­
Blog - homeandawaywithlisa
Welcome

My name is Lisa and I'm a crafty girl with wanderlust working as an engineer by day. My blog chronicles projects in my home as well as pictures and stories from my travels.

Search


Instagram

Blog Index
The journal that this archive was targeting has been deleted. Please update your configuration.
Navigation

Entries in Away (125)

Sunday
Feb102013

New Tab: Living in Japan

One of the main reasons that I started this blog was so that I would document some of the stories of living in Japan for myself. My time there had a big effect on my life and I want to record things before I forget all the little details. I have so many things I want to write but haven't gotten around to, so I am setting a goal for myself to write 2-3 posts a month about those experiences.

I also took some time this weekend to make a "Living in Japan" tab for my blog. I made little thumbnails for each related post and have them organized into a few categories. It took me a while to set everything up and get it all linked but I think it is worth it. Hopefully this will make browsing through past posts a bit easier.


Thursday
Jan312013

Taking Out the Garbage in Japan

In the U.S. taking out the garbage is easy. I have a bin for recycling and for regular garbage and on the assigned day of the week for my street, Monday, I pull the bins out to the curb for pick up. When I get home from work the bins are empty and I roll them back into my garage. With only one day a week with only two bins to deal with it is super simple.

When I was living in Japan it was a different story for me. In the U.S. in most areas we don't have to separate our recycling but in Japan you do. To an outsider it can be a little confusing with all the different categories and rules for sorting and disposal.

Among the expat community garbage stories abounded. There was the person who wasn't sure how to dispose of Pringles cans so he saved them in a bag and left them in the hotel room he stayed at the night before moving back to his home country. There was the person who accidentally put a fruit peel in the wrong bin at work and came back from a meeting to find that a Japanese co-worker had put it back on his desk. And of course there were several stories of people decided to ship something back home to throw away there rather than figure out how to get rid of the item in Japan.

Personally, I had a co-worker explain to me that I was throwing out my soda bottles in the wrong manner at work. First, you rinse the bottle. Then you remove the cap and label with each going in a separate bin. Finally you put the bottle in a crusher apparatus you stomp on with your foot and then place the bottle in the plastic bin. This all may seem ridiculous but until you have lived it, it is a little hard to understand how it can be that complicated.

Needless to say, when I first moved to Japan I was a bit preoccupied with my garbage. I didn't want to be the clueless foreigner who was doing it wrong not to mention that if you make a mistake they simply won't take your bag.

First you have to have the proper bags. Each town has local bags that are marked with the town name and what type of garbage should go inside. They are clear so that the contents can easily be seen and the labeling is color coded. Where I lived in Toyota City plastic went in a black bag, burnable went in a green bag and metal went in a blue bag for example. My friends who lived in Nagoya had completely different bags with different colors.

Next you have to make sure that you are putting the correct thing in the correct bag. For recylable things like paper and plastic there is a little icon printed on the item to let you know, however it was not as easy as it seems. There were a lot of unwritten rules that weren't obvious like clean paper should get recycled but if the paper was dirty it should go in the burnable bag. 

With the garbage sorted you have to make sure that you put the right items out at the right time. Burnable garbage was picked up every week on Tuesday and Friday, plastic every week on Monday, metal once a month on the second Wednesday and landfill once a month on thee fourth Wednesday. For the items picked up weekly it wasn't such a big deal but trying to remember to take the monthly items out on the right day was tough. I had one bag of metal items that I missed getting out two months in a row accidently. Below is the sign posted in my local garbage pick up area indicating the dates of pickups and a few example items that go in a particular type of bag. This wasn't terribly helpful to me since I didn't need to know how to throw out plastic robots or cinder blocks. I needed more practical advice on how to throw out a milk carton. I later determined that milk cartons needed to be flattened in a specific way and turned it at a bin at the grocery store. Obviously!

Lucky for me, my drop off point for my garbage was just outside my apartment building. It was a small concrete and tiled area with a net over it to keep birds out. When I first moved to Japan I would take a look at what types of items people were putting in which types of bags so I could make sure I was getting it right.

