Tuesday, 30 April 2013

Issue # 68 - The April Sun (But not in Cuba)



. April 2013 .


. Hello one and all! (or maybe it's just one...)

Welcome to our April edition of what we've been up to. A month without travel for a change (that's if we discount the Jamaica trip at Easter). Still, a fairly busy month of doing stuff around the island. And there always seems to be something going on. Sport, boats and beaches pretty much make up this month's efforts.

Click HERE to view blogs from 2007 - Oct 2012. More recent blogs can be found on this page... somewhere...


SWIMMING
Just when you thought you'd seen and heard the last of swimming for a while, here's some more. After CARIFTA, the club held a fun meet to welcome back the CARIFTA swimmers. It was a Yellow v White arrangement where all of the swimmers got allocated to either the Whites or the Yellows. Jake ended up in the Yellows and Sam in the Whites. The races were all short, fun races with no official timers or anything. Parents were encouraged to come along and support their team. Since we had one in each Camp, Michelle went for the Whites (with a bit of yellow) and Dave went for the Yellows (with a bit of white).


The CARIFTA swimmers all received a certificate from the National Swimming association.
(Note the cool guy in the Yellow shirt...)
Some people got well into the spirit of things.


Jake wins some points for the Yellows

Sam adding to the White's total
 In the end it was a tight affair with the Yellows in the lead going into the final relays. According to the MC, the Whites needed to win at least two races to take out the overall points. The Yellows won one which was supposed to be enough to secure the win, but then they realised that relays count for double points and the Whites just managed to sneak though and take the overall win. Some say it was rigged... others don't agree.

But it was a fun and very quick meet.
Blonde is catching...

Beeeeeeeeauuutiful!
 Jake's Party
Jake was 10 in January but we only just got around to having his party in April (what terrible parents!).  He took a few of his mates and they went to see The Croods at the movies, then came home and had pizza and icecream cake. They then had a war around the house before being banished to their cells for the night.

 We're not sure that they had a lot of sleep, as they were a bit quiet on Sunday morning.  But they had a good time and now Jake doesn't have to wait so long for his next birthday... hopefully.

Girls' Boat Trip
You may recall that Michelle and Co. were the first all women's team in the "Off the Beaten Track" relay last month. For their efforts they were given a boat trip for an afternoon.  So they managed to agree on a date and away they went. It all started very civilized - bubbly and nibbles at Stingray City (no-one wanted to get in the water since they'd all been there and done that several times), then over to the sand bar between Starfish point and Rum Point. Here they did get off the boat, reluctantly at first, and met up with some other friends for a chinwag. After that, it was off to Rum Point for a mudslide or two - the girls had a blast - no kids and no blokes (apart from the driver!) - what a fun afternoon! At least one was rumored to have been put to bed by 7.30pm, while some went on to Sunset House for dinner, not that they remembered what they ate!
Here's hoping they win it again next year!


 Bottoms up!


 Having a bit of fun on the dock

This wasn't the only boat trip Michelle went on this month - she had two others - one a farewell trip for a couple leaving the island. She only decided to go on that at the last minute as she was unable to play touch due to her achilles injury. When she finally turned up (she was late as they had changed the roads and she couldn't find the yacht club!) she saw everyone was dressed up as pirates - she felt like a right idiot as she had completely forgotten. Anyway, a couple of ciders later she was fine! Off to Stingray City again, then to Starfish Point for some food - for one or two it was a bit late!

The other boat trip was a Happy Hour boat trip for the Gaelic girls. This was a 2 hour trip along 7 mile beach at sunset, with all you can drink beer (two choices), rum and vodka. It's amazing how many drinks you can fit in such a short space of time... Everyone got off the boat very happy (it was Happy hour after all)! A few other bars were visited during the evening, a bit of singing took place, and a good time was had by all!....Until Saturday came around...Michelle was very quiet and nursing a rather large headache for most of the day, eventually getting up and leaving the house at about 3pm - mmm, a quiet night that night! Not planning a repeat of that for a while!

Under the Sea
Sam went on a Submarine trip for her Geography class at school. They managed to squeeze about 40 kids into the Submarine and away they went. They went as deep as 102 feet.
 They spotted Barracuda, lots of coral and schools of fish as well as two turtles.  They also checked out the Cayman Trench, which is over 2km deep and apparently helps prevent Tsunamis from reaching Cayman.

