A day in Bermuda with a Twizy

 

“Bermuda is so unique…. The architecture is Mediterranean, the culture is very British, and African influence can be found in the local folk music.”

Anonymous

We arrived in Bermuda off of  Royal Caribbean’s Enchantment of the Seas and had today to do as we wanted. Bermuda is a British island territory known for its pink sand beaches and gorgeous turquoise waters. There are 181 islands with a total land mass of only 21 square miles. There was so much to choose from to do while here, but we chose to spend our day driving around the island in a Twizy. What is a Twizy you ask? It is a tiny electric covered micro car that seats two people, seating one behind the other and is made by Renault. It is ultra-compact and is only 7 feet 7 inches long, three feet eleven inches wide, and a height of only four feet 9 inches. We chose to rent this instead of renting two mopeds. We figured this was our best option available since you can not rent a car in Bermuda.

We rented this vehicle from Oleander Cycles Limited which had a store that was conveniently located on Camber Road at the Dockyard, just a short walk from the cruise ship. The cost was $115 a day (2022) which wasn’t bad for a full day out. We walked into the store and thought the check out process was easy with the help of the young lady working there. She explained how we would have to charge it when the charge was low and gave us a map of Bermuda with a listing of all the charging stations. Then we went out to check out the vehicle and make sure we noted all scratches or dents. When we saw it, we realized how small it really was. Oh my. Since both my husband and I are not small people, we got concerned it was too small.

After a brief class on how to use it, we got in. We fit, thank God. Yes, it was cramped in the back seat but not too bad. If you were smaller people, it would be been more comfortable.  What fun we would have driving around Bermuda in our little electric rocket. Joe said it drove like a go cart. It was a bit bumpy but we really enjoyed the ride. Our first stop was at an overlook with a quaint and scenic park just outside of the Dockyard. When we exited the car, a local lady watched us with a look of amusement and giggled. We must have been a site getting out of that tiny vehicle appearing somewhat like a clown car.

We decided to head to St. George all the way on the other side of the island. We had been there years ago and wanted to go back to reminisce. We drove to St. George on South Road which is the higher road on the island to make a beeline to our destination. Our next stop was midway to St. George at the beautiful Newstead Belmont Hills Golf Resort and Spa to make sure we had plenty of charge. We plugged in the car in their covered parking area and walked around the resort while it charged. It was a beautiful area with lovely views of Hamilton. It looked like a great place to stay. Then we were off again heading to St. George.

Our charging station in St. George

St Peters Church 1978

Heather and Joe - St Peters 2022

It was so beautiful entering St. George with gorgeous views of the ocean.  We headed downtown and pulled into a parking area on Queen Street where the car could charge while we walked around town. The last time we had been to St. George forty-four years ago on our honeymoon. We had to get a picture outside of St. Peters Church, St. George’s oldest building where we had our picture taken years before. Wow, what a difference a few years made. This church is the oldest Anglican Church outside the British Isles and also is the oldest Protestant church in the New World that has stayed in continuous use. The church was established in 1612 and has been rebuilt several times over the years. The original church was made out of wood with a thatched roof. It was given the status of being “Their Majesties Chappell” in 2012 as part of Queen Elizabeth II’s Diamond Jubilee celebrations. It is such a picturesque church.

State House

St George was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It is located on the eastern edge of the island. St. George was the first capital of Bermuda until 1815 when it was replaced by Hamilton. This was one of the oldest continuously inhabited English settlements in the Western Hemisphere and the oldest English speaking colonial town in existence. Walking down the narrow streets and seeing the historic buildings is like stepping back in time. There are many gorgeous building including the State House on Princess Street. It was built in 1620 by Governor Nathanial Butler and is one of the oldest British stone buildings still standing in the New World.

We walked down to St. George’s Harbour and had a lovely lunch at the White Horse Pub and Restaurant. This restaurant was voted #1 for a fun culinary time. They serve delicious local dishes with great water views. On some nights there is live entertainment and it is open seven days a week. We enjoyed a delicious fish and chips meal cooked as if I ordered it in England.

After our lunch, we walked over a small bridge to see Ordnance Island where Sir George Somers Monument and Bob Burns Memorial Park are located. Sir George Somers Memorial was built to honor Sir George, a sea captain after his ship, the Sea Venture wrecked off of Bermuda while on a large resupply voyage to Jamestown, Virginia.. He fell in love with Bermuda and petitioned England to make Bermuda a colony.  He volunteered to stay. He died after only a year later and his body was sent back to England but his heart is buried in Bermuda because that was where his heart lived. There are replica stocks, pillories and dunking stool which seems fitting as this was the last site where hangings took place.

After strolling around, we headed back towards town and walked past Kings Square and Town Hall up the hill to the Unfinished Church. That was on my list of must sees. What a beautiful site. This gorgeous stone ruin is so picturesque. This church was built to take the place of St. Peters. It was built in the late 1800’s but was never completed because of lack of funds and disagreements amongst the parishioners. They decided to keep St. Peter’s Church as their place of worship leaving this church unfinished. An unusual occurrence happened in 1925 when a hurricane took the roof off this church which was never to be rebuilt. The Bermuda National Trust now owns and maintains this site church and was officially named a World Heritage Site. Now it is a popular wedding site.

