St Thomas - first day

We stepped of the ferry from Tortola, into the waiting cars of our new hosts, Don and Diana, and off to our first St Thomas Rotary meeting.

Farewell BVI

A final pic of the BVI hosts able to see us off on the ferry - Vance, Scotty, Audley and Stephanie - Yvonne was taking the photo. It was a special time on Tortola. Thanks to other hosts: John, Orlando and Sam.

Island Tour

A very old rum distillery near Cane Garden Bay.

Outside the infamous Bomba's Bar. Yes, it is undies you can see hanging above our heads and the place is known for it's special (and legal!!!) mushroom tea.

Part of a mural on our island tour.

The guy on the right is the husband of an expat Aussie - Rose- who went to Tortola on a holiday and never came back. She now runs a vegetable stall/cafe in a very idyllic setting.

One of the views from Tortola.

Rotary Meeting

After our presentation at a joint gathering of the Rotary Clubs of Road Town and Tortola.

Meeting the Governor

We had a brief but enjoyable meeting with the Governor of the BVI David Pearey. We girls even got to use his personal vehicle and driver to get to our next appointment!!! Cooool.

A lazy Sunday - Cane Garden Bay

As you can see, this is Adam and Rotaract member Al (plus one!) enjoying an afternoon swim.

This is some of the team trying desperately to understand the rules of this beach game. We've discivered that people of the caribbean love to argue (in friendly way) about almost anything - and then they just get on with it. This particular game ended with Carolyn getting a balloon of water busted over her front!! Still not sure what the aim of the game was.

More shots of Cane Garden Bay....

.... and of Adam and Myf recovering from a hard Sunday morning of lazing around (Adam) and swimming with dolphins (Myf, with the other girls).

Smugglers Cove

just beautiful!

Carolyn's Vocational Visits - Tortola

In Tortola I had meetings with 4 crime prevention related organisations. The first was with the Police Crime Prevention Unit where I mostly spoke with Sergent Tony Smith, a UK crime prevention consultant in the BVIs for 2 years to provide advice on crime prevention strategies. Community policing is the main approach that he is trying to encourage - increasing the involvement of community members in both crime prevention and the accountability of Police.

I then met with Scherrie Griffin, Senior Probation Officer with the Social Development Department. Her role includes some juvenile justice responsibilities, and by Aussie standards she is very under-resourced. Youth crime has increased sigificantly in recent years (not to different to at home) but gangs and guns are an additional challenge that aren't in the Clarence Valley.

After lunch I met with Lauren Keil who with one admin. officer is the Family Support Network, the BVI's domestic violence service, and with Joanne Perry of the Community Agency on Drugs and Addiction. Again, both women are trying to cover a large area and number of clients with very little resources. We discussed relevant projects and programs and I was able to provide information of some that seemed appropriate to their needs.

Overall, these visits gave me the impression that the BVIs had similar issues to what I am familiar with - acohol, youth crime and anti-social behaviour and domestic violence, but also issues particular to the Caribbean e.g. cultural differences and lack of funding, that make it an even bigger challenge for BVI service providers.

Baths, Virgin Gorda

Shots of the Baths - sheltered pools of water formed by massive boulders of granite covering the sides of the island and into the sea.

We'd just had a lovely lunch on the hill overlooking the Baths and west towards Tortola.

Some of us taking a sail to Virgin Gorda on a beautiful yacht very seriously!

Rotaract Fun

The Tortolan Rotaract Club had organised a fun introduction for us - Sing Star! This one was Carolyn Vs Al but can't remember what song!! Carolyn won.

And this is the inter-team challenge - again the name of the song escapes me ( it was a week ago!). The girls won this one too.

Tortola

Farewell St Maarten/St Martin

Visiting St Martin

We got to visit the Executive Assistant to the Governor of St Martin

We met the Acting President and the Former/Future Presdient (it's a long story!)

Party St Maarten Style

The St Maarten Rotarians really know how to cater for a party!!!!

Carolyn made some young friends - Camille, Franklin and Lynette. The older two were fascinated by her photos of roos and possums but the little one just liked the photo of the 'baby' ( Carolyn's neice Bronte).

Rebecca in the red shirt hosted the party. Her home looks south towards St Barts and Saba. The lights of both could be seen when the sun went down.

Adam using his charm on Desiree.

The Morning After

A very cute St Martin police officer wagging his finger at the Aussie girls in the back of his van

Rotary Meetings

April 23rd Dinner meeting of RC of St Martin Nord - Exchange of banners with President Etienne http://www.flickr.com/photos/world_citizen/sets/72157617323685238/show/

April 22nd Lunch meeting of RC of St Maarten - Exchange of banners with President Bobby and Assistant District Governor Louis