Sami and Sam


Duathlon & other sport
The annual duathlon was held last weekend. Michelle had planned to do the whole thing (Run, bike, run) but injured her foot a few days before and couldn't run.  She managed to find a spare runner lurking in the bushes and they formed a fairly formidable team.
Micha and Michelle
 Dave and his mate Mick entered again. They aren't sure why they enter as they don't actually train for the event. But Dave does do a wee bit of running from time to time.  Dave did the the first run (2 miles) then Mick was off on the bike in hot pursuit of Michelle (for 12 miles) and then Dave finished off with the last run (another 2 miles). They never did catch Michelle's team...(or Mick's wife. Lisa's all girls team)!
The Well Hung Ploughboys
 There were about 105 entries. Dave and Mick finished in 55th place. Michelle finished in about 21st.
Dave won a spot prize of a spinning session, only to find out that there was another Dave Bailey on the island. They gave them both a prize.And then Michelle won one as well! And funnily enough, one of the Dave Bailey's won another prize, so they both went up again and collected another one each.

That afternoon was Gaelic. Dave's team didn't fare too well. Michelle didn't play, but her team actually won! The following week showed similar results. This time Dave's team took a real pounding. Michelle's team won again! Finals day isn't too far away either. The pressure is on!

Touch has been on the cards of late as well. Dave's team has never been beaten since this competition started (last year) and were sitting at the top of the table as at last friday.  Come last Saturday they got beaten by a point in a hard fought game against Michelle's team. Michelle was out injured. Dave's team remained at the top of the league but a week later, the winning streak was well and truly over. A 7 - 4 loss which leaves them in 2nd on the table.
Michelle's team had a win and they currently sit in 4th.
Finals day is looming!

Beach
We made it back to the beach on the weekend. It had been a while. It was our friend Lisa's birthday so there were a few folk gathered to have a nice day on the beach.
Jake makes some improvised shade
 The chefs were out in force and kept everyone happy with Ribs, Chicken, Sausages and pulled pork.
And because it was a special occasion, the generator was called for and the blender. And when the generator and blender are called for, that means Mudslides - one of the signature drinks of Cayman (Vodka, Baileys and Kahlua, and not much else). Pretty popular among the ladies.
Mudslides were on the menu!
 
The kids all had fun too!
 Our friends Toni and Paul brought their jet-ski along too. That kept the kids entertained until Paul got sick of the arguing between the girls and the boys and came in for a well-deserved beer and a mudslide.

Latest trend in Caribbean hairstyles.

Work this one out...
Reef Clean Up
 Michelle and Sam went diving one Sunday as part of the Reef Clean Up weekend. They joined a few people and headed out in search of rubbish in an effort to clean up the reef.

They found a few bits of trash and other debris during their dive.
At one stage Michelle found a piece of rope wrapped around some coral. She undid that and proceeded to follow it along the bottom. It seemed to go on for ages. She got to the end and was trying to untie it when someone came along waving and thrashing about (the equivalent of shouting above the water I guess). She was in the process of untying a dive safety line that had been put there to show divers where to go when ending their dive...  Ooops!
 I can lift it...about an inch!
The trash!





This little dude hangs around our Papaya tree.
Looks like one of the cats might have had a crack at his tail!
Click HERE for more photos from April!

Next Month.

Looks like some travel happening next month.

  • Sam heads to Busch Gardens (Florida) on a school trip - all I ever got to do at that age was bike out to the Black Hole for the night, eat burnt sausages and then bike back the next day!
  • Jake and Dave head to the Bahamas for Rugby.
  • The whole family heads to Honduras for a weekend as well.

After all that we'll be broke and won't have any more travel stories...

Thursday, 4 April 2013

Issue # 67 - March Musings

. March 2013 .
Jake checks out the dive spot across the road. Not much diving today!

 Greetings all, and welcome to our March 2013 edition. Yet another action packed month with plenty of travel and sport to keep you entertained for 5 minutes or so...
Dave heads to NZ for a quick visit. Sam heads to Jamaica (with the rest of the family following). Jake turns Greek and we get a little wet! .

For blogs from 2007 - 2012, click here

Sea Swim, Touch and Weather
There's plenty of swimming in this month's issue, so brace yourself!
First up is the 600m sea swim that Sam and Jake took part in early in the month. There are a number of sea swims throughout the year. Most of them 800m (half a mile), and the big Flowers One Mile Sea Swim that is held every June.
 It was a nice warm day with very little current to battle. Both kids made a good fist of it and came away with respectable times and placings.

