Category — Travel

La poste d’aujourd’hui est de notre Brigitte d’Infirmière. Elle visite de tous les jours pour administrer un coup d’anticoagulant. Ceci est d’empêcher la thrombose et sera très important quand nous commençons à voyager à la maison avec les beaucoup de vols d’avion. Brigitte fournit aussi l’avis médical sur ce que Brenda peut prévoir comme sa cheville commence le processus curatif. Elle a été très serviable. Entre notre Français limité et Anglais de Brigitte et quelques dessins que nous avons géré tout à fait bien. Une images de couple sont attachées. Vous remercier Brigitte!

English Translation

Today’s post is about our Nurse Brigitte. She visits everyday to administer a shot of anticoagulant. This is to prevent thrombosis and will be very important when we start to travel back home with the many plane flights.
Brigitte also provides medical advice on what Brenda can expect as her ankle begins the healing process. She has been very helpful. Between our limited French, Brigitte’s English and a few drawings we have managed quite well.
A couple pictures are attached.
Thank you Brigitte!

So we know you are all wondering what is the cost of a broken ankle in St Bart’s? Yes, we purchased private medical insurance…. more on that later.

First off were the miscellaneous pharmacy items we bought prior to going to the Hospital. You know the normal stuff for a sprained body part; ice pack, tensor wrap, etc.

Once at the Hospital the Doctors fees were very reasonable. The Doctor charged about 25 euro for examniation, assessment and treatment. Then there were the x-ray costs which he waived since there were no x-ray staff on duty the day we showed up. he apologized to Brenda a couple times and said there would be no charge since he would try to take an x-ray but could not guarantee the results or diagnosis. However and trust me on this you didn’t need to be a Radiologist to see the broken ankle bone; I believe it is called the malleole! Anyway, once the Doctor set the cast, provided a bunch of paperwork, written prescriptions, follow up x-ray schedule, etc. the final Hospital charges were just over 52 euro.

After leaving the Hospital we headed to one of three pharmacies on the island to pickup the Lovenox, Paracematol and Crutches. That bill was a bit of a shock as it was about 270 euro.

The Doctor also prescribed a daily vist by a local Infimier (Nurse) to administer the Lovenox and check on Brenda. This is definitely different; the Hospital gives you a list of Nurses and you call whoever you want. So, we tried a couple and as luck would have it our Villa phone wasn’t working or was restricted, so we ended up calling St Barth’s Properties (our villa rental company) and they contacted a Nurse to come to the Villa Sea Horse. A time was arranged for her to come to the Villa and she didn’t show up so we called the villa company gain and she had gone to another Villa Sea Horse on the island. Remember this is St Bart’s and it’s not like there are well identified streets, villa addresses, etc; things we take for granted in Canada.

Once she arrived she gave Brenda the shot checked her ankle and made a schedule for regular daily visit. The Nurse is paid for mileage and cost of administering the shot. Mileage is about 25 euro perday and the shot is a little over 5 euro/day for a total of about 30 euro/day. that doesn’t include Saturday and Sunday when there is an additional charge for the weekend of somewhere between 8 – 10 euro.

Then there is the Blood work. The Nurse took a blood sample on day #2 and delivers it to the Laboratory. The lab e-mails you directly with the results. Another blood test will be taken one week after the first to check the platelets for coagulation. The total for the 2 blood test with Lab work, Nurse fee, delivery to Lab, etc. will be about 130 euro.

So, what kind of total cost are we getting to??????

Well, roughly if everything remains stable we should be somewhere around 800 euro. Now this is kind of eerie but just before we left we got an additional 800 euro from the bank just in case we needed it. We never dreamed we would be spending it this way. By the way 1 euro at the bank will cost you about $1.40 Canadian currency.

One final note we purchased our travel medical(One World Travel)  through BCAA. Overall the plan is quite comprehensive, we paid for additional coverages, etc. However like most insurance companies the first focus is about not spending any additional dollars…… we’ve come to expect that. However, it would have been nice sometime during one of the half dozen calls I’ve made to them for one of their agents to say “So, how is Brenda doing? Is she resting comfortably?” Enough said!

After one week at Villa Sea Horse we moved to Villa Poirier. We said a sad goodbye to Dean and Judy who helped us move to our Villa for the next 10 days. They have been a tremendous help and we really appreciate their love and support.

Villa Poirier is much smaller and is more like a traditional St. Bart’s home.

The view is phenomenal, totally unobstructed and very panoramic. We can clearly see St Maarten and Anguilla; the lights in the distant in the evening are spectacular.

It has two small bedrooms, a small bathroom, nice size living area and galley kitchen with everything we need to be comfortable for the next 10 days.

