Beaches – Just An East Coast Girl

May Day

Happy 1st of May!

may day, may day…

I’m just over here having a few issues with my blog trying to decide the best course to take. Just letting you know I may be MIA for awhile…

Enjoy this beautiful new month! Happy May Day!

We’re in this together

Here are just a few ways Nova Scotia is doing it’s part in environmental protection. ( taken from the Government of Nova Scotia website)

We lead all provinces in cutting Greenhouse Gas emissions

In 2009, Nova Scotia released the Greenhouse Gas Emissions Regulations establishing GHG emission caps on the electricity sector. Amendments were also made to the Air Quality Regulations to set tighter limits on Nova Scotia Power Inc., sulphur dioxide and nitrogen oxide emissions for 2015 and 2020. As of 2014, Nova Scotia has already reduced GHG emissions 17% below 1990 levels, the most of any province in Canada, and is on track to reach 24% by 2020. This far surpasses our target of 10% below 1990 levels by 2020.

Nova Scotia is the first province to require efficient LED streetlights

Nova Scotia is the first province or state in North America to make LED streetlights the law. LED lights are expected to use less than half the energy of traditional lights and when combined with reduced maintenance costs, the estimated annual savings could be $18 million. They’ll also reduce greenhouse gas emissions by more than 30,000 tons.

More than 25% of Nova Scotia’s electricity comes from renewables

Nova Scotia’s Renewable Electricity Plan is a program to move Nova Scotia away from carbon-based electricity towards greener, more local sources. The plan set renewable electricity generation targets of 25% by 2015 and 40% by 2020. In 2015, almost 27% of Nova Scotia’s electricity was supplied by renewable energy sources, like wind, tidal, biomass, and hydro, and we are on track to reach 40% by 2020.

Nova Scotia has more wind power in our mix than 8 other provinces

As of September 2016, there was almost 600 MW of installed capacity from wind generation in the province.

Nova Scotians are the leading composters in Canada

Nova Scotians are the leading composters in Canada on a per capita basis (combined curbside and backyard). More than 95% of residents have access to curbside collection, and 48 of 51 municipalities use clear bags to enhance diversion of organics and recyclables from the solid waste stream.

Over 100,000 Nova Scotians have renewable heat in their homes

Nova Scotians are doing their part to reduce their energy consumption and replace more of their energy with sustainable sources. Today, over 100,000 Nova Scotians have heat pumps in their homes. Of those, at least 80,000 use a heat pump as their primary source of heating. Over the last five years, Efficiency Nova Scotia’s work alone has helped roughly 56,000 Nova Scotians reduce their reliance on oil.

We’re in this together, let’s everyone do our part!

Happy 1st Anniversary

It’s been a whole year already!!

Andrew and Kristina are celebrating their first Wedding Anniversary! Here is a look back at a few of my favourite Wedding pics.

Happy 1st Anniversary!

Wishing you a wonderful day celebrating!! xo ❤

Morocco in VLOG

Our son James enjoyed a wonderful week in Morocco for his Spring Break. I shared a few of the great photos he took BUT now you’ve gotta see these videos.

Check out these 4 videos!! Tell me what you think.

They are amazing!! New places added to my Bucket List lol 😛

Mexico …

Cozumel, Mexico! This is such a crazy busy Port of Call for cruise ships! Cozumel is Mexico’s largest island, nestled 12 miles off the coast of the Yucatan Peninsula. Cozumel measures 28 miles long and 10 miles wide and is renowned for it’s dazzling white sandy beaches and the clarity of the “multi-hued” azure Caribbean ocean. The climate is subtropical and the people native to Cozumel are of Mayan descent.

We have been to this Port of Call 4 times!!!

Today’s excursion was to rent scooters and tour the island!!

The wind was crazy today!! Many of the natural beaches were closed due to the high surf. It was beautiful though!!

What a wonderful day exploring and swimming in the warm water.

Tonight as we were sailing the winds were pretty crazy again. This is the first cruise we’ve done that there has been lots of rain and high winds…gale force winds …

Cayman Islands

Ahoy!

We’re on Island time! Cayman Island’s, Grand Cayman for the day at the Port of George Town. product_arh10810_image_1

Grand Cayman is the largest of the three main islands, has an area of 76 square miles and is approximately 22 miles long with an average width of 4 miles. It’s most striking feature is the shallow, reef protected lagoon, the North Sound which has an area of 35 square miles. Perfect for those who enjoy diving and snorkelling. The island is low-lying, with the highest point about 60 feet above sea level.Visitors from all over the world flock to the Cayman Islands for the beaches with stretches of soft white sand and turquoise water, the diving, and the shopping! It’s international luxury brand reputation has earned the island is nickname ” Brand Cayman”

This morning we were up bright and early BEFORE sunrise! David walked the track ( a quick 5k) and we had a quick breakfast to be ready for when our tender # was called. We did not dock at the pier in Grand Cayman, it is too shallow, so we had to take tender boats back and forth.

