After our marathon yesterday, and two weeks of early starts in the Galápagos we were really looking forward to a sleep in and a slow start to the day. It was nice to have a leisurely breakfast and enjoy Tiki Island hospitality.

Once we finally got ourselves organised Jan, Keith & I drove into Galveston for a look around, without any specific agenda. We followed the coast admiring the beachfront architecture, while Jan pointed out landmarks. We stopped at a new housing development called Beachtown, which would be a very nice place to live. Lovely coastal architecture with a feel of old Galveston – 2 and 3 story houses clad in white weatherboard / Hardiplank, painted in soft pastel colours with wide verandahs and big windows. We had a look inside the display house, and could certainly imagine living there! We forgot to take photos though!

Back in the car we headed for a little car ferry that goes from Galveston Island to Bolivar peninsula. We spotted dozens of dolphins in the bay, though it was a challenge photographing them, since you never knew where they’d pop up. We drove around Port Bolivar for a while, stopping at an old jetty. We walked along the old concrete jetty for some distance (it was so long we couldn’t see the end of it) photographing the incredible array of bird life we saw there. Who needs to travel to exotic destinations!?

The ferry crosses the main shipping channel – those big boats definitely have right of way!

Just a few of the birds we saw at Bolivar Jetty. Don’t ask me to name them all!

One of the striking things you notice driving around Galveston, is the impact of Hurricane Ike, which hit Galveston in Sept 2008. The city was completely devastated, and there is still much evidence of the damage.

Some before and after Ike shots. Many houses remain derelict, or have been demolished.

Back on the ferry we spotted yet more dolphins, and tried vainly to get a great photo of them. We had a latish lunch at a lovely Greek Restaurant on the waterfront, where we enjoyed great food (I had a tilapia wrap – tilapia is a local specialty but apparently a noxious pest in Australia, I discovered – but it was delicious), and watched a solitary dolphin frolicking and a big storm come rolling in.

My best dolphin efforts so far.

After lunch Jan and I treated ourselves to a much needed pedicure and enjoyed a lovely hour of pampering. As we came out the storm hit and we raced back to the car and home, where we spent a quiet night in, where Jan cooked us a truly delicious dinner, and we watched American football and basketball on TV.