For items that are not picked up at the drop off spots you need to take them to recycling centers. At the end of my time in Japan the larger items that would have required bulky disposal (which you have to pay for) I was able to sell or give to other expats or to sell back to a recycle shop so I didn't need to worry about it. 

I took a look at the Toyota City website while writing this and found they now have a detailed list of how various items should be thrown away. They even have versions in other languages included English. I sure wish I had that while I was living there! All of my garbage questions would have been easily answered in this fourteen page document.

The first page has a landmine of information. If I had this when I was in Japan I would have known the process for throwing away my soda bottles without having my colleague needing to tell me I was doing it wrong. Also, please note the recycling mascot character in the top right. It's name is Risa which I am guessing is short for the word recycle in Japanese (pronounced risakuru). Risa also happens to be how my name is pronounced in Japanese. Coincidence, I think not...

On this page I learned that I had been completely clueless to the fact that I was supposed to be wringing out my garbage before throwing it away. On my next trip to Japan I will implement.

They are even eight pages dedicated to listing up various items and telling you which of the disposal methods you should use. The list is in order of how you would find the Japanese equivalent word in the dictionary so finding the right item is a bit tough in the English document, but this is still an awesome resource. I always wondered how you would dispose of swim rings and now I know that they are totally burnable garbage.

I've just shared a few snipets of this Japan garbage disposal instruction treasure, but if you want to check the whole document in it's glory here it is: Toyota Region Garbage Home Reference Leaflet for 2012. Looking back it makes me happy that now all I need to do this week in the U.S. is roll two bins to the curb for my garbage pick-up. I will never take my garbage pick-up for granted again!

Wednesday
Jan232013

Misadventures of Lisa and Trisha: Shirakawa-go in the Winter

 

 January of 2009 was my friend, Trisha's, last month in Japan. My time in Japan could easily be broken into three phases: before I knew Trisha, when Trisha and I travelled around everywhere together and after Trisha went back to the US. Needless to say, for her last weekend in town we had to take in some last bits of sightseeing together.

We spent an awesome day on Saturday in Takayama visiting a street festival and some sake breweries. That evening we met up with some friends who were skiing nearby to spend an amazing night at a beautiful ryokan (a traditional Japanese inn which is like a cross between a bed and breakfast and a spa). On Sunday after saying good-bye to our friends, who were heading out skiing again, Trisha and I set off to the little village of Shirakawa-go. I had been there in the fall and it was lovely so I was eager to see it again during the winter.

We chose to take the scenic way for a slightly longer drive and were rewarded with some amazing views of the mountains and the rivers that flowed through the valleys. We pulled over to the side of the road a few times to grab a picture. Incredible!

After a little over an hour, we finally arrived. Shirakawa-go is a small traditional village located in the mountains of Gifu Prefecture in Japan. A world heritage site, it is famous for the architectural style of its buildings known as gassho-zukuri (literally hands together style). This is in reference to the steeply pitched roofs of the houses which are designed to keep snow from accumulating on them in the winter. The village is comprised of over 100 historic gassho-zukuri homes some of which are still inhabited and some which have turned into museums.

We parked on the outskirts of the little village not too far from Shirakawa Hachiman Shrine so we made that our first stop. The shrine is known for the sake that it makes and its festival, Doburoku Matsuri, which is held in October. On the shrine's grounds is the Doburoku Matsuri Festival Hall which shares the history of the festival and offers free samples of Doburoku sake. The festival hall is closed from November through March so Trisha and I didn't have a chance to visit. The peaceful atmosphere of the shrine among the towering cedar trees still made a visit wandering around the shrine grounds more than worthwhile.

Trisha and I proceeded to walk around town enjoying all the beautiful sights and admiring the architecture of the gassho-zukuri construction. Three of the homes (Wada-ke, Kanda-ke and Nagase-ke) have been turned into museums and for a small fee (each one is ¥300 for an adult, ¥150 for a child) you can go in to see what life was like in these traditional homes. I didn't take any indoor pictures on this trip since I had already been inside on my previous trip so I'll have to share them in another post. If you find yourself visiting Shirakawa-go I would definitely recommend going inside at least one of the homes.

