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kazlifeadventures · 5 years ago

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Cruising to the end!

This cruise was a last last minute decision, encouraged by my friend Jas in Trini (and some of my friends back home). I'd cruised before, but never solo. Let alone solo in a foreign country! The over night ferry cruises to get to Germany last month don't count..

Any way turns out cruising Americans love that Aussie accent to.. somehow I met this amazing couple from Maryland on the first night. We clicked and ended up spending at least part of each evening together. Great minds think alike (and have the same drink/bar tastes)...

This cruise was a 7 night Eastern Carribean adventure taking in 3 ports out of Fort Lauderdale.

Sint Maartens / St Martins island was amazing. It blows my mind that such a tiny place is literally split in two. France owns the 53km sq northern side of the island where it's known Saint Martin with its capital Marigot. This area is wholly part of France, and as such they are part of the European Union. The currency is euro (although mist places will also accepr US dollars) and the people speak French as well as English.

St Maartens, on the Southern Dutch side with its capital of Phillipsburg is the smaller portion of the island at 34km sq. Where it's small in stature is made up by controlling the largest port and being able to accommodate the large cruise ships. This section is technically one of four constituemt countries that form part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. Here they currently accept the Netherlands Antillean guilder (this is changing soon!) as well as US dollars.

The island itself was discovered in 1493 by Christopher Colombus, and at one stage was major producer of salt via a multitude of salt ponds some of which are still visible (but no longer used) today. The division between the 2 countries dates back to 1648, where the Dutch and the French finally agreed to split the territory via signing the treaty of Concordia. As you go from one side to the other it's clear how much emphasis on looking after the country has been placed by their respective governing bodies. Fun fact - as small as it is, it is still an international call to call from one side to the other! Oh, and the main airport on the French side is the one where they fly over you on the beach and you have to hang on to the fence to stop blowing away...

I did a bus tour to both sides of the island taking in the crazy iguanas in trees... seriously those things were huge and everywhere! I then spent the remainder of my day in Phillipsburg exploring it's gorgeous little streets and architecture, hanging on the fabulous beach, drinking beer and eating jerk chicken...I like to call that 'full immersion '😁

Then we were off to overnight to our next stop. San Juan, Puerto Rico. This one was an oddly short stop, which I found out later may have been due to some very high port costs (apparently US port areas charge steep fees based on time in port making it less cost effective to stay longer). Anyway we technically had about 6 hrs in port. After a leisurely start that saw me trying to convince myself to get off the boat, I wandered ashore with half a plan and ended up walking around the old town and city area for a good 2.5 hrs. Puerto Rico is classed as a US territory, so rather than being governed wholly by the US and it's constitution, it's kind of like the US over sees what goes on but the country govern themselves and follow parts of the US constitution. It's really complicated to explain fully, so go look it up and it'll make more sense! Anyway the city of San Juan was founded by Spanish colonists in 1521. The city lays claim to some of the most extensive preserved examples of Spanish coastal fortifications, as well as some amazing historical buildings. You all know how much I love a good fort, and here they were dotted along the cliffs of the city. Fort San Felipe Del Moro, Fort San Cristobal and La Fortaleza. No, I did not climb all over them... I wandered to each of them and marvelled at he ingenuity, but refrained from needing to climb to the top (I'm blaming time constraints ...🤣) anyway the gorgeous Santa María Magdalena de Pazzis Cemetery, a colonial era cemetery dating from 1863 is located just outside the walls of Fort San Felipe Del Moro and together the two form a breathtaking break in the skyline to the shore. Luckily for me a tourist from one if the tours warned me to get off the wall overlooking the ceremony as apparently you get a 500 USD fine for standing on it! No signs telling you that, so hey, dodged a bullet there! Later back on the ship, I overheard some fellow passengers stating they thought San Juan was a poor and dirty city. I guess all this travel has allowed me to see past that without realising. I thought it had a charm about it, (some of its residents thought they had charm too - queue guy trying to chat me up as he drove next to me in his car...🤣). It wasn't any dirtier than any other city I've visited (in fact there have been a hack of alot of places that were way worse, as were parts of LA - which I was yet to see) It's well known the country is struggling immensely with corruption and the vast divide in income for its citizens. The people I encountered were well versed in Touristing (again, like every where!) I really liked my time here, and would have liked longer in order to have been able to venture out of the city to see some of the natural wonders this country possesses.

