The temperatures are so consistent, 27deg – 31deg every day! When we have a bit of rain we celebrate! But then if it rains for more than a day, everything starts to feel damp, your clothes, bed sheets, cushions even the floor. And my hair!! Humidity frizz! I would like to make it a new fashion statement, but no one in their right mind would want this! So, the best thing for it is to get into the ocean. The water temperature is 29.3°C – I just looked it up. Slightly cooler than the air temperature. Though I would like to challenge this. We have a hot tub – yes, it’s true!! here at the house and it is constantly sitting at 32°C and that is with no heating, just the ambient temperature and I am sure the ocean is warmer than that tub.
Disease-causing organisms??
We are smack bang in the middle of hurricane season, in fact the peak of hurricane season was on Saturday. It has been really quiet this year, so much so that, for the first time in 25 years, there have been no named storms during August. But we are still feeling a bit nervous to be honest! There are lots of different web pages and Facebook groups that we keep an eye on as we know that there is always a bit of notice if there is something coming our way that we need be aware of. We have been collecting water and have bought extra canned and dried foods just in case we do lose power. It was 5 years ago this week that Irma came through, caused 10 days of power outage then 4 days later Maria made an appearance and…… well…… that was power, and water gone for quite some time. We have bought a GPS tracker which can also send messages through the satellite system if standard communication is lost. We have done a couple of tests and it works well. Having all communication gone was one of the hardest things to cope with. We were alive a relatively well, but family on the other side of the world did not know this. Tough times, don’t really want to go through that again!
For our Hurricane story and photos, check out the link below
There has been a lot of Sahara dust most of the time we have been here. They say that this dust, which blows all the way from the deserts of Africa, helps to ward off hurricanes. It chokes out the systems, and they don’t have enough moisture to keep going, then a hurricane can’t form. Though the dust is a pain in the butt-ocks, makes it hazy and the windows get filthy, we like the idea of it being our “hurricane angel”
Being on a rock of 135m2, sandwiched between the Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea, makes for interesting weather conditions. I studied weather for my skippers licence a million years ago, we had to recognise and understand clouds, and what they represented for predicting weather……… Well, I didn’t do too well in that section! I can hardly tell one cloud from the other. But I do remember there being the “castle clouds” the Altocumulus Castellanus clouds. I have always wanted to see them; they don’t seem to form in NZ. Here on Vieques there are clouds every day and we often see the Castle Clouds. We don’t usually get just a plain blue sky, like at home, and these clouds here are the whitest I have ever seen. The sky here is amazing, moody and bright, the sunsets and sunrises, the rainbows and clouds are so vibrant and brilliant.
Altocumulus Castellanus clouds take their name from their resemblance to turrets of castles and are often a warning of thunderstorms
Things can be difficult here, but we are all in the same boat. Everyone can’t get that special ingredient to make that dish they want, and that’s after trips to 3 different stores in the hope 1 will have it, and then you pay the earth for it. I needed cream the other day and had a route mapped out of the stores I would try, if I couldn’t get it after store number 6, we would go without. I got it at store number 3!! So glad too because it was for Betsy’s amazing bread pudding!!
Perfect with caramelised banana and whipped cream
Everyone has to wait for months for contractors or parts for broken cars, so many cars are in poor condition because of it. The power goes out and the water slows down for no apparent reason at times, this affects everyone, one Barrio at a time it seems. The fire ants and mosquitos are pretty unbearable, but everyone has them. Oh, the heat and the sweat – we all sweat buckets, it is never offensive and everyone has a sweat rash somewhere! It doesn’t seem to matter here, everyone just gets on with it, you just adjust that recipe or menu to suit what you find at the store, you hold your car together with duct tape. It is just part of the charm of Vieques!
It’s quirkiness is its magic, and we all love it!
It’s a great life here and we feel so privileged to have had not one, but two chances to experience life as a local on Vieques, Puerto Rico. 6 weeks to go and we will be very sad to leave.
What a cool holiday! 5 days of pure doing nothing but eat and drink and swim, read and sleep! If you have read our last story, you will know that we had a pretty tough time getting out of the DR, but that has not spoilt our memories of a wonderful holiday.
Boca Chica is a 10 minute ride from Santo Domingo Airport. Don’t get fooled by Booking.com telling you it is a 40 minute ride and charge you accordingly. We only paid $12USD on the way back with Uber, compared to the $40USD on the way in.
The Hotel Zapata was basic but totally adequate, and it had air conditioning! We had a restaurant and bar on site and breakfast was included, which we always love! It was a mere 30 meters from the water with nothing in between but sand and a security fence and gate. Our thatched roof bar was on the sand right beside the lounge chairs we occupied each and every day. What more could we want!
We had the best part of the beach as there were no restaurants out the front of the property. This was an area where locals would come in their family groups and set up camp for the day bringing home made food in huge pots, blankets, hammocks and music. The atmosphere was great, there was no hassles on this beach as we were expecting. There were street vendors all day every day but when you said “no thank you” they respected this and moved on.
There is an outer reef about 300 meters off shore, so the water inside was calm and shallow. Only about waist deep at the most almost right out to the reef. The water was crystal clear, Caribbean blue, and so warm. Beautiful white sand and so many coconut palms. This reminded me so much of out at One Foot Island in Aitutaki, Cook Islands. So beautiful. I really feel we found a absolute gem!
Many restaurants lined the beach and the shore to the east of us and to the west, a city of beach umbrellas over tables filled that part of this super wide beach. We walked up and down this many times, stopping at the little stores in the streets behind the beach, to get cold beers and sit on the sand.