Outside is a pool, a hot tub and sun deck. This continues on to a wrap around deck to enter the villa  where there is a dining table that sits so you can dine and look out over Lorient Bay.

In addition in the distance we can watch the planes approach St. Jean Airport. This picture was taken at the airport of a Twin Otter on final approach as it starts to dive over the hill where the runway starts.

We’ll provide more posts and sights from around the island in the days ahead.

On Wednesday morning the weather looked like it was changing for the better and the winds were dying down, so we headed off to Colombier Beach.

Colombier is at the far end of the island and is only reachable by about a 1 mile trail along the cliffs of the ocean. In many places the trail has been carved out of the rocks, complete with steps, an abundance of loose rocks/gravel and lots of places where it is very easy to slip and we all at times were finding the footing difficult. Unfortunately about 100′ from the end of the trail Brenda slipped and at the time we thought she really badly sprained her right ankle.

Unfortunately she had to hike out and with a little assistance from us we got her back to the car and back to villa where we could ice it and elevate it. The pictures are pretty dramatic of what it looked like when she first took her shoe off, later in the day and the next morning.

However after much discussion we thought it best to go get it looked at by a Doctor. The Hospital in St Barts is quite small but very efficient. After a few minutes the nurse came out to take us into the emergency room and then a young Doctor arrived. When she explained how it happened and the fact she walked all the way back on the trail the Doctor said “you must be very strong for pain”. He apologized because the radiologist was not in today, however he would attempt t take an X-Ray. After a couple tries he was able to get a clear picture and sure enough poor Brenda’s ankle was broken.

The Doctor applied a fiberglass cast, prescribed crutches, Levonox for blood clotting and  pain killer. Total bill so far was only 52 euro.

We then went to the Pharmacy and purchased all the drugs and crutches the bill was now about 268 euro. Thanks heavens for medical insurance.

Anyway she is resting comfortably however as you can imagine she is quite “bummed out” about the whole series of events.

We’ll provide updates in the days ahead.

While downtown in Gustavia we stopped in a St Barth’s Properties to see if we could check in early which should make it easier to move to our next Villa. The picture below is how you have to park vehicles due to the narrow streets.

We are staying at Villa Sea Horse with Dean and Judy. It is located at the east end of the island near an area called Grand Cul De Sac. The villa is quite large with 2 bedrooms with ensuite and large walk in closets, separated by the kitchen, living room and outside seating area. This show one of the bedrooms at one end of the villa there is another one at the exact opposite end. It’s very open and looks out to the ocean.

One of the best features of this villa is the pool; by St Bart’s standard this is a large pool, most are plunge pools, this one you can actually swim laps. Plus the view is pretty nice.

Our 4 nights in St. Maarten flew by. 

However, we were able to meet up with Donna and Bob and had a great lunch with them at a new restaurant on Simpson Bay Lagoon. After lunch we headed back to the Turquoise Shell Inn for a dip in the pool. It was great to see them and by all accounts their time here has been a little frustrating on getting Bergybit into the water and the recent dingy motor issues; but it probably beats snow, cold and hurricane winds on the west coast of B.C.

We took one day to walk down to The Sunset Bar & Grill on Maho Bay and watch the planes land. Check it out on YouTube sometimes, it’s as exciting in person as it looks on line.

Carter and Poly at The Turquoise Shell Inn treated us like royalty and it is definitely our preferred location in Simpson Bay when we visit St. Maarten. We will be back.

Saturday morning we boarded the WinAir flight to St. Barts.

The winds have been quite strong recently so we knew the flight was going to be exciting. On final approach the pilot nosed the plane at a very steep angle over the hill, we hit an air turbulence that shot us down and sideways a bit and he finally got it flared out and stopped before the very end of the runway! Yaaaaa; we’re here.

Dean & Judy met us at the airport and we were off to Villa Sea Horse for the next week.

Well we finally made it to St Maarten. We are so fortunate to be able to come back to this warm and lovely location in the Caribbean. It’s not for everyone; but we love it.

The trip down to Vancouver on Sunday was sunny and clear, roads were perfect. The Travelodge near the airport was great and we have our car securely parked in their lot. The West Jet flight to Toronto on Monday was good and the Sheraton Gateway right at the airport was outstanding. On Tuesday the West Jet flight to St Maarten departed on time and with favorable winds we arrived almost half an hour early.

There to greet us at the airport were Donna & Bob. Donna had made up a “WELCOME” sign; however it is illegal to display personal welcome signs inside  the airport. However, once outside we took pictures for proof that they met us and had a sign…. Donna has the pictures.

