Glitz & Glam in the French West Indies

Where in the world am I today.  As I write this blog, I am sitting on the boat in the St Barts Marina.  Directly opposite my cabin window I see Hermes, Louis Vuitton, & Cartier shops, just to namedrop a few.  Yes, St Barthelemy, or St Barts as it is more commonly know, is a very la-di-da kinda place.  But not in that, I'm too good, I'll turn my nose up at you, kinda way.  This island and its people just like to enjoy the finer things in life.  It is a beautiful island with sharp volcanic hills set against a backdrop of the clearest bluest water you are likely to ever see.  The people are very friendly, especially when compared to the attitude you receive when you are actually in France.  I think it must have to do with the weather here which has been perfect blue skies with very very little rain, warm through the day while cooling off enough at night where you can get a good night's rest.

We hired some scooters to shoot around the island on and are having too much fun.  They're priced pretty well at 40 Euro a day.  If you're a jetski enthusiast however, things are a little different.  A 1/2 hour jetski rental will cost you 90-150 Euro. Yowsers ! 

Prior to docking at St Barts we had a lunchstop at a small island called Ile Fourche.  Here I found a snorkelling paradise. An underwater world that was just insane.  There were underwater caves and archways and the water colour and visibility were like nothing I'd ever seen.

Earlier in the day we had set sail from St Martin.  While in St Martin we anchored off Marigot Bay and Grand Case Beach.  Grand Case has a very french influence and is known as the gastronomical capital of the caribbean.  The restaurants and bars were both elegant and casual and most nights we ate first rate food shoeless with our toes in the sand.

Anegada, British Virgin Islands

Cow Wreck Beach, Anegada, BVI

Now, I have been to a lot of beaches: Australia, Fiji, Thailand, Greece, France, Vanuatu.  I have to say, this is definitely up there as one of the best.  There was crystal clear azure coloured water, coral reefs with amazing snorkelling and a thousand different fish to see, and a serve yourself beach bar right on the water's edge.  What more could anyone want?

Where it all began

Hiking in the wilderness is tough.  Everything matters.  It took a long time to plan our 800km trek through the sierra nevada mountains in California, USA.  Basically, our lives over those 35 days was broken down to weight, calories and walking.  Always the walking.

Our meals consisted of various dry foods but our cooking utensils came down to one bowl (which doubled as our fry pan and pot) and one plastic spoon.  Between the two of us, we were able to cook and eat all our meals with just these two things, weighing 3 ounces.

But what happens when you camp at 13,000 feet and you wake up in the morning and your Nutella is frozen?  Whatever you do, don't use that plastic spoon to eat your nutella breakfast.  Because that spoon is going to break, and then your whole world will come crashing down because you now have broken the only thing that helps give you energy to walk your 35 kilometres a day.  But once the tears and frustrations have subsided, you realise it's not that big of a deal.  You still have your fingers afterall, plus a little help from your friend Mr Duct Tape.

Another day in Paradise

Tropical Storm Otto has reared it's ugly head.