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MITSUGIRLY BREAKAWAY's 1 last time for the year-review/pictorial


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We arrived at the end of the street and in front of us was the Town Hall and to the right is the visitors center. This is where you go if you want to purchase the HOHO (Hop On, Hop Off Beach Bus) stamp.

 

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Now last time we were here, I did not even see these punishment devices and I knew I wanted to get pictures here. Once I walked up to them, Kendra even mentioned "I didn't see these last time. Where they here?" LOL

 

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Despite me trying to convince Sakari that if she's bad she'd be locked in one of these the remainder of the day, she wanted in it.

 

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Obviously Kenny doesn't know how to be serious. "Oh, I'm getting my picture taken?" smiles!

 

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The hubby took things a little too far and decided to hang himself...

 

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We headed over to the Visitors Center to ask a few questions and purchase our Beach Bus stamp. We were surprized to find that we were the only ones in here so far. I ask the gentleman behind the counter if they had more than 1 bus currently running and explained the reports a few months ago about 1 of the buses having an accident and they were only down to 1 bus. Our concern was having to wait forever to get a ride back to St George from St David. He assured me that there was more than 1 bus running.

 

I also ask how far it was to the nearest bus stop to catch the #6 bus to St David...just in case. He explained where to go and honestly, I was just a tad bit confused when he started pointing in different directions. I assume it was somewhere up on the main road.

 

We went ahead and purchased our stamp. Since we had such a large group, this did take awhile to get to all of us. At this point, a large line had formed behind all of us.

 

He starting asking if we had any "change" (meaning $5 or $1) and we always carry tons of small change with us. I kept counting out fives and ones for his twenties and he was most grateful. He said he was going to personally call the Beach Bus and get the driver on the phone and tell them we were a group of 10 waiting on them to head to St Davids. Once he was off the phone, he told us the ladies name and she said she was on her way. He confirmed that the waiting area for St David's was also in the same location as the St George bus and out we went.

 

When we arrived, I wasn't completely sure that we were at the right bus stop. I knew we were at the same place we went to the last time we caught the bus, but I didn't see any signs saying the Beach Bus Stop like I did last time we were here. (I even went back to my previous pictures of this bus stop and confirmed that there was indeed a sign).

 

We were the first there, so really no one to ask if they had been told this is the bus stop. I was sure it was and was hoping they hadn't moved it.

 

After us an older couple came and sat down on the bench and moved to give them a chair.

 

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Then more and more people started to come. It was getting very crowded and very unorganized at this point. I didn't have a good feeling about this and started having flashbacks to our first day at the dockyard at the bus stop.

 

A bus came and it ended up being a bus to St George. The driver said there would be another bus coming shortly. At this point, there were people spilling out onto the street (just like the bus stop at the dockyard) and when that bus pulled up, people were jumping to get in. (They don't hold many people to begin with and it's like a small mini-van). I just knew this was not going to be good.

 

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Next up was our Beach Bus. The lady pulled up and we just knew it was the lady he had called for us (the other driver was a guy to St George). We headed for the bus and I confirmed that she was going to St George. However, the guy in the picture above also tried jumping in the van with his family. Um...nope! Don't even try it. He started arguing with us that it was his bus. I think not. The kids got a little uptight at this point and of course...argued back. We were the first at the bus stop and just because they decided to step in front of us didn't mean it was their bus. As a matter of fact, Kendra pointed out to them that they were actually in line BEHIND us at the Visitors Center purchasing their stamp. So do you want to explain how you were here before us??? They ask him if he was even going to Clearwater in St David thinking maybe he thought this was another St George bus and we were trying to avoid the argument with him. He said he was going to Clearwater. Sigh. This guy was ridiculous, but guess what...we had 10 people and those 10 people made their way into the bus as he continued to argue and finally said "You just take it". Yea, I think we already did as we ask him if he happened to know the drivers name...no, he did not. Why did we know her name? Because the Visitors Center called her for US and gave us her name...that's why.

