Universal
Last Sunday, Dave and I headed across the road to Universal. Universal actually have two themeparks here - Universal Studios (which is much like the original Universal Studios in California), and Islands of Adventure (which is more rides-focused). We bought a ticket that let us into both parks - we spent the first half of the day doing the rides, and then headed over to Universal Studios.
Here is the coolest rollercoaster I've ever been on.... The HULK... Can't wait to show you the pic of Dave and I on the ride - it's hillarious!
It's quite funny - most of the rides have test-seats out the front so that you can check if your butt is small enough to fit in the seat (and they're not small seats)! Many of the rides also have rows with modified seats for those more King-sized folk. Although I've put on a little weight since I left home, walking around the themeparks sure does make one feel really thin - there are so many ridiculously large people! Many of them also hire little scooters to drive themselves around the park - it's not that they can't walk - they just elect not to!
We also went on a Popeye, Bluto and Olive Oil Ride, which is pretty much the Universal equivalent of the river rapids ride at Dreamworld. There is one small difference though - everyone gets absolutely drenched! You can't really tell from the picture below, but I am totally soaked here - my hair, my clothes, my underwear, everything! Really, I could have saved them all the trouble and just jumped in to the water!
We also stopped by Seuss Landing - which is really cute - barely a straight line or right angle to be seen and sooooo colourful. The kids would love it here!
Here's me and my newest best friend.... (and yes, I was the only grown-up around who felt compelled to meet the Cat!).
We also went on the Spiderman ride, which was really cool. You sit in a small shuttle, and it's part ride, part 3D film. With the cart moving around and the 3D imagery, it feels like you are flying around, and various characters jump onto the front of the cart and point guns and things at you. You then get pulled way up into the air, and fall head-first downward (at least it looks and feels that way) - landing safely in one of Spiderman's webs. This was one of the rides we went on with the longest queues - only about 40 minutes!
We also went on other rides, but I won't tell you about them all - I've got to save something to tell you about when I see you!
Over at Universal Studios, we did less rides. However, we did go on the Jaws ride, as we figured that was a must (another 45 minute wait). We also went on the Twister Experience, which lets you experience first hand what it would be like to be caught in a Tornado, the Earthquake Experience, which lets you experience an 8.3 (I think) earthquake first hand, and also watched the Shrek 4D movie.
Around 5pm we headed back to our hotel to meet up with Mack and Kerri for dinner. We had Japanese, which was a nice change from the greasy all-American TGI Friday's meal we had the night before. We all then walked back over to Universal to hang-out and watch the fireworks at Universal Citywalk. This is an area out the front of the two parks, which is free to get to. It has a heap of large restaurants (like a Hard Rock Cafe, a NBA-themed restaurant, a NASCAR-themed restaurant - which Nate would love, and many others), night clubs, shops, etc. From here, you can also watch the nightly fireworks - which were really good!
We also had some Dippin' Dots - which is this weird alternative to ice cream. You get a cup full of tiny little balls which look rather like styrafoam! They come in a range of flavours. When you put them in your mouth, at first you can't really taste any flavour and it just feels like you have a mouthfull of little balls of ice, but then as it melts, you get the flavour. Can't say I really like them! Much too weird.
This is Dave and I at the entrance to Universal Citywalk.
And, for your enjoyment, here is the blister that resulted from my day at Universal. Owch! (but totally worth it!)
So Long Antigua and Hello Orlando!
Well, we made it to Orlando in one piece! What an exhausting day that turned out to be. Although it was only two rather short flights, it was a very long and tiring day. We left Dickenson Bay Cottages at around 11am, and it wasn't until around 10pm that we arrived at our Orlando Hotel.
Checking in to Antigua's airport was quite a treat. First of all, the check-in counters are all outside the building (they are undercover, but it's sort of like a QLD school canteen or tuckshop). As they don't have the large x-ray machines for scanning suitcases, the officers open your bags right there in full view of everyone and poke around your stuff - you know, pulling out the little bits and pieces stored in your running shoes to save space, sifting through your dirty washing, that sort of thing! Quite delightful really! Then, with no regard to the well-being of your belongings, they just shove everything in and zip it shut! Very annoying considering the effort I put into making sure anything breakable was suitably positioned!
Then, its through Immigration where they check your passport and make sure you've paid your $50 to leave the country (!), and then through Security for your carry-on items.
Our flight left about 25 minutes late, which was rather stressful as we knew that the timing between this flight and our next flight in San Juan (Peurto Rico) was quite tight.
