Day 4 and 5, June 28 & 29

Day 4, June 28

Today was a real laid back vacation kind of day.  We hung around the pool all morning and read.  About 11:30 we took a short drive to the shopping area (I won't call it district since it is small).  They do have some nice stuff but like they said the TCI (Turks and Caicos Islands) are not known for its shopping.  We did go into the FOTTAC (Flavours of the Turks and Caicos). This store is everything made here on the Islands that you can sample.  Let's just say we enjoyed sampling the rums!!!!  However, even though it was pretty cheap to buy rum, we figured let's wait to see what the price is at the Wine Cellar; the discount liquor store.  Well we are glad we did since we saved about $3.00/ bottle.  So BAM we have our legal liquor to come back to Canada with.  If you come here you have to try Bambarra rum!  The coconut rum is so smooth you can just drink it cold with nothing else.  Actually they are all that way. 
After our rum tasting we walked around the shops a bit more and then settled in for lunch at Danny Buoys,  an Irish pub with a Caribbean flare.  The Provo Salad is a must!  Sesame chicken, sun dried tomatoes, red onion, crunchy bits (like a crouton) then the normal salad stuff and a ginger dressing... Mmmmm. Greg had their Grilled Chicken sandwich with pesto/mayo.  The fries had a hot spice on them.. Mmmmmm  delicious!
It was off to the Wine Cellar and then another grocery store where the produce is even more costly and then back to the condo.  We spent the rest of the day swimming and reading around the pool.

After supper we headed off to our local beach for a nice long sunset stroll.  Remember right now 9:30 at home is like 7:00 here when it comes to day light.  As we were walking we came across this couple that was on the flights both from Moncton and Toronto. Actually they were sitting with us in the same row from Toronto.  They are easy to notice since they have twin 5 month old girls.  We found out on our walk that they also have 3 boys at home from 2-8 years old.  They really need a vacation :)
We walked pretty much for an hour until we decided we had better head back or it will be so dark we won't find our shoes on the beach. 


Day 5

We got on the road early this morning not to beat the heat, since it is pretty much the same temperature day and night :)  Our first stop was just about 15 minutes from us at a place called The Hole.  You may think it is some disgusting bar but in fact it is a hole!  It is a naturally formed massive limestone sinkhole.  It measures in at 40 feet across by 80+ feet down.  Folks used to swim below and go down, from what we can see, a rope.  But we think someone must have fallen to their death since one doesn't see the rope anymore.  Well there goes what we thought would be our big adventure of the trip :)
After the Hole we went back to Long Bay Beach where a few days ago we found the conch shells.  This time we were prepared with our masks and snorkels.  Well it was pretty boring... how were we to know that this shallow (50 cm) of water and sand goes on out for about a few kilometres.  There was hardly any fish and just sand with some the odd weeds.  Oh well the water was warm and it was a way to spend the morning.  We headed back to the condo for lunch.

After lunch we took our masks and snorkels and headed just down the road to the beach near us, Pelican Beach. This beach is amazing and the waters are just unbelievable!  We were the only ones around and it was so SO nice.  There is a small rock breakwater there and we spent about an hour just checking out the underwater life.  Even Greg donned on his new flippers for the first time and enjoyed the experience.  We even spotted a spiny lobster and a fish hiding in the rocks that I called the cow eye fish.  Since its eyes were as big as cow eyes.  I showed it to Greg and he seemed to acknowledge it but later I find out without his glasses he didn't really see that much.  Now back to the spiny lobster... It has no claws like our lobster but underwater it looks like it could kill you... well I exaggerate but they do look like they could go crazy on ya.  We spend a few hours at the beach but figured we had enough sun for the day so headed back to the condo for a swim and then some reading in the shade (oh and some rum).

The evening was spent at a beach side bar/restaurant with some local Couchsurfers.  A group that we belong to.  To find out how to become one or find out more, look up http://www.couchsurfing.org/
One of the locals Lynn (who happens to work for one of the tour companies Big Blue) had a Canadian from Quebec couchsurfing with her.  She took him along too.  Then a pilot and her husband and young daughter joined us.  They are living here but are from France.  Later they invited us back to their home over looking the ocean for drinks.  It was dark but they invited us all back in the day time to join them snorkeling off their beach.  We had some laughs and got some great pointers about the area and what to see and do.  That is the great thing about Couch Surfing you don't just have to use it for a place to stay you can connect with others to make some friends and get some local tips.  We left their place after 11:00, I'm glad we are pretty familiar with driving now since driving at night on the left side and not know where you are going would BE HELL!

Francis at the Regent Palms Resort fountain

Our own private beach, eat your heart out Oprah!

The picture doesn't do it justice

Greg enjoying a local brew

Lauri and Lynn Couchsurfers

Greg and Alain (Couchsurfing from QC)

The Hole

The deep Hole

Some fish enjoying themselves

Greg adjusting the mask

Greg still part of the "School" (should be a video)