A Walk To The Wild Side

Thompson Bay     

I was stretching downstairs when I heard a loud racket and felt a subsequent shaking of the boat. I went upstairs and looked out the saloon door to see Barry in the cockpit waging war against one of his recently harvested coconuts. With multiple instruments of destruction laying at his feet, he had turned to hand combat to wrestle the nut from the husk. I snapped the first two photos before he realized I was watching. Only when his opponent morphed into a Teddy bear begging for mercy, did I open the door to get a better look. Barry was quite proud of his cute little extraction and rushed inside to poke it's eyes out, crack it open, and enjoy the fruit of his labors. (Coconut is a fruit, not a nut.) We were both disappointed when the contents turned out to be rancid. A solemn cleanup was taking place as Kelly picked me up at 10:00 for a day onshore.

Today's exploration would be done by foot and we had identified three spots we wanted to visit. Our first stop was the Farmers Market. We quickly realized that we were a few hours late. All of the eggs and most of the produce were gone. I purchased a small coin purse and a slice each of coconut and guava bread, while Kelly snagged some guava jam. Our biggest find was the four lady vendors that we chatted with for about an hour. I'll say it again, the folks on Long Island are a treasure. 

We then continued south on Queen's Highway for a return trip to Dapple. Our beverages were enjoyed on the porch as we looked out at the orchids and also greeted all the folks coming and going from this cute little coffee house and bistro. Locals and visitors all stopped to chat on this beautiful Saturday. The wind had calmed from overnight and the sun was out. Well, it was out until the showers settled in. We stayed on the porch longer than intended, but with no regrets. 

Once the rain stopped, it was time to take a walk to the wild side. We crossed the island to the Atlantic coast. We paused as the chickens crossed the road. They disappeared into the scrub vegetation so we never saw exactly why they crossed. Pretty yellow flowers and plenty of vibrant red bougainvillea lined the one lane hard-packed dirt road. Off to the north was a large inland pond. Birds sang in the trees and weren't phased by us as we passed alongside their position.

After cresting the last hill, the path flattened and went straight through lush grasses to the Hamilton's Beach. The strong east wind was still whipping up large surf, but a small reef dampened the breakers before they reached the shore. We kicked off our shoes and walked barefoot in the soft, but densely packed, sand.

Kelly and I headed north first toward the rock formations at Milan's Beach. There were no other crazy people out on this sporty day, so the sand was pristine as we made our way into the crescent basin at the base of the rocks. The rock was a geologist's dream with clearly defined and uniform strata. This special spot made the perfect background for our souvenir photo.

Unable to go further north, we reversed course and headed south. We were surprised to see blue sky and sun while walking in the surf. The sun highlighted the sand and enhanced its distinctive pink coloration. The large rock formation at Hamilton's Beach loomed in the distance with its many facets and features catching my eye. 

Somehow it looked even more interesting from the other side with the sun bringing out the color of the rock. We kept walking until the sand ended at a large rock outcropping. The layers in this rock were highly contorted, almost swirled. Stepping out into the shallow water, I was finally able to capture a photo showing the hole in the large rock. 

In spite of the wild surf, this beach walk was very relaxing. Whether watching the ripples advance onto the sand or sitting on a large piece of driftwood high on the dune and just chatting, it was simply a special afternoon. Although not shown in the above "pretty" pictures I feel I must comment on the tons of plastic trash washed up on this remote beach. This is a serious and ever-growing problem on all the beaches we've visited. With clouds darkening, we reluctantly turned our backs to the waves, passed through the grasses -- saying "Hello" to a grasshopper, then put our shoes on before crossing back across the island.

We made a few other detours to check out the buildings on the Thompson Bay shore. The Long Island mural at the cultural center was particularly bright and cheerful. Finally back at Basil's Dock, we were surprised at how far the tide had fallen. We expertly guided the dinghy by hand around the dock to the ladder and eased in for the return ride to our boats. The water was so calm that we took a slow cruise along the shore to squeeze a bit more into our day. Right on cue as we made the final turn across the anchorage, the wind started whipping up. We spotted rain moving across the island on the currents of the building gusts. I quickly, and even somewhat gracefully, bid farewell to Kelly and hopped from the dinghy onto the swim platform of Crossroads. Kelly zipped off to Untethered and got onboard just as the rain started to fall. As usual, the shower did not last long. We were treated to a small rainbow to end the day. The heavy clouds obscured the sunset, but didn't dull the colorful memories of another great day exploring Long Island. And the stiff wind continues to blow ...

[Thanks to Kelly for sharing a few photos!]