Travels with the Trouts - Part 2 Getting Around

They don't let visitors rent a car in Bermuda.  It's easy to understand why.  First off, they drive on the left side of the road and the cars are left-hand drive.  I'm sure they don't want a load of foreigners getting into all sorts of accidents because they've forgotten which side of the road they're meant to be driving on.  Secondly, the roads are very, very, very narrow.  There are no shoulders and there's either a hedge or a stone wall running along the side of the road.  For those of us used to highways or even country roads that are fairly wide, this can be a bit disconcerting.  Even though the posted speed limit is 20 mph or 32kph*, nobody seems to travel this slowly. They all whip around these sharp curves and very steep hills.  

They do, however, let visitors rent these little scooters.

You still have to drive on the left, so I'm not quite sure of the logic.  You have to be 18 to rent one and 18 to drive one  and I didn't see any that could carry passengers so that let us out of the cycle rental adventure (Science Girl is still 17 much to her disgust because the drinking age in Bermuda is also 18).

And gas was $2.13 a litre so I didn't really mind not having to pay that.

So that left us with public transit or walking to get around.  The walking, outside of Hamilton, is atrocious;  there are no sidewalks so with the narrowness of the roads and the speed of the drivers, it was a bit nerve-wracking.  Sometimes walking was the most efficient way to go but it was not a pleasant experience.

So that left us with public transit. 

These  passes became our Most Important Documents during our week there.  They allowed us unlimited access on the ferries and busses which was awesome.  We didn't have to dick around with the correct change and if we only rode the bus to the next stop, it didn't matter.

Where we were staying was a 2 minute walk to the ferry stop which was convenient but the ferry only came by once an hour which was not.  And if you're riding public transit, you're immediately on a schedule which may not necessarily be to your liking.  But there you go.

This was the little ferry we used.  It had an outdoor upstairs which was nice when the wind wasn't blowing you to bits.  The bigger ferries allowed scooters but this one was only for pedestrians.  This took us back and forth to Hamilton which you can see in the background, sort of.  I heard one of the fellows working on it call it a lemon but it seemed fine to me.  Except the one day it was so wavy and blustery, it took the pilot 2 or 3 tries to get into one of the stops and the ferry got stuck in reverse and we started drifting back into the harbour. 

Here's a better picture also taken from the ferry dock.  It was only a 10 minute ride and the scenery was lovely.

But the ferry only took us as far as Hamilton;  if we were going further on, we relied on the Little Pink Busses.

The drivers were all very friendly and extremely helpful.   If you weren't quite sure what stop you needed, you only had to ask the driver and he'd shout out that your stop was coming up.  Very helpful. 

We travelled from one end of the island to the other on these little pink busses so we saw a lot. And like most transit systems, it did attract its share of crazies, like the lady who asked if we had antelopes and tigers in Canada. But as I reassured SG, who believes all public transportation is sketchy, it was perfectly safe.  Even at night, even when travelling alone.

Next time: Things We Saw




*Facts and figures all taken from Bermuda's Official Tourism Authority