Off overnight again, this time to the port of Labadee, a resort port on the island of Haiti that is owned by the cruise ship company. What a perfect Carribean stop, beaches, bbq, cocktails, sun and the glorious water of the Caribbean. I had only intended a multi beach swim /lunch/ then back on the ship stop, but ended up meeting a lovely young couple of newlyweds from Florida who wanted to spend the day 'chatting with the Aussie cause your accent is amazing'. 😂 hey I learned alot more about America and the music in Nashville (the husband was originally from there), and found out what 'dip ' is so it was a win-win. Btw 'dip' is like a tobacco but you don't chew it you stick it inside your bottom lip and then spit every now and then... kinda gross, but hey whatever floats ya boat!

Haiti outside of the resort area is a mess. A real mess. It's a country in financial crisis, with an unstable government and a collapsing infrastructure struggling to cope with the lawlessness of some of its inhabitants. I didn't do any of the tours as they didn't leave the safety of the resort bubble, so you weren't seeing the 'real' Haiti. I did end up buying a bracelet from a local artist and somehow being given 2 necklaces by another two artists...don't ask me what happened but to my relief, having them on seemed to deter other hardy salesmen. The people of Haiti still gain an income from having the ships come in, so for that I was grateful. It's not enough to fix their problems though....

All too soon we were back on board and off for our last night at sea, and for me, off to LA. Rather than doing the 6hr or so worth of flights followed by the big one back to Aus, I'd opted to fly to LA and spend one night there, leaving late the next evening. Synchronicity saw me receive the email for my free night of accomodation that I'd earnt earlier at one of the chain hotels in the US. This meant my last night was a freebie, go me! I got in late the night before, so literally had a day in LA. Jumped a tour that took me out to Marina Del Ray, Little Venice, Venice Beach, Santa Monica pier, Hollywood, the walk of fame, Mann's theatre... all the biggies! As much as I'd have liked to do the studio tours, no time. I will say I was underwhelmed by most of what so saw. Maybe I have been awed by too many things, but I thought LA was not worth the hype. The Hollywood walk of fame needed a bloody good clean, Venice Beach was just a beach with a whole lot of over priced tourist traps... I dunno. I'm hoping this isn't all of the West Coast because I was intending to go back and make it happen... (once I can convince someone to join me and share driving cause this one needs a co - pilot!)😁

I finally have to go back to Australia and make a decision about my job, where I'm going to live...pretty much have to go back and adult again (gosh darn it!).

How much has this adventure changed me? Immeasurably. I am so grateful I had the opportunity to do this. I am so proud of who I am and what I've achieved. Am I glad I did it - hell yeah! Would I change anything? Hell no! Everything that has happened, happened for a reason, changing it would change where I am now. I have learnt some amazing things about travelling, hints and tricks for booking places, how transport works in different countries, whether it's cheaper to buy tickets early/last minute. Logistical lessons most definitely. What I've learnt about me, could fill a book....

If I could encourage one person to take the step and travel solo and feel this joy and strength...even the smallest step, the shortest of time..just do it.

The people I have met have added something to each stage of my journey. No matter how small our interaction. For that I want to say a massive "Thank you", to each and every one of you. You have given me so much more than you would ever know or understand.

This isn't the end. It's only the beginning. There's a whole lot more of the world out there that I'm itching to explore ... I'll have to do it in pieces though as I've yet to discover the magic formula to allow me to continue to finance myself to keep travelling...

Where to next? Not sure yet... choice is an amazing luxury! Some of my trips I'll need a co-pilot to make it easier so that in itself will take time. Not sure how many people could handle travelling with me!!😉

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