Great Harbor Cay

Friday, January 27, 2017

After a delicious breakfast at HueBoo's Cafe, we checked out the local grocery and the local gift shop.  It also turned out to be the place where we could rent a golf cart for a day to get around on the island.  We wanted to go to the shelling beach, and it is about 3 miles away.

T'ings Necessary

The golf cart we got was seriously on its last legs.  The frame was bending in the middle, and every time we went over a bump, I was sure it was going to break in half!  The governor was broken or misadjusted such that it would rev up, then slow to a crawl, then rev up again.  And the carb was misadjusted such that when it warmed up it would run poorly and backfire every time the governor slowed it down!  We jerked and popped along, and I'm sure everybody was laughing their heads off!  It was like something out of a TV sitcom.  Still, it was faster than walking. And, oh yes, they drive on the left!

A Bahamian Classic

The road to the beach started out as paved, then turned to rocky, rutted gravel, and finally ended in the sand.  I was sure that each pothole would be our last.  But the plucky little cart kept going, and amazingly, it got us there!

We made it!

The shelling beach was the most wonderful place ever!  Miles of pristine beach.  At low tide, you can walk out for a half mile or more. And we were the only ones there for most of the day!

OMG

Low-Tide Flats Go On Forever.  That's Joan Out There.

There were literally thousands of live sand dollars.  You could see the tracks they left as they moved under the sand.  (How do they move??  What do they use for legs???)

Live Sand Dollar Under The Sand

I dug up a couple and rinsed them off.  They are brown when alive.  We also found about a dozen dead ones, which are bleached white.

Live Sand Dollars

Coral Fan

Live Sea Cucumber

Sea Urchin Shell

Live Starfish

Live Whelk

We met another couple on the beach who said they come here often.  They claimed that its as beautiful as any spot in the Bahamas, but without all the people.

Once back at the boat, since we had the cart until the next day, we decided to tempt fate by using it to take the three of us across the island for dinner at Coolie Mae's Restaurant.  Even more daring, the return would be after dark, and the cart had no headlights (just wires dangling where they used to be).  So we brought a powerful LED flashlight!

Coolie Mae's had one of those million-dollar locations, atop a shoreline cliff facing southwest into the sunset. We ordered beers and sat outside drinking them watching the sun set as they prepared our meals of cracked conch.

Coolie Mae's

A Happy Cruiser

The Million Dollar View

Dinner is Served

The trip home was everything we expected it to be.  Trying to drive (on the left!) with one hand while aiming the flashlight with the other was challenging.  Good thing there's not much traffic and we couldn't go very fast anyway!  We made it home in one piece, laughing our heads off.

Life is good.