From One Extreme To The Other: The Story So Far

Here I go again, on another adventure, and I'm going to try to blog about it (hopefully more consistently than the last one!).

So as my Puerto Rican Island Life comes to an end, luck has us striking off in a completely different direction. We are now moving up several thousand feet into the sky and will be enduring the polar opposite lifestyle in wintry Colorado. We will go from a hot, remote, tiny island off of the coast of Puerto Rico, called Vieques, to a cold, mountainous, civilised society in the middle of the United States.

On the move again

 If you read my Puerto Rican blog (which you can find by clicking on the link above), you'll know that I wasn't the biggest fan of that region, and the tiny island of Vieques in particular. It was hot, it was primitive, it was ugly, and the people were somewhat unwelcoming (not to mention a complete lack of customer service).

But all in all it was a good experience, as any experience truly is, and a unique experience. We were glad to get the hell out of there but will look back on it with fond memories. We will remember all the good times we had, and the friends we made. We will miss those three mischievous dogs we fell in love with, and we will take the bad as learning experiences hopefully never to be repeated.

Here's a recap:

We took a house-sitting assignment in Puerto Rico in May 2011. It turns out it was on this tiny little island off the mainland called Vieques, which until then I had never heard of. We lived on a 14 acre property outside of the main town of Isabel Segunda on a steep hill. We had a small orchard of tropical fruits and took care of the grounds and dogs. If it had've been just that it would have been terrific. But this was Vieques, and nothing on Vieques goes according to plan.

Things broke down, things stopped working, and things just came flying at us like the hurricane that capped it all off (yes, we even experienced a hurricane; nothing too major, but enough to scare our socks off and ruin any comfort we had left!). Cars, mowers, electricity, water, even the drive-way, soaked in rain and mud, ceased to work. There isn't much on Vieques to amuse oneself unless you love beaches (but even then it can get old), and eventually, our best means off of the island, the ferry, stopped working too. But we met friends that changed the whole outcome of our stay to something great. We could count on each other when our cars broke down as they all eventually did, and to have a dinner party, a pool party, or an excursion, as we frequently did to forget our troubles.

Chase and Auggie, the big Rottweiler, became best of friends (see below). Jasper, the little cute terror was always around to play or else was off chasing lizards, and feeble old Oprah kept mostly to herself but when she was around she could be counted on for a big happy smile-unless it was raining! They kept us sane when we were stuck up on the hill.

Nutty Island, as our Aussie friend Peter nicknamed it, doesn't come up so bad in photos and even looks quite interesting, and to be honest, a week's vacation might be alright there; the beaches were breathtaking - if only they weren't a bitch to get to. But unless you want to shell out $400/night at The W Resort, expect to rough it a little.

Take a peek, and judge for yourself:


Of course, what is life - and me - without food! I threw in a few shots for Chase and my friends who endured my constant food snaps!

Friends make life more enjoyable and the people we met made our stay in Vieques what it was. Our first new friend was Ali and his cute little dog Ozi, who we couchsurfed with in Old San Juan. He was so hospitable and enjoyable to hang out with, and we enjoyed getting to know him. Of course our Vieques inmates, Paul and Jodie, and Peter and Jan, became like our family and support during good and bad, and I'd like to pay extra tribute to them here.

Peter was always making pizzas and pizza ovens. Thanks to him there are a chain of pizza ovens scattered around Vieques which will be an enduring legacy to his time in Vieques. I'm sure Jan and Peter both will be remembered for years to come! They persevered in teaching the locals the Australian Way, whether they liked it or not (including a sketchy game of cricket), and still couldn't pronounce 'Fajardo' when they left! Paul and Jodie supplied us with a great hang out spot at their guesthouse La Finca (right), and a great many memories of food, laughs and Chichaitos (a hard, but cheap rum drink with a translation I'd rather not repeat here). Their benevolence even sparked a horde of cats to contend with!

So that was our stay in a nutshell. Stay tuned to my Puerto Rican blog as I continue to play catch up on all the weird and wacky adventures we had!

What's next?

Winter Park Chateau Bed and Breakfast! We're going to be Innkeepers!