With the huge snowdrifts built up everywhere, someone had dug one out in the middle of town to create a cave with Shirakawa-go (白川郷) written along each side of the entrance.  All the Japanese tourists were using it as a photo op and I figured I should play along. 

Not all homes in Shirakawa-go are built in the gassho-zukuri style with the steep roofs. Snow accumulation on those flatter roofs could be a problem and we saw a man actually shoveling his roof.

Each of the old homes was surrounded by small plots of land for farming. The reflections of the buildings in some of the exposed rice paddies was really lovely.

After wandering around town Trisha and I decided to head up to Shirayama Viewpoint. The short, steep walk up to the lookout was definitely worth it to see the views of the valley below. It seemed like it was straight out of a fairytale.

Naturally, with that gorgeous view we would be remiss not to get a few shots of ourselves. It is so surreal looking that it almost looks like we are standing in front of a fake photography backdrop.

No place in Japan is complete without the obligatory warning signs about impending doom and disaster and the viewpoint was no exception so I had to snap a picture before we headed back down into town. 

As we headed back to the car we grabbed a few more photos as we walked through town savouring all of the magnificent views of the snowy roofs.

At this point is where a normal story would end, but this is not a normal story, this is a Trisha and Lisa story. When we got back to the car I went to put in our destination and the Navi remote was missing. Yes, that's right, I said the Navi remote. What? You have never heard of such a thing? I never had before, either.

Let me back up and explain a little bit about my car and roads in Japan. First, Japan's address system is totally different from Western countries. Instead of a building having a number on a street, towns are divided into neighborhoods, blocks within a neighborhood are assigned a number and the buildings within the block are then numbered. The numbering of the buildings, however, doesn't typically correlate with where on the block it is, but instead when it was built. Only major roads have names, and with the Japanese address system it is virtually impossible to drive someplace you are not familiar with unless you have a Navigation system.

Second, because I am cheap, I decided to lease the most inexpensive vehicle I could when I was living in Japan which turned out to be a used 2002 Toyota Funcargo. The Navi that had been put in the car was quite old and you input the destination through a remote. I've never seen a remote controlled Navi before and I've never seen one since. On the plus side, since the place that I leased my vehicle through specialized in leasing to ex-pats my Navi remote was in English.

Anyway, back to the story, Trisha and I were really stuck. Without the Navi remote we couldn't put in an address and we were pretty sure we would get lost going back. We searched all around the car to see if it had fallen out nearby with no luck. We definitely had the remote when we left Takayama, because we had input the directions to Shirakawa-go. Although we had stopped a few times along our route to take photos, because of the cold we mostly just rolled down the window to take our shots and only got out of the car one time. That spot had to be where we lost the remote. Luckily, Trisha remembered that there was an orange construction crane for some reason near the place we had stopped. 

We back tracked our way out of town keeping our eyes peeled for the orange crane. After over half an hour of scanning the roadside we finally spotted it and pulled over. We did a bit of searching and there it was, half buried in the snow.

I was so relieved to have found it that the momentous recovery had to be documented with a photo holding the remote in front of the crane. To be honest we were really lucky and I have no idea how we would have found that same exact spot if it hadn't been for the crane. I'm also super lucky that Trisha remembered that the crane was where we got out of the car. Miss Trish is awesome like that!

We used the remote to put in our destination and we were on the road again. Of course, we made a few stops along the way for more pictures, but after our little incident we prudently made sure to check that the remote was in the car at all times.