 

Day 2 of aggravation completed...or would it be. We were piled in sitting on each others laps at this point, but we were on our way to St Davids. It took approximately 15 minutes to get there. We told the driver we were interested in going to Long Bay and she took us all the way to the gates at Coopers Island Reserve. She told us that we were allowed to walk around the gates and wonder around the reserve, they just weren't allowed to drive there.

 

So off we went...

 

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I knew we were headed to the very end/tip of the island here, but had no clue how far it was.

 

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We passed various beach areas and the kids being kids would ask "Is this it?" Nope, we would keep going. I had a feeling I would know when it was the right beach.

 

We walked and walked...at least Sakari acted like she knew where she was going.

 

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There were chickens and roosters running everywhere.

 

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...and we kept walking. Geesh, is it really that far?

 

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I THINK I SEE IT!!!!

 

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Well hello there little guy. I'm so glad that Sakari had walked right by this snail without seeing it. His fate would be doomed had she seen it because it would have became her pet for the day and no one wants that.

 

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It actually took us 6 minutes to walk all the way down to Long Bay, but I can tell you that it seemed like it was a lot longer walk than that.

 

 

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After several people on these boards suggested going here, I just knew it was going to be beautiful from the few pictures I had seen of it.

 

We had found paradise....it was confirmed.

 

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The water was gorgeous! The sand was gorgeous! It was heaven on earth.

 

The family couldn't wait to get in the water. I think the joy of it was also that the sun had come out a little.

 

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There wasn't another person here.

 

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Man this place was beautiful. I thought St Catherine was pretty, I liked this place even more.

 

Kolin testing the water out...and running from it.

 

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Another thing I had worried about coming to Bermuda in October was going to be whether or not we would be able to swim and enjoy it. I know the temps are cooler during this time but was assured that there's still plenty of swimming weather at this time of year too.

 

We did find the water to be a little chillier than last time, but when on vacation, we manage to swim no matter how cold. We would not let the opportunity pass us by.

 

It took some getting use to. Maybe after freezing the first 5-10 minutes of being in the water, then you started to get use to it. After that, you were good to go. You could get out for awhile and when you got back in, it felt fine. Not as warm as the last time, but you could definitely tolerate it.

 

Of course the kids never care at all (the little ones)

 

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The nice thing about this place was there were plenty of trees (had there been a lot of people there and if the sun was out and extremely hot) that you could sit under if needed.

 

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The hubby and Billy decided to go rock climbing...baby rock climbing.

 

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They said they could see some big fish swimming in the water by the rocks. When we snorkeled over that way, we really didn't see much. I tell ya, they were hiding from us this time around. The rocks here were just like those at Horseshoe Baby Bay, TONS of huge crabs and snails crawling all over them.

 

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I tried my best to capture some of them, but they (the crabs) were just too quick for me and my camera.

 

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You could see the airplanes coming in over the water and headed toward the airport. I reflected on our times at Maho Beach in St Maarten. Great times!

 

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They convinced Kolin there were fish over there...so off he went.

 

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I continued to take more pictures of this beautiful beach.

 

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The pretty colorful houses over at St David. I could see the lighthouse from here.

 

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All of a sudden Kendra yells "DO YOU SEE IT???" I looked and looked and couldn't see anything. She yelled that it was a turtle and pointed off in a direction. Then yelled a few more times and pointed in different directions. Turtles were popping up their heads everywhere.

 

I took a picture...can you see it? Top of the picture (my aim was a little off, but I had no idea where one would be popping their head up at any time, so I just aimed and shot). Do you see the dot? That's a turtle.

 

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I zoomed in on the picture above...this is a close up (so not very clear, but you can clearly tell it's a turtle).

 

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DUDE! (Finding Nemo).

 

We continued watching the turtles go up and back down. The kids were excited, especially those that have never seen them in the ocean yet.

 

I started walking down the beach and taking pictures. The kids started following. It was time to explore a bit. The hubby finally came down from his rock climbing adventure and joined us. Time for a selfie.

 

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Now during my planning stages, I always go onto Google Earth and get as close in to where I'm going to "have a look around". I have studied this beach area for awhile and knew that directly across a small street was another beach that looked interesting. So, I decided I was going to walk over there and check it out. The hubby followed me and the kids were busy looking at the shells on the beach.

