If you like pina coladas...

This weekend we had Ryan's dad and step-mom in town. We finally had some decent weather and were able to get out and about. June has been an extremely rainy month for us, which is good for our water tank, but bad for visiting guests! Our water tank is so full that at its highest, we had only two inches before it would overflow into the yard. Ryan and I took the longest showers after we found that out!

On Thursday, I found a coconut on the beach and decided to take it home. Ryan wanted nothing to do with this coconut, but I decided that I would break it open survivor style and drink the coconut milk. Ryan's dad Gary was also all about this coconut and we got some tools out to attempt to cut it open. When I was washing off the coconut, I thought it smelled a little funky, but that didn't deter us from cutting it open. When we finally cut it open, what came out was the most rotten smelling milk you could ever imagine. It was so smelly that it immediately induced a gag reflex! This coconut was a learning experience....only eat the coconuts that you have directly pulled from the tree. A coconut that has been laying on the beach in the salt water and blazing sun is NOT an afternoon treat!

When Gary and Kathy were here, we also decided to rent a boat for the day. It was $260 for a 10-12 person pontoon boat for eight hours! We had it all to ourselves. It was great to take the boat out in the ocean and we were able to stop where ever we wanted. We snorkeled, stopped to look at a sunken ship, and just lounged in the ocean. It was a great way to see Bermuda.

We also went out to eat at one of our new favorite restaurants. Bistro J is located in Chancery Lane in Hamilton. It is a small restaurant and has different menu items every night. The dishes are listed on a big chalk board on the wall. I have enjoyed eating fresh Bermuda fish such as Wahoo.

Ryan found out on Thursday that he passed his final actuarial exam! He is now considered a Fellow of the Casualty Actuarial Society. This is huge news as he has been studying for these 9 exams for the past 8 years of his life. We are excited that he is done and we can enjoy Bermuda without the burden of study season. We are both thrilled....what an accomplishment!

I can't believe it is already July this week. Time flies when you are having fun.

Until next time...

Filled Milk

Today I have decided to talk about milk. Ryan and I love milk and while living in the states, we would buy 3 gallons at a time just for the two of us. Since coming to Bermuda we have been shocked by a few things. There is only one distributor of milk for the whole island. Milk only comes in half gallons and a half gallon costs between $3.50-$4.50 (Yes that equals at least $7 a gallon....if of course we were so lucky to be able to by them in gallons). Also milk only comes in paper cartons, not plastic. Plastic prolongs the shelf life of milk, so since we have to buy the paper cartons, we are forced to drink the milk quickly before it expires. Since we don't want to buy too many half-gallons at a time, we end up going to the store to buy milk at least 2-3 times a week.

The subject matter that inspired this post was actually the concept of "filled milk." I have never heard of filled milk before here and for good reason, filled milk was banned by the US Congress in 1923. The Filled Milk Act was incorporated in response to intense lobbying by the dairy industry. According to Wikipedia, "Filled milk is skim milk that has been reconstituted with fats, usually vegetable oils, from sources other than dairy cows and only exists as evaporated milk. Like pure evaporated milk, filled milk is generally considered unsuitable for drinking because of its particular flavor, but is equivalent to evaporated milk for baking and cooking purposes. Other filled milk products with substituted fat are used to make ice cream, sour cream, whipping cream, and half-and-half substitutes among other dairy products." What I can't figure out is that the filled milk on the shelves in Bermuda is a liquid in a half gallon unlike evaporated milk. Ryan actually had filled milk in a milk shake yesterday and it tasted quite good. I am not really sure what to think, but the concept of vegetable oils in my milk makes me want to stick with the good old skim milk we are used to.

Until next time...

Bermuda in the News...

Today in the city of Hamilton there was a huge protest on the capital's lawn. Signs were being held that said, "Out with Brown." Dr. Ewart Brown is the Premier [President] of Bermuda. According to the article, Protesters demand Bermuda premier's resignation, Dr. Brown made the decision (without consulting Britain) to allow 4 detainees into Bermuda to live and work. These Chinese Muslims were released from Guantanamo Bay prison and were declared innocent of any wrong doing or terrorist activities by the U.S. Still many Bermudians are upset that these 4 men are living in Bermuda without the consultation of Britain, since Bermuda is a British territory.