If you are interested, check out some more of my travel misadventures with Trisha here: Overnight to the Rice Fields of Banaue,  Getting a Ride to the Beijing Opera, The Great ATM Debacle, Japanese Pottery Fun in Seto

Saturday
Jan122013

Good Eats Around Treasure Island

When Frank and I headed to Florida for the Outback Bowl we only had two days to relax which we spent on Treasure Island. After our hectic drive down we were in the mood to sleep in and then lounge on the beach. Although we weren't very active over those two days we did leave our beach chairs to eat some great food. I thought I would share a few of our favorite places that we would recommend if you find yourself in the Tampa/St. Petersburg area.

Lisa's Cafe
13331 Gulf Boulevard, Madeira Beach, Florida

First up is Lisa's Cafe where we went to breakfast. Located in a small, unassuming green building the food was fantastic and the owner, Lisa, was a wonderfully friendly hostess. I also can't help but think that she has an awesome name.

I decided to order the bananas foster French toast which was out of this world. The pictures don't do it justice, but the slices of bread were almost as big as my head. The bananas foster topping was delicious and it was like eating dessert for breakfast. 

Frank had corned beef hash with scrambled eggs and grits. The portion of the hash wasn't the biggest but it was almost all corned beef and delicious.

We also couldn't resist splitting an order of biscuits and gravy and I am so glad that we did because it was one of the best sausage gravies that we ever ate. The gravy had sage in it which leant it a little bit of sweetness to offset the savory sausage. When we commented on how much we loved the gravy it turned out that Lisa herself made it. Delicious!

We had a wonderful breakfast at Lisa's Cafe and would definitely recommend it. They also serve lunch and dinner and the menus for those meals looked delicious even though we didn't have a chance to try it. Hopefully we can on some other trip!


Ted Peter's Famous Smoked Fish
1350 Pasadena Avenue South, South Pasadena, Florida

Frank and I stopped at Ted Peter's Famous Smoked Fish for a late lunch/early dinner one day. Opened in 1951, the roadside restaurant has a wonderful vintage vibe. We ate at shaded picnic tables, enjoying the warm weather with the wonderful smell of the nearby smoker in the air. 

We were starving so we decided to start with a smoked fish spread dish with saltines. It was awesome and we agreed that if we lived in the are we would be bringing home take out containers of the fish spread every week.

Frank also tried the Manhattan chowder which was homemade and delicious.

With so much food, I decided to get a smoked mullet luncheon platter that didn't have any sides. Mullet has a lot of bones, but I have a lot of practice deboning fish from living in Japan so that didn't deter me. It was worth the small extra effort as the mullet had a wonderful flavor.

Frank ordered the mackerel smoked fish dinner which included cole slaw and German potato salad as sides. The mackerel was fantastic and so were the sides, especially the potato salad. Amazing! 

We loved Ted Peter's and if we lived in the area we know we would be regulars. There are two things to note if you head over there. First, they only take cash so be prepared to have some on you before you go. Secondly, they close at 7:30 pm so if you want to grab dinner there, make sure to go early. You won't be disappointed!

 

The Floridian
230 107th Avenue, Treasure Island, Florida

Being in Florida Frank and I had to grab Cuban sandwiches for lunch one day so we decided to try out the Floridian, located in a bright, cheerful building. The restaurant was bustling at lunch but after ordering at the register it didn't take too long to for our food to arrive at our table.

I got a combo with half a Cuban sandwich and a bowl of Floridian bean soup. My sandwich was loaded with meat and the bread was great. I also really enjoyed the soup which was tasty and hearty.

Frank got a spiced pork sandwich and a bag of plantanos chips. Delicious!

We also couldn't resist sharing a side of rice and beans (awesome!) and a "Tampa style" devil crab, deep fried dough roll with blue crab inside. The devil crab was tasty and reminded me a little bit of a Brazillian coxinha, but with crab instead of chicken.

The food was great at the Floridian making for a wonderful lunch. It's no wonder that the St. Petersburg Times rated it as having Tampa Bay's best Cuban sandwich!

Saturday
Jan052013

White Bay & My New Camera

I have a new camera: a Canon PowerShot G15. If you've seen my post about my cameras you might be wondering why I needed a new point and shoot since I already had a Canon PowerShot G12. Well the operative word here is "had".

