So excited to arrive in Antigua. The ship was moored up by 8am, right up against the dock in the centre of St Johns, the only town on the island. Quite biggish I would imagine in Caribbean terms and charming in a ramshackle, old fashioned kind of way. It reminded me of Castries, St Lucia when I was there in the late 1970s. There was a bit of "cruise ship" smartening up right on the quay but otherwise everything was the same, largely unmodernised.

England cricket are here playing the West Indies. Bob ummed about going as lots of people were but decided against it.

We got a cab from the quay to take us to Jolly Beach, perhaps about 6 miles away. A nice journey through the countryside. Lots of wooden houses, small places. Again, although there were lots of palms and bananas, Antigua was not lushly green and tropical like Jamaica or St Lucia. There were grassy fields and hills. I guess this is the difference between the leeward and windward islands.

Weather was very kind to us as the forecast had been overcast. It wasn't. We had long periods of hot sun broken by short sharp rain falls that lasted a few minutes. Maybe 3 all day.

So, Jolly Beach is very large resort which largely backs the beach of the same name. It's very low key. Definitely 3 star. But a fabulous beach, nice pools and lovely staff. We bought a day pass which gave us a free run of the place till 5pm which was perfect. We started with breakfast on the beach and then found a lounger beside the biggest pool. Rum punches followed. Several of them. They were monster strong. And this is me saying that. Not Bob.

Swimming in the sea which was divine. Warm and an incredible turquoise colour. We'd decided not to dive today because we'd heard it was a bit average in Antigua and we thought we'd end on the high of Curacao. Had lots of swims. Lots of walks on the beach.

Lunch up in the beach hut. We could have gone back to the restaurant but Bob fancied a burger and chips and I liked the look of the jerk chicken. Yum. And another rum punch. We had intended to take a hobie cat out in the afternoon but after lunch we returned briefly to the lounger and then the next thing we knew it was 3:30!!!!! Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Had some last swims, some last wifi (managed to FT both girls and update the blog) and naturally a last rum punch. Our taxi lady returned for us and took us to a supermarket near the dock. There was hardly anything open as the whole island had a half day holiday for the cricket. Managed to get a load of tonics, cokes, some wine and beers as we will have to host a couple of drinks parties in the next few days to repay some of the hospitality we've received. Luckily we still have a fair bit of "nibbles" brought with us in our shop case. Not to mention a Bettys Xmas Cake which has been in the fridge throughout LOL. I shall force it on anyone who comes!!!!!

Well, a lovely day ashore. Totally Caribbean. Very charming. Very quiet. If you like the water, reading and rum punches this is the place for you.

We sailed at about 6pm just as the sun was setting which was spectacular. It was a special sailaway tonight. One of the "all out" flag waving type with dancing and singing. Soooo much fun and everyone joins in. We inched out of Antigua on a song and a wave.

A most excellent dinner tonight with really fun table companions. We stayed on talking for ages. Interesting travellers all of them. We went to the show which was a double bill of a John Denver tribute act and a woman singer from the X Factor some years ago. The John Denver guy was a bit average and he was probably 70 and had a really, really bad John Denver wig on. It was nearly as bad as Mr Wiggy's. A very close run thing. I was disconcerted and distracted by it to the extent that I couldn't enjoy his singing. The woman singer was quite good but wasn't hitting the top notes and she had not been careful with her sunbathing and was very sunburnt in parts. Plus as well as the sunburn, she had lots of tattoos, some of which were also sunburnt. I was disconcerted and distracted by them too LOL. Shan't go to their repeater show. God…. Tomorrow it's Tom O'Connor and I don't like him at all either. He's always on the last leg of these world voyages as a sort of "treat" but for me the treat went stale about 20 years ago.

Anyway, a very good day.