There was a big police presence both in the streets behind and on the beach front. There were the normal police and the tourist police, who ever knew there was such a thing! It felt safe.
Dominican Republic is well known for its “All Inclusive” hotel deals where it is a one-stop-shop. Where there are restaurants, bars, beaches, pools, everything you could want, all very safe and included in the deal, they are very cost effective. We went to one for the day, just a walk away at the end of the village. It was great fun, I lost count of the cocktails we tried after I ran out of fingers! We ate plenty and wobbled our way back to the Hotel Zapata and crashed at 7:30pm. It was a good fun day but we were so happy with our little hotel and the location was just perfect! Even if you are travelling with children, I would recommend this part of the country.
The one thing we were not so impressed with was the food. If you read any of our other stories you will know that we love exploring food. I have said it before, the humble supermarket and even more so the local markets are our favorite tourist attraction in any country we visit. The food here was very average. Not horrible, but very definitely, not special. Not to worry, there was more than enough other beauty to make up for it – and the beer was Dam good!!
Thank you for reading our story, I hope you enjoyed the photos!
We are travelling with 10-year multiple entry Visas to the USA. This allows us to be in The States for up to 6 months at a time. Our house sit here in Vieques will be slightly longer than 6 months, so we have to figure out a Visa run, ie leave The States and come back in again to re-start a 6 month phase. There are plenty of islands around us here in the Caribbean, some really close. So, we have to think of what will be the quickest and easiest and of course the most economical place to go. Tortola? That’s BVI, could work. What about St Thomas? No that’s Part of The States, so that’s no good. What about Cuba? We tried to go to Cuba following this house sit in 2017 but didn’t make it due to the hurricane. Cuba is now fully out of our price range for a Visa run! Bahamas? Barbados? Colombia? All too far and too expensive. Dominican Republic? Yes! That will do us, its so close and well-priced.
You can’t exit The States to Canada or Mexico for a Visa run. I’m not sure why, maybe as it is a land border? Not entirely sure so we are looking at our 36-minute flight to the DR and hoping that it is going to be far enough and we are away long enough to satisfy the Visa requirements. Time will tell…… we are committed, tickets in our hot little hands!
It is an easy run through, everything in order. Stunning flight right over Puerto Rico. The e-ticket required by the DR Government worked surprisingly well, a QR code saved to my phone, not one hick-up, easy place to get into.
E-Ticket required by DR Govt. for landing
We have 5 awesome nights.
But it is time to go. We can’t stay on holiday indefinitely…….. or can we? That’s a story for another time! We have been so impressed with Boca Chica, the beach and the people, just wonderful. We get an Uber, it costs about $12USD, much better than the $40USD on the way in, through booking.com
So, this is the part where we start to wonder if maybe we won’t be granted another 6 months. Remembering this is a “Visa run” trip so there is a definite possibility that we will come across some problems with said Visa. The US Govt. have said that it would be up to the agent on the day on how the “staying in/staying out” part is interpreted, there is no set amount of time, unlike Europe for example which is 3 months in – 3 months out. But that’s all that could go wrong, right? ……. Wrong!!
Here we go.
We are at the airport with loads of time. Its 1215, flight leaves at 1403.
The CDC rescinded the need for COVID testing, pre-flight and on arrival, in June, so we didn’t think to take our vaccination cards. The first thing we were asked to produce – while standing in line, pre-check in – yip! Our COVID vaccination certs! Oh crap! Chris finds a photo of his, I couldn’t find mine! I had a photo of it somewhere in the 1000’s of photos on my phone. Everyone is waiting, scrolling scrolling, getting hot, scrolling, getting hotter, had I deleted it? When had I taken the photo? oh man! Finally, I find it and then we both sign a piece of paper which she files, very carefully(not), in the drawer. Name, signature, todays date – that’s it! not sure what this is going to prove, oh well. Then, when we get up to check in, the check in lady also wants to look at our vaccination certs. But somehow while I was signing the paper, I had deleted the image by mistake. How the *#@ did I do that!! So she called the other lady over and they accept that the cert. has been sighted. We didn’t see that one coming, of all the problems we thought we would have!
It takes an hour and a half to get through security and into the airport air-side. This is where we stay now for the next 24 hours……. Yip!!
We are leaving from terminal A, check the board for the gate closer to departure time. OK. Our flight is direct Santo Domingo to San Juan, departure time 1603. We have time for lunch then wait in terminal A. We are supposed to be boarding at 1518, its 1500, still no flight F996 on the board. We found one larger board at the far end of terminal A and it said change of gate, B1, but the departure time was showing as 1638?? but now delayed to 1644. That’s weird, oh well, it’s delayed, no biggie, now leaving from B1, sure, let’s go.
We get to B1 and it is total chaos, no room to move. It’s now 1525, there is a line to the gate door at least 4 thick and no one is moving. We get past the crowd to the other side, close to B2 and sit down out of the way. Chris keeps getting up to check the board, no change, no instructions to be at the gate, no indication that it is boarding. No announcements that the flight has started boarding. So we sit and wait.
1630 we decide to go wait with the millions of other people; it has to be boarding soon. I txt Lidia, our friend who has driven from Ceiba to meet us at the airport, and say I think our flight is delayed again, we still haven’t started boarding! She is already nearly at San Juan to pick us up! Almost immediately after that the sign on the screen flicks over to Fort Lauderdale. What? Oh, they must be loading that plane first. The huge line starts moving, yip, these are passengers to Fort Lauderdale. 10 minutes later we think, should we ask what’s going on? We make it through the throng of people to the podium and ask. Wait for it………..
Your flight has gone!
