woe is me.

on thursday i was picked up at the dock and we motored over to royal island.. about a year ago there were huge plans for an 'elite' development on the otherwise deserted island - very posh posh, with a golf course etc. the land was cleared.. building was under way.. and they ran out of funds. and that's it. millions of dollars lost in translation.. so david and i went and explored the bad investments. afterwards it was back to bette's dock for an afternoon of swimming and lazing with a book.

friday morning bette and i were off in the boat taxi to eleuthra where we caught our cramped, 10 passenger plane over to abaco.. flying over the islands, the swirls of blues and greens.. the clouds so fluffy they looked like frothed cottonballs suspended by invisible thread.. a wonderful relaxing weekend with diane and charlotte in sandy bay ensued.. there was some competitive "bananagrams" (scrabble lovers - if you don't know, now you know.) lots of wine and lots of laughs.. di and charlotte have an amazing assortment of whale bones.. a complete dolphin skeleton suspended from the ceiling.. and fabulous tales of expeditions and adventures.. they are quite the pair, and that is quite an understatement.

monday morning we were picked up by mike.. literally - he swooped in and we were flown back to eleuthra on his private plane.. it was so clear i could make out a few wrecks that looked like flattened toys, cardboard pieces dispersed among the reefs.. arriving, i hadn't even got out of the seat and our baggage was on a cart and half way into the airport.. then into the van and onto the boat taxi.. i didn't have to lift a finger! and have since decided that i will go nowhere without bette at my side. the lady knows how to travel.

the next day i got a call from david and off we went for another day of sailing.. the wind was much stronger than the first day and we really got speed.. stopping at a deserted island to swim and explore, then getting back on and out to open waters.. remembering once we were out that we had neglected to drain the floats while we were ashore.. and then noticing as the bow began slicing dangerously low in the water.. the wind still strong, we tacked several times trying to get into a sandy point when our saviour john appeared.. firstly telling us that the point we were attempting was not in fact sandy, it was quite rocky, and a friend of his had made the same mistake and almost holed his boat up on the rocks.. then guiding us to the harbor where we strategically banked and got the water out. the entire ordeal was more amusing than anything, i must assure you.. but only because the water we were in was relatively shallow..

yesterday david and i took the bohengy over to harbor island.. we met up with his friend rosie who gave us the use of her golf cart for the day to zip around the hilly island.. we found what was left of this old mansion that a man had built for his wife, who upon seeing the finished product, did not like.. and so it was abandoned. right then and there.. they didn't sell it, they didn't do anything with it.. it just sat. now the bare walls remain.. the paint faded by the sun.. the roof long gone.. stripped of it's dignity. [his wife was a brat.] we lunched on the patio of coral sands with a scenic view of the ocean and pink sand.. the sun was shining and it was a dark and stormy day.. (of course, i'm talking about the drink with rum and gingerbeer..) and so we intentionally missed our bohengy back to spanish wells and instead spent the afternoon hopping around to the different marinas and watering holes.. later taking the boat taxi to north eleuthra and hitching our way across the island and down to the dock where we somehow showed up exactly when a boat did.. turns out it was the last taxi of the night.. by perfect timing, and sheer luck, i slept in my bed instead of on the dock..

and today we are going out snorkelling.. it's a tad windy but i'm undetered. tomorrow is my last full day so i feel it my duty. i am taking full advantage of my opportunities moreso for my family and friends up in the snow than for myself.. it's a selfless sort of thing. i'm quite the martyr really..