We hopped on a Taxi and headed to the Turquoise Shell Inn. We were greeted by Carter and Polly and it was like we never left. A real surprise and treat was that Donna & Bob had stocked our fridge with a few essentials; beer, wine, water, cheese, grapes, etc. Thanks Donna & Bob.

So, after getting settled in we headed to Simpson Bay Beach, which is right out the back door, to watch the Sunset and have a nice Cool Beer……. what a great start to the vacation.

So this is your skill testing question of the day!

“Spark Plugs to St. Maarten” is it

a. The name of a Rock Band from the 80’s?

b. The newest Blackeyed Peas hit song written and performed at their New Years Eve concert in St. Barth’s?

c. a Humanitarian relief effort complete with telethon and lottery contest supported by Lordco Auto Parts?

d. A request from my sister and her husband to help fix the outboard motor for their dingy so they can get on with their Caribbean sailing adventure!

or………………. imagine this

“It’s Couples Travel week on Jeopardy”

Contestants Larry & Brenda – We’ll take “Caribbean Travel Oddities” for $200 Alex.

Alex Trebek – “Something unusual and odd that your sister asked you to bring all the way to the Caribbean from Kamloops B.C.”?

Contestants Larry & Brenda – What are“Spark Plugs to St. Maarten”!

Alex Trebek – “You’ve got to kidding”! “OMG it is the correct answer”!

So, honestly we  received an urgent e-mail from Donna that she and Bob are having trouble with the outboard motor for their dinghy. Bob has the carburetor apart and it’s recommended that they also change the spark plugs. Anyway, none are to be had in St. Maarten, however there are some at Lordco Auto Parts in Kamloops. Tricia, bless her heart, picked them up at Lordco and dropped them off this morning.

But here is the dilemma. Do I take them in my carry-on? Are they allowed? Well if you Google “Spark Plugs in your carry-on baggage” you get a variety of results. I then checked Canadian Transport Safety and they have nothing specific about spark plugs. So, rather than take a chance at having them confiscated by airport security I put them into my checked baggage.

However, if someone in St. Maarten reads this blog and has a couple spare NGK 2983 – CR6HSA Spark Plugs, would you mind stopping by the Boat Yard near the end of the runway at Princess Juliana Airport (it’s on your left heading towards Simpson Bay) and dropping them off….. Thanks!

On Friday we took a day trip to Kelowna. We went down for a couple reasons.

#1. Was to take Gramma and Grampa to see Jeff & Lindsay’s new home. We had planned to take them for a day trip visit a couple of other times, but it never worked out. However everything did for this Friday. The kids have done a great job on landscaping and generally getting the house and yard where they are very happy with it. Baby Hip-Hip is growing and doing the Watusi and supposedly specialized yoga moves….. mostly at night when Lindsay is trying to sleep.

#2. Reason was to take my “Nike – Canada” Golf Bag back to Golf Town in Kelowna. The top fabric divider where the woods sit was worn through to the plastic protector and that’s only after 2 months of use. Anyway, Golf Town was amazing to deal with, they said I could get the same bag or change it for another brand. In the end I selected a Sun Mountain 3.5 Ultralight. Pretty sweet golf bag.

After the quick visit and house tour we went out for lunch (thanks Grampa & Gramma) and then headed home. A great day.

Well It’s About Time…. or at least that’s what we think most people will say/think when they discover that we have finally done an update to our blog.

The ‘Readers Digest” version is as follows. Since Sage and Conrad visited the following are events from our busy retirement life: I played in a seniors golf tournament in Cache Creek; we had our grand-cat visit for one week while her parents were off to Toronto for a conference; our good friends Rick and Gayle and daughter Jeanine (who is expecting) came over for dinner; we went to Kelowna for a quick weekend visit; the Rube Band played a concert in the park; we had a coffee and visit with my cousin Trudi and her husband Norman from Victoria  along with my sister from Sechelt Donna, sister Lynda from Kamloops and Nieces Tricia and Lynette – it was great to reconnect; we were off to Princeton to get in a much needed grand-kid fix plus I was spoiled with a 57th birthday celebration by Tamara, Kevin and Brenda, we visited our good friends the Smith family in North Vancouver, we were able to get in many enjoyable bike rides (note: the hills back up to our house are getting easier – honest); we attended our Annual Friends Reunion – year # 31; this was hosted by Judy and Dean –  we visited Barkerville and stayed at Judy & Dean’s estate/mansion on the North Nechako River in Prince George; and finally at the end of August Jeff and Lindsay came for an Ultimate Tournament and they stayed over an extra day to make Salsa. 

So it’s been a busy and fast summer…… where has it gone. The pictures are in no real specific order and they are random.

Shuswap Lake Park

Visit to Lynn Valley Canyon in North Vancouver

With our Niece Sabrina at Second Cup Coffee