What??? Gone where?? When???? How?? But we were right here!!!! All frontier staff have disappeared, these are Spirit staff, they even point to their logo and are very clearly NOT INTERESTED! So we try to find a security guard or someone, we so need to talk to a Frontier rep. Up and down the airport we run looking for someone who will talk to us! No One! So many staff here with various colour uniforms, lanyards, walkie talkie radios, but no HELP! No one wants to know!
Oh My God, what do we do? We have missed our flight!!! How did that happen?? We are both feeling quite stunned, nobody wants to know, we are stuck here, can’t get in, can’t get out!!
There is a JetBlue flight going to San Juan, maybe we could talk to them and try and get on that flight.
That flight has a 2-hour delay, leaving at 2030, but totally full. The girl at that gate was so lovely, she went to find a security guard to escort us out through immigration. We were to wait there, and security would come and get us in 20 minutes. 90 minutes later, this lovely girl sees us again and is surprised no one came for us. She goes off again and when she returns she said she can take us through, yes! we are getting out of here. We follow her down the back corridor, down the stairs, only to be stopped and told “you can’t come through here” even our JetBlue lady was surprised, she had been told we could. Oh well, back up the stairs and into the terminal.
The JetBlue flight has been changed to gate B1 now, so we should go down there and wait, maybe get on stand-by, or at least find someone who can help. Mean while we have been trying, with the dodgy wifi, to find new flights. I am in communication with my friend Sarah on Vieques, she is looking for flights for us, as this wifi keeps crashing!
Back at B1, less people around now, JetBlue leaving in half an hour, still hoping for a miracle that we can get onto this flight – No, not going to happen. OK, fine.
The last flight out of this airport tonight is 2110. We are starting to realise that we are here for the night, thoughts of that movie with Tom Hanks where he is stuck at an airport – that’s a familiar feeling for us right now.
As the airport empties, the wifi gets better and we find a spot to figure out what the heck we are going to do. I started a chat with Frontier on messenger. They were very good and because the flight hadn’t been registered as a “no show” yet, we could change to another date, now this sounds hopeful! BUT…. The next flight with 2 seats is next Monday, do we want it? Oh Man! We can’t stay another 8 nights here. We take the cancel option, we end up with a $58 credit after all the fees. 2200 and our lovely JetBlue lady appears, she is heading home and offers, once again, to take us through. We decline the offer as we are just starting to get somewhere online (I am in the middle of the chat with Frontier) We find out later that we would not have been able to go through anyway, so nice of her to try though, she has been the only one.
Right, what to do, flight now gone, stuck air-side of the international airport in The Dominican Republic – not how we expected our day to go.
We find a flight for tomorrow with interCaribbean, leaving 1345 to San Juan via Tortola. $300 USD each, done! Booked! Right we really need to get out of here, we can’t check in to that flight while being on this side of the airport. Oh and I haven’t mentioned our checked bag? Where is? Did it go to San Juan without us? Will we ever see it again? No flight should ever go with an unplanned, unaccompanied bag, right? Must still be here somewhere. They would have had to off-load it. We hope to find it in the morning.
Back down to B1, no one even wants to make eye contact, it is so bizarre, the airport is basically empty except for the cleaners and these other people with lanyards, who knows what their roles are! We talk to one big fella, and he says he will go find a security guard to escort us out, just sit here and wait – this sounds familiar! So we wait and wait, nobody’s coming are they. We never see him again.
About and hour later we talk to a lady, who takes photos of our boarding passes and passports and tells us to wait there, this sounds promising! ……. We never see her again either.
Finally at 0130 a nice man comes to our rescue. We explain, his English is pretty good, and he takes us down the back corridor, down the stairs and into an immigration supervisors office. Oh my! She was not happy that we had missed our flight…..Why did you miss your flight?? HMMMM? Tell me! We don’t know, we didn’t WANT to miss the flight! Please Miss, let us go! She scanned the passports and scribbled out the dates on the original stamps and let us go. We are free, now officially back in The Dominican Republic. The nice man shows us where the Frontier office is to try to find our bags, they will be open about 0800. We find a quiet spot and try to get some sleep. Like that’s going to happen!
This is turning out to be a long story, I hope you are not bored, but the best is still yet to come!………
We are feeling really bad, really stupid. How could we have let this happen? We are experienced travelers….. what went wrong? How did we drop the ball so badly!
Good News flash! We find our bag! Sitting in the Frontier office, right, we are back on track.
Check in opens for our interCaribbean flight at 1130. We line up at 1100, 3rd in the queue. When we had good wifi last night I found a copy of the deleted photo of my vaccination certificate in Google photos. So we are ready.
The staff start appearing and the pre-check in girl comes to us and asks to see our passport. Can I see your onward ticked from Puerto Rico? What? Why? We don’t have one, we have a B2 Visa. You cannot fly today without an onward ticket Sir! Yes we can! They let us through yesterday without one, and the prior 3 times entering The States on this Visa! No you can’t, step aside! Can you imagine how we are feeling at this point – total disbelief! WHAT THE ACTUAL!! We go to the interCaribbean rep we had talked to earlier and he really wanted to help and listened. He was willing to confer with a Frontier rep to see why we had been let through yesterday, he didn’t get it either, but they didn’t open until 1300.
I ran back to the office behind the check in counters where we found our bag, and asked that lady to come out and tell these interCaribbean people that they had it wrong. She wouldn’t, of course – I get that. We are feeling so wrung out by now with stress and no sleep, we are probably not making rational sense. Anyway, she tells me that different airlines have different rules. You have got to be kidding!! Really?? Visa requirements and immigration are up to individual airlines?? Not the Government? This is unbelievable!!!
