Carnival Grenada...

For most part, I will let the pictures tell the story, with a brief explanation before each event.

Carnival is an event that is over a 3 day period, with NON-STOP partying!  

We begun on Saturday evening with "Panorama" the finals of the Pan Band competitions.  We got back to Our Rose just after 2.00am

Monday morning begun with J'Ouvert - we were up at 4.30am for the 5.00am start.

Most of the very loud bands and Rum partying had continued through Sunday and to Monday morning.

J'Ouvert (with the Jab Jabs) are recognising slavery days.  

This would have to have been one of the most extraordinary things we have ever been to.  There were "Oil" Stations driving around, where the people could "Oil" their bodies (using dark engine oil)

They covered themselves with the oil and had on either masks/and or chains or various props.  On a much smaller scale, colored paint was also used.

Massive Sound systems on trucks

How cool is this guy - looking after babies ears!

We finished the morning session at about 11am.  Went back to Our Rose for a rest, then headed back for the afternoon - "Pageant Mas".  They keep a very strict seperation between the Jab Jabs in the morning and the Pageant Mas, which started at 15:00

 A few beers were had during the late afternoon.  We then went back to Our Rose again for another rest before the evening "Light Night Mas", starting at 20:30

Literally tens of thousands of people were involved - we estimated at least 10% of the population were involved in the actual Carnival, not as spectators like us.

It then finished the next day with "Parade of the Bands"

Carricou Regatta

From Worlds End we had a lovely downwind sail to Carricou.

We had decided to enter the Carricou Regatta - a 3 day sailing race.  First day two handed.  2nd and 3rd days you could have a full crew.  Ian and Wendys boat "Outsider" is much faster than Our Rose, so we raced on their boat, with Richard and Ian doing all the work for the 2 handed race.

For the other two days, we had Lynne and Eric (www.amarulasail.com) crew with us and one day we also had Luxor, a lovely local guy.

The photo on the left shows Richard and Luxor winching as hard as they can, with Eric on the helm.

Above are some yachts we are passing at a reef near a top mark.  The photo to the right shows they wash we were leaving behind the boat, from the speed we were getting.
We ended up winning - 2 bags, 2 bottles of rum, a Gill dive watch and flags etc.  Aside from that we had an awesome time

They also had local races with local boats.  This was held on one of our "off" days.  

The boats were gorgeous.  

There are lots of stalls and rum bars everywhere!... and of course lots of loud music.  

The music is that loud that it vibrates right into the core of your body. 

There is also a DJ or 2 and lots of really large speakers. 
 There are also usually lots of these set up, so they all complete with the music.

After celebrating each race day and it being very hot, we found our beer supplies needed replenishing and Petite Martinique has well priced beer.  This is what the trays of beer were delivered to the dinghy dock in!  Lucky we have lots of bilges where things like beer and wine can be stored!

 There are some lovely shingle houses - Richard thought the one on the left would be an interesting do up?!?  The photo on the right shows how lovely they look when restored.

We then headed back to White Island, where the wedding had been held.  

Our initial plan had been to have a BBQ there, however this was when the wedding appeared.  

I used our lovely table cloth that Chris and Michael had given us 

and Richard and Ian had a beer or so while the BBQ was getting ready.

As the sun was setting, we stoked the fire back up and on dusk we headed back to the boats.

What a beautiful setting.

What do you think this piece of driftwood looks like?

My Birthday...

Day after the wedding on White Island was my birthday.  Ian brought over a gift - a Koala, 2 Oh Henry Chocolate Bars and the loan of a book "Caribbean" by James Michener for me to read.

We sailed to Union Island, where we stocked up on Fruit and Vege from Colorful Stalls.  Richard bought me a lovely Hibiscus clip.

Happy Island - the Island was handmade by a guy named Janti.  It is built on the edge of a reef at Union Island.  One problem they had at Union Island was the Conch Shells that were left on the beach by the fishermen, which was quite unsightly.  (Literally thousands and thousands of them).  Jonti solved this problem by taking the conch Shells and creating his own island, and building a bar.  You can snorkel during the day, or have a drink at the bar.  You can tie your dinghy up right outside.

We then sailed to Petite Martinique.

I had skype calls and loads of messages from my friends and family.  They all meant so much to me!  Thank you all.

In the evening, Ian cooked us a Roast Lamb with all the trimmings for dinner.  He also invited Eric and Lynne from Amarula (www.amarulasail.com).

What an awesome day, with my wonderful husband and our lovely new friend Ian.

Next day we up-anchored and headed to "Worlds End" - a reef system at Tobago Cays.
We could not believe our luck with the weather - we were able to stay at Worlds End for a couple of days.  We did lots of snorkelling - I went for my first dive in years.  The coral was really healthy and there was a lot to look at.

This is "Outsider" and "Our Rose" anchored at Worlds End.
(We can now say "we've been to the End of the World"

Tiki Touring...

Brett and Teresa (www.seismicwave.ca) continued on with us, and we enjoyed Whisper Cover, where we listened to a "jam" session of musicians.  We then continued to St Georges, where they have a dinghy dock directly across the road from the Supermarket - they really try to make life easy for cruisers.  After restocking, we headed to the Underwater Sculpture Park, anchored and then snorkelled (www.grenadaunderwatersculpture.com).

We then headed back to Prickly Bay, another Tropical Wave weather system coming through.  This is where we said "See You" to Brett and Teresa, who flew to Panama.

We had met Ian and Wendy from Outsider (Australians).  Wendy headed back to Australia for 6 weeks, so Ian decided to join us and we up-anchored and headed to Ronde Island.  

We had boat boys come and sell us two Conch (Lambi), which Ian negotiated the price - 4 cold beers.  We left Ronde and sailed to Saline Island - Carricou.  We went ashore and walked to the top of the island.  

We were attacked by Cactus and Monster Mosquitos on the way back down.  After  WELL EARNED cold beer, Ian showed us how to clean the Conch.

Conch Salad for dinner - YUM!

Next morning we motored to White Islands.  Oh My - soooo gorgeous.

Bombay Sapphire Clear Water.  White Sand Beach.  Uninhabited Island.  We did lots of snorkelling.  Richard went diving.  Another night of delicious seafood for dinner.

A local boat came over to the island and begun building a structure.  Ian asked them what it was they were building.  "Its an archway for my wedding" was the reply.  "Would you and your friends like to join us for my wedding, this afternoon at 14:30?"

The guests (about 150 or more) were all brought over in very colorful local boats.

These lovely girls were happy to have their picture taken.

The bride arrived on one of the boats, then after the ceremony the bride and groom joined everyone for a great time.

There was huge generator with large speakers and a DJ.  Great music!  

Rum Punch, Beer, BBQ Chicken, Pealla, three wedding cakes etc etc

Just before dark, everyone was ferried back over to the mainland by the colorful local boats - Ian in his dinghy and us in ours, all helped get locals back.

What a magical experience!