How could you ever be blue in Bermuda??

Today we joined a taxi tour arranged by Joanne to visit the highlights of Bermuda - and although we didn’t arrive until 12 midday - originally scheduled for 10.00am - our guide/driver Robbie was waiting patiently as soon as we disembarked. 

Bermuda is actually a group of islands which are formed by the rim of an ancient volcano - and the sail in was beautiful, although slow as we negotiated the various coral reefs which were just below the surface. Finally we reached the pier and were docked behind the much larger Caribbean Princess - the crew from both ships have arranged to meet in a nearby park for a joint ship’s BBQ so there is much excitement onboard as many have friends and partners on the sister ship - even if they will only have 4 hours to meet up.

The main six islands of Bermuda are close together and joined by a series of bridges. They form a semi circular shape - and with the ship docked at one end - we were able to see it from most parts of the island. The whole country has a very British feel to it - the different suburbs are called parishes and have English names like Somerset, Warwick, Southampton, Devonshire and Pembroke. The Bermudians are about 65% of African descent and 35% of English descent.

The architecture on the island is very special - every house has a white roof and white trim - while the outer walls are painted in a range of pretty pastel colours - each house is different from its neighbours. It reminded us of a story we heard about an island (not sure if it was Bermuda) where the mayor decreed that all the houses had to be painted a different colour - and it turned out that the mayor owned the local paint shop - great marketing!! 

We were told by Robbie that the average house price is $1.3 million US - and many famous stars and business people have homes on Bermuda - there were certainly some very exclusive looking properties - he mentioned some names - even an Australian couple who live here but we had never heard of them. The plant life on the island is very tropical - so many of the flowers are very common in Queensland - frangipani, hibiscus, poinsettias etc. 

One of the official holidays on Bermuda is Peppercorn Ceremony Day. The local Freemasons Lodge is located in the State House which it rents from the Bermuda Government. Three hundred and ninety years ago, the English government entered into a contract with the local lodge that they could rent the building for the annual sum of one peppercorn. Every year, in April, with much pomp and ceremony, the local dignitaries and the town crier, with his bell, gather in Kings Square, where the annual rent is paid. The governor inspects the honour guard the mayor demands the rent be paid. A single peppercorn is paraded on a silver platter atop a velvet cushion through the honour guard and is presented with a flourish to the mayor. The payment is then celebrated by huge parties in each of the parishes on the island. I guess that they don’t have any plans to find new headquarters while they are on such a sweet deal.

-The islands themselves are traversed by roads which resemble country lane-ways rather than main thoroughfares - and the speed limit is 35!! - KILOMETRES per hour - not MILES!! We were intrigued by many of the street names - which obviously reflect the history of the locations - Old Maid Lane, Shinbone Alley, Blacksmith’s Lane, Barber’s Alley, Printer’s Alley, Blockade Alley, Turkey Lane, Governor’s Alley, Church Lane and, of course, Church Folly Lane, which runs by the church which was never finished. You may notice that many of the names suggest small roads - and they are a winding maze of narrow one way streets - when they were built in the 1600’s, they were set up for walking traffic and horses, and as the houses are so close to the edges and the islands are not very big - there is not really any room to expand - it gives the whole place a very laid back relaxed feel - no one is in a hurry to get anywhere.

We visited most areas of the main islands from the Royal Naval Dockyard to the capital Hamilton and the town of St George (named after the patron saint of England) to get a great overview of the islands - with its beautiful sandy beaches. Because the islands are so narrow - everywhere has a magical sea view - the sea is so many different shades of blue - azure, aqua and turquoise - with great snorkeling reefs within walking distance of the shore.

Bermuda is certainly a country that we want to visit again and stay for more time - it is about two hours by plane from Miami and New York, so maybe we can combine it with another trip.

We are now heading towards Fort Lauderdale with another two sea days. We have been warned that the immigration process into the US can be very tedious, as everyone (passengers and crew) has to be off the ship and accounted for, before anyone can return to the ship. We are leaving at 5.00 pm., so hopefully we will be able to get off early and spend as much time there as possible - we plan to take an Everglades Air boat ride in the morning and then head off the Sawgrass Mills Outlet shopping centre for the afternoon.

Cheers