Friday 9-March: Surprisingly, given our late night, we are up at 7:30. We have a few things to do before we are to be picked up to go and see the Pink Sands and Canouan Estate.
As evidence to our previous evening, we are greeted in the cockpit to very black small foot prints across the deck. Oana was dancing barefoot last night! Glen jokes that it’s very unlike her to make any mess, that’s Glen’s domain!
We nip into the village to buy fruit and veg. They are very friendly and it’s not long before Oana is the wrong side of the counter serving herself! Quite a funny scene.
Back at CB we dress ourselves appropriately for our mission today – visiting the exclusive resort. As promised, at 11am on the dot, a new Mercedes pulls up next to Cloudy Bay. Our chauffeur has arrived. Inside it’s all leather and air conditioning. Within 2 minutes we have given our choice of welcome drink that is duly relayed to the resort; champagne or fruity drink are the choices.
We are now bursting with anticipation. But it feels a little odd as we drive through the poor village environment in this car. We don’t think we could ever do rich, but is nice to pretend for a while. Once at Pink Sands Resort, we pass the same security gates where our gate-crashing attempt was thwarted yesterday and into another world beyond. Pristine tidy gardens and very plush looking villas. At the hotel main lobby we are greeted by David himself and given our welcome drink. We are starting to feel like VIP.
One of the staff show as around the hotel then David takes us to the resort center where there is a huge model of the entire resort, all 1200 acres of it or about 2/3 of the island. It’s massive. He explains the history. It was started in the 1990s then in 2000 many of the villas were demolished and fewer but more luxurious ones replacing them. 26 exclusive villas each in several acres and with large pools. They rent from between US$8000 to over $20,000 PER DAY (!) over Christmas. Then is the Pink Sands hotel with just 26 exclusive rooms. The opulence of the place reminds us of the best in Dubai. But no place in Dubai has this view, over a turquoise bay with reef beyond.
A driver then shows us all the various places around the resort in a golf buggy. The 18 hole golf course has to be one of the most beautifully designed. At the 13th tee we get a full 360 of the island. You cannot help but consider anything less than spectacular, what they have done here … for those wealthy enough to enjoy. Or lucky enough in our case.
We are then given the buggy to roam as much as we want by ourselves. We head back up the hill, this time to the casino building, which has not been used for a while. As we approach the grass turns from green to brown where they have stopped watering it. And the building, as majestic as it is, is being ravaged by the salty wind. Clearly building maintenance is huge here, if you want it to continue to look pristine, as 5-star resort must. From the casino we get a view back westwards over the resort and golf course over the bay and out into the Atlantic passed the reef in the east. Out to sea we observe huge rafts of weed heading west with the trade wind. It must be a never ending task keeping the beach clear of the stuff.
We then head back over the hill only to find that our buggy battery is running low. Eventually it totally refuses to go even 1 cm up the hill. But seems quite happy going back down. So we head to the Pink Sand pool bar for lunch and put the buggy on charge. There are hundreds of buggies in the resort as this is the only means of transport for both guests and staff, so there are charging points all over.
As we settle at a lunch table specially prepared for us, we are a bit worried what the prices might be. Sure enough they are high, but not in the region of heart-stopping. As we make our order, along comes a special surprise. The waitress presents us with a cold bottle of New Zealand’s best wine, called Cloudy Bay!! Apparently it’s on-the-house. Just what did we do to deserve this day? The lunch seems very special, even with the jolly-hockey-sticks table next to us. Just how is it that wherever you look there are Brits!
After lunch we retire to the poolside onto what can only be described as a private large double lounger, where Glen quickly falls asleep! We were going to have a go on the HobieCat but by the time Glen wakes, the sun has gone behind the hill and the strong trade wind sends its chill to the air. So we say our goodbyes and thanks to David and Jenifer for their hospitality, then head back to CB in the chauffeur driven car.
Quite an experience. And above all, we are glad that our record for getting into nice hotels and resorts has remained totally intact.