December 5, 2024

St. Maartin to St. Barthelemy

Cousin Cathy decided to give me a glimpse into the upper elite world, via a day trip to St. Barthelemy! We took a 45 minute ferry from Philipsburg, St. Maartins to Gustavia, St. Barthelemy and had to clear customs, both ways. Gustavia is like the Rodeo Drive of the Caribbean - lots of huge yachts and fancy shops line the marina. We had to stay extra-long is D&G because a passing rain shower hit as we were about to exit - very nice sales lady insisted we stay and check out 2nd floor! Was fun see all the iconic items I have vaguely heard about over the years.  Rod bought Cathy a bracelet in Hermes for her 60th Birthday!

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Once the rain let up we hailed a cab, a very chic & pricy mini van type ($44 to go less than 10 minutes) and headed up the hills from the port to the fancy Eden Rock Resort. We had a yummy Thanksgiving day lunch in the Remy Bar and Salon, comfy open air space and situated right on the beach. The Master Chef is the same as the Philadelphia Four Seasons, Jean Georges Vongerichten.  

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After lunch we strolled some more and took a dip in the ocean and checked out the crowd at the swanky Nikki Beach Club, next door to Eden Rock. Then another pricey cab back to the port, watched sunset and had some drinks at local bar before heading back on Ferry to St. Maartins.

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HONIARA, SOLOMON ISLANDS

By Patricia Patrick • November 16, 2025
Another great day exploring the South Pacific ! Today as soon as our ship docked in Honiara , and we were cleared by customs, I was off with 9 other residents, to get in 2 small speed boats and head out to Simon's Nature Reserve in the Solomon Islands . It was about an hour long ride across the Iron Bottom Sound but so worth it to experience this special place!

ALOTAU, PAPUA NEW GUINEA

By Patricia Patrick • November 14, 2025
Fun fact - Papua New Guinea is the most linguistically diverse country in the World! It is estimated that there are at least 826 Papuan languages. Some are spoken by just a handful of people, while others by 100,000. (Thanks - Basia & Wikipedia for sharing this information).

TULLY RIVER, WHITE WATER RAFTING, AUSTRALIA

By Patricia Patrick • November 12, 2025
Tully is a small sugar mill town about 2 hours south of Cairns and we traveled here with a group of about 20 other residents to go white water rafting in the Tully River at the Gorge in the National Park. It is the beginning of the wet season and the river was running at a high level, so the rapids were class 4 out of 5. We had some trepidation, but were excited for the adventure! OMG so much FUN!!