 

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It was a very small beach, but pretty with the rocks sticking up in the water and on the beach. I took a 360 picture of the beaches.

 

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I tried desperately to get a picture of both beach in one picture, but no matter where I went, it just wasn't happening the way I wanted it to.

 

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I needed a fish eye lens for that....OR, as the hubby suggested, to walk up the hill and take one. That was something I just wasn't wanting to do at the time. LOL

 

 

So just decided to stay where I was at an continue exploring and taking pictures.

 

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It had some very interesting places with huge rocks by the water to explore:

 

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The one thing I did notice on THIS beach was there was a lot of trash around it. Some weird things. I couldn't help but wonder why they didn't keep this beautiful beach cleaned up and it was ashamed that it looked like an abandoned area and could be so beautiful. It's a nature preserve. You would think one of the things they do is to clean up. I wasn't thinking until I got home and now after seeing these pictures, THEY JUST HAD A HURRICANE!! Geesh, what do you expect? Those things were probably washed up on shore during the crazy waves and they haven't got to it yet. I feel ashamed now.

 

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I was not able to capture the picture I wanted here. This huge tree was growing...on top of nothing!! It was just up there and it's roots hanging down. It was strange. You could walk under it. It was like the ground had been pulled out from under it just exposing the roots and tree above.

 

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There seem to be a lot of chitons everywhere we went this time. The last time we only seen them at Achilles Bay.

 

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I believe the name of this bay was called Ft Hill Bay. I really wish I would have walked up the hill and explored more. I have since then looked it up and it says the building up there is a former NASA tracking station and the pictures of it look pretty cool. Of course I just got a "told ya so" from the hubby after telling him what it was. LOL

 

Back over to Long Bay to join up with the kids.

 

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Billy seems to be the only one back at our "camp" and from what the hubby told me, Billy was starving and ready to walk back to Clearwater to eat. Not wanting to leave us all behind, he did wait, but impatiently. He did not eat breakfast this morning. He said that he really don't care for the breakfast on the ship so he'd "wait" and waiting is exactly what he was doing...only he was waiting on us. LOL

 

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As soon as we all made it back to our things (and Billy) he grabbed his bag and started heading toward the road. Alrighty then, I guess we're leaving. LOL

 

We packed up and headed down the road toward Turtle Bay. We had stayed at Long Bay for 1 hour and I probably could have stayed a lot longer to enjoy the view.

 

We came to Turtle Bay and it was beautiful just like Long Bay.

 

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They actually had picnic tables there. Maybe more people visit this beach than Long Bay? We did spot another couple there.

 

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We didn't see any turtles there. I guess they had all moved over to Long Bay.

 

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I really wanted to spend a little time here, but Billy just wasn't having it. I didn't think it was a great idea for us to split up even though I knew we couldn't and wouldn't get lost getting back to Clearwater. The rest of the kids started saying they were hungry too, so we just all decided to keep walking so that everyone could eat. I know everyone I have talked to said Clearwater was pretty too, just not as pretty as Long Bay/Turtle Beach. We'd just have to spend some time there instead.

 

I continued to walk and snap pictures and decided that I would like to come back here some day.

 

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I think I will use this as my stopping point tonight. It's getting late and I have been staying up late this week and not getting much rest.

 

I will start again tomorrow on our arrival at Clearwater and try to get as much done as I can before Trick-Or-Treat tomorrow night.

 

I hope you have enjoyed the pictures from Day 5. It really is a beautiful area that I would highly suggest to anyone if they are going to St George. :)

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Kim, the pictures are beautiful - as usual! I'm glad you had a chance to see some sea turtles. I think they are absolutely amazing animals! I have had the chance to see turtles several times now, and I never get tired of seeing them.