In any case, we made it to San Juan, and ran to the Customs/Immigration counter. As Peurto Rico is considered part of the USA, we were considered to be entering the USA, and thus had to go through the whole Homeland Security check, which is a very slow, very painful experience - sort of like a visit to Centrelink, but worse!). After a 40 minute wait in the queue, we made it through, and went to get our bags (fortunately Mack and Kerri had been luckier in their choice of queue at Customs and had already collected our bags for us!). Then it was back through Security. Waiting in another queue, off with the shoes, out with the laptops, etc., etc. After some serious drama with getting Kerri's recording equipment through security, we made it to our next flight with about 2 whole minutes to spare!The flight to Orlando was mostly uneventful - except for some annoying children, and for the strange "whooping" noises one of the other passengers kept making!
In any case, we finally arrived in Orlando, got our bags, found a bus that would fit all our luggage and made our way to the DoubleTree Hotel that you can see below...
This is pretty much the only photo of have of the hotel as it is a rather boring place to stay. Other than the fact that Universal Studios is just across the road (!!!!) there is very very little nearby other than a few big restaurants, and a Wallgreens which is a huge "drugstore" - sort of like a huge Priceline. Oh, the other exciting thing about the DoubleTree is that when you arrive, they give you one of their cookies. Best "bought" cookie I've ever tasted - now there's something I should have taken a photo of!
Reflections of Antigua
The time has come for us to leave Antigua. After being here for 5 and a half weeks (and 9 and half weeks for the others) and knowing that it's highly unlikely that I will ever return, I am rather sad about leaving. I really will miss the place. Then again, there are also many things that I most certainly will not miss.
Things I will miss:
- the colours of the ocean - a beautiful range of aquamarine, turquoise, silver and navy, depending upon the beach, the time of day, and the weather. No matter how many times I've seen the beaches here, I still can't get over how beautiful they are (and I'm not even a "beach" person).
- every trip in the car (even on the same road) holding surprises. Will we see wildlife? Mongooses, goats, horses, cows, sheep, chickens, donkeys, dogs (mangey or otherwise!). Will the potholes be bigger than last time? Will we see a truck with people riding in the back? Will anyone fall out?! Will we get stuck behind a car being driven by someone on crack and therefore driving about 10km an hour down a main road and zig-zagging back and forth?
- the Australian Ice Cream shop at Redcliffe Quay - Belgian Chocolate - need I say more?
- walking around St John's, looking in the little shops, and avoiding the gigantic, man-eating gutters.
- The Beach restaurant - for reasons outlined in an earlier blog entry. Oh, and also for the Chocolate Souffle! Cakey on the outside, gooey on the inside! Yummo!
- being neighbours with Mack and Kerri, and popping up to their place for a cooking lesson, pretzels, a yummy dinner, lots of laughs, and watching "America's Got Talent" which is sort of like Red Faces (and, actually, from watching the show, it seems that America doesn't really have that much talent!)
- four-wheel driving through the bush just to see what we can see, and stumbling across the most amazing things (spectacular views, gorgeous private beaches, etc).
- the cute little Antiguan girls with their heads full of braids, all tied with tiny bright ribbons.
- hummingbirds.
- Brucelina.
- the Antiguan sun, which although can be very hot, has not burnt me even once!
- restaurants right on the beach with tables and chairs directly on the sand.
- the colourful characters we have come across: OJ who collects objects from the ocean to decorate his restaurant; Gavin - the funny waiter at Bay House restaurant; the friendly staff at Dickenson Bay Cottages; Frankie and Charlie (I think) who sing and play at The Beach on Tuesday nights ("Oh island in the sun, willed to my by my father's hand, all my days I will sing in praise of your forests, waters, your shining sands"), etc, etc...
- McPhiltons - we get these at a local bakery/cafe called Philton's. A McPhilton is like a McDonald's McMuffin and consists of a muffin (well, duh!), bacon, egg and lettuce (and tomato, but I give that a miss). Yummy.
- the very "character-ful" churches, forts, buildings, and ruins.
- the laid-back way of life of the locals. In Antigua there are only two speeds - slow and stop!
- the weekend explorations of different sections of the island, and stumbling across gorgeous little villages that are filled with teeny Antiguan houses and little old Antiguan ladies with their mismatched patterned blouses and skirts (for some reason, in Antigua, mismatched clothing "works").
- taking photos of sunsets!
- reading the local papers, and getting an Antiguan perspective on common issues. The letters to the editor are particularly fascinating!
- the adventure of the whole Antiguan experience.
