We travelled to Antigua to celebrate 159 years as a family…Louise and I each turned 50, we celebrated our 25th wedding anniversary and our daughters turned 18 and 16. All of this followed a big celebratory friends and family bash back home. The girls organized champagne on the flight out and we stayed at a beautiful beach resort in the North of the island.


A white sand beach, beautiful landscaped gardens in full bloom and sundowner cocktails under the shade of the Hugo Tree, a coconut palm laid horizontal by a hurricane many years ago. In a little under 2 weeks we will experience the power of a Tropical Storm in this small corner of paradise.

Most of the popular beaches on Antigua face West, into the Caribbean. The white sand and sheltered waters attract the beachgoers in their thousands (if they bother to leave their all-inclusive resorts).


Today we escape the masses and head East to the Atlantic coast. Typically the beaches are quieter, the water more turbulent and the facilities more primitive…not always a bad thing.


Overlooking Willioughby Bay, is the Crossroads Centre, a drug and alcohol rehabilitation facility founded by the legendary guitarist Eric Clapton, and named for the Blues track of the same name, recorded by Clapton and his Band, Cream.

English Harbour is a natural harbour situated in the South of the island. Named for the settlement and Royal Naval Base (Nelson’s Dockyard) established during the Napoleonic Wars of the 18th Century.


Today English Harbour is the main centre for leisure boating and yachting.