Back to Ferry Reach

Since we got rained out the other day, we decided to make the best of the continuing sunshine and head back to Ferry Reach.  I still needed to find the abandoned train station that I had read about.  We were going to go looking for it the other day when the heavens opened and drenched us and caused a premature end of the exploration.  We started at the same place, but walked the other direction this time.

This first picture is just a snapshot of the Railway Trail at Ferry Reach.

The next thing we saw was a post with Dev's name on it, so I made him pose for a picture.

After just a minute or so of walking in this direction, we once again heard Dev laugh at the irony again...the train station was literally paces in the direction we had chosen not to go when looking for it the other day.  I was a little disappointed, it turns out to be just a single room empty building, with a no trespassing sign.  I should however clarify that this train station is not a Bermuda Railway train station, but rather a private train station for a mini line that the Astor's had installed on their estate.  That makes it a little cooler.  Rumor has it there is a decaying engine car somewhere, but I will have to go trespassing to find it.  Yes, of course I have added that to the to do list.

Beyond the train station there isn't much.  So we turned around, left Dev to have a nap in the bushes, while Siobhan and I carried on back to the cemetery we had seen but not photographed on the last visit.  Siobhan is a good friend...despite being creeped out by cemeteries she still came with me.  On the way I got another snapshot of "wild Bermuda."

And finally the cemetery dedicated to the British Navy who died of yellow fever in the epidemic in the 1880's.  I thought it was a striking monument, and one that must have been painstaking to build.  A sign of affection and honor for their fallen comrades.

A beautiful final resting place

The effort that went into this wall speaks of the acclaim the fellow naval men thought of their fallen

After that we went back to the trail head to retrieve Dev, who swears he was not sleeping but it looked pretty suspicious.  Back at the scooters, we were buzzed by a jet plane.  We were debating whether it was Canada or US bound (we should know just by time alone by now, but we didn't), and the winning argument was Dev's, who figured it must be Air Canada, using special Canadian finder radar, taking a closer look at a meandering Canadian below.

And then, from 20 feet away, Dev said "hey, good work mate."  We had no idea what he was talking about until he pointed to a log in the distance with 2 intimately entwined lizards.  I don't know if it's worse that he perks up and notices lizard sex from 20 feet away, or that I stopped to photograph it once it was pointed out.  Either way, we now have an X-rated shot for the blog.

Since none of us smoke, we headed to the Swizzle Inn after that scene.  We had a delicious lunch, and the Bailey's Bay Fish sandwich gets a firm recommendation, it was huge and looked delicious (I went with chicken but I trust the claims of my co-explorers)

Since it was a beautiful day, I made a quick trip to the Botanical Gardens to get a picture of my favorite tree.  The day I moved to the island, the most striking thing on my drive was this tree with beautiful purple flowers.  I knew my niece Jaycena would have loved it, and so hunt it down and photograph it often.  It is a Blue Jacaranda tree, and in Bermuda, it only has leaves and flowers for a short season, beginning in May or June.  It has grown a bit in the 5 years I have watched it, but it is still my favorite tree.

It reminds me of a Disney cartoon tree, that moves and dances, due to its graceful form

Close up of the little purple flowers

And this little tree also "wanted" to be photographed...it looked so fluffy!!

And 2 blogs in, the day wasn't over yet.  It was a Friday.  Which meant I had about an hour and a half to get from tree to town to participate in Happy Hour around the island with my off island ex-expat friends.  What a day!  A good one!  Tune in to the next blog for part 3 of my Friday....