Nov 09.2009 - King's Wharf, Bermuda

DKP : King's Wharf, better known as the Royal Naval Dockyard, is located on Ireland island, on the western most tip of Bermuda. Work began on this massive complex in 1809, shortly after the Napoleonic War. Built by slave and convict labor, it was to be a strategic Britsh military outpost, but closed its gates in 1951 when the US military had established a military presence on the island with 2 bases. Since then, the 75 acre site has been renovated to accommodate shops, restaurants, museums, a movie theater, The Arts Center and the Bermuda Craft Market.

This is what we arrived to early Monday morning. The ultra short description of Bermuda, which does not do it justice, is a much nicer version of the Bahamas. The houses are painted with a myriad of bright and sunny colors contrasted by sparkling white scalloped roofs and lush flowering plants. Thick coral rock walls line the narrow roadside, adorned with hibiscus, fern and other tropical plants.

This being the first port of call after the 5 day crossing, became an über important break for the crew as well. Remember, earlier I mentioned how much more work they do on Sea days, well imagine 5 back to back... burn out is upon us and Bermuda is the remedy. Once cleared by the authorities, I believe the entire cargo of 3600 passengers and 1400 crew debarked the ship in about 15 minutes flat.

Ready to "tear it up" a bit, the two of us sensed there was a scooter rental place near the pier and took off to find it. First, let me say that the $35 millions turned $65 million Cruise Ship pier revamp that Bermuda invested in their future tourism, has resulted in one of the BEST pier side settings that either of us has seen in a years of traveling. It is organized, clean and beautiful and offers just the right mix of historic sites, gardens, shops, pubs, and museums not to mention scooter and jet ski rental within easy pier side access. Bermuda takes their tourism VERY seriously.

Once we waded through the throngs of crew waiting to rent scooters, we absconded with our two red rockets without doing the obligatory "road test" - a pair of Italian 500cc scooters back home more than makes up for the 250 cc toys we were riding. After a quick tour around, we headed back to the ship to pick up our own personal photo girl, Ms Martina the dancing Team Head Waitress and resident FaceBook professional. After all, pulling over every few kilometers to snap shots along the narrow roadside is too risky even for us.

Fresh off her Dining Room breakfast service, we strapped a white bubble on her head, popped on the back of my bike and off we went. There is a certain patience and velociraptor like skill involved in snapping coherant artful shots from the back of a moving scooter. However, there is also an art at keeping said scooter upright while the photog leans and twists away from the center in order to get those shots... it all makes for a more memorable experience.

One of the most impressive things about Bermuda is it's people. Everywhere we stopped, a local took the time to pull off the road to ask is we needed help with directions or anything for that matter. Restaurant and shop owners were the same. We could not have felt more welcome.

Finding our way was super easy. There are 3 main roads on the crescent shaped island... Middle Road, South Road and North Road. After a brief tour of the quaint town of Hamilton and some time to chill pier side with our Macha Soy Green Tea drinks (yum) it was time to take South Road back along the beaches and start heading back towards the ship.

The beaches were stunning as we expected, just wished we could have parked the scooters and shimmied down the cliffs to enjoy them for a few hours on the leward side of the island where the winds blew lightly. Instead we zoomed back down Middle Road gathering up the shots we had missed earlier, ending with a photo session at one of the lookouts at sunset.

We have been chasing the sun for the last 5 days to this place, this inviting place in what seems to be the middle of the Atlantic. It's our last point of "vacation" before we see the ultimate goal... America and lady Liberty welcoming us to safe harbor. One more day of Bermuda tomorrow, then we're off to complete the journey.