elanya

I caught the ferry out to Spanish Wells. I had some doubts about spending the whole day on the Island - i really isn't that big. It took me less than an hour to walk from end to end and back again. The little museum was closed. I had no idea who I should be talking to. I'm not even *entirely* convinced that the island has much to offer me, especially after reading the 1991 survey report from AHC Inc. But I managed. There were midgets and other evidence of the fact that half the Islands has the last name Pinder. in fact genetic studies have shown that there is a congentital disease that came over woth the earliest settlers in the 1650's. yeah, the same families have been there that long @_@ I wandered, I wandered the beach a bit. I had a dubious lunch of a tuna melt on a johnny cake (like a cross between an English muffin and a biscuit)and fries at the Snack Shop. I bought a little pineapple cake at the local bakery. I read most of Fritz Leiber's The Green Millennium (All about how a cat saves the world) seated on a bench in the Methodist park thing. I... missed the ferry back!

I *though* I was running about an hour early - I'd brought my little clock with me so that this wouldn't happen, but it apparently lost an hour over the day. that's what I get for trusting cheap travel clocks that are kicking around a book bag all day. Anyway, I must have been just slightly less than an hour "early". I waited by the dock and read most of the rest of my book. By the time my clock was saying 5, I knew something had gone wrong. But unlike the time I missed the ferry in Ireland, which experience C had the misfortune of witnessing, I was rather zen about it.

Some people got off a boat. I considered asking them the time, but neither was wearing watches. They came over to me anyway, and asked if I was okay. i asked the time - 5 after 6. The ferry was supposed to come at 4:35.... I felt a rising wave of panic, but tried to suppress it, as I was sure I could find someplace to stay on the island. I hoped. They asked me what had happened and I explained, with relative calm I think. When i get flustered I lose the ability to speak at all coherently, and when I'm really upset I can't speak at al. But I explained. They said I'd be okay, they asked where I was from. I answered Canada - the magic words!

see, *they* were from Canada too! And they would take care of me. They being Grant and Cheryl. They took me back to the ridiiicuolously expensive beach house that their company is renting for them for the next two years, and let let me have the whole empty other half. It was very posh, right on the beach, and such. we chatted, ordered dinner, and so forth.

Interestingly enough, they work for this resort development which is supposed to be a six star affair when it is all done. They are the property managers, and spent their time at Royal Island trying to sell lots to rich investors (mostly Texans... in another sweep of coincidence or fate, they spent the last seven years living in Dallas) for 5-20 million dollars a pop. And that is just the land! Cheryl gave me a t-shirt to sleep in, and some bread (home made bread from one of their people on their island), and they let me book a flight on their internet, e-mail dad and Hazel (though I'm not convinced anyone would have *really* noticed if I'd gone missing for a night ;p), and even had their private driver take me to the North Eleuthera airport in the morning! In the end, for staying with really nice people on the beach on a nice tropical island in a really plush beach house, I think the 101$ (plane=75, local ferry=4, taxi back to hotel=22) was probably fair - it is only money, after all, and I may be able to get it refunded anyway, whee!

I got back in this morning around ten, went to the hotel to freshen up, then to lands and surveys where I waited like two hours for them not to be able to photocopy a map of Harbour Island - it was on a weird material and the photocopy pages wouldn't line up at all. I tried the turtle dinner at the Bahamian Kitchen. Turtle is like.... It is textured like steak, but it has an oily fish taste that is kind of like salmon, really. I thought it was like a meatfish, but it was too meaty for me atm, so i didn't eat too much of it. Then I came back and had a much needed nap, read the rest of the rest of the Preacher's Cave reports, and then went to the hagendaaz down the street for a *giant* sundae with brownies and melted belgian chocolate @_@. and then I came online!