In 2015, Kath Heytink logged on to Facebook and started “Bermuda Bound”. Its 23,000-plus members from the United States, Canada and Bermuda post pictures and ask and respond to questions about any and everything related to the island. Mrs Heytink, 77, replies 24/7.

She is from New Jersey, doesn’t live here and gets no money for her efforts, but considers it her second home having visited the island every year since 1967.

“Are you bound for Bermuda … or thinking about it? Whether you are flying in or cruising in, this is the group for you!” is her invitation to the Facebook group, which is open to anyone who wants to join.

“My husband and I have been going to Bermuda for years and we know the island like we know our home town. We thought we’d share our knowledge and our photos, so you can get a little taste of Bermuda before you go!”

Mrs Heytink’s first visit was on a cruise she took with her cousin.

“It was my very first trip that I took without my parents,” she said. “We were on the Greek ship, Olympia, and we docked in Hamilton, which I thought was absolutely awesome. I wish more ships could do that now, because you walk right off the ship and you’re right on the port of Hamilton.”

They thought it was so “fantastic” that on marrying, she and her cousin both returned for their honeymoon.

Mrs Heytink and her husband, Roger, eventually started exploring more of the world but their annual two-week trip here, which always spans their July 13 wedding anniversary, was a highlight.

Mrs Heytink talked up the island so much that a member of a cruise group she was part of on Facebook suggested she create a community specifically for Bermuda.

“So I did, just figuring that a few people would come in and I would interact with them and tell them great things about Bermuda,” she said.

“But it just took off. We got lots of [travellers] joining and lots of local people joining, which was fabulous because they’ve been so helpful with things that are more current that I can’t always answer.”

Restaurant openings and closures and any new activities that crop up are tough to keep up with, but she loves that she has had an impact on local tourism.

“We’ve found that a lot of people that [were planning to] come on the cruise ships, they realise, because of what they read on Bermuda Bound, that maybe they should fly in and stay a little bit longer. So we've been able to help Bermuda and it's just been fabulous.”

She doesn’t monitor the 23,900 members all on her own. Help comes from “several admin people who are also frequent visitors to Bermuda and a couple who are Bermudians”.

“It's just great. We love it,” she said.

As one might expect, the Heytinks have seen a lot of change since their 1969 honeymoon.

“We picked up a Yoyo [car] yesterday, and we were saying that we started in Bermuda on the Mobylettes that were in the museum out in Dockyard, where you had to pedal uphill.

“There was one traffic light – for the bridge at Somerset. The only other traffic device was the bobby in the Birdcage on Front Street.”

For the past decade or so, Grape Bay Cottages has been their Bermuda home.

“[It’s] absolutely fabulous. You have this whole wonderful beach; you really can't beat it. It's not like a hotel room where you are just confined to one room.

“We have a house and this fabulous porch where we can sit every night and listen to tree frogs and waves. It’s fabulous, Mrs Heytink said.

“The thing that really appeals to us is the Bermudian people. I have never met people like the people in Bermuda anywhere on our travels. They're just so friendly and so helpful.”

E. Michael Jones, who recently stepped down as the town crier of St George, “has been so fantastic helping people out, helping them find things when they need them”, she said.

Another random act of kindness came from a member with the username Smitten With Bermuda.

On hearing that there was a visitor with a heart problem who was unable to fly home, she volunteered her connections with the container ship Oleander and Royal Caribbean Group.

“Ultimately, the help was not needed, but the conversation led other members to volunteer housing while the man recuperated from his stay at King Edward VII Memorial Hospital.

“These are the kind of things that you don’t see happening anywhere else. People just don’t come together to help strangers like that. I keep saying that the Bermuda Tourism [Authority], instead of showing beaches they should show Bermudians interacting with visitors, because that’s where the real [value is],” she said.

“We’ve been to a lot of places. We’ve been travelling a lot since we retired. I’ve met friendly people, but not people that go out of their way to be friendly like they do here.

“People will wave, they will just stop and chat with you …. you just don’t find that anyplace else. I think that’s the thing that really, really makes, for me, the difference.

“It’s beautiful. The water is gorgeous. The scenery is gorgeous. There’s flowers everywhere, but you can find that in other places. But you just don’t find that Bermudian spirit anywhere else.”

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