Two other articles on foxnews.com discuss the issue:

Article 1: Detainees Freed in Bermuda Say China Worse Than Gitmo

Article 2: British Government Raises Concerns Over Detainee Transfer to Bermuda

Bermuda is catching international news with this story, so I thought I would share.

Until next time...

The heat of summer

Summer is here to stay. We have been officially running our air conditioners to at least try and pull out the humidity. Some days it has been as high as 90% humidity. Even though it is hot and humid, we have been busy enjoying Bermuda. We started our volleyball leagues this week. Ryan and I are on a C league on Monday nights and I am on a B league on Thursday nights. The league sets up at least 12 nets a night out at Horseshoe Bay. It is really laid back and it has been great so far. We have also completed 2 of our 4 sailing lessons. We are having fun on the J24, but lack of wind has been creating a problem for getting back to the dock. We have been towed in both nights. Sailing has been fun, but I think I need many more lessons in order to feel comfortable in the boat.

This week, Ryan's mom and step-dad came for a visit. We of course took them to see the glow worms last Wednesday night (read my last posting if you haven't heard about the glow worms). The worms were not as impressive as we had hoped. They did come out about 56 minutes after the sun set. We saw about five female worms and the blue color they produced was very vibrant. We were hoping for hundreds of these worms and were somewhat disappointed in only seeing five worms. We at least know the worms exist and may try and see them again after the next full moon.

We went to see Gibbs Hill light house. It is the world's oldest cast iron light house. We walked the 185 steps to the top and could see almost all of the island from its views. The picture in my post is of the flags attached to the lighthouse.

We also went to see Crystal Cave. According to the Crystal & Fantasy Caves website, "When the Wilkinson family, owners of the property [Crystal Caves] since 1884, learned of this discovery, they immediately set about exploring the cave. Mr. Percy Wilkinson lowered his fourteen-year-old son Bernard with a bicycle lamp into the cave on 140 feet of strong rope tied to a tree! What Bernard saw was “Crystal Caves” a silent world of delicate splendor - magnificent crystal stalactites and stalagmites surrounding a clear lake of 55 feet deep - an exquisite world that Mother Nature began over 30 million years ago." We found the water to be especially clear in the caves since there is no light, there are no fish, wildlife, or any plant material. The saltwater is covered with 2-3 inches of freshwater and looks very deceiving from the surface. It looks like the water is shallow although most areas are over 55 feet deep.

Ryan and I feel that we have explored many parts of Bermuda and have now been all of the way across the island. We do hope to continue exploring with our next guests who are coming to visit in a week and a half.

Until next time...

The Bermuda Glow Worm

Most people don't find the mating activities of an organism such as a worm to be intriguing, but if you live in Bermuda you may find yourself seeking out this mating ritual. While we haven't seem it yet, we have been told that it is a must see! The Glow Worms that live in Bermuda mate only in the months of June, July, August, and September and oddly enough they only mate 2-3 days after a full moon and exactly 56 minutes after the sunsets! This ritual last about 10 minutes, so you must come early not to miss it. It is so exciting that the Bermuda Underwater Exploration Institute (B.U.E.I.) offers a $50 boat cruise to see this event. You can also go to any dock or inlet on the island to see this display. Now you may be asking this is great Emily, but why the heck would you go see worms mate. Well, these worms are no ordinary worms, glow worms produce bioluminescent displays during their activities. The females come to the surface and swim in circles while emitting their eggs. The male worms then streak towards the females producing sperm that explodes in what is called marine fireworks! Weird I know, but I guess it is amazing. These activities were first recorded in 1492 by Christopher Columbus! Our plan is to go see these worms this Wednesday while Chuck and Crystal are in town. What a better way to entertain our guests then by taking them to a giant worm orgy. Hmmmm....I will have to report back on our experience.

