More of Cat Island

The Heritage was the highlight of Rock Sound but we also spent some time doing a walk about and getting to know the area. You would think that all the Islands are full of fruits and vegetables. Not the case, in fact most of the fruits and vegetables come in on the mail boat from Florida.  We had heard that Cat Island was known for its agriculture. On the way back and forth from The Hermitage we discovered the agricultural parts of New Bight. We passed an area where a man was tending to a controlled burn in the “fields”. The term fields is being loosely used here because they were certainly not farmers fields as we know then but rather a clearing cut in the brush that had cut down and covered in mostly rock.  In the next “field” we spotted something red and discovered 1000’s of cherry tomatoes. And upon further investigation we spotted cabbage and okra. You would probably expect to see them growing in neat little rows with carefully weeded furrow but not here. Here the vegetables are growing everywhere with more rock than soil. We did taste the tomatoes and they were delicious.  Look carefully at the picture below to see the vegetables. Double click to enlarge the picture.

                                                                                  Garden in Rock Sound    
                 

Next stop is the New Bight School where we dropped off books and spent some time talking to the teachers and children here. Few boats drop off books here so we were warmly welcomed and the books received with big smiles. The kids waved goodbye at recess as we pushed the dinghy off the beach behind the school. How many kids get to have their school steps from a beach?

New Bight School grade 2 with some new books from Scolastics Canada

Back to the boat to pick up our bikes for a bicycle tour of the southern part of Cat Island. Our folding bikes are great because they fit in a bag so that we can put them in the dinghy to keep the salt spray off when taking them to shore. We had used our bikes in Florida but his was our first time using our bikes in the Bahamas and what an adventure. We travelled south towards Old Bight. We spotted the sign for “Welcome to Old Bight” and then 300 yards away in the opposite direction is the sign “You are now leaving Old Bight”. It was a quick visit.

We spotted many fruit trees including papaya, banana, sour orange (which is used for conch salad), sapodilla (dilly fruit for short), Yucca, HUGE mango trees filled (that aren’t ripe till August L) and sea grapes.  We spotted and picked fruit along the way and talked to the locals about the various plants and trees.

Big Yucca plant

We took a rough road towards Pilots Harbour and discovered a little restaurant / bar on the water with a spectacular view of the harbour.  We enjoyed a mid afternoon Klick (Bahamian beer) while chatting with the young man at the bar. His grandfather had built the place and now his uncle owned it. He shared with us his memories of the hurricanes and how the harbour has changed. One hurricane silted in the little creek beside the restaurant and took out the pier so now there is not enough water for boats to come into anchor. He didn’t have change for a $20 so he asked us to stop up the road at the gas station to pay his aunt for the beer. When we got there, she was expecting us. We continued on the road back to Old Bight and stopped at the Two Corners Liquor Store for a cold drink. They serve both alcoholic drinks and cold soda drinks. We biked to the little “take-aways” along the beach road where all the fish fry huts are. We had dinner at Chrystal’s take-away. Ted had chicken and I had some sort of fish that I could understand what she said it was. I fed some of my fish to the cats patiently waiting at my feet. 

If I had a restaurant here I would paint it orange too or maybe pink! Ted with Crystal at her take-away.

Grandma Farrah’s place was brightly painted

The view of Grandma Farrah's restaurant from the boat

We picked up delicious coconut bread/cake from another hut which we enjoyed back at the boat. Everyone in town knew we were from the “big power boat”. Maybe it was our shiny red bikes! Everyone was amazed that we had rode from New Bight to Old Bight , which was about 5 miles but they thought that was really far.

March 5^th -  We once again biked to the abandoned road that lead to from the west side to the east side of the island. We biked as far as we could and then left our bikes by a tree and hike up the coral rock trail for another 45 minutes to reach the beach. It was worth the hike because we discovered a beach off the beaten track rarely visited by others. We spent the next four hours picking sea glass (for jewellery and craft) shells and sea beans. With the east winds the surf was too rough to go very far in but we enjoyed our beach walk and never saw another soul all afternoon.

East side of Cat Island. Check the big waves behind me.

Bennett Harbour

March 6^th – Up early to ready the boat for a cruise further up the coast of Cat Island to Bennett Harbour 16 miles away. The clouds threaten rain but no rain while we were anchoring. We took the dinghy up the creek at Bennett Harbour to discover a very small harbour with one Canadian catamaran anchored, whom we later found out is someone from Kingston, Ontario who has built a house near Bennett Harbour. Once in the harbour we found a brand new very impressive government dock and yellow government building but not a soul around and only a very poor beach to bring the dinghy into.  We did not take pictures at Bennett which I now regret. The “NO Loafing” sign was priceless. What else are you going to do in Bennett Harbour but loaf! The local teen agers were playing basketball on the Queens Highway (the main street on very island) in the only shady area of the whole street. It was Sunday so no one was around. We did see 2 guys loafing around (drinking) at the restaurant/bar/store/gas station in town. Like the government dock the recreation centre was brand new.  The school was closed because it was Sunday but the guy at the gas station said he would pick the books we had at the dock and deliver them to the school. He begged us not to leave with the books but to leave them for the kids. By the look of the community they did look like they needed them.  We went back to the boat and dropped off the school books at the dock as promised and headed further north along the coast to check out Arthur’s Town and see if we could get wifi to get a weather update. A previous hurricane had taken out the dock at Arthur’s Town and the rocks looked nasty, so with no beach or dock access we waved to people on the dock and headed back.

Before going back to the boat we dove a few reefs around the boat looking for lobster or conch. No luck but we did find lots of small shells known as sea biscuits but these ones were miniature size and worth keep, except for the fact that they are so fragile. We broke a number of them before we got back to the boat.  

Next stop Little San Salvatore (aka Half Moon Cay)

P.S. I am sitting on the steps in front of the Government Building which is alway pink in the Bahamas (don't you love it!) doing this blog. The service is slow but the view is fantastic.