My journey to my new camera began while I was visiting my sister in the Virgin Islands at the end of November. As part of an excursion we made to the BVI we stopped at White Bay on the island of Jost Van Dyke. Jost Van Dyke is relaxed and relatively untouched with only a few hundred residents on the island. In fact the island has only had electricity since the nineteen nineties.

White Bay is gorgeous. The sand is pristine white and the beach is lined with low palm trees and sea grapes. There is one catch, however; there is no dock. It's a wet landing so in order to get to the beach you have to swim in from your boat.

My sister had been to White Bay several times and I had been once before as well so we both knew the drill. On a previous trip I had swum to shore with my old Canon Digital Rebel over my head so I didn't think much of swimming to shore with my smaller G12 over my head. Below is the last picture I took with my G12 from the boat before disaster struck. I zoomed in and got this shot of my sister swimming to shore with our clothes in a bag over her head with Soggy Dollar Bar in the background.

I got in the water and started swimming a backstroke with one arm and my camera over my head to keep it dry. I had two issues, however. First, all of the spots to moor that were close to shore were taken so our boat was pretty far out making for a fairly long swim. Secondly, soon after I got in the water a wave caught me and I swallowed a bunch of water. If I had been swimming with two arms it wouldn't have been a problem but with just one arm and trying to get my breath while coughing up the water I was struggling a bit. One of the staff from the boat had fins on and was towing people to shore with a buoy. She saw that I was having a tough time and towed me in the rest of the way in. I was embarrassed but happy for the help.

When I got to shore I was feeling really sick from the salt water I had swallowed so I tried to throw it up in the bathroom with no luck. I ended up grabbing a soda and sipping on it to settle my stomach. I tried turning on my camera at this point and found out it was dead. When the wave caught me it must have also gotten my camera which was a big bummer. Luckily the shop behind Soggy Dollar Bar had some disposable cameras for sale so I bought one and my sister and I took a walk along the beach. The pictures aren't the best quality but not bad for a disposable camera.

In the middle of the beach where we came to shore is the famous Soggy Dollar Bar. It got its name because due to the wet landing the money that people use to pay at the bar is usually wet. Many of the people that come ashore stop here so my sister and I decided to head further down the beach where it was less crowded.

The walk along the beach was amazing. It was a perfect day with a brilliant blue sky and turquoise waves gently breaking on the shore.

Halfway down the beach we decided to sit down and relax at Gertrude's Beach Bar & Grill, a quiet little place with only a handful of people which was a nice change of pace from Soggy Dollar's hustle and bustle. I had a few more sips of soda and we watched the waves roll in.

We continued down the beach soaking up the sun and enjoying the beautiful views.

At the west end of the beach is a cute place called One Love Bar and Grill. We didn't have much time to stop, but I loved all of the buoys decorating the outside and couldn't resist snapping a few pictures.

At this point we headed back towards Soggy Dollar, meandering up the beach while I used up the rest of the film on the disposable camera.

We got a dry bag at Soggy Dollar to put the cameras and clothes in for the trip back which my sister swam with. Using two arms and having my lungs clear I had no problem getting back to the boat. I used the camera on my phone to snap a few more pictures from the boat before we pulled away.

Despite my camera mishap we had a lovely time at White Bay and if you are in the BVI I would definitely recommend stopping there. There is nothing like relaxing in one of the hammocks there under a palm tree. I might suggest getting a dry bag prior to your visit, however, to make bringing any cameras or clothes to shore easier. I definitely will next time!

As for my poor little G12, well, it was toast. Back at my sister's apartment we covered it in rice to try to dry it out but it didn't fix it. I think that it might be because I had tried turning it on earlier. Luckily my SD card was fine so I still had the pictures from my trip.

With my camera dead I decided to replace it. Since the newer Canon PowerShot G15 was fifty dollars less than the G12 I thought I would get the G15. It is a nice little camera and perfect for my needs of having a small point and shoot when I don't want to take my SLR with me. 

