I was last in Aruba about 13 years ago. I remembered only a pool, a beach, a casino and a windmill. Today we set off to rent a car and tour the island, and we did. After waiting for an Avis guy to pick us up, the 6 of us got into Suzuki XL-7 and headed off. Being a Dutch colony, all the street signs are in Dutch. I still don’t know what some of them mean. At least they drive on the right side of the road.

There were 10 caches on the island which made for convenient destinations with some other stops inbetween. Some of the cooler stops were: a huge cave with lots of bats flying around, the wish rock garden with thousands of little rock piles and 4-wheeling around the edges of the island. I drove the whole time and I had a blast.

The most unamusing part was Aruba’s famous natural bridge which is no longer a bridge. It collapsed last year and all you see is a bunch of rock lying in a gulley. That doesn’t stop tourists from coming here though – there were more here than I saw anywhere else on the island.

The final stop for the day was Haystack Hill, the highest point in Aruba. 562 steps lead up to the top of this peak which is quite a workout. I was quite winded but we all made it up.

No good vacation comes without injuries though. Anne smashed her knee on our second stop. It’s been sore, but she seems fine. I was proud of being out in the blazing sun all day and only getting my neck burnt a little bit. Yay sunblock!

We ended up finding all 10 caches and the windmill and casino I remembered. It was a long day though and we were glad to get back on the ship, take a shower and go to bed at a reasonable hour.