August 2015
We arrived at Tahiti Sunset for our two week vacation courtesy of Capt'n Plug - the perfect way to arrive in Hopetown if you've missed the last ferry - he collected us from Marsh Harbour and took us right to Tahiti Beach dock.
Very excited to see the new outside teak furniture has arrived (a marathon journey from England!) and it looks fantastic, what a difference. A large table seating up to 10 with 10 chairs, two adirondack chairs with footrests, two rocking chairs and a bar table with very comfortable barstools (perfect for viewing Tahiti Beach with a cup of coffee!).
We also decided on Day One that paddleboards would be a great addition to the house and met with Jesse of Abaco Paddleboards to make the difficult decision of choosing two boards. We ended up (after much deliberating!) going with a beautiful wood/reggae coloured board and a bright pink board and two carbon fibre paddles (so light!)
They ended up being a great success and were used every day along with the kayaks. With only a few feet to go before you have the board in the water and the generally flat calm conditions in front of the house, the boards were used by all ages. We plan to rent them as an extra with the house so do enquire if you are interested.
The weather was perfect for boating in the Sea of Abaco. We had an Albury 20' for the first two days and and Albury 23' for the next 10 days. We managed to cover a lot of ground, going to Pete's Pub at Little Harbour a couple of times before it closed where we saw lots of turtles, enjoyed a few too many Blasters and enjoyed a delicious fresh conch salad made on the beach while we watched. We stopped at Pelican, Lynyard and Sandy Cays on the journey up there where we snorkelled and found some lovely shells. Plenty of rays on Tilloo Bank too and a pair of noisy oyster catchers on South Pelican. We saw an enormous needlefish - the most amazing irridescent blue/green colour.
We went to a few new places this trip. The first was Scotland Cay Lagoon (discovered through the wonderful Abaco Forum). It was so beautiful we went back a few times - perfect gin-clear water, lots of Spotted Eagle Rays, a wonderful spot to enjoy a Sands Light and marvel at how beautiful Abaco is!
We also had an amazing adventure with Capt'n Plug who took us for a day trip North. First stop was No Name Cay to swim with the pigs - we took water and apples and they were very grateful, particularly for the water! They were very tame and the babies enjoyed having a tummy rub!
On from No Name to Manjack Cay to see the stingrays. What a beautiful cove and the minute we had anchored the boat we were surrounded by rays, including an enormous one we named The Mothership - she was particularly greedy! Stafford had brought squid along for us to hand feed them. What an experience! They feel like velvet and were so gentle and graceful. It was hard to leave! We went next to Green Turtle Cay and had an original Goombay Smash at Miss Emily's bar which was delicious - it was an incredibly hot day so we hopped back on the boat and headed for Shell Beach where we found lots of pretty shells for the collection, watched a family of cormorants fishing and were able to see Bakers Bay across the water - what a beautiful beach. Final stop at Scotland Cay for a swim and all home tired but happy - it was a perfect day and Stafford (aka Plug) was fantastic company and full of interesting stories and historical information.
We saw lots of birds this visit and sitting on the deck at Tahiti Sunset was a great spot to see them - there was a resident young heron, a pair of woodpeckers nesting in a coconut tree and frigate birds flying overhead. Tahiti Beach had a lot of birds including a pair of Piping Plovers (rare sighting). We also enjoyed going on the beach early in the morning and were rewarded one day with a pair of dolphins and their babies slowly swimming around the sandbank at Tahiti Beach about 2 feet from us. Magical.
We enjoyed so many fantastic sunsets - every evening a bit different and best enjoyed with a cocktail in hand on the top deck!!
My favourite time of day without doubt is sunrise on Tahiti Beach. No one around, lots of fish feeding, birds feeding and the most amazing sunrises. First footsteps on that gorgeous beach!
Luckily for the teenagers the surf was up for a few days of our visit and lots of fun (courtesy of Abaco Paddleboards Surfboard rentals) was had in front of the Abaco Inn at Hamburgers.
Discovered a new fruit growing in our garden - Sugar Apples - delicious. Hoping for avacados from our tree next!
There were some amazing storms while we were there, mostly around Marsh Harbour, sadly not much rain this year on Elbow Cay although we did a few raindances!
Sad to leave as always, what an amazing couple of weeks....time for the countdown until next time...