 Sam swam well and finished in top 10


 The Winter Touch league is back. Dave is playing for the same team he played in last year, The Heineken Brew Crew. Michelle went to the dark side this year and is playing for a team that has been around for years, the Five Nations. Both sides are unbeaten so far, but that will soon change. Who's it gonna be?!
George Town getting a bit of a pounding
 We had a bit of weather earlier in the month as well. The temperature dropped as low as 21 degrees, and we were really feeling the cold! The seas cut up rough and the main drag through town was closed off for a day or so because the waves were crashing over it.  Our house is reasonably close to the sea and the waves could be heard crashing on the rocks and the shore without too much trouble at all.
Random shot of a sailing/cruise ship while waiting for Jake's class' show 
 Greek Day
Jake's class held Greek day the other week. They've been studying ancient Greece and Jake has found the whole thing quite interesting.
On this day they all dressed up in their Greek costumes and put on a show for the parents about the ancient Greeks and Gods, then went back to school and had a Greek War, and ate Greek food, and a great time. It was very entertaining!



NZ Visit
Dave's Dad (Doug) hasn't been all that well so Dave headed back to New Zealand for a visit.
Despite his first flight being cancelled on the Monday morning (Cayman time), he made it back to Waimate, arriving Wednesday (NZ time).
If you hadn't already worked it out, Dave's home town is Waimate (in South Canterbury). Dave has been away for a while now so it all turned into a mini-nostalgia trip.
Doug was in Timaru Hospital when Dave arrived, but they managed to break him out and get him back home the following day which was pretty cool.



The Forks Hotel - home of 'The Bottle'.
An interesting story, click on the link just below to find out the story behind it all.
Teds-bottle-part-of-Waihao-Forks-folklore

Self-explanatory really...

A beer with Cairdy & Bam
There just happened to be a 21st going on in town and Dave managed to sneak past security and catch up with a whole bunch of people he hadn't seen for years.

Hmmm...some stars from a previous blog make an appearance (and Phil).
Siobhan and Lisa were visiting us in Cayman in January.





The Bailey boys

Family shot - with Gordy, Alan, Doug & Lil

 Lil (Dave's Mum) is a fairly handy artist.  Here's a few of her latest works that were in the local art show.
Let us know if you want to but any, we'll put you in touch!
This one won the 'Best in Show' award and was sold in pretty quick time.



One of the older buildings in town being prepared for demolition after all of the Canterbury
earthquakes had taken their toll.

 Doug has been heavily involved in the creation of a heritage site in Waimate called Bushtown. They are re-creating an old sawmill and associated bits and pieces that used to make up the industry in days of old in the area.
They even dedicated a bridge to Doug in recognition of his efforts over the years.

 Doug took Dave and his mate AJ down to Bushtown for a guided tour. They had a good look around the site and learned about the old sawmill and some history of the buildings as well as future plans for the continued development of the site.
Bishop Doug

AJ and Doug


A quick beer at the Waimate Hotel
 They also went up to the White Horse with Doug to have a bit of a look around.
View of Waimate from the White Horse (Google it)

Steak on the hoof!


A compulsory stop for all visitors to Waimate.
 Wellington
The next part of the journey was Wellington, where Dave had about a day and a half to check out their Beach House at Waitarere and also their home in Wellington. He didn't have a lot of time but did manage to catch up with a couple of characters while there. Lunch at Police Headquarters in Wellington was very nice. Prepared by our friend Ash and enjoyed with the company of Shelley overlooking the Harbour Captial on a sunny day.

Podge seems to be a serial offender in the blogs of late. He was in Cayman in January. Dave also caught up with him in Waimate, and then he appears in Wellington while Dave is there. So, there was nothing else for it...
"Another beer Podge?"

Dave stayed with Graham and Susie and the worlds friendliest dog (Rory) at their house in Maungaraki.
OK, the Dog absolutely hated Dave from the outset, and didn't hold back whenever the two were in close proximity. 
 Waitarere
Dave also popped up to Waitarere for an afternoon to check out their beach house.
If anyone is looking for a weekend getaway or a place to chill, just let us know.
It's a great little spot to get away from it all, and is only just over an hour north of Wellington.



