Day 9 Road Town, Tortola
Today was definitely a beach day as it was a Sunday and a lot of the shops were closed. We caught a Jitney taxi over the hill to Cane Garden Beach for $8 each – each way.
The ride up over the hill was definitely interesting with a very steep road with many bends. The upside was some spectacular views.
Once at the beach we had to pay $5 per sun bed and an extra $5 for an umbrella. The beach was empty when our Jitney arrived but by lunchtime was very busy. I watched the birds fishing as they completely ignored the swimmers and snorkeling swimmers while they dived in to catch fish.
The day’s weather delivered us bright sunshine interspersed with rain showers, so the umbrella was definitely needed. Cane Garden Beach had yachts moored offshore and was thankfully free of jet skis so swimming was a pleasure in the clear water there.
We skipped lunch and instead added a large bag of crisps to our bucket of beer. Our neighbours on the beach were from Skipton in Yorkshire on one side and from Minnesota USA on the other. The Americans had been sailing with two other couples around the islands and this was their last day before flying home.
Our ride back to Road Town wasn’t in a Jitney but in a small coach that had even more of a struggle climbing the hill back over the island. We did stop again for some views from the hill across the island.
These images of the road show just how steep and twisty the road was.
Once back at the cruise terminal I tried to get a wifi connection at the bar there (Myers Chill Zone) but it too was a pay as you go wifi zone. Next door was a gift shop that allowed free wi-fi for 15 minutes when you bought something, in our case it was one can of Sprite.
Now it was time for a late afternoon snack in the buffet restaurant. In the early evening we went to a private showing of original art in the gallery and to see the unveiling of a Fabian Perez painting of a geisha. There were some stunning pieces in there especially of my favourite photo image subjects of seascapes and landscapes with sun flowers.
We went to The Beach House for dinner and were lucky to be able to get a table at 8 o’clock. These were our choices:
The guest band Accent were playing in the Atrium and listened to a beautiful rendition of ‘Redemption song’ which rounded off the evening perfectly.
