November 26, 2024

BARBUDA - Paradise Found!!!

So I had never heard of this island, but Cousin Cathy had done her research and was on it! The adventure starts with a 90 minute ferry ride at 9 am, from Antigua, which we just got into and cleared customs at 8 am. The ferry is $100 / round trip - so I was expecting something nice. The Express Ferry was filling up quickly when we climbed on board. There was upper deck seating, but was toasty in the sun, so we quickly found open seats, inside in the air conditioning of the front cabin. The seats were comfy, while not luxurious. The ride over was very rocky at times, some passengers got pretty green, but we felt ok. Time went by pretty quickly in anticipation.  

We arrived at a parking lot that had lots of trucks & vans in to pick up passengers and cargo, but nowhere was a taxi to be found. It's Sunday morning, 10:30 am, they are all in Church! It rained heavily, the night before, and the compacted sand roads don't drain - the island is level. Roads seem impassible for regular cars. We spot a big guy, in a Nobu shirt, picking up supplies from Ferry and we ask him to take us with him to restaurant, since we have a reservation at 12. He calls restaurant and they say they will send a free shuttle to get the 5 of us, in 15 minutes. Needless to say, our surroundings are giving us pause. Then our Shuttle pulls up!

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You can't judge Paradise by the pathway there!!

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WOW !!!! The food was spectacular and the beach a slice of Heaven! At least how I picture Heaven.

Turns out Robert DeNiro owns part of this Paradise, and he has a home right inside the NOBU property, and he just happened to fly in yesterday to greet us! While we may have only seen the red roof of his house and a picture of his private plane from our shuttle driver, we did see the 2 helicopters, that flew into his property, as we were dining and promptly decided when we come back again, that is how we will arrive!

Footnote - Barbuda is home to a Frigate Bird Colony that my fellow resident and friend, Basia went to and took these pictures, while we dined. Barbuda is also known for its pink sand beach, which you can faintly see on this shoreline photo. The ferry ride back was severely rocking and rolling, people were getting sick to the left and right of us and running for the outside to vomit overboard. Thankfully, we were chill, loving life and holding onto our yummy lunches!

WELLINGTON, NEW ZEALAND

By Patricia Patrick • March 4, 2026
We had a beautiful sunny day to explore Wellington ! Was a very nice change from the stormy, big swells weather we have had the last two days! Wellington is the Capital city of New Zealand and the CBD is nice and big with lots of shops and museums. We didn't make it to the LOTR studios due to the time crunch but we took the cable car up to the top, for a scenic overlook of the port and then leisurley walk down through the Botantical Gardens, parks and historical cemetary.

ROTORUA CITY HIGHLIGHTS - NEW ZEALAND

By Patricia Patrick • March 3, 2026
Rotorua became a bonus city for us. Our Port stay in Tauranga got cut down to one day, due to NZ biosecurity regulations and since we really wanted to do Hobbiton, we decided to get off the ship and stay in hotels and get back on the ship, in a few days. Due to a variety of factors, the Ship ended up doing a quick pick up of us in Tauranga, three days later. The Kiwi's we encountered along the way, who helped with all our last minute details, were amazingly kind, hospitable and generous. Below is our tired, chilly group huddled at the security shed, outside the Port in the wee hours (1:30 am) Monday morning, awaiting our final hurdle of getting back on our Home. Home sweet home! What an adventure!

ROTORUA, NEW ZEALAND

By Patricia Patrick • March 3, 2026
Rotorua, New Zealand is known for it's geothermal activity ( geysers, mud pools, hot springs) and rich Maori culture . I saw lots of that last time I was here in 2016, so this time I wanted to see their Redwoods in Whakarewarewa Forest. John and Colleen joined me in exploring. Their redwoods are smaller than the ones in Muir Woods California, but still impressive. Both are planted forest dating back to around 1908.