Walking around, we spotted another ruins but were unsure of the buildings history.  I still found it beautiful in its own way.  We walked down to Somers Garden, named after Sir George Somers who has been considered the founder of Bermuda. It is is a lovely walled garden and a perfect place to sit and relax. When we were there, they were still doing the clean up after hurricane Ian. They make it into a winter wonderland near Christmas with many Christmas displays and lights. I’m sure it is beautiful.

After walking around, we were getting hot so we decided to go to Tobacco Bay for a swim. We caught our first view of the beach as we headed down the steep road. It looked stunning. The water was a beautiful turquoise color and the beach looked calm and serene even under the cloud cover. This beach is rated the #1 snorkeling spot in Bermuda and also voted the best tourism attraction many times over. This small, tranquil beach is protected by stunning limestone rock formations making calm waters to snorkel and gorgeous views. 

We carried our things to the beach and headed out in the 80 degree water to check out the snorkeling. The ocean water was cool, clear, and refreshing. Once I put my snorkel mask on, and put my head into the water, I found there were fish all around me. I had never seen such a large amount of tropical fish in one area. There were millions of fish to see. I saw so many colorful tropical fish like Parrot fish, Bermuda Bream, the beautiful Bermuda Chub, Creole Wrasse, Hog fish, Sergeant Major which has black stripes and yellow top, and many fish that looked as though they had lipstick on it. The fish were of many sizes from tiny to about two feet long. I had never seen such stunning live reefs flowing with the graceful movements  on the bottom of this ocean floor. The marine life was so incredible and I am so thankful we stopped here. We were beyond happy with our choice of going to this fantastic beach. The beach itself was small, uncrowded, and easily accessible with a parking lot only feet away. There was a full service bar with a kitchen. The bar served wonderful tropical beverages to enjoy on the deck or beach and the bartender was lively and fun. We were thrilled to have bathrooms with showers to clean off after a beach day as well as free Wi-Fi. During the summer, they have live entertainment on the deck as well as outside pool table. It is open seven days a week. We so enjoyed our time here and vowed to come back someday.

We cleaned off, loaded up our gear, got in our Twizy and started back to the Dockyard all the way on the western side of the island, taking the lower route on Middle Road. The ride was lovely. We found it interesting how all the roofs were white and graded with steps that were made of white limestone. The reason why is there is no fresh water on the island so these roofs help purify the water and they collect it for later use. In later years the roofs were covered in lime mortar which has antibacterial properties. After we drove for a good amount of time we noticed the charge on the car was getting low and at that time, we were not close to a charging station. We remembered the lady at the desk saying if it got to a certain charge level the car would just stop. We were only one number away. We got nervous and when we saw an Esso Gas Station, we stopped and asked if they had a plug we could use to charge the car. The owner of the shop was so nice and helpful. He said, if that plug works, please use it. It did and we sat at the station until the Twizy had enough charge to get back. The kind gentleman did not charge us anything for it. While there, we spoke to a few of the locals and they were all so pleasant and kind to us.

Then we were back on the road and off to the Dockyard. We pulled in and parked the Twizy in the Oleander lot. As we were parking, a man who worked there came out to ask if we had fun and to see if we wanted to keep the keys to use later that day. We decided to hold onto them to use after dinner.

We stopped at Bone Fish Bar and Grill on our way back to the boat. We sat and enjoyed a refreshing drink before heading back to the ship. We made it just in time for dinner with our friends. Right after dinner, we headed back off the ship again and got back on the Twizy for an evening ride. Joe had done very well with driving on the left side of the road all day and was still game to drive some more. It was a lovely ride with the sun setting over Bermuda. Then once again, we headed back to the Dockyard to turn in the keys. We could have stayed out all night if we had wanted but we were ready to turn in. What a lovely day.

We were happy we still had another half a day left on Bermuda to check out the Dockyard. Check back in to hear about our Dockyard adventures on another blog. There is so much to see in Bermuda and we definitely didn’t have enough time to see it all. That will only make us want to come back to see more.

“Bermuda is another world” is a song by Hugh Smith and the Islanders that we heard when we came to Bermuda for the first time in 1978. That song kept going through my mind as we saw all the gorgeous places on this amazing island a mere 643 miles from North Carolina. It is more expensive than most of the islands but it was worth it. The island was pretty much cleaned up with only a little tree debris to be cleared from the hurricane. We noticed a couple of overturned smaller boats in the harbor but that was all the damage we saw. So thankful the storm was kind to this island.

Our farewell to the Twizy

Our ship, Enchantment of the Seas at night. 

Would we rent a Twizy again?  We sure would.  We saw so much of the island and we were able to talk with each other while traveling.   If you are the adventurous type and enjoy exploring on your own, check them out.  It just may be the ticket for you.  We will be back Bermuda.  

Till next time. Bye for now.