We took a Triple A trip to get there to save us from having to drive and a lunch at the National Hotel was included. We went to the top level of the ferry so as not to miss a single thing. The sun was warming although intermittent as we sat on a bench waiting to start. I watched a couple of very old looking fishermen (don't they all look old?) spear some kind of fish (possibly fluke?) from one large barrel and stack them onto another type of container and left in the open air. They appeared to be very dead because I'm told that fish don't usually take well to being stacked. There was no movement at all from these fish.
Nobody seemed in a hurry to do anything with these fish but there was one bold seagull that tried his best to steal one. I never saw if he got one before the ferry started pulling out of the dock. They seemed too heavy or awkward for him to pick up. Seagulls are so cool.
I settled in more comfortably on my bench; braced my slightly less than pasty white legs up against the rail (come on sun, work your miracle!) and proceeded to enjoy the sea air. It wasn't long before I could feel the long, slow rolling feeling of the ferry moving through the ocean water. I found it to be a pleasant and soothing feeling.
It was a little while after that when the wind started blowing steadily and unfortunately at the back of my head. Thus the concept of "ferry hair" was born! (not to be confused with 'fairy hair' which of course is pretty. this was NOT pretty!) You cannot blow very curly hair in any direction without creating havoc. And you certainly cannot blow MY hair from the back of my head forward without creating 'ferry hair'. So while some others amused themselves by holding french fries up for the seagulls to swoop down and take from their hands, I enjoyed the sun and ignored the wind sculpture that was being created on my head.
Our lunch at the National Hotel started off a little hectic. I hadn't memorized any of our fellow tour people and we were only given the most vague directions to 'go to the right' and find a table. It was very difficult finding two seats together; especially when I wasn't sure which tables were ours. None of the tables were marked as ours. Eventually we found seats and were quickly asked what we wanted to drink and food orders were taken as well. The wait staff was very efficient. We were served clam chowder and breads before meals; I didn't eat the bread but I was told it was good. I was to have the crab cakes; my friend was having the salmon. We intended to split our meals and share them but it didn't work out that way. My crab cakes turned out to be a crab cake, sitting on a bit of rice and exactly 4 small asparagus spears. The salmon had the same set up. It was delicious but not filling. (now I know why they served the bread) That's what you get when you eat at a fancy place....good food but not a bunch of it. After the meal (a pleasant memory in no time flat) we enjoyed the sights and sounds of the island while talking with our lunch companions on the large open air deck. Then we had about a half hour to visit shops (not enough time) before we had to meet behind the hotel for an island van tour that we had signed up for.
During our 1 hour tour only one stop was made and that only happened because I yelled out from the back that we wanted to see the cliffs. Our van companions complained bitterly and continually on the walk out to the cliffs; a walk that took less than 5 mins. (seriously...less than 5 mins) Not one of them took pictures, but I did.
And by the time I was done taking pictures (about 10 mins) they were gone. We found them all packed into the van with grumpy looks on their faces and a lot of muttering going on. The driver looked unhappy too. I can only imagine what they said to him before we got there.
It seems they were highly irritated to have been so inconvenienced by stopping at the cliffs and then even more so by having to wait for us.
I smiled sweetly as I climbed back in the van.
I then spent the rest of the tour sweating (air conditioning was turned down to accommodate 1 woman in the front); frantically waving my hand fan; unable to hear a thing the driver said; unable to take pictures because we never stopped again; and finally falling asleep from the heat and boredom. Some tour!
The terrible tour (as it will forever be known) took up mostly all the free time we had. We rushed through a few shops but I found nothing of interest. Eventually we ended up at the hotel bar to kill the last half hour before getting back on the ferry. 
The ferry ride back was largely uneventful but several people on jet-skis surrounded the ferry and gave us a little show criss-crossing back and forth and finally shot off in a different direction (sometimes they were airborne!) and were gone. I had a few moments of wishing I could go with them. I'm thinking jet-ski hair is probably a lot better than ferry hair!
Live music at the National Hotel too!
Jet skis!!
