Whef. Thank goodness for Sundays. Its the only day here where everyone takes it off, most of the time. We did a lot this week. Here is the rundown and some pic's. Most are of Corey, I'm behind the lens....
Last Sunday was our first day on the island at Baraka. Here are a couple of pics of Corey down at the Baraka beach and in the pool. To get to the beach its down a hill, so the little kawasaki makes it a fun journey, or if you're up to it you can walk it. It was a pretty chill day. Very nice to relax after our journey here.
Monday we went to Tortolla to get some paper done. Here are a couple of pics of us at the Ferry terminal in Tortolla having a beer to cheers our success at finishing up our paper work. Everyone warned us it can be quite a process, and it was, but all in all it went well. Basically we had to get our papers stamped and approved by the doc on Tortolla, then back to immigration and labour dept. on Virgin Gorda. We managed to get it done in one and a half days, pretty much unheard of here. I put it down to our very gracious politeness and lovely smiles ;)
After getting our paper work done, we were official to start working, and Debbie put us right to it! Tuesday we were put to work doing manual labour at the restaurant. No job is too hard for anyone here. We are all doing whatever we are capable of to get this restaurant launched! These pics are from Tuesday at Coco Maya, our restaurant. Its amazing to see how much we got done this week. I'll have to post some more pics later of the progression we have made.
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| This is Chewy, one of the island dogs. I had to get a pic this guy first for you Margaux! There are a couple of his friends that I'll get pics of soon. |
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| Corey's new work space. The Bar at Coco Maya. |
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| The view from the bar. |
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| The downstairs patio area. |
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| Looking into the downstairs dining area from the patio area. |
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| Downstairs patio area. |
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| The rock garden at the front entrance to the restaurant. |
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| A view of the front of the restaurant, thats the patio part through the hall and the upstairs is a lounge/event area. |
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| Debbie! |
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| A view of Coco Maya from the beach. |
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| Debbie and Alex making executive decisions. |
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| Corey, Alex and Aaron moving rocks and creating the entrance to Coco Maya. |
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| Aaron in the digger, the fun part. |
On Wednesday, Debbie, Josh and Katie, Jo (Josh's sister and mom who were visiting) Corey and I went to Anegada. This is an island that is part of the BVI but barely inhabited and super flat. Its basically just a salt flat and its highest point is 28 feet. The coral reef there is the 3rd largest in the world. Perfect for snorkelling, which we did a bit of that day.
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| Debbie and Josh on the boat to Anegada |
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Anegada from the boat. Literally flat as a pancake! All you can see are tiny trees that pop up out of no where in the distance.
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Thursday Debbie took us to go look at a few places where we could live. The first two we saw were not so great. One was on the beach, not the nice beach though couldn't just run out for a swim or anything but it did have a nice breeze. It had 2 bedrooms but the beds were really small and the owner is just about to go back to England so if something went wrong (which we've been warned, it usually does) he wouldn't be around to fix it.
The second one had potential but the girl who was living in it before left really quick and so it was filthy. Like really filthy. And also really dark so we could potentially have crazy electric bills. One perk was there was a pool...but would I swim in it? Um no. This was in an apartment like setting.
The third one was just right. It is a unit below the owner. Very clean, big yard, one bedroom, tiny washroom, big kitchen and altogether will suit us just fine I think. The landlord's name is Michael Collins, so we have been told that is now our address. If someone asks you where you live or you are filling out a form or something, we put our address as "Michael Collins, Valley, VG" So hilarious. If anyone wants to send us something though, it would go to the restaurant. Let me know and I'll get you the address.
So after finding a place to live, we put down a deposit and went back to work at the restaurant. I've spent my days there staining, painting, wrapping black cord with hemp cord to fit the decor and other odd jobs. Corey is right in his comfort zone back to work on a construction site.
Saturday night we had a little get together at the restaurant to celebrate our progression. Still a few weeks from a Grand Opening but it was nice to have a few drinks and some delicious food from our chefs Lee and Stevie.
This morning we had a little brunch at Baraka with Deb and Josh, Kim and Aaron and the family. I thing today will be one for rest. Corey is working on putting together the bikes, cross our fingers its easier than taking them apart! I am going to make a list of things we'll need for our new place. We move in Tuesday after we take a ferry to St. Thomas to go to K Mart. Its apparently THE place to go for what you need.
Here are some pics of the Baraka Point Turtles. Eating a little lettuce left over from brunch today. So cute!
Lots of love to everyone! Misses and Kisses!
