Whale Bay

The last few tines of scootering around I would pass Whale Bay Road and realized I had not been to Whale Bay.  And so it was put on the list to do.

After unsuccessfully trying to get a longtail photo in the last blog, I carried on to Whale Bay.  I couldn't believe I had never been there when my first residence on the island was literally across the road from Whale Bay Road.  As I drove along and up the road, it became familiar and I remembered that I had come up here before, before I had my camera, and back when riding my first scooter, Little Red, would have been a challenge.  Little Red was a big bike, quite heavy, and only 50 cc.  She didn't go up hills very fast.  Gradual inclines were a struggle as well.  Perhaps that is why I didn't go back,  Perhaps it was because the transition from 17 years in a city to driving down a road, being the only bike in the park, walking down an isolated path through the coverage of trees and settling down on a totally empty beach takes some getting used to.  The good news is, that big city nervousness is at least partially reversible.  I look for those places now on my days wandering around.  But I admit that Shibby and I had the heebie jeebies by the creepy deserted house at Hog's Bay Park.

The first thing you notice is how big Whale Bay Park is.  This is a pretty big patch of open space for Bermuda.

The entry to Whale Bay Park

The second thing is how soothing the view is.

Complete with a bench to relax and enjoy it all

In my case the third case I noticed was again the sound of longtails, but peer over the edges as I might I yet again could not spot them.  Getting a photo of them has become my most disappointing effort on the island, as I have tried for SIX summers in a row now (that includes my first vacation to Bermuda when the island stole my heart).  And then you glance over to the right and see a beautiful beach.

Whale Bay Beach from above

It seems as though one can always find one empty beach on Bermuda, if you know where to look.  We play up our famous Horseshoe Bay for the tourists, and it is jam packed all summer long.  A few are getting wise to it and working their way down the south shore and discovering Elbow Beach and Long Bay.  A couple will find Jobson's Cove and Stonehole Bay.  St. George's attracts everyone to Tobacco Bay.  But, only Horseshoe Bay and Tobacco Bay have refreshments on the beach.  Sorta.  Elbow has the hotel restaurant and a hot dog stand has been hanging out around Warwick Long Bay or Jobson's Cove the last year or two.  That keeps the rest of the beaches pretty tourist free, and so locals can tan in solitude on this lovely island any day.  This would be another perfect spot for it.

The rockier portion of Whale Bay Beach

And of course with the ocean blues, I love the green algae that clings to the rocks, so had to get a picture of that too.  In the second shot, I think the close rock is moss (it was on the north), and those ocean blues are what Bermy is all about!

Nature's palette