We walked aroung the Harrington Sound today, as a preparation for the End-to-End walk next weekend.
Some fun facts about the Sound:
Harrington Sound is a large inland lake in the northeast of the main island of Bermuda. It is surrounded by the main island on all sides, only appearing open to the ocean via a small channel called Flatt's Inlet in the southwest. Much of the sound's water flows to and from the ocean via subterranean cavern systems, the largest being Crystal Cave and Leamington Cave. Despite this, the water in the inlet is fast moving, carrying water in and out from the sound as the tide ebbs and flows. A bridge (Flatt's Bridge) crosses the inlet, and the small settlement of Flatt's Village is located on its north bank (and that is where we live now), as is the Bermuda Aquarium and Museum (across the inlett from us).
The sound was named for Lucy Harrington, Countess of Bedford. It is the lowest point on the Bermuda sea platform, being over 20 metres deep at its deepest in the southeast. Its geological origins are uncertain, though it is not (as it appears to some) a volcanic crater. There are numerous small islands in the sound, notably Trunk Island.
Unfortunately, as Bermuda's human population (and fishing) has increased there has been an equivalent drop in the populations of the sound's formerly abundant shellfish.
We thought that this 16 km walk would be a good indication how we would do at the real event. Unfortunately, although it was a very nice walk, it was not an accurate measurement for a few reasons. I brough my camera with us, and there were many short stops along the way to take pictures. It also rained on us a few times, and hard enough to force us to hide in one of the bus stop shelter for 15 min. So overall, the pace is a lot more leisurly than we expected, and it took us over 4 hours to get home. Luckily we just made it inside before a thunderstorm.
Some of the things we saw a long the way: Bailey's Bay at the end of the railroad trail on the North Shore, bronze giraffes and zebras in the yard of one of home in Smith's and a chicken with a family of little chicks (I tried to take some photos of the chicks and in the process, I managed to greatly upset the monther-hen, so no photos).