Until next time...

Our First Guests

My parents came this past week for a vacation and we kept them busy. We were so worried about the weather as it was slated to rain/thunderstorm the whole time they were here. (As a side note, for the month of May Bermuda was down over 3 inches of rain from previous years. We really needed the rain as water tanks are going dry and we have heard that it sometimes takes up to two weeks to get water delivered.) The weather actually turned out great and we were able to do a lot. We found out that scooter riding with guests is difficult. It doesn't make me want to get a car quite yet, but carrying towels, snorkel equipment, backpacks, and helmets isn't exactly easy on three scooters. My dad ended up riding his own, but commented that it was difficult riding on the left hand side, dealing with traffic, and learning all of the road signs and streets. My mom liked to ride on the back as she was able to look at all of the scenery.

A high priority is snorkeling for my family and we concluded that the snorkeling was good, but not great. We went to two locations and feel that we should try more places to see where the true hot spots are. We went to snorkel park which is in Dockyard. It is nice because there is free entry and then you can rent chairs, noodles, jet skis, really what ever beach related item you want. We also took a glass bottom boat out to two ship wrecks and snorkeled over the wrecks. The ship wrecks were really cool. We saw the boats of the Constellation and the Montana. According to a website titled skin-diver, "The Constellation was a four-masted, wooden hulled schooner originally built in 1918 and measuring 192 feet in length. During World War ll, she was pressed into service and used as a cargo vessel. In July 1943, she was bound for Venezuela, carrying a general cargo of building materials, medicinal drugs and 700 cases of Scotch whiskey. Today, her hull lies broken apart on a coral and sand bottom in 30 feet of water, exposing sacks of petrified cement, cups, nail polish bottles and a vast assortment of small items. The Constellation was one of the key shipwrecks in Peter Benchley's book, THE DEEP and later, the movie of the same name." The story on the Montana is this, "The Montana was an elusive ship of multiple identities, often operating under the name of Nola, Gloria, Paramount and Montana. She was a highly successful Civil War blockade runner that made frequent trips between England, Bermuda and North Carolina. Built in Glasgow, Scotland, this sleek 236 foot paddlewheel steamer could run at 15 knots. The shallow reefs of Bermuda accomplished what no Union gun boat could do and she sank in December 1863. She now lies in 30 feet of water, still partially intact. The wreck is marked by a huge steam boiler and two paddlewheel frames lying on their sides. Adorned with a heavy coating of hard corals, soft corals and all sorts of marine life, she is a beautiful sight."

Yesterday, we took a ride to the Bermuda Aquarium, Museum, and Zoo. The zoo is $10 for adults and is really worthwhile. Some of the highlights include the harbor seals, a huge flamingo exhibit, the giant tortoises, and the alligator. The zoo highlights Bermuda's history and wildlife, and I actually learned some great things about Bermuda agriculture, animals, and the history of its settlement. My dad took a lot of great pictures, and I will post most of them on the slide show on my blog. The picture I have included in this entry is from Spanish Point. According to Wikipedia, "Spanish Point is a prominent headland in Bermuda located in Pembroke Parish five kilometres to the northwest of the capital Hamilton. It forms the eastern coast at the entrance to the Great Sound." It was really beautiful out there, especially on a sunny, warm Bermuda day.

My parents trip to Bermuda may not have been complete without the sighting of the giant Bermuda Cane Toad. We saw a giant toad out for a late night snack. He was by far the largest toad I have ever seen. I think he does great things by eating many of the large bugs on the island. We also read that the Cane Toads come out at night and warm themselves on the asphalt of the street. This can prove dangerous many are run over by cars. We know this to be true as we saw one quite smashed on one of our walks this week!

I have more to write about as we have been busy touring the island. We have also been taking advantage of the warming Bermuda waters as last we heard the water was 75 degrees. Once it gets up to 80 degrees we will really love it! I will write more again later this week.

Until next time...