I run back to Chris, he is starting to look, with the dodgy wifi, at flight options to satisfy this supervisor so she will let us fly today. We put our heads together and find a flight on Frontier for end August, San Juan to Santo Domingo, $66 each, one way, no bags – booked! I could hardly get our names into the fields on my phone, I thought I had gotten hot and bothered yesterday……. Time is now running out, it is now 12 o’clock and we know from yesterday how long it takes to get through the next bit. The supervisor glances at the booking on the phone and nods, that’s it! Nothing recorded anywhere, just the “NOD” and we get our boarding passes and told to run! You are kidding me, all this time here and we are now running!! And what about our COVID certificates, they don’t matter today??
Screen shot
But wait, a bit more good news! The next bit only took 10 minutes today – perfect, straight to the gate – you guessed it B1!
Beef I is Tortola………for this flight anyway
It is the same as yesterday, total chaos and mayhem. The board shows 1 flight to Tortola, 1405 departure, flight number 0411…. We are 1345 departure, flight number 0413….. Really, not again!! So we ask and are told that there are 2 flights to Tortola, but only 1 on the board. Crazy place! No wonder people get confused. Anyway, this is getting too long, so long story/short…. This flight is delayed, so is flight 0411, people are arguing, getting stressed, shouting. The ground staff are getting stressed. They seem to be only using this one gate in terminal B, where they are trying to load planes at the same time as disembarked transit passengers are trying to come though. I lost count of the number of flights that got loaded from here, but we kept asking – we CANNOT miss another flight.
B1
We were being so hard on ourselves about yesterday, but seeing it all again today and really taking note, it is no wonder we missed the flight. Total disorganisation, no communication, the information that was available was incorrect. Nightmare!
Finally at 1600, we board the plane to Tortola……
Ok. So we are all (12 of us) sitting in the 30 seater, twin prop plane, no AC until airborne, so hot, plane looks to have come off the arc. Doors shut, port engine starts, then stops. Captain comes out of the cockpit and tells all the passengers something in Spanish then opens the front door and the two side doors. What’s going on? Is the plane is broken? I’m just waiting to see the Roadside assist truck appear! Will we ever get off this island??!!
Doors open waiting, don’t know what’s going on – but we are on the plane at least!!!
We do end up taking off!!!!
Beautiful flight over Puerto Rico and into Tortola, we stay on the plane while the other 10 get off, they load some more people, and we take off again. We made it – touch down in San Juan at 1900.
Entry into Puerto Rico – So simple – we have a Visa!!! Come on in folks, and why don’t you stay till February! You are aloud!! WHEW!
And our wonderful friend Lidia was there to pick us up – for the second time!!!
Quite the adventure – don’t ever want to do that again! Remember I said it was a quick 36-minute flight???? And it would be an economical destination for a visa run?……….HA!
We often get asked – What do you do all day? Six months in one house sit, on a tiny island, just the two of you? We always try to involve ourselves in the community in the new places we find ourselves in, its the best way to meet people and experience life as the locals do, get to know the real people and get an insight to their culture and lifestyle. We never seem to run out of things to do. This trip is proving to be very social, more so than the last time here and we are loving it!
It cant be vacation every day!! Or can it…….
EVERY DAY IS SATURDAY, AND EVERY NIGHT IS FRIDAY NIGHT!
So I had a look back on my photos of the last week, and this is what it looked like……
Monday Lunes
Chris is off helping our Kiwi friend, Kim, with yard maintenance. He usually does this 2 or 3 mornings a week. Theses mornings usually start with coffee and end with Medalla.
1700 on Monday you will find me in the town square trying to do Zumba with these awesome girls. This Kiwi does not have the moves these cool chicks have, I put it down to the language barrier!
Our Zumba instructor is a Purple Heart recipient Veteran, who has a truly inspirational story. Check out her book, released last month!
We get pretty good supplies of fruit and veg by way of the veggie truck which comes every Tuesday and Friday from the main island. Good to get there early though. Every week we spend about the same amount of money, no matter what we buy – there are no prices to go by and the till is only for storing cash, they use a plain old calculator to add it all up – love it!
Its time for a hair cut! Chris completely trusted me with the clippers and off it came. So much cooler! I didnt do too bad a job even though I have absolutely no hair cutting skills.
Wednesday Miércoles
While Chris works with Kim, I go to Water Aerobics. So nice being in the water and such a lovey group of ladies to hang out with at the hotel pool, 5 minutes walk from home.
Also while the lads are away, I tend to get busy in the kitchen.
Most of the bread we can get here is a bit on the sweet side and doesnt have much in the way of texture – great for burgers and hotdogs, but that’s about it. So I have learnt to make Focaccia Bread, and it is delicious. I made some tomato relish today, so tonight all we had for dinner was cheese, bread and relish – perfect! This was following our mandatory stop at El Yate on the walk home from Morales, the super market.
Thursday Jueves
We have a few projects to go on with, so today we finish off a bit of painting.
Oh Boy it is so hot now. 30 – 31 degC every day and today the “feels like” is 38!
But that’s no problem – there are many many beaches, so we go for an afternoon swim at Sun Bay with Kim.
Friday Viernes
Every Friday morning we walk the dogs from the Vieques Humane Society. The dogs love it and the soon get to know us. Today we put some travel cages together for them – and we earnt our volunteer tee-shirts!
We have been getting right into cooking and have tried some really nice recipes with mangos. Green Mango salad, mango cake and mango sauce. Chris has perfected pork ribs – which we cant get enough of! Banana bread, Thai noodle salad with lemongrass from the garden and home made pesto and hummus, perfect with the focaccia bread! BUT, tonight is Sushi night.