Waitarere Beach

Fish n Chips on the beach! Can't beat that!


"Lefty" the seagull investigates the Fish n Chips.

Waitarere Sunset

 Wellington (again)
This our home in Wellington. It's been rented since we left but Dave just wanted to make sure it was still in good shape.


Colonial Knob - believe it or not, Dave used to run up there in his lunchtimes...


Our good mate Paris. It was great to catch up for a quick one with Paris in Wellington.




It was a brief trip back to NZ but it was good for Dave to catch up with Doug and Lil, the rest of the family and a few mates as well. There are a whole bunch of people that he wanted to see, but didn't have the time on this trip for many at all. Hopefully next time!

CARIFTA 2013 - Kingston, Jamaica
As you know, Sam was selected for the Cayman swim team to compete at CARIFTA (The Caribbean champs). CARIFTA stands for Caribbean Free Trade Association, who supported the event from the start way back when. It's for Junior swimmers from age 11-17, a bit like the NZ Age Group Swim Championships. Age groups are 11-12, 13-14 and 15-17 and age is as of the previous 31 Dec. Sam went last year for the first time and swam 3 individual events and one relay. This time she was in 6 individual events and 3 relays. She was seeded top 10 for the 100 and 200 Back so we were hoping for a few finals.
The 11 - 12 yr Girls relay team


 The team left for Jamaica the Tuesday before Easter, to have some time to bond as a team, and train in the 50m pool. The meet didn't start until the Saturday, so Dave, Michelle and Jake flew over on the Friday evening. The swimmers stayed away from the parents in the "Swimmers Village" at one hotel so the rest of the supporters all stayed together at another one. It was fun being part of a big group supporting our kids.


 We didn't get to see Sam very much as they kept the team away from the interfering parents. But at the end of each session we got to say Hi, so that was cool.


 The opening ceremony

 




Biggles



Sam did some really fantastic swimming. PB's in almost all events and she made it into 3 finals.Two of the finals were on day 2 - 200 Free and 100 Back - qualifying 7th in both putting her in Lane 1. She swam a strong 200 Free doing pretty much the same time as in the prelims (which was 6secs faster than her previous PB) and came in 6th. Later in the evening, after a few power stoppages, she had the 100 Back. She swam another fantastic race and managed to get a Bronze Medal much to everyone's surprise - it doesn't usually happen from out in lane one! The Cayman crowd went wild and Michelle could not contain the tears of happiness. There was quite some celebrating done that night!



Some of the younger Cayman supporters... and future Swimmers!

Beer O'Clock

 Jake and Dave took some time between sessions to do the tourist thing. In Kingston, it's visit the Bob Marley Museum. Jake wasn't all that keen to start with, but soon warmed up when he heard about the bullet holes in the house where someone tried to shoot Mr Marley.
What else can you say?



Jake Bailey and the Wailers

Focus


Awwwww..... Sam n Ella are both so happy about their 1st and 2nd placing in the 200m Back prelims.


The crowd goes wild as Sam wins the bronze. Proud Mum and Dad are in the top just left of centre.
Dave holding the camera. Michelle creating some new dance move...

Special moment for Sam


On the last day Sam swam a lovely 200 Back heat and made the 200 back final, as second fastest qualifier. Her best friend was third fastest qualifier so we were hoping to have two swimmers on the dias. Sam swam an awesome race, taking the lead in the third 50 and storming home to win. The crowd (well, the Cayman supporters anyway) went nuts. Everyone was so pleased and excited that Sam had one the Gold. It was a Cayman record time as well. All the celebrations were short lived however, when the announcer said that Sam was disqualified. Everyone was stunned.  Saddened.  The mood suddenly went very quiet.  We soon found out that her finish was judged to be illegal in that she was fully submerged when she reached for the wall at the finish. Apparently 'some' part of your body needs to be above water.
It was a tough call, but the rules are the rules. Sam will learn from this and will only improve. Her disappointment was hard to watch but she's accepted the fact and has moved onward and upward. As the Coach said after the race "She was still the fastest swimmer in the pool on the night."
It must be pretty cool to know that you are one of the top swimmers in the region.
Great job Sam. We are so proud of you.
The Cayman team ended up coming home with 14 medals - 3 gold, 4 silver and 7 bronze. This was the most since 2006, which was pretty awesome! Way to go Cayman!





 Camping!
Easter weekend is the only time throughout the year that camