The only problem with cruising close to the end of the year is that real life, especially Christmas preparations, get in the way as soon as we get home. This post is quite a bit late, but all the Christmas shopping and baking are done!
This doesn't happen very often, but we split up in Antigua, me to do an excursion with a local photographer and Larry to stay on the ship.
It was only a small group of 14 on the tour, so our photographer, Steve, who was originally from Montreal but moved to Antigua when he was quite young, was happy he'd be able to check with each of us to see how well we were composing our photos along the way.
Our drive took us to four places that Steve likes as photographic subjects, and he gave us all tips for improving the way we look at our photo subjects.
The first was to Fort James, which is now a ruin at the headland of St. John's harbour. I had taken a photo of the fort from the ship when we were here in March, and had done a sketch of it, but had no idea what the place was.
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| One of the local cats suddenly appeared from a roof. They know tourists when they see them! |
Our second stop was at Betty's Hope, an old sugar plantation. There is very little sugar cane grown on Antigua now, but there are many ruined sugar mills around the island.
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| Our group taking photos of the sugar mills with Steve's help |
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| One of the mills. The long wooden pole sits on a large wheel and is attached to the windmill on the other side. It is used to change the angle to catch the wind in the blades. |
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| Gear mechanisms that were used to run the sugar mills |
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| Ruins of some of the buildings |
Third Stop was Devil's Bridge. This is a headland on the Atlantic side of the island with interesting rock formations, including a small natural stone bridge where the waves splash up into a column of spray. The sea was not heavily active, but with a little patience it was possible to see this effect.
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| Locals were selling conch shells and handmade jewellery from stands nearby |
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| I waited a bit to get this shot! |
Our fourth Stop was at Long Beach to see the remains of a dead Fig Tree where someone had carved likenesses of Rastafarians into the trunk. The tree was supposed to have been taken down, but local opposition has kept it here as a 'curiosity'.
It was a really good tour, and I learned a lot that will help my photography in the future.
There were a couple of sea days back to Miami. I finally got to the Chat and Needlepoint meetings and worked on the projects I had brought with me:
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| Stitch 'n Zip credit card wallet and scissors case done with beads and metallic ribbon as well as cotton floss |