Chris and Kim perfect home made sushi while I go jump around in the square with the girls doing Zumba, please note Kims hair cut …… Yours truly’s handy work last week, staggers me they trusted me with a pair of scissors!
Saturday Sábado
A bit of yard maintenance at home this morning
Keeping the gardens watered is a daily job, its a nice way to start the day. We try to get this done before anything else, while it is a bit cooler – ie 28deg rather than 30deg – believe me it makes a difference!
Catching up with emails and news from home – nice hair cut by the way!
Saturday afternoon we are lucky enough to be invited to a Moria and Kevins for a swim and Bar-B-Q. A wonderful afternoon chilling by the pool with awesome people and the BEST grilled food cooked outside! We still sometimes pinch ourselves to be sure this is real! Perfection!
Lazy start to the day. There is always a cuddle from our lovely Allie
Sunday is “Fun-Day” they say. This is the day on Vieques where everyone goes to the beach. They go for the whole day, cooler box full of booze and food, music, umbrellas and chairs, to just hang out and enjoy. So this afternoon was Caracas – So beautiful!
So that is the week that was. We always have lots to do and lots of people to hang out with. And the weeks are sure flying by!
Sunday night sunset from out balcony, Beautiful way to round out the week, Thank you Vieques!
We have returned to the little island of Vieques which is off the east coast off the main island of Puerto Rico. We had a strong desire to come back to this unique little place. We had left in such a hurry after Hurricane Maria, we didn’t get a chance to say goodbye or thank you to our friends. So, unfinished business, I guess you could say.
We are doing the same 6 month housesit we did in 2017.
It was so good to see Bob and Lou again. They surprised us with a gathering of people to meet and connect with, introduced us to Pickleball and the awesome group of Pickleball players, so we are hitting the ground running this time. In 2017, this was Bob and Lou’s second season here. Five years on and they know so much more about the island and know so many more people, add that to our experience and the people we met then, we are in for an awesome 6 months!
It feels like we have never been away, but there is a different feel to the island. The same wonderful people, but somehow, much more friendly, much more relaxed with each other. Our favourite part of travelling is meeting people from other cultures, making friends in different languages and crossing that “foreigner” barrier.
Hurricane Maria almost wiped this island out. In the aftermath the people came together, they supported each other and helped each other, there was an incredible bond, a bond of survival. The need to purely survive continued for months and months. Things finally came back to a kind of normal, but, it seems, the people have not lost that special bond, that appreciation of each other, knowing that we are all in it together and we really are one big family. We feel right at home! Reuniting with friends we had become close with has brought tears to our eyes at times, and catching up with friends we had not known so well, but connected with all the same has been a joyous thing!
So what else is the same? Well it’s the same heat. It is almost summer time here and the temperatures are so consistent. They only fluctuate about 3°C in a 24 hour period. 27°C – 30°C every day at the moment. (80°F – 86°F) The humidity is sitting at about 75% but we know it will increase as the summer goes on. The maximum temperature will probably only reach to 31°C but we remember the “feels like 42°” (107°F) temperature VERY well. We would freeze a small wet towel in the shape of a C shaped sausage, and use this to put around the backs of our necks to try to cool down. We feel we are better acclimatised this time with being in Queensland for a while before getting here. And we know what to expect. News flash! We have Air conditioning in the bedroom! We feel so lucky to have this, what a treat!
The same beautiful clear water! The colour of Bombay Sapphire Gin. Water temperature is currently 27.6 °C. Gently lapping the white sand under the blue sky. The beaches are wonderful. The tradition of spending all day Sunday at the beach with a bunch of friends and family, eating loads of food, drinking loads of alcohol and listening to music, is alive a well! I believe there are 40 beaches here, that’s a lot of parties
The same beautiful views – but now even bigger! The island is looking really good, really fresh and tidy. A lot of trees came down in the hurricane which opened up views all over the island. We say to ourselves “could we see that from here before?” well, we couldn’t! All the vegetation has recovered, but where there were big trees knocked down, there are now small trees, so the views are amazing. There are a lot of freshly painted buildings. Still the run down places and falling down properties, but overall the whole island is looking great.
The same old horses! There seems to be more horses around. Vieques is known for its wild horses all over the island. I read once that they are as much a part of the island as the sand and sea. You have to be very careful when driving as they don’t know the road rules and they don’t seem to be afraid of being right in town. It has been very dry here the last few months and we were told that they are looking for water and food, so therefore, there are more around. There are a lot of foals around at the moment, so beautiful. It is a co-habitation which has been going on for generations.
The same strong cocktails. A plastic cup, five different spirits, a dash of coke, lots of ice – yip it’s the Vieques Pain Killer! Only need one ……. Or two….. before you fall off your bike! Good old Medalla though, is still the same, cold and wet and bubbly – BUT new colour can! This is only temporary as they raise awareness of the coral reefs – but oh how I love the current colour!
The same abundant Mosquitos!The town clock still has different times on all four faces
It is pretty great to be back! We are already in week 6, the time is really going to fly. Many adventures to come!
April 2022. We arrived in San Juan, Puerto Rico at 1am after a journey we felt would never end! We often get asked, how long does it take to get here from New Zealand. In some countries, New Zealand is quite the “unknown entity”
It must be true! Google said so!
It is always a good topic of conversation to explain just how far away we live. We left for this trip from Brisbane, Australia, rather than New Zealand, but all that did was add another hour and a half onto the journey. With COVID still causing difficulties with travel, we were advised to be at the airport 4 hours before take off.
