A Blustery Adventure

So, waaaaayyyyy back at the begining of February was Carith's last day visiting us on the Island and we opted to go for an adventure.  We packed up the car and grabbed our neighbor Alexi and went on our way. We headed to Orient beach - for several reasons - we had not been there in awhile, Carith had never been there and we wanted to explore the bouldering spot and possibly get on some rock.  We stopped for yummy snacks at Grand Marche Market and drove through the French side to our spot for the day.  We arrived and it was extremely windy and the beach was almost non-existent (as I have mentioned before the beaches change almost daily here) - the boys were excited to get in the waves and hop on their boogy boards.

as you can tell the water was really high - we were almost sitting in the plants above the beach

our little bouldering spot we wanted to try, unfortunately even with shoes, chalk and pad out of the car and with us we never made it over there - I do admit the wind was fierce (notice the palm tree in the photo blowing sideways).  the crazy thing is back at home we are happy to drive and hour and a half into the mountains for a fun day of bouldering - here 30 min. and we were there and we could not pull it off.  i think the boys and I are fully enjoying the water for now and know that we will be making our way back to Colorado and the rock will be waiting for us (as we truly love to boulder).  for now we are islanders, which it appears, makes ya kinda lazy, for land activities that is.

as you can see the waves were rolling in out on the reef

the boys were getting tossed in the waves, but having a blast

we had a few chilly downpours while we were there - i think alexi has goosebumps head to toe

as you can see the waves were crazy, it was the most chaotic water I had been in for awhile.  waves were just popping up, then some would go backwards and the ones you thought were manageable would take you out.  then you add the gusty wind and it was pretty wild.

alexi making her way into the chilly water - she just could not get warm that day

after leaving orient beach and passing le galion we headed to oyster pond and saw these cute goats on the road

when you drive past le galion and head towards oyster pond you go around this point - i am not sure the name but there is a look out spot and we got out and explored a little.

we found really cool starfish and sea urchins along the shoreline

the boys found a big rock to perch on

the line of waves is where the boys will be surfing when they start in March

one of the cool starfish

i have never seen green ones like this before

sea urchin

one of ro's great photos

on our way home we stopped at the st.maarten yacht club for drinks, snacks and some boat watching.  this is just a small portion of all the yachts in town

a fun pelican we watched dive bombing for fish

a fitting end to another island adventure.  the day was full of turbulent weather, new places and great company.  i hope carith had as much fun as we did on her last day and we cannot wait for her to come back again.  alexi thank you for joining us - i may have gotten lost there at one point if you were not with us.