Our excursion today was an Overview of Gand Cayman. The Island is under British rule and there is a residing Governor on the island. We passed the Governor’s home, seven mile beach where the water is 82 degrees all year round, the oldest home on the island, stopped in “hell” one of 5 districts on the island BUT the most popular because of the black limestone formations that people consider a picture of what hell would look like… We passed the oldest homestead on the island 105 years, stopped at a rum cake factory, and my highlight…the turtle farm!!!

Cotton plant with cotton stainer bugs

I LOVE visiting this turtle farm!!!

After our tour we had a few hours to walk around Georgetown, have some lunch ( the MOST expensive lunch ever ) and Holly tried snorkelling for the first time because if you are gonna try to snorkel, the Cayman Islands is the perfect place!

We even sent a post card to David’s Mom & Dad…hope they get it in time before they come home for the summer.

Turtle soup ( David had fish & chips)

Talking to the locals

Tonight we enjoyed a little bit of China on the ship. We dinned in the Lotus restaurant. The Chinese food was delicious. The evening show was acrobats, they were amazing and reminded me of the shows we went to when we lived in China. You’ll notice I have no pictures of any of the evening entertainment. Photos were not permitted.

Jamaica mon’

Smile mon! that’s right we’re in Jamaica for the day!

Jamaica is our first port of call. Ocho Rios is Spanish for “eight rivers”. The name “Ocho Rios” is a misnomer because there are not eight rivers here. It is most likely a British corruption of the original “Las Chorreas” or “the waterfalls”, the name given because of the nearby Dunn’s River Falls. Ocho Rios is in the parish of Saint Ann on the north coast of Jamaica. Scuba diving and other water sports are offered in the area.

Limestone, molasses, sugar and coffee are the key exports in Jamaica.

Docking at James Bond pier named after the 1962 James Bond movie Dr. No

Dunn’s River Falls Waterfall and Beach

A “MUST HAVE” while in Jamaica is Jerk Chicken with festival ( the little fried donut) and bammy (made from cassava root)

The birds were so much fun to interact with at Dolphin Cove. Macaws, lovebirds, parrots, an owl…were all very friendly and liked the attention. This way to the Iguana!

Meet Charlie! Charlie II that is. The first Charlie, the one I held last time we were in Jamaica passed away. This Charlie was a sweetie though. I love Iguanas, they are just so interesting!

David was REALLY brave and held the snake. NOT me though…I am terrified of snakes!!
We had an amazing day in Jamaica…now to set sail!

David purchased a bamboo shirt…he’s looking a bit tropical for our dinner tonight.

Goodbye from Jamaica ( and Charlie)

Cruising’

A cruising vacation! Ahh…

Heading out on the Norwegian Pearl this morning. This is our fifth cruise and the 4th time for us on this particular ship. It just feels like home ❤ The Norwegian Pearl just finished a 2 weeks refresh at dry dock in Miami. There are lots of new updated features and we are the first aboard to check it out. How exciting!!

Here is the itinerary…

And here are some pics…

We arrived bright and early at the Port of Miami and checked in and got our stateroom cards. We had to wait until 12:00 to embark. First stop the Great Outdoors for a bit of food. It was overcast and windy with intermittent rain, so the pools and furniture were tied down. After discovering a mechanical problem during rechecks and requiring a part, we were delayed in our sail away. We were scheduled for 4pm, the first ship to leave, BUT ended up being the last ship to finally leave port. Two Norwegian, Two Royal Caribbean, and a Disney Cruise ship all went ahead of us. There’s so much to do on a ship, and David finally had someone to play a game of chess as we watched the other ships leave port. Since it was rainy and not great for being outside to watch the sail away, we had a lovely dinner ( complete with LOTS of desserts), and enjoyed some great Classical music.

We ended our day being rocked asleep in our cozy refurbished stateroomBon Voyage!

And so it begins…

Winter Vacay time

Today is the beginning of our Winter Vacay!

Bright and early, up at 3am

and off to the airport for a 6:40 flight to Toronto

AND

and Toronto to Miami.

I love vacation time but Winter vacations are the VERY BEST!!! It’s the escape from snow and cold to sun and sand that REALLY makes me HAPPY!!!!!

Glenn & Holly ( David’s older brother and wife) are with us this vacay. We are looking forward to a great time! Goodnight from Miami!

A HUGE South American Party

*** Make sure you press PLAY on the audio file to get the full effect as you read this post. lol

It’s that time of year in Brazil!

It’s Carnaval! It falls on February 24-28 this year. It is the biggest celebration of the year in Brazil. We had so much fun experiencing this when we lived there, and just to break up the wintery snow month of February and help me think about warm, sun and beaches…I just had to break out my Havaianas ( have to pack them for my cruise next week anyway)

AND for dinner tonight I just had to make some delicious Brazilian food … shrimp with heart of palm and rice topped with toasted almonds and lime…lime pie and coffee… and caipirinha’s of course!