Virgin Islands. Strange.

On St Thomas, van taxis waited outside the arrivals halls on the left hand side. They charged $15 for a ride to the Red Hook marina, from where ferries to St John and Tortola operated. The St Thomas to St John ferry had a decent schedule, leaving hourly until midnight at a cost of $7 for a non-resident plus $4 for each piece of luggage that could not be kept on one’s lap. The crossing took 20 minutes.

Cruz Bay of Saint John seemed like a party place, full of backpackers and nature lovers. As I arrived at 10:30pm, the bars were heaving and buzzing. It had a good holiday ambience and the amount of young people behaving reasonably, even in the Irish Pub, was sending good vibrations.