Tour of Green Turtle Cay

I have decided to do things a little different this trip. I hope to do a tour of the places we visit, so you can get a better idea of the places we see.

This shows Green Turtle Cay and where we are.

This is a closer picture of the town and where most of the "good stuff" is. The blue dot is us at the dock.



And even closer. The big dock above is where the supply boat come in.

This shows the southernmost end of the island and beautiful Gillium Bay. We walked around the end of the island and cut thru the trees to get back to the shore. A beautiful walk thru a beautiful place.

A closer look at the harbor and surrounding area. The blue dot is where we are docked.

Green Turtle Cay is our main destination in the Abacos. When the weather is good, we plan to explore nearby islands and when the weather is not so good, or we are just too lazy, we will stay here. The island is small with a population of about 450 according to the guidebook. The island has everything you need. There are 2 hardware stores, several hotels, several marina/boatyards, several restaurants, and several gift shops. 

Our "home away from home".

Of course, us cruisers are always looking for Customs/Immigration offices as soon as we get to the Bahamas. We went by Customs the first day we were there and it wasn't open. It's the Bahamas and things don't always run on a set schedule. Maybe the official didn't want to ride the ferry across the Sea of Abaco that day. Who knows? Anyway, we went back the next day and found a line of about 8 people in front of us. Shay had printed the forms and we had already filled them out so we asked and were able to get in front of the line. We saw people leave the office about 4 hours later that were in line in front of us. Way to go Shay!

Another place cruisers are eager to visit is the BaTelCo office or Bahamas Telephone Company. We had hoped to use a T-Mobile plan we signed up for in the States. We were told we would have unlimited call and text and plenty of data. If course it didn't work and we had to get a Bahamas SIM card for our phone. When the island internet is working, we can get WiFi at the dock, but again it is not too reliable. So when we have internet we use Skype and Whatsapp to communicate with family and friends in US. When the internet is out, we use BaTelCo.

The BaTelCo office.

A boat anchored in the channel between Treasure Cay and Green Turtle Cay and picked up the internet cable and broke it. It was fixed in a day or two and then another fast boat cut the line into three pieces and it was down again for several more days. We were surprised it was fixed as soon as it was.

There are 3 grocery stores. Of course, the prices are 2-3 or more times what it would be in the States. But you can get it. Shay found a coconut and we decided to make a cake. We paid an islander $4.00 dollars to open a coconut for us and FFF. The cake mix was about $5.00 and icing was over $6.00. the cost was over $16.00 for a sheet cake. I said it was the most expensive box cake I had ever made. But it was delicious!

 

Yummy!

 New Plymouth is the town where most of the businesses are located. Most things are located around the harbor and are within easy walking distance. We usually walk to wherever we are going, but have biked around a few times. Most islanders have golf carts and or cars. They don't usually walk, they ride.

 

 

 

 

The above buildings are part of the "Ye Olde Gaol" or jail. It looks like they had room for 3 prisoners. We are not sure what the steps are for, but thought they might go to a gallows or hanging area.

This boat reminded me of Daddy, He called my mama, "Mama Lizzie".

There are two cannons on one of the docks. No worries about pirates or invaders!

The people on the dock decided to have a dock party and we had a great time. Everyone brought a dish and we shared. We had homemade barbeque. One of the boaters is big on canning and had canned some BBQ and it was delicious. We have again met some great cruisers on this trip.

The BBQ canners!

Happy Hour

FFF

 

Ken and Alice from Knot Fancy. They were a cute couple that had sinking boat problems and had to sale the boat and go back home.

Sea Turtle. I told Shay if Sea Salt and Salty Turtle had a baby, it would be called Sea Turtle.



FFF and us took our dinghies to explore one day and went to Green Turtle Club. Of course, its where all the rich people stay. It's a pretty place, but very far from town, which means you have to rent a golf cart to get around most of the time.

 

These are "upside down jellyfish" according to Lauren. They look like flowers and are in the water all around the islands.

Beautiful moonrise

 

These pictures are taken standing on the Green Turtle Cay mountain! The two lane road becomes a one way to the left. That makes it easier for us to get around town, cause these people drive on the wrong side of the road! At least we only have to dodge them from one way.

Cemetery

 

 Thursdays are a big day on the island. The supply boat comes in and brings EVERYTHING! The day we watched we saw a couch and chair, an air conditioner, and tons of food and beverages. There is basically nothing grown on the island, so all the food that is eaten here comes in for the restaurants, visitors and islanders. That's a lot of food and drink. And speaking of drink, they make sure they bring in enough beer to last until the next boat comes in! The ferry dock is very busy when the big boat comes in and it takes hours to unload and separate things.

  

The woman at the table, is in charge of keeping things organized.

Shay was making sure everything went as planned. He got to talking to the cook on the boat. He was fishing off the back. They live on the boat for a while and make the same trips back and forth. Don't worry, that's not all the beer!

Let's close up and get out of here!

Shay was ready to help if they needed it.

The Beach is this way, Mon.

Shay and Bill from Sea Wolfe walked out a sandbar at low tide. We were looking for starfish, shells and sand dollars.

 

This is Gillium Bay. It is a beautiful beach and we have walked it many times. You can go around the end of the island and cut across the center and come back to the beach. White sand, clear water, beautiful blue sky. What more could you ask for?

2 Shorty's Restaurant. They have $5.00 specials on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. David loves their fish and chips.

Laures Kitchen is another FFF favorite. They love her Asian food.

I love these houses along the shore. They look so Bahamian.

And of course we have beautiful palm trees.

One of several churches on the island. This is the one we go to. Even though the sign says Methodist, it's multi-denominational.

Beautiful bougainvillea.

 

We were here for St. Patrick's Day and of course, we went to the parade. There were several islanders and tourists riding golf carts, bikes and walking.

The first cart with the Ireland flag of course!

 

The Memorial Sculpture Garden features bronze bust of persons who have played important roles in Bahamian history and a centerpiece sculpture depicting the arrival of loyalist from the United States.

 

Huge philodendron grows everywhere down here. There are lots wild plants here that we grow as small indoor houseplants back home.

 

Sights around Green Turtle.



 

I thought I would show how much fun Shay and Emma had getting into the coconuts we found. Yes, we paid to have to first ones cracked, but Shay did the rest of ours. Emma sweet talker islanders into cracking hers. She has a way of getting people to do things her way. David will agree.

A man and his tools.

That's a lot of work for that small amount of milk.