Things I won't miss:- really, really unreliable wireless internet connection requiring me to stay up past midnight to get an email to send, and which means that doing absolutely anything requiring a connection to the company network takes about 10 times longer than normal.
- the boredom when you can't get online, and there's no work to do off-line. I am now the Sudoku Queen!
- needing to go to three grocery stores to find all the items for a single simple meal - we even once had to go to three or four different shops just to find milk! Took us well over an hour! Getting the groceries could practically be a full-time job in Antigua.
- finding dead rodents on the footpath in town. Euwwwww! Largest rat I've ever seen!
- the unfriendly staff at the Epicurean (the local supermarket). Dave once got a laugh out of one girl and we were so excited - it could be done!
- getting rained on when I go for a walk with Dave!
- going to tourist attractions and finding them closed.
- the areas that smell really, really bad (i.e., the pond behind Runaway Bay).
- gutters full of putrid smelling water.
- the humidity.
- getting our clothes washed via the hotel laundry service and having them come back smaller or faded.
- the Chicken Satay at The Beach.
- very few things tasting as they normally would.
- having to spray myself with OFF! every time we go outside in the evenings so we don't get eaten alive. No need for perfume, when you are wearing "Eau de OFF!"
I'm sure that there are heaps more missable and unmissable things that I haven't thought of (and maybe I'll add them when I think of them). But, as much as I'll miss Antigua, I will certainly appreciate living in Australia so much more when we get back!
Shuttle Launch
I can't believe that I have neglected to mention that we were lucky enough to witness the shuttle launch the other week. We were so excited to see it as we weren't sure if we'd be able to from here. But, we found ourselves a spot with a good view of the North-West sky, crossed our fingers, and...
Nah, just kidding! :o)
Here is a closer view... just a plane...
Our favourite little neighbours
I have mentioned that all around Dickenson Bay Cottages (and all around Antigua in general really), there are lots and lots of lizards. Most of them look like this... 
This one has clearly forgotten to put on his "can't-see-me" clothes, but usually they change colour to suit their background - ranging from a grey-brown to yellow-green to a deeper green. To be fair, the lizard in the pic is probably trying to figure out what colour to be seeing he can't "do" white!
They range in size from about an inch or so long to about 10 or so inches (at least that's the longest I've seen - there may, of course, be some giant lizards somewhere that I have yet to come across!)
My other favourite "little neighbours" are the hummingbirds. They are soooooo cute! However, they are extremely difficult to get a good photo of as every time I get my camera out, they fly off to another part of the garden! This is my best attempt so far. Their little wings move so fast they are just a blur!
There are also some tree frogs around which make a two-tone piping sound at night, and are therefore called Piping Frogs. Fortunately for Dave and I, they are only about the size of a 20 cent piece, and we hardly ever see them!
(Actually, I also read in the guide that Antigua has giant toads which weigh up to 2 pounds! Thank God we have not seen even one, or I think Dave and I would have been on the first flight out of here!)
Oh, and of course there is the cat that I've shown before, who we've named Bruce, who likes to chase the lizards and sit out on the patio.
Actually, since we figured out Bruce's true gender, we have started calling her Brucelina! She is similar in nature to Teaka (who I hope is doing much better so I can see him again soon) and likes to hang out with people. Here is a picture of her taking shelter from the rain (of which there is a fair bit) under one of the sunlounges around the pool...
Our Beach
A few week's ago, Mack and Kerri went exploring (four wheel driving) the nearby hills, and came across a place with a great view of Dickenson Bay. The next day, they took us to have a look.
Here we are in front of Our Beach.
It is along this beach that we take our walks and it is where some of our favourite restaurants are - The Beach, Julian's, and Coconut Grove. Dickenson Bay Cottages are also visible in this picture - about halfway up the hill. Although we are all really ready to head home, I'm really going to miss our beach when we leave - which is tomorrow!
Here is a bit of a closer view, from a slightly different angle. In case you're wondering, that's a restaurant at the end of the pier. We haven't been to this one as it is linked to one of the resorts and is quite expensive (even more than most).
Here is The Beach restaurant (again). This is our absolute favourite place to eat as it is really close to where we are staying, the food is fabulous, the atmosphere is friendly, and the view is gorgeous.
And how's this for a great setting for a phonebooth! It is just near the Coconut Grove restaurant and we pass this on our walks along the beach.
Here are a couple of dogs that we often see at the beach. We're not sure if anyone owns them, or if they just "own" each other. They are quite like a human couple. We always see them together on their various adventures - for walks along the beach or up the hill, swimming together, or enjoying the beach at sunset (as per the pic). One night we even saw them at a local beer garden together!