I've had it for about a month now so I thought I would share how I feel it stacks up with my old G12. Both have the capability to shoot in RAW format and have the ability to change settings manually to have more control over the camera than a typical point and shoot.

I really like that the G15 has a larger aperture lens (f/1.8–2.8) than the G12 so that I can take better pictures in low light. Since I take a lot of photos in dimly lit restaurants with my point and shoot this is great for me. The G15 has a 12.1 Megapixel sensor compared to a 10 Megapixel sensor for the G12 and the continuous shooting speed on the G15 is also a little faster which is nice.

The only downside for me is that the G15 has a fixed screen and I loved my articulating screen on my G12. As someone who is short and travels alone a lot the articulating screen was an awesome feature. In crowds I could hold the camera above my head but swivel the screen down so I could still see what I was shooting. Also, when taking my own picture by holding the camera out in front of me I could flip the screen so that I could see that I was actually in the picture and not cutting off my head. It is definitely something that I miss about my G12, but all in all the G15 seems like a great camera and I have enjoyed using it so far.

This has turned into a pretty long post so I will wrap things up with a quick summary: White Bay = gorgeous, sea water + camera = bad news and G15 = great point and shoot.

Have you ever had any camera disasters? Were you ever any place gorgeous with only a disposable camera to take pictures? 

Monday
Dec312012

Happy New Year's Eve From Florida!

Frank and I are back in Florida. We were on Amelia Island just three weeks ago for Cindy's wedding and now we are in the Tampa Bay area (Treasure Island) to see Michigan play in the Outback Bowl. 

Our trip down here was fraught with delays. Our original game plan was to leave Friday morning at 7:00 a.m., pick up some friends in Columbus and then get to Treasure Island around 1:00 a.m. That did not exactly work out to plan.

First, our friends in Columbus had their holiday flight cancelled and had to be rebooked so we couldn't pick them up at the original time so we had to delay our departure time to 11:00 a.m. We were then plagued with a traffic jam that kept us a dead standstill which turned a normally three hour drive to Columbus into a five hour journey. After picking up our friends we then were hit with terrible weather and more traffic jams. After reaching Georgia at 1:00 in the morning it was raining with strong wind and near zero visibility so we decided to get a hotel and continue the next day.

On Saturday the weather was better but we had such bad traffic that we didn't get to Treasure Island until 6:00 that night despite leaving at 8:00 in the morning. All in all, what should have taken 18 hours of driving turned into 24 hours. Needless to say we were exhausted by the time we arrived and ended up sleeping in and relaxing all day yesterday. We spent some time reading and napping on the beach, ate some good food, and enjoyed a beautiful sunset.

The weather here was a little chilly for Florida yesterday, but absolutely lovely today and no matter what I am glad to not be dealing with the snow back home right now. Tonight we are changing hotels to be closer to the stadium for the bowl game and then hopefully Michigan beats South Carolina tomorrow.

I hope everyone is enjoying a lovely last day of 2012. What are you doing to ring in the New Year?

Sunday
Dec232012

Holiday Decorations in Toronto

Frank and I arrived back from our short trip to Toronto last night. Due to me not feeling well and being out of town a lot I didn't do much decorating in my home this year for the holidays but I thought I would share a few pictures of the decorations in Toronto that inspired me.

The first thing that you notice wandering around town is the way that all of the outdoor planters are done up for the holidays. The basic theme was to have tall birch logs in the center of the planter for height with an arrangement of greens around the base. I saw tons of variations on this with curly willow, magnolia leaves, seed pods, pinecones and ornaments included in the mix. They were all really pretty and looked quite festive.

My favorite variation that I saw was swapping out the birch logs for bamboo painted a bright, cheery red color. It was so striking to look at.

Moving indoors, I thought that this line-up of Christmas trees each decorated in its own color scheme was really fun and pretty.

Our hotel lobby was beautiful with all of the decorations done in white and silver to complement the dusky blue color scheme of the furniture.

The part I loved best were the flower arrangements.  They had huge bouquets of white football mums in glass vases with a few silver pinecones tucked in to make it festive. It was so simple yet so elegant and beautiful.

