Chalk Sound and Babalau Beach, Feb. 3, 2012

Time to say good bye to Rhona. She and I just hung out this  morning; she packed; we put the air bed away; moved the furniture back in place. Ian went snorkelling and found a Queen Trigger fish.Having rented a car from  Scooter Bob's (an ex-pat from Bracebridge, Ont.) we took Rhona to the airport and said our good byes. It was great having Rhona with us.

From the airport we travelled along South Dock Rd to Chalk Sound. This is an inland waterway dotted with hundreds of small keys. We love the colour of the water at Grace Bay but the colour here, an iridescent blue, blew us away. We spotted this area from the plane as we came in for the landing. It looked so beautiful and inviting that we had to see it from the ground. Our first stop was the Las Brisas restaurant and bar, part of Neptune Villas. We thought about kayaking amongst the cays but chose to tour the area by car instead. Following Chalk Road we spotted some amazing homes, many of them for sale (not our price range). In the distance we could see a massive property at the end of another peninsula so we turned back and proceeded along Silly Creek Drive. At the very end we parked in front of a magnificent enclave. A private harbour had been formed by blasting out rock. There was a drawbridge for passage onto the estate. The place is called Emerald Cay and it is for sale for 48 million. Any one interested?

We returned to Las Brisas for a lovely lunch. Thinking we might see Rhona's plane take off we hung around for a bit. Although we saw planes going in for landing we did not see any take off.

Later we drove to another location known as Babalua Beach, which is on the other side of the Turtle Cove Marina Channel. Ian snorkelled while I combed the beach. An adult osprey took off from a perch as I neared. A couple of potcakes were following me. One actually licked my leg which I found pretty strange. Ian was waving frantically to me from the water. I figured he wasn't drowning but wanted me to come in and see something special. I quickly donned my gear and swam out to join him. Unfortunately the octopus he had found was now back under the coral. Too bad for me. Check out the octopus quick short above.

Spot the Octopus

When we were back on shore Ian was shocked to find he only had one shoe. They were both there when I went out. I mentioned the dogs and Ian took a good look down the beach. Several yards away Ian spotted his other shoe. The tracks along the way pointed to a canine thief!