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October 17th, 2012 | Caribbean

News from Paradise…

There is not a heck of a lot to do on Parrot Cay if you are not working…

I guess that is one of the reasons why many of the hotel’s guests come here…!! They are able to relax and momentarily forget the stresses they endure in their normal working lives…

For employees, it is a different situation… After 6 consecutive working days on the island each week, they actually look forward to getting “out of paradise”…!! On Patricia’s day off, we make the journey to the main island of Providenciales to buy groceries and stock up on items that are not available on our island…

On the day we went over to Provo, the tide was the highest we had ever seen… The jetty was barely a few inches above the water…

This trip involves a 40 minute transfer by boat, the hiring of a car, and a carefully calculated schedule to ensure that we get back to Parrot Cay on one of the company boats which leave the main island in accordance with guest arrivals…

Part of the extensive Parrot Cay fleet, tied up at the various docks and jetties…

Despite it being her day off, Mrs. B’s Blackberry never lets up…!! Grrrr….!!

After a frustrating days shopping, we were informed that the 6.00 pm boat back to our island had been cancelled and would now be departing at 9.30 pm…

Service with a smile… My waitress on the day was a pretty American girl….!!

This meant an additional few hours on the main island that we had not bargained for…!!

The Turks and Caicos flag… One that I do not have on my panniers, but which has come to represent a very special place that I have had the good fortune to visit…!!

We decided to while away the time at the Bay Bistro, a small restaurant on Grace Bay that we often head to for either lunch or dinner when we are on Provo…

Having already eaten lunch there, the staff were surprised to see us back again later that same afternoon, and allowed us to sit out on their beach to enjoy a sun-downer or three…

Being “off-island”, as any departure from Parrot Cay is known, is a bit of a blessing, even though there is not much to do on Provo, or rather, after shopping and hustling about, very little time left on any given shopping day, to do anything…!!

With time to kill, we lay on our beach loungers and watched the sun start it dip towards the horizon… We discussed the last few weeks that had flown by so quickly, and I realised that the last time we were here, barely six weeks ago, we were still planning our wedding day…!!

Sunset over Provo…

Before returning to the dock, we made a final trip to the supermarket to complete our day’s shopping and then headed back to Leeward Dock to take the 9.30 pm boat home…

The boat trip back to Parrot Cay was made in the inky darkness of a moonless night… Being on a boat in complete darkness, and traveling at the same speed as you would in broad daylight, is a strange experience…

I am well aware that there are many hidden reefs and shallow sandbars between Provo and Parrot Cay, and I wondered if any of these boats had ever miscalculated their route and ended up stranded in shallow water…

The experienced captains obviously have no such concerns, and can probably do this run in their sleep… Something Patricia and I were both looking forward to as we arrived in South Dock, and were ferried back to our apartment by the manager on duty that night…

We watched the sun do down and enjoyed “the blue hour” before complete darkness blanketed Grace Bay… It was a magical few hours for us….

I had been begun planning mt “temporary exit” from Parrot Cay, to make a 5 000 km ride through the Southern States, to hook up with a few riding buddies as well as some family in Florida… An email that I opened on the day after our visit to Provo, would change those plans completely…

An offer to head up a project back in South Africa had been tabled for my consideration… It required me to begin the planning process as early as mid-November, putting paid to my plans for a last long ride through the USA before shipping the Big Fella home…

It had been three full years since I last banked an income and it was time to “turn the tide back” a little I figured… It was also time to consider exactly what that meant to me… And more importantly, how this new chapter would fit in with my recent change of circumstance…!!

7 comments to News from Paradise…

  • Mark Behr

    These are exciting times for you and Mrs B. Take the time to rest because once you are back into “banking an income”, you know it will all be in your past.
    Hope all works out well for you!

  • Kim

    Oh dear!!!! Nou wat nou????? Eish??!!
    Rather you than me…decisions, decisions!!!
    The only thing I can say is “sterkte”!!!
    I read in a blog a couple of years ago, by a biker, “sometimes the universe hands you things that you never thought of, or expected…..”
    Have a sun downer, clear your mind, look into that beautiful sunset and the answers will come.
    Good luck and BIG kisses
    K

  • Seamus

    You are living the life that most of us working class aspire to…think long and hard about that offer before making a call…Go well

  • Meerkat

    Nou wat nou oom,gaan jy ons nie inlig oor die res van jou trip nie,please we are waiting patiently for the rest of the missing parts of your trip 🙂

  • Ek raak te lui hier in Paradise, Meerkat, maar jy is heeltemaal reg…!! Ek sal vinger uittrek en a bietjie “werk” begin doen…!! Ha…!! R.

  • Hey Seamus…!! There is no permanent escape to being part of the “working class” as you put it…!! Three years away tends to deplete one’s savings…!! My bank manager is making the call for me…!! R.

  • Kimmie… I think I read that blog too…!! Trick will be to try and steer the universe in the direction I want it to go…!! Ha…!! Wish me luck on that one…!! R.

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