My awesome cousins Steve and Shelley were up at sparrow’s fart with us and Steve drove us the hour to the airport. The airport was not very busy and we had all our paperwork in hand. The day before we had been to the doctor who preformed a Rapid Antigen Test, then wrote a letter to verify we had taken the test and it was negative. We were so worried that we might contract COVID in that last week which would have grounded us completely and we wouldn’t have been able to fly. But we didn’t and here we are checking in on the biggest trip we had been on for 2 years. The check in guy was great and said that the flight was only half full and he would put us in a 4 seat row to ourselves – perfect! Before COVID the planes we always chocker block full, so this is a nice change – especially as this first leg, Brisbane to Los Angeles, is 13.5 hours!
4 seats to ourselves!
We do get to sleep a bit on the plane, spread out on our 4 set row. Our Steward was awesome, extra mini pies and red wine in the middle of the night…. Thank you!…
Still pretty tired on arrival at Los Angeles, half way! We clear immigration and customs here. All week I had been concerned that we had forgotten something, that we had maybe not done something right. All this “stuff” for COVID, declarations, attestations, certificates, tests, contact addresses etc etc But no, all done, all correct, WELCOME TO THE UNITED STATES!
A four hour wait in LA then five hour flight to Miami. Now this flight was a different story altogether! Jam packed full and we were sitting apart. I was in the middle of three and Chris had the window seat a few rows behind me. Not to worry, 5 hours is nothing compared to the 14 we had just done.
We arrive in Miami, the three hour wait turned into four, and off we go to San Juan. It is now 1am and we arrive to an Island wide power cut! The city is basically in darkness. We arrive at our accommodation to candle light, is this a joke? This is exactly how we left 4 ½ years ago. So we cant say we didn’t feel right at home! There had been an explosion and fire at the power plant earlier in the evening which caused power outages for a couple of days. By now we were so tired we just fell into bed and had a great sleep – WE MADE IT!
21 hours flying, 11 hours waiting at airports plus traveling to and from the airports. So that’s the answer
32+ hour journey
slightly longer as we came from Brisbane, the usual flight time from Auckland, NZ to LA is 12 hours.
We spent 2 days re acquainting ourselves with the historic town of Old San Juan. Such a beautiful place. We just wandered around, drank in the sights, the sounds and smells. Its lovely and warm, 28°C. Its so good to be back!
Early February 2022, We left Sydney and headed north, up through the Central Coast, into Queensland. Looking back on the photos, there were a few adventures and stories to tell!
Free Camping and Lighthouses
We started off with amazing weather and we were starting to get brave enough to free-camp. The Lakes Surf Lifesavings carpark was the perfect spot. Cafe, toilets – open all night, and showers – though cold. We met a few people doing the same thing and it does feel a bit wrong, but exciting! FatBoy is a bit hard to camouflage, we kinda stand out, but ……… This carpark is right by the beach, it couldn’t be better.
Camping in the carpark – LOVE IT!
Not far from here we found the Norah Head Lighthouse. I am loving seeing all the lighthouses up this coast. There had been a music, food, and wine festival here the night before and we couldn’t imagine how wonderful it would have been to be a singer performing at this amazing location. We didnt attend this festival, but we managed to acquire a couple of souvenirs……
House sit No.2, Big Boy Gus, Caves and Thunder
We so enjoyed the company of Gus. He kept us entertained with his quirky nature and loveable antics. We found a coffee truck that did “doggiechino” never knew there was such a thing! Gus knew! He was such great company for three weeks.
The caves at Caves Beach are so cool. Inaccessible at high tide. Spectacular at sunrise.
And then the rain started….. and the thunder……… and the lightening! This, also, was a spectacular show of natures power – but poor ole Gus! He was so frightened, he would hide in the shower and shake! He would not come out, no matter what. We comforted him as much as we could, and he came out eventually as if nothing had happened.
Injuries
Oh dear, we must be getting old! Two injuries, one each, at least we are keeping it fair! Walking along the beach with Gus, Chris slipped on a rock and tore his hamstring trying to correct himself. OUCH! Then a few weeks later at Crescent Heads, I took a tumble on a walking track and sprained my ankle. OUCH! Those who know me – this was my good ankle! Its not easy to limp on both feet at once! So feeling like a couple of geriatrics we think we should just stay home and sit on the couch – NAH! Not going to happen! There are things to do and people to meet!
While at Caves Beach, we took a trip into Newcastle to see another lighthouse, this one Nobbys Lighthouse.
Snakes, Kookaburras, Goannas and …………Rabbits??
We eventually left Caves Beach to continue our trip north. Eight nights at four different spots to go, this time paid camping at proper camp sites. We had a couple of unwelcome visitors while camping.
At Booti Booti National Park, this Goanna decided he liked our spot and kept coming back. He especially liked to look of the solar panels and left scratches where he had been climbing over it. He was not the only one there and they were pretty intimidating for these Kiwi’s.
The Kookaburra gave us a run for our money too, they look really cute and are a full-on “sound of Australia”, but, oh boy! watch your meat on the bar-b-q when they are around. Chris didn’t know what struck him when this cheeky bugger flew down, clipped Chris on the shoulder, grabbed a sausage right off the hot plate, then sat on the fence right in front of me and ate it! It was so funny because it must have been really hot, but he kept hold of it and finally swallowed.
This is a little bit of a concern!
Rabbits everywhere in Coffs Harbour! They were all through the camp ground, but not only that, the whole town seemed to be awash with rabbits. So Bizarre! They looked like domestic rabbits, but we couldn’t get that close to them – so cute!