They are really sweet natured, and it broke our hearts to hear that the scar that one of them (the blonde one) has on it's forehead is from some cruel "person" attacking it with a machete.
Hungry?
Given that Antigua is a rather small place, one might expect that there aren't that many options when it comes to eating out. Fortunately, in thinking that you couldn't be further from the truth. When it comes to dining, Antiguans could not be more spoilt for choice.
Of course there are the more touristy restaurants that we tend to stick to, and which cater to a more European palate (and charge an arm and a leg). However, in addition to these, dotted along most major roads and on most intersections around St Johns there are some delightful snackettes and other takeaway food outlets.
Here is a cute little bakery...
There are many stalls about this size throughout Antigua. Most are called snackettes and sell a small range of food and drink items.
And here's a rather professional looking takeaway restaurant (with a rather memorable name)...
In case you're curious, jerk is a spice that is generally used to flavour meat, and which is very much-liked by Antiguans. I believe it is rather spicy, but can't really comment as I've managed to steer clear of jerk thus far.
According to Wikipedia: The jerk seasoning relies upon a few typical items: Allspice (Jamaican pepper, Jamaican Pimento), Scotch Bonnet peppers being the most common basic ingredients, (among the hottest peppers on the Scoville scale). Cloves, cinnamon, nutmeg, thyme, garlic and other ingredients are often added.
Below is one of the more professional takeaway outlets, the Chicken Stop, that sells chicken in both jerked and un-jerked varieties. After my Satay Chicken incident (see an earlier blog entry), I had high hopes that we could pick up a nice normal-tasting BBQ chicken here. Wrong again unfortunately!
Below is a a rather quaint lobster restaurant. It's one of those fancy places where you get to watch your meal be cooked in front of you (and all the passersby!). The cook even wears one of those big white chef's hats. As well as the fancy BBQ that you can see, there is also a charming plastic table and chair setting to sit back and enjoy (located to the right of this picture). This "restaurant" is also conveniently located, as it's positioned right on the footpath of one of the main roads into and out of St Johns.
Here's another rather nice looking place. This is Mammy Rose's 24 hour LifeSaver. This is probably the only food outlet on the island that is open 24 hours, and surely such dedication to providing healthy meals all around the clock must be commended.
As you can see by the menu board below, Mammy Rose even takes the cake for appetising menus. Mmmm.... Should I have the Head Skin or the Goat Water. Oh, what the heck, perhaps I should have both! And perhaps even some Maw (whatever that is!).
Bon Appetit! :o)
Why didn't anyone tell me I had rellies here?
Seems I'm not the first Chandler to find myself in this little corner of the world!
Devil's Bridge and Half Moon Bay
On the same day that we arrived at Betty's Hope and Harmony Hall to find them both closed, we also stopped in to check out a few other sights on the Eastern side of the island. I had not yet seen this part of the island, but it is where Dave, Mack and Kerri had stayed on their first week in Antigua. Here are a few of the snaps I took a long the way.This one is Dave at Long Bay, which is yet another beautiful Antiguan beach. Like Dickenson Bay, this beach was quite busy with lots of market stalls and people in the water and playing on the beach.
We then drove to Devil's Bridge. As you can see in the picture below, this is a natural formation on the coastline, where the constant beating of the ocean on the rocks has worn away some of the softer stone to leave a bridge.
It is believed that many a slave threw themselves off this bridge to their deaths in order to escape their situation. There is also a strange folk story that says that if you throw two eggs off the bridge into the hole that the Devil will keep one and throw the other back out again. Unfortunately we didn't have any eggs on us at the time so we couldn't put this theory to the test. Some people do walk across the bridge to prove their bravery (or is that insanity?!). However, there was absolutely no way that we were going to walk across it though! As you can see, the bridge itself - and all the other rock surrounding this area - is really rough to walk on. That, combined with it being wet and slippery, and the unpredictable spurts of water that come up through the hole, would make crossing it way too risky an exercise!In the picture below, taken from the other end of the bridge to the picture above, you can see water shooting up through the hole. And if you look really closely at the other end of the bridge (behind the water spray) you can see Mack.
After we left Devil's Bridge we went in search of Harmony Hall and lunch (as per my earlier blog entry). On the way we stopped in to have a look at Half Moon Bay. This beach is somewhat famous for being one of The Discovery Channel's best beaches in the world, and as the name would suggest, the beach is crescent shaped. The picture below is facing the Northern end of the crescent. The view the other way is practically a mirror image. It's quite beautiful, and unlike most of the island's beaches, it does has some surf.
