Christmas in Bermuda...

This year will be very strange in the build up to Christmas. Today they were putting the finishing touches to the decorations round town, and it was weird to see a Christmas tree next to a Palm tree.

It will take me a while to get used to the fact that it's not going to get colder, and it will be warm weather for Christmas. But it's still exciting to see the decorations going up, and it will be great to see the traditions of a Bermudian Christmas.

The Christmas count down has begun, 24 days to go :-)

Bermuda Aquarium...

I took the bus today to a lovely little village called Flatts, this is the location of the Bermuda Aquarium & zoo.

The Aquarium was a great place to see all the sea life that live around Bermuda, they had a great collection of creatures everything from a playful Octopus to kissing fish.



They also have a museum were you can learn all about Bermuda and the wildlife on the island. Then on the walk back to the bus stop you can look down into the harbour and see huge sting rays swimming very close to shore.

The Bermuda Christmas Parade...

I attended the annual Christmas parade in Hamilton today. The streets were lined with hundreds of people waiting for the floats to pass, it was a great atmosphere and really felt like the start of Christmas. Even though it was a warm evening.

I was surprised how many dance groups there were in Bermuda, they were all fantastic and well rehearsed, it was nice to experience a variety of different music and dance. You could really see how much effort had been made to make the parade a success.

The smallest dawbridge in the world...

I had a day off from work today so went for an explore, I took the ferry to the west side of Bermuda, and went for a 8km walk down the coast.

Bermuda is made up of qwite a few smaller island, especially on the west side so there are alot of bridges. I walked over one and saw there was a very small wooden secion in the middle, there was a sign that said it was the smallest dawbridge in the world.

The gap, when the drawbridge is lifted is just wide enough to let through the mast of a sailboat.

I got to see fireworks after all...

I have always been very excited about bonfire night ever since I was little, and have always enjoyed watching fireworks, having a bonfire and playing with sparklers. But when I found out that Bermuda didn't celebrate Bonfire night I was a little disappointed, as this would be the first time in my life when I didn't attend a bonfire party.

But then a friend discovered that there was a party to be held at a beach near to St Georges on the east point of the island. I was very excited, and it was a great evening. We bought some sparklers and stood by the bonfire while watching the professional firework display.

It was a little strange that it was still warm and on a beach, usally for bonfire night I would be wearing a coat and a scaf not just a t-shirt, and would be in the back garden.

I felt very satisfiyed and kept my tradisions alive.

From where I type...

I few days in from arriving in Bermuda, I discovered a free Internet connection at the Bermuda, Hamilton Library. You have to first become a member and then you can use the wireless as much as you like.

In the day there are tables set up so your can surf the net outside in the sun, even when there closed I have found that you can still pick up a signal, so this comes in handy when I Skye home in the evenings.



Swimming outside in November...

I went to a Halloween pool party the other day, and while enjoying swimming around the pool, kept forgetting that it was the beginning of November. It was great, lovely and warm, and the sun beaming down. Everyone else who was there though, thought it was now getting a bit cold at this time of the year for a swim, so didn't come in.

Back in the UK it would be unheard of to have a Halloween pool party in the first place never mind swim outside in November.

Clever Bermuda Ants...

I was sat at my desk in my bedroom the other night, when I saw that a team of ants were carrying off a dead moth across the floor. I left them to it as I thought it would save me the job and I carried on with my e-mails.

I had just finished my dinner and put the plate on my bed side table, 5 minutes later I saw that the ants had now changed direction and there was a great highway of them down the centre of my room. I went to investigate and they had now found my plate and were carting of bits of Tuna and rice down the side of the table.

There must have been hundreds if not thousands of them at this point marching through my bedroom. I watched them for a while as I found it quite fascinating that they had set up this great venture in a matter of minutes, but to there disappointment I removed the plate and watched them disperse back from whence they came.