Fact of the day – Pet rabbits are illegal in Queensland
Man make fire
The Racecourse Campground in Goolawah National Park, near Crescent Head was perfect! Right on the beach, long drop loos and cold showers; but peaceful and beautiful. We paid $5 to the warden who gave us this fire pit. Really cool, made from old an gas cylinder. You could see in the clouds though, that there was more rain coming……
And then the rain came down
After almost a week of fine weather, Crescent Head saw the start of more rain, this time it didn’t stop for about 10 days and was the start of the storms which caused flooding in South East Queensland right down to Sydney. We still had 4 more days on the road. Coffs Harbour and Surfers Paradise it just bucketed down and didn’t stop so we didn’t get to explore so much.
We were safe and dry in FatBoy, but had to drive up through some of the worst of the storm. So much flooding and roads closed, it was pretty scary. So many people lost their homes in this storm, so devastating. Very very sad 😦
We made it back safe and sound to Marcoola, back to base. As I write this, we have five days to go before we take off on our next BIG adventure. The borders are starting to come down and we are embarking on the 27 hour plane journey to Puerto Rico in the Caribbean. I know we will have some great stories and fabulous photos to share with you over the next few months!
Arriving into Sydney turned out to be the best thing. This has happened before, where we have ended up in a place not actually planned for, but so blessed to be there. After getting the “Green Tick” of COVID negative we can really start to look around and see where we have actually come to.
I came to Sydney with my family in 1980, when I was 12, and remember being so impressed with the size of everything. The Opera House, Harbour Bridge, it was all so foreign and exciting.
1980, Thats me, the skinny, moody teenager in red shorts! Parked right under the Harbour Bridge, cant do that now days
I also had a quick trip here with Chris in 2016 to watch the Sharks (Sydney team) beat the Warriors (NZ team) at Cronulla in the Rugby League. That was a flying visit in the middle of winter. But when we arrived by train from the airport that night I was like a kid in a lolly shop, jumping with excitement to see the Opera House and Harbour Bridge right there! I could just about touch them, it was so close, I was so excited I could hardly think straight.
20162022Sharks home ground 2016Go Sharkies! 2016
So here we are again. World famous, these amazing icons are up there with the Eiffel Tower and Statue of Liberty, and again, I am so excited to be here. This time we have a bit more time to explore.
Facts:
Sydney Harbour Bridge was opened in 1932, it took 9 years to build, its longest span is 503metres, total length 1149metres She has 6 lanes and 2 railway lines, 1 footpath and a cycleway and has a clearance of 49m from the water
Sydney Opera House was opened in 1973, it took 14 years to complete and has seating capacity for 5738 people across her theatres and halls.
Two days with Liz in the suburbs with her wonderful neighborhood of friends, enjoying the tree lined streets, noisy birds and great wine! We walk to a spot where we can see Sydney Harbour – Yes! I’m really here. But we have work to do so off south we go; check out my 2 previous stories.
We return to Sydney nearly a month later to the warmest welcome, It is Australia Day, come on in, what’s ours is yours! So grateful for these amazing people. A big feast starting at 2, slow cooked lamb, salmon, chargrilled veg, homemade focaccia bread, all sorts of salads, and a wonderful cake for desert. Everyone pitching in and having fun. Lively conversations and laughter went right through until after dark. Empty plates, full bellies and wine bottles scattered every which way. I feel this could be akin to the American Thanksgiving celebration. We don’t have this in NZ, and it is a pity. We counted 7 nationalities around that table, how wonderful is this?! This was such a special day, thank you to Cate and Malcolm for opening your doors and hosting this awesome day, one we will not forget!
A bit of a slow start for everyone the next day but there is a city to explore. Chris and I catch a bus into the city. We get off near the Anzac Memorial and Hyde Park. The memorial is stunning and it always gives us a thrill to see the New Zealand flag flying alongside the Aussie one. Hyde Park is lovely too, great statues and monuments, stunning gardens. We follow on to the Royal Botanic Garden. None of this is very far from each other and the walk is doing us good!
We come to the edge of the harbour and Oh Wow! There they are, those icons that scream “You’re in Sydney!” We carry on walking around the front of the Opera House, past Circluar Quay (where we arrived in 2016) and around the rocks to view the Harbour Bridge. So beautiful!
The ferry network is fantastic. Sydney Harbour is so intricate, it spreads outward with many fingers probing into the suburbs of greater Sydney. We take the ferry from Circular Quay right up to Paramatta, just because we can! 3 hours round trip, for us Mariners it is a really interesting trip. Returning, we get off near Liz’s place, and walk home.
Heading out from Circular QuayCruising up the Parramatta River
The next day we get the ferry into Circular Quay and take a different ferry over to Manly. Can this city get any better? It is so sunny and hot. We have fish and chips on the beach with one of our Australia Day buddies then walk to Shelly Beach and have a swim. Manly is not unlike our home town of Mount Maunganui with the harbour on one side of the peninsular and the main open ocean beach less than a kilometer across on the other.
But we have to leave Sydney now, more adventures are waiting for us. We so loved Sydney, the people, the places and the weather, all fabulous, we look forward to coming back soon!
House sit number 1 is in the Jervis Bay area, South Cast, NSW. We haven’t been house sitting for close on 2 years because of covid, so we are feeling a little bit nervous. We were in such a good rhythm before the world turned upside down. We needn’t have been! There are some beautiful people in this world and we are so lucky to be meeting so many of them.
Blenheim Beach
But the weather has turned on us, rain forecast for the next week or more, oh well, we have a beautiful home to stay in and there is always Netflix!
