We've been living a very busy and very calm life on a mooring ball in Jolly Harbour these past few days.



Jolly Harbour is another choice of port of entry into Antigua and the C&I building is easy to access with slips to tie up to while you check in (almost directly in front of Banyan's bow, in the photo above). We are surrounded by the marina and condo complex and many private homes with marina slips dot the side channels.



We stopped in at the local Re-Max store to see what prices are like and you could easily own a waterfront home here under 300K, unless of course, you want to buy a Villa right on the beach, in behind these palm trees, at the modest price of 3.5 million.



Anyhow, back to reality. Being on a mooring ball ($20 US/night) has allowed us to transport our various goods to and fro, via dinghy. We found more than enough provisions to stock our cupboards, in a pretty amazingly large grocery store, just steps away from the dinghy dock. We walked up and down the well stocked aisles wanting to grab one of everything, as we haven't seen this much variety and availability in a while, however cranberry sauce is still proving to be pretty elusive.



A couple of days later when we visited again, the stocks and baskets of fresh fruit and veggies were pretty bare and empty, and we were told the provisioning truck comes in on Tuesdays. Aha...

Routine chores had me cleaning out the fridge and freezer, followed by emptying and going through the galley cupboards, collecting garbage, dusting, waxing and oiling the teak, re-filling the empties... all sorts of odds and sods that take time, don't amount to much, yet somehow have you feeling really accomplished.

Dave busied himself with an oil change, fuel filter change and all that change-related type of engine stuff. We fuelled Banyan from the jerry jugs we keep on deck, and then it was time to dinghy over to the gas station to refill the jerry jugs. On our second trip there, we were turned away:

"No gas, man, no gas... Come back tomorrow"
What? Really??



When we were in Falmouth a few days ago, the gas station there had run out of gas as well !!

The generator ran a little while longer in order to equalize the batteries with a extra charge and zap, all this doable while we are in calm waters and a small towel easily covered the generator so it wouldn't get too wet as the squalls came through one by one.

It's kind of ironic in a way when you think about it for a moment. Here we are in this gorgeous land of paradise and sometimes we feel like life should be one constant vacation-type-of-party around us. And it's extra hard to stay on the boat and work when we look around and feel that we should be out playing tourist and sipping pineapple type of drinks. However the reality we live means that oftentimes routine and mundane chores like the above need doing, and with this cruising type of lifestyle, everything, and I mean, EVERYTHING, takes triple the time than it does when living on land which requires more effort and more patience, especially when one has 365 beaches waiting to be explored!

And so we notice life around us goes on... On one side of us, the boats are pretty respectful with their wakes as they glide past us,



however the ones to be wary of are the kids that are learning how to sail on the hobie cats. We ran out when we heard a pretty loud thump on Banyan's hull. The trio of young boys apologized profusely and when Dave checked and triple checked, we were more than pleased to see the marks disappear with a good elbow-rub of wax and shine.

On the other side of us the tractor was busy mowing the lawn and the smell of freshly cut grass wafted over as we enjoyed some pretty decent and speedy Wi-Fi connections.



We dropped our laundry off with the cleaning lady, who informed us that it's the same cost if I do it, or if she does it (she will wash, dry AND fold). That's a no-brainer and since we now had some extra time to kill, we dinghied around these channels, going on an explore to visit this complex, just for fun.



On some of our various walks, we've seen trees and trees of these,



what on Earth are these large pods ??



Does anyone know?

And then of course, you can't be on an island that has 365 beaches, and not go visit at least one of them, right?



We are truly awed by the spectacular colours here,



mesmerized in fact,



and somehow a walk on the beach followed by a dip in the warm enough waters does wonders washing all those chores away.



All that enjoying and walking and swimming had us parched, and it was time for Wadadli Beers at a beach shack,



and to end the last few days of busy-ness, we celebrated with some "restaurant hopping" with friends Izzy and Jeff.