Have you been inspired by any decorations that you have seen this year? Do you do any decorating around your home for the holidays?

Monday
Dec172012

Change in Plans

Yesterday Frank and I were supposed to head to Cartegena for a vacation before Christmas. We had an early morning flight so Frank picked me up at four in the morning and we headed to the airport. When we were almost there I had a really sharp pain in my stomach which I told Frank. He looked over and saw me wince and then my eyes rolled back in my head and I lost consciousness. He yelled my name and then shook me until I came to. At first I thought that I had just fallen asleep until I saw how freaked out he was. I tried convincing him we should still take the flight but he wasn't having it and then I started feeling really bad again.

We ended up going to the ER and after they did some tests they determined that it was most likely the sharp pain that caused me to faint and that I was out for awhile because I remained sitting up in the car instead of falling down which would have lowered my head. Frank took me home but I was still exhausted and dizzy. I ended up sleeping for twelve hours, woke up for a few hours to watch a movie and eat some homemade soup Frank made me (he's awesome like that) and then slept for another eleven hours.

I'm still a little out of it but I am feeling much better. Luckily we called the airline before the flight left so that we were able to get a credit for the flight instead of losing the money completely. We tried seeing if we could still fly out later this week but since there is only one flight a day it was all sold out until the end of the month. Being last minute and the holiday season flying anywhere is not an option so we are planning on heading to Toronto on Wednesday for a few days. That gives me some more time to feel better and yet still have a mini vacation.

This isn't exactly how I thought my holiday vacation would be, but I am very thankful that I am okay. We will just have to go to Cartegena another time. Sometimes life requires a change in plans...

Tuesday
Dec042012

The Baths at Virgin Gorda

Last week when I was visiting my sister one of the things we did was head out to the British Virgin Islands on a boat trip to visit The Baths National Park on Virgin Gorda.

The name of the park comes from the gorgeous rocks that line the shore called batholiths. Batholiths are formed from cooled magma deep in the earth's crust. Through continental uplift and erosion batholiths can be exposed on the surface.

The batholiths at Virgin Gorda are made from granite and are special due to their location on the sea as most batholiths are inland. The unique formation creates a maze of grottos, tunnels, and arches right on the shoreline.

As interesting as the geology behind The Baths is, it is really even more impressive to see and explore them in awe of their beauty. I had visited them with my sister on my first trip to visit her in the Caribbean back in 2006 and requested to go back on this trip because they are such a beautiful sight.

At the visitor's center, which is a short distance south from Spanish Town, you pay your entrance fee ($3 for adults, $2 for children) and can choose between two paths down to the rock formations. We decided to go to the right and follow the Baths Beach trail to the water.

As you start to head down the trail you can start to see some of the batholiths surrounding you. The vegetation is also interesting and I particularly liked the cacti that we saw scattered along the trail at various points with a bluish hue to it. It looked so striking again the bright green foliage.

At the bottom of the trail is a lovely beach. The waters were too rough that day for swimming, but the views were stunning.

After enjoying the beach it was time to head into The Baths. The path can easily be followed by the ladders and ropes that were put in place to help people navigate the slippery and sometimes steep areas. In places where it still may be unclear there are some yellow arrows painted on the rock as a guide. 

One of the first amazing formations you come across as you enter the baths is known as The Cathedral. Two enormous boulders barely touch to make a gorgeous triangle shaped cave with the water rushing in and out with the tide. No pictures can do the experience of being there justice.

Continuing on we were lucky to be exploring with no one around us. We ran into a few people occasionally but luckily we were a little ways away between tour groups so we had the rare privilege to be alone with only the sound of the water as we marvelled at The Baths.

The rock formations were fantastic with beautiful coloring and interesting shapes.

At a few points along the path were had glimpses through the rocks out to the sea and then eventually the trail opened up a bit more. The views were spectacular.

At the end of the breathtaking trail we reached the beach at Devil's Bay for more amazing scenery to explore.