The Gutters of St John's
I have mentioned previously that the gutters throughout St John's (the capital) are pretty horrific. In fact, the footpaths of St John's really would make a great training ground for mountain goats, as you get quite a workout just making your way down the street on foot. They also add an element of adventure to driving.The pictures below give you some idea of what I mean.This one's bad...
This one's worse...
As you can see below, a small misjudgement when driving could really ruin your day! Thank goodness this isn't our hire car!
Dave's Donkey
On last Sunday's drive, we came upon a really sweet little donkey at the side of the road (actually there were 2 donkeys, but that's really neither here nor there). Kerri and I asked Dave to slow down so we could take a photo. I took the photo below, which I think is really cute, but I was bit disappointed with the windscreen glare that showed in the photo.
So, to try and get a better photo I passed Dave my camera and asked him to wind his window down and take a photo for me. The result.....
Isn't he cute!? Oh, and if you can't see him, your simply not looking hard enough. I like to call this one "Peek-a-boo!". :o)
To be fair, Dave did actually take a second photo....
...but it appears little "Peek-a-boo" had become a little camera-shy by this stage. This one, I call "The Legless Donkey" - perhaps he'd had too many Wadadli's! (in case you haven't joined the dots - Wadadli is the name of the local beer.)
To tell the truth, I much prefer Dave's first photo - the donkey just looks so darn cute peeking into the frame!
Either way, I don't know if I'll bother asking Dave to take photos while driving in future!
The Sugar Mill Towers of Antigua
You can't go anywhere in Antigua without spotting at least one of these old round brick structures. In Antigua's years of slavery, the island was home to numerous sugar cane farms and these towers are the remains of the old sugar windmills that were used to grind the juice out of the cane. Apparently there are about a hundred of these dotted throughout the island (in various states of decay), and they stand as a constant reminder to the sad history of the island's people. The sugar mill tower is now recognised as one of Antigua and Barbuda's official symbols.
The towers are all over the place. We've even spotted some in people's backyards, alongside restaurants, and even some in the airport grounds.
We found out that one of the island's mills had been restored to it's original condition with a small visitor centre set up to explain the history and the workings of the mill. So, last Sunday we set out to take a look at this windmill at Betty's Hope Estate. When we arrived, we discovered that it was actually closed on Sundays (grrrrrr!!!!) and the gate was locked so we couldn't go in and check it out. But, nevermind, according to all reports, there actually isn't all that much to see there (with a usual visit lasting about 10 minutes or so!). Given that the national museum is tiny, I suppose you couldn't expect a visitor centre for a windmill to be too huge. At least we were still able to take some photos of the windmill (even if the sails were missing!).
I also took comfort in the fact that we were going to also go and take a look at Harmony Hall which is a hotel/restaurant/cafe/art gallery on the eastern side of the island. Harmony Hall even has a bar built inside the base of one of the old mill towers, with a fantastic lookout at the top out on to NonSuch Bay (yes, I know, strange name for a bay, and Dave, Mack and Kerri could tell you an amusing tale of their quest to find NonSuch Bay they embarked on before my arrival. Without going into too much detail the story involves some shocking roads, some rather heavy going four-wheel-driving, many dead-ends, and a punctured tyre!).
But anyway, back to my story... I had checked out Harmony Hall on their website and it looked like a fantastic place to visit on a Sunday afternoon. We had set out on our adventure just before midday, and by the time we got there (after a couple of other stops I'll tell you about in another blog entry) it was about 3:30 or so - so we were all very much looking forward to a nice meal and a cool drink. You can probably guess where this is all leading... yes, Harmony Hall was also closed!!! Devastating! Oh well, we headed west back to Dickenson Bay and settled on a nice meal at The Beach - which, given it is our favourite place to eat, really ain't bad for a silver lining!
Lunch at OJ's
Last Sunday (well actually the one before to be precise) we all drove around to the south side of the island (just near Darkwood Beach shown in a previous entry) for lunch at OJ's. OJ's is a open air restaurant right on the beach which OJ has decorated with items salvaged from the sea.
All the ropes and buoys and other items hanging from the ceiling have come out of the ocean. The tables and chairs are on the sand, so you can wriggle your toes in the sand while you gaze out at the ocean and enjoy your meal!
OJ has also created a series of sculptures from the driftwood, coral, ropes and things that he has found washed up on the beaches. They bleached wood looks spectacular with the sky and blue green water behind them.
The sculpture below is called "Bird in Flight" for obvious reasons....
And here is the view of the beach from the restaurant...
And here are some cows just outside what is Antigua's largest supermarket.