 

I'm wondering how Billy could possibly be unable to find food he liked on a cruise ship? :confused: While I have not cruised on NCL, there was no shortage at all of food choices on the 3 lines we have cruised. :eek:

 

Hope your trick or treating is fun, and you (or should I say Sakari?) get lots of good treats! :D

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This is a fantastic review with spectacular pictures. I am glad you made it to Warwick Long Bay this trip. We were in Bermuda in September and went to Warwick based on your review of your June trip to Bermuda. Because of your experience I was very cognizant of making sure we got on the correct bus. We heard that Horseshoe was packed that day and we enjoyed a peaceful empty beach.

 

I also took the same picture of the cork wreath on the door in Saint George.(and now want to make one with all my corks that I have been saving for years) It was pouring during our trip to Saint George and after walking around a while and getting absolutely soaked we went to the Caves. Finally the weather got nicer and we saw a small beach called John Smith Bay. It was a short bus ride and we were able to enjoy a lovely Bermuda beach.

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Kim, the pictures are beautiful - as usual! I'm glad you had a chance to see some sea turtles. I think they are absolutely amazing animals! I have had the chance to see turtles several times now, and I never get tired of seeing them.

 

I'm wondering how Billy could possibly be unable to find food he liked on a cruise ship? :confused: While I have not cruised on NCL, there was no shortage at all of food choices on the 3 lines we have cruised. :eek:

 

Hope your trick or treating is fun, and you (or should I say Sakari?) get lots of good treats! :D

 

Thank you. I loved it there at Long Bay and the pictures don't even begin to show how beautiful it is there. The hubby swore to me that we were at the same beach as last time and I kept telling him we have never been here and we had never even been to St David. (He was talking about being at St Catherine Beach last time). I kept asking him where the fort was then if we were in the same place. LOL

 

I was real happy to see the sea turtles too. I just wish we were in a boat this time around and could get a closer look.

 

Billy and them only seem to eat at the buffet. I have to admit, I felt that the buffet eggs (not the omlets) this time around was a little runny most days. The only place you could go for some non-runny eggs was either to the MDR or to Uptown. But I agree...I can always find SOMETHING to eat everywhere I go. :D

 

This is a fantastic review with spectacular pictures. I am glad you made it to Warwick Long Bay this trip. We were in Bermuda in September and went to Warwick based on your review of your June trip to Bermuda. Because of your experience I was very cognizant of making sure we got on the correct bus. We heard that Horseshoe was packed that day and we enjoyed a peaceful empty beach.

 

I also took the same picture of the cork wreath on the door in Saint George.(and now want to make one with all my corks that I have been saving for years) It was pouring during our trip to Saint George and after walking around a while and getting absolutely soaked we went to the Caves. Finally the weather got nicer and we saw a small beach called John Smith Bay. It was a short bus ride and we were able to enjoy a lovely Bermuda beach.

 

So glad you were able to make it to Warwick as well. I'm happy I have done the trip and was able to see all the beautiful beaches along the way. It definitely made it worth it.

 

Isn't that wreath on the blue door fabulous? I believe the color of that door just makes the wreath stand out and something you would see in a professional photographers picture. I just loved it.

 

I haven't been to the area where John Smith Bay is located. Hopefully some day I'll adventure over that way. :)

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Not sure when I will get to Bermuda (but I WILL get there at some point), but I am so happy that I have such great detailed information to use when I go!

 

And I cannot believe how pushy the people have been with you trying to cut ahead and get on buses. Glad you were able to get through all of that. I would have probably used a few choice words.

 

Can't wait for more!!

 

Have fun trick or treating. I have an Alice in Wonderland, Joy from Inside out (complete with blue wig, although how I'm going to get all of her long, thick hair in that tiny wig remains to be seen), and a car hop girl.

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Thank you so much for your review so far and especially for your pics of Long Bay Beach.

 

You and I 'talked' on the CC board about this beach (and how to get there) before your cruise and I'm so glad you made it there. I love that you got there with no one else before you...I got there with maybe 10 people there before us last summer.

 

It remains one of the most beautiful beaches I've ever been to.

 

Thanks again! :)

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You are SO making me want to go, NOW!

Bermuda is DEFINITELY on my bucket list, but the cruises are so limited.

DD has 1 more year of high school and she's DONE!

Maybe we'll have more flexibility then.....

 

Definitely SOME DAY!!:o

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