Eventually we needed to head back. We could have gone back the way we came but due to time we opted to go straight from Devil's Bay back to the visitor's center via the Devil's Bay Beach Trail. The trail seemed to have less batholiths along the way that the trail we took on the way down but we did see more of the pretty blue tinged cacti.

Back at the top if you are in the mood for some food or drinks you can stop at Top of The Baths for some dining with wonderful views. There is a small freshwater pool as well as some gifts shops there.

Even if you are not interested in getting anything to eat I would strongly recommend taking a peek of the view from their verandah over The Baths and out across the sea to other islands in the BVI. It is really spectacular and a nice way to end a visit to The Baths.

My sister and I had a wonderful time visiting The Baths and our only regret is that we didn't have more time to enjoy them. It is a truly amazing place to visit and quite an amazing natural wonder. If you find yourself in the Virgin Islands, I would definitely recommend making a concerted effort to visit.

Note: The Baths are located in the British Virgins Islands which means that if you coming by way of the US Virgin Islands you will need a passport to visit. American travelers only need their driver's license to enter the USVI or Puerto Rico, so don't forget to also pack your passport if you also want to make a stop in the BVI.

Monday
Nov262012

Lazy Day On Water Island

Yesterday my sister and I, along with several of her friends, spent a fun day on Water Island. The smallest of the four islands comprising the USVI, Water Island is a residential island with a population of less than 200 people. Because of its laidback beach it is a popular place for my sister (who lives on St. Thomas) to visit on the weekend.

The Water Island Ferry leaves from Crown Bay Marina on St. Thomas and runs several time a day. The trip takes only ten minutes and costs $10 round trip for adults and $5 round trip for children. You pay the captain on board and your return ticket includes the ferry schedule on the back so that you won't forget the time to be back at the dock.

We grabbed brunch at Tickles Dockside Pub at Crown Bay Marina and then hopped on the 10:30 am ferry. The views of St. Thomas as we pulled out were quite lovely.

Honeymoon Beach, where we spent the day, is only a few minutes walk from the Water Island Dock. You walk up the road from the dock, past a few charming homes and then you can see the beach off to the right down below.

Descending down the hill you are greeted by a lovely beach lined with palm trees that sits along beautiful Druif Bay.

Underneath the palm trees on Honeymoon Beach are little wooden umbrella huts topped with palm fronds to provide shade. Brightly colored benches are situated underneath them for seating. We snagged one of the umbrellas and set out our beach gear for the day.

For food and drinks there are two food truck options. On the far side of Honeymoon Beach sits Joe's Beach Bar which has a variety of tropical mixed drinks and some fried foods like corn dogs and french fries.


Heidi's Honeymoon Grill is on the close end of the beach and has grilled food like hamburgers, hot dogs and sausages. She also sells beer plus frozen drinks from the back of a little truck with solar panels on the roof. I had an Italian sausage and a frozen strawberry margarita which were both tasty.

We spent our day relaxing in the calm water, reading books and taking naps on beach towels in the sand. There really isn't anything like falling asleep to the sound of the water lapping the shore on a warm, lazy afternoon.

Of course, I also couldn't resist taking a few pictures. The water was especially clear taking on a brilliant teal color when the sun was out and turning a moodier blue when the clouds rolled in.

We also spent a bit of time scouring the rocks to look for sea glass and managed to find a handful of pretty green glass.

Before we knew it, it was 5:00. With the last ferry of the day departing at 5:15 we quickly packed up and I snapped a last shot of the deserted beach with the sun setting before we hurried back to the dock.

We managed to get to the dock just in time to see the ferry pull up. (Bonus points if you can spot the beached ship in the background)

Again we had some pretty views of St. Thomas on the way back and all too soon we were pulling in to Crown Bay Marina.

It was a perfect, relaxing day. If you ever find yourself on St. Thomas for a while and are looking for a low key day away on the beach, I would highly recommend visiting Water Island.

Page 1 ... 4 5 6 7 8 ... 13 Next 10 Entries »