Ok Jean is no longer in charge of the alarm clock. We were supposed to meet for breakfast at 8, which was what time I naturally woke up….so we were a bit late for that but it was all good. We agreed to all get ready and then meet on the end of the dock at 9:15. Well Jean and I got ready and were actually there on time with Katie and Chris and Molly and Sarah. The island is just amazing with green mountains jutting out of the ocean. The fog was surrounding the largest peak so the aura was kind of magical. Also, there was a beautiful rainbow with the most intense colors I have ever seen hanging directly over the town. We all took pictures in front of that and they came out really well. After that, we waited for the Mazzilli parents and they were more than 30 min late…we really need cell phones around here but they don’t seem to work on these non-US islands. Oh well. Jean and I had asked about kayaking and they told us we could do it at Friggat Bay, which was also a beach that was pretty close to the port. Nick got us all a van to go there and in no time we were at the beach. The drive was beautiful and I think this is a very nice island, it has a very British feel to it. At the beach, Jean and I parted ways with the rest of the family and headed down the beach to look for kayaking. All the way down at the end, we finally found someone. Along the beach there were huts selling things, as well as restaurants and such playing calypso music. I loaded up on sunscreen, Jean passed, and we rented the kayak for $15/hr! It would have been $79/person through the ship! We were really excited about that. Lucky, I thought we might get bit wet, so I just look my credit cards and my waterproof disposable camera and we both got in the kayak. Within the first 2 seconds a wave came up and soaked me completely from about my ribs all the way down. Lovely. I was wearing a bathing suit top, but not bottom. Anyways, we set off and headed for a little cove near this large mountain that jutted out from the ocean. Kayaking is really hard! I’d never done it before but Jean was really good and she told me to rest now and then because I was getting super tired. We decided to then go to the part of the beach where the rest of the group was, so we headed there. It was much easier because we were going with the current, but still very challenging. So we row up, and immediately get bombarded with the waves crashing into the shore and we are suddenly and completely soaked. It was ridiculous. Jean pulled the kayak onto shore, we rested a few minutes, and Liz asked if she could row it back with Jean. Yes! No problem at all, I’m glad I kayaked, but that was enough, I get the idea. I walked the length of the entire beach again to return to the ship and get my bag so I could fully change into my bathing suit. Ahh, much better. I walked the length of the beach again, this time in my bikini so it was far more comfortable. Back at the Mazzilli camp, everyone was laying in the sun so I pulled up a towel under and umbrella and rested for a bit. The rest of the time there, which wasn’t really that long, about 1.5 hours, was spend taking pictures, me plucking everyone’s eyebrows, and watching like 3 weddings happen right in front of us. Liz got a massage on the beach for $10 (about $10, this isn’t Asia), but I didn’t really like the looks of it so I passed.
The taxi picked us up at 1 and we all went back into town to get on the ship. Jean and I stayed back because we wanted to buy things for people and we had fun just walking around the town for about 30 minutes. We got some post cards too, and luckily decided to mail them there because the lady corrected the stamp that the cruise man had given me for Australia, so my post card never would have made it. Lucky. Back on the ship, we met people for lunch on the Lido deck (15) and then returned to our rooms to clean up for formal night tonight. We both showered and really took our time getting ready which was nice after such a long morning. We were having pictures taken tonight so we decided to wear our dressiest outfits, so I wore my bebe dress and nice black wedge sandals. We met the Mazzilli parents at their room at 5:20 and took a few pictures with Jean’s fancy camera before heading down the get the professional shots taken. It was kinda sad at the professional ones because I’m not really in the family and I’m not in a couple here so there isn’t a picture of me, but the one’s that Jean took probably came out well too. By that time, it was 6pm – time for dinner! Formal night apparently is the night where they bust out the really good food, so I was excited. For appetizer I had this grapefruit and kiwi salad with a raspberry coulis, then for entree I had — get this — filet mignon AND shrimp newberg! Both were SO good, although I don’t think it was really newberg, but at least the shrimp were big and the sauce was pretty good. The filet mignon was awesome and I think it’s my favourite out of all the beef I’ve tried. Nick told me my problem was that I was getting things medium well, so I had it done medium – I think he was right. For dessert I had nutella ice cream! It was SO good. After dinner we took more pictures before we changed out of our fancy clothes. I check out the internet situation because my cell phone hasn’t been working, but I didn’t have any fun emails anyways so it was kind of a waste. Jean needed an address though so I got here that and we all went to the hypnotist show at 10:30. Ruth and Jean both got picked! Ruth wasn’t ‘easily suggestable’ though so she got removed from the stage with a bunch of other people. Jean stuck up there though….and she started doing all this goofy stuff that the guy was telling them all to do, like play the drums, forget how to spell your name, surf, etc., etc., We were all convinced she was faking. She HAD to be, this was just silly. We took bets on whether she would say she was faking or not and the consensus was that she was going to lie and say that she didn’t remember anything. We were right, and she said she didn’t remember a thing, that she’d only been up there for 5 minutes (it was about 45 minutes). She stuck to that story (and continues to), but really none of us believe her. Well after that, Sarah told us the midnight buffet was up on the Lido deck, so we went up there and…no buffet. Finally we found something, it wasn’t impressive life a midnight buffet should be, no ice sculptures and all. We got some tortilla chips and guacamole and just chatted until nearly 1am. Jean and I returned to our room and went to bed after I named some pictures (which I’m doing for Jean because we are sharing pics – course she takes like 150 scenery pics per day). Grenada tomorrow!