Rain, Rain and more Rain
We settle in and create our routine, but we really want to get out to explore the coastline here, we have heard it is beautiful. Two days in, we decide to just do what we do – too bad if its not sunny and hot. We mark off a couple of beaches on the map, pack a picnic and off we go. We head toward Murrays Beach as it is the furthest away so we will start there and work our way back. Woops, we find ourselves in a line of cars with no way to turn around. And why are they taking so long! As we sit and wait, trying to be patient, we try to figure out by google maps what we have actually come across. Is this the military base? Or it could be a National Park? Its not that clear on Maps. We finally get up to the kiosk and yes, this is the entrance to the Booderee National Park, who knew! Fee of $14 for a 48 hour pass. And we find out why the line took so long, the lovely lady just wanted to have a chat – with everybody! She was so nice you just couldn’t help engaging in her chit chat. So after understanding her whole family dynamics, off we go, Murrays Beach here we come.
Booderee National Park
The day is still not very nice but we have our picnic on the beach and Chris has a swim, its too cold for me. We get back into the truck and head for the historic lighthouse, Cape St George Lighthouse. This is a ruin and quite lovely. Sad story about it though. It was erected in 1860 a spot that was easy to build, ie transport the sandstone etc in, but it wasn’t in the best spot for the job it was intended to do – be a lighthouse. Being in a poor position, it didn’t halt the shipping toll and was replaced by Point Perpendicular Lighthouse in 1898, which was built on the opposite side of the entrance to the bay. The lighthouse tower was then torn down in early 20th century as the sandstone it was constructed with was too bright at night and was distracting to shipping. There were many deaths among the around 15 people living there during its short life span, mostly children. From Typhus and Pleurisy to falling over the cliffs, being kicked in the head by a horse and being shot by mistake by a teenager playing around with a loaded gun. Quite sad, but probably quite typical for the time.
We had 14 days here and it rained for the first 10 days. We still got out a few times and discovered some stunning beaches along this coast, all within 20 minutes of the house sit. We completed quite a bit of the White Sands Walk, from Nelsons Beach to Hyams Beach. We fell in love with Huskisson, and spent a bit of time in the local pub there – well it WAS raining!
We had a stunning house and two beautiful, affectionate cats to care for, life is good. There is a field across the road from the house and there are kangaroos grazing there every morning. In the evening they sometimes come right up to the road, it is so exciting to see them. One day there was a Mum with a baby and they turned and jumped right down the street, it was so funny – love Australia!
Our furry friends
Our lovely home owners returned and we a had another great night together, catching up on the previous 2 weeks, then back into FatBoy to hit the road again.
We head back to Sydney to celebrate Australia Day with a group of English, Welsh, American, Dutch, Slovakian, Kiwis and even a couple of Aussies – How about that!
What a blessing in disguise having to fly to Sydney rather than Brisbane. Again, we have landed in a place where we had not planned to come but are so very glad we did. A couple of days in Sydney with friends, feeling so welcome and loved, we take off south toward our first house sit. Yippeee- WE’RE ON THE ROAD AGAIN!
FatBoy
I am introduced to “Fat Boy” Chris’s Toyota Hilux campervan, and off we go. Heading to the South Coast, NSW. The first thing I notice is the stunning rocky coastline.
Kiama
We are very lucky with beautiful weather, but not so lucky with this being the height of the season so camping grounds are all full. Not to worry as we talk ourselves into a space on the Kiama rugby field which opens up for 4 weeks only every year as a camping area. Perfect! Just a short walk finds us at a stunning lighthouse and famous blow hole. Not far round the corner is an ocean rock pool. We had seen another one of these ocean pools at Corrimal and thought the concept was awesome, it fills up at high tide and retains the water as the tide goes out. Unlike Corrimal though, this one was mostly built into the natural rock formations. There was quite a display with the heavy swells and high tide, the rock pool was actually closed due to the heavy swells, but no one seemed to take any notice. It was like a washing machine in there! I could have watched for hours. Always in awe of the power of the sea.
Heading up into the hills behind Kiama the weather comes down. The road is so narrow and windy and remembering this is only the second trip I have done in this camper, so was feeling a little nervous. The weather kept closing in as we progressed up and up. I have seen a heavy fog in my days off shore on the North Sea, but this really seemed to be the thickest fog I had ever been in. Chris did an awesome job at keeping us on the road, the visibility was almost zero.
We found a National Park camp site and didn’t want to go any further with the weather, so made camp. We tried to call to book in but no one seemed interested, even though all signs say – booking essential due to covid. Oh Well….. we tried! The camp was right by Carrington Falls. We took the short walk to the falls and could hear the rumble so knew there was something mighty in amongst the fog but couldn’t see much. The bush had a very eery feeling in the mist, it was quite spectacular and almost mystical – and safe, now that we were not having to navigate through it. By the morning the fog had lifted so revisited the falls and were blown away by the sight, so beautiful. So not just beaches and sunshine in Australia.
We followed the road down through Kangaroo Valley back to the coast. Australia is a massive country, some of the views out through the valley show just how extensive this country is, quite breath-taking and we are surprised at how green everything is. But this is due to all the rain they have had lately, which has also left all the rivers and waterfalls at their peak which is great for us – except when the road is now a river! I said no, Chris said yes and Fat Boy was quivering with excitement at the challenge – across the ford we go – NO TROUBLE AT ALL!!
No problem for FatBoy
We are starting to get used to life on the road in the camper van and are getting braver with pulling up and free-camping. There is quite a community and we are seeing some of the same people over and over. Some of the Surf Life Saving Clubs allow overnight parking which is great as they always have toilet blocks and showers (though cold) and of course they are right on the beach!
Hanging out with FatBoy
Next stop house sit number 1, 2 hours south of Sydney, It is so good to be back on the road!
Kiwis Do Fly 