Kicking Back on the Cay….

The week I have already spent here, seems to have passed by in a flash…!!

This photo, taken with a cell phone, shows a water-spout spinning just offshore from the hotel, during the Tropical Storm Isaac…

My best intentions of using the time here on Parrot Cay to write the many posts missing from my recent exploits, have been blown away on the back of Tropical Storm Isaac, which has pounded parts of the Caribbean and is now “making waves” as it reaches the southern states off the Gulf of Mexico…

It was reclassified as a Category 1 Hurricane as it slammed into New Orleans on the exact anniversary of Hurricane Katrina which devastated the region seven years ago to the day…!!

Fortunately, being on the northern edge of the storm, we were spared the worst of its fury, and only had a few days of high winds and driving rain to contend with…

For the most part, my mind has been like a cat on a hot tin roof… It has leaped from one topic to another with little pause in between, never allowing me to dwell too long on any particular set of thoughts…

A pair of Iguanas have taken up residence near the staff canteen, seemingly unaware that they are considered a delicacy by the Islanders…

I have found myself doing an awful lot of reminiscing about my ride, which I guess is my brain’s way of telling me that it is all coming to an end soon…

Just a word from a song I hear; or a snatch of conversation I am involved in or pick up on from the people around me, sends my mind spinning off into the memory banks…

My “Mexican Fingertips”, a result of riding with finger-less gloves for too long, has caused much mirth among my friends here…

I see again places I have been to; people I have met; and experiences I have had… I see these with a clarity that sometimes has me shaking my head to ensure that I am not right back in those same places, with those same people…

I have also had moments of “high emotion” when I think of my family and friends back in South Africa who I have not seen for almost 3 years… Knowing that I will see many of them again in just a few weeks, is making me dizzy with excitement…!!

I have had far less exercise than I intended to have on this my final visit to Parrot Cay before our wedding, and apart from a few gentle Yoga and Pilates sessions; the odd swim and frequent walks to accompany Patricia to and from the Spa, I have spent many hours in a state of blissful indolence…

My right ankle which I sprained/twisted/whatever in Alaska over a month ago, has not healed as yet, and is still swollen and painful to walk on at times… I might have to hire a “body-double” to do the dancing at my wedding…!!

Patricia and I have spent our evenings together trying to sort through the many small details that go into making a wedding day the happy occasion it is meant to be…!! Now that we are together, we have found it far easier to come to agreement on things that we could not agree on while I was riding, and we were far apart…!!

On board the “Spirit of Michealmas” for our sunset cruise…

Captain Dennis and first mate, Peter, ensured that we enjoyed the few hours we spent off the island…

Sunset over the ocean… We toasted it with a few glasses of champagne…

We have also managed to get off the island on a few occasions; once to do some shopping on Providenciales, and the night before last, we were taken on a sunset cruise by Dennis, the captain and owner of a beautiful 50 foot catamaran that is used to take guests on cruises off the island…

We sailed from South Dock, along the channel and into the shallow waters that fringe the small islands of Dellis and Fort George Cay’s before heading back to Parrot Cay a few hours later… Together with other members of the hotel staff, we sipped wine and champagne as we watched the sun set over the ocean…

This map shows Parrot Cay and it’s position in the group of islands and other cays, that make up the Turks and Caicos Islands…

I have always enjoyed being out at sea, with the wind in my face and the sounds of waves lapping against the hull of a boat… Seeing a small school of dolphins that swam across our bows as we plowed along, caused much excitement, and for a while, broke the contented silence that most of us had drifted into…

As the sun dropped over the horizon, we headed back to South Dock to enjoy a few beers with Dennis and Peter before taking the short buggy ride back to our apartment…

Later that same evening, we attended the birthday party of Don, who despite having very little to work with in the form of props, had set up a “club scene”, complete with red carpet and “VIP Lounge”… I was amazed at the lengths to which he had gone to make his birthday bash a night to remember by all…!!

There was no lack of ingenuity on Don’s part, and with plenty of food and hooligan juice on hand, the staff enjoyed a night that I am sure many of them will remember for a long time to come…

With just a few days remaining before I head back to Washington to make my final ride to New Jersey, thoughts of what I have achieved thus far, and what I hope to achieve in the future, are again foremost in my mind…

The days seem to be slipping by ever more quickly, and although I have enjoyed being close to Patricia and the wonderful moments we have spent together this past week, I now find myself eager to get back to the Big Fella, and make that last ride in North America…!!

Or will it be “the last ride”…?? I have been invited to meet a group of bikers in Pennsylvania to celebrate the end of my ride, and it would be inappropriate for me to arrive there in car, methinks…!!