Back to the Bahamas

December 30th, 2010 was a day of travel and “close calls” with connections as we left the grey skies of Canada behind us and headed for the sunny south. We left Troy at 7:00am for the 1 hour trip to Toronto and, after enjoying a leisurely breakfast at the airport, boarded a direct flight to Nassau with West Jet. Three hours later we disembarked into sunshine amid throngs of vacationers milling about the luggage carousel and waiting for clearance at immigration terminals. And we had allowed ourselves only an hour to spare to collect our baggage and join the long lines snaking through customs before our connecting flight to Treasure Cay was due to depart. Yikes! After a frantic search for luggage and a mad dash through the airport to the Bahamasair check-in counter, we strapped ourselves into the cramped seats of the Dash 8 and took to the air once more.

Below all was fluffy clouds and turquoise seas. We had just started to finally relax when the 30 minute flight to Treasure Cay was over and we found ourselves scrambling once again--this time for a taxi to take us to the ferry which was due to depart on its FINAL trip of the day in just 20 minutes. Yikes! Yikes! Unbelievably we arrived at the dock just in the nick of time. The last passenger was boarding, we jumped on behind and minutes later the vessel slipped her lines and began its crossing to Green Turtle Cay. Our travelling companions included four young college students returning home from abroad for New Years, a handful of “rough and tumble” black resort employees heading home after a hard days work, three slightly tipsy middle aged American men, with golf clubs and drinks in hand looking for a “good time” and one blowsy blond (who the Americans hoped could give it to them) after “chatting her up” with alternating bravado and witticisms. (Thank god I’m not young and single again!)

The trip across the water was mesmerizing. When we were not distracted by the conversations of our fellow travellers we’d gaze out at the soft sunset, watch the foamy wake creaming across the water at the back of the boat, feel the warm breeze against our skin and smell the fragrant air. God, how we’d miss this place! And to think of how just a few weeks before we had begun to take it all for granted. But a quick visit home to the dismal north had certainly changed all that. And we were SO grateful to be back into a colourful place with a warm climate and sunny skies once again. We reached the comfort of our little boat just as the last rays of sunset swept across the dock. We found two new “neighbours” tied up on either side of us and although we were invited to join them for drinks and dinner, this time we declined--too exhausted to do anything more than say a quick “hello,” toss our bags below, and climb blissfully into our cozy bed.

We had certainly enjoyed our trip home for the holidays. It was great to spend time with family members and friends and to see the little grandchildren once again. But the grey skies, barren landscape and cold were hard to take. We hadn’t noticed how dismal this environment was while we were growing up and working here. Winter days in Canada then were spent indoors surrounded by others engaged in interesting activities. And so we didn’t realize how oppressive things were “outside.” Now that we’re retired however with long days stretching forever ahead, we really notice how miserable the Canadian environment is for almost half of the year! We have been spoilt. We “know better” now and hope to be able to winter away in the Bahamas for many more years to come.