After four days of strenuous but enjoyable activity I was looking forward to being driven around on futuristic vehicles. To the uninitiated, Segways have two wheels and yet somehow remain upright the whole time (something to do with gyroscopes I think).

We arrived at the Segway office in St. John's and were greeted with friendly smiles and a refreshing drink.  The safety briefing was a comprehensive DVD and it wasn’t long before we were introduced to our machines. I felt like a futuristic John Wayne being introduced to Tonto for the first time.  We were part of a group of around a dozen people and I wouldn’t say we were quick learners as we started with the speed of a funeral procession. We soon picked it up though and were let loose on the roads.

After about 15 minutes we arrived at a beach and people started to take photographs of us on our machines. I almost said “Yes, we are from another planet and we mean you no harm!” We then went back on to the roads and travelled to Fort James. We explored the historic buildings and cannons with the dramatic harbour scenery in the background.

After some fresh fruit and water we were allowed to do our own thing on our Segways in the fort grounds. We zoomed around trying to dodge trees, animals, historic monuments and each other...with limited success!  As soon as the “near misses” looked like they were going to turn into “non misses” we decided to head back to base on our Segways. We travelled by the side of a gorgeous white beach which you can see on YouTube at Segway Tour Antigua.

It was a great way to end five great days in Antigua. Now where’s one of those 365 beaches....

***Charles Duncombe, is an Antigua holidays director at UK travel company www.holidaysplease.co.uk  He recently visited Antigua and soon found how much more the island has to offer than just great beaches. This is the final report of a 5-part series about his many excursions on the island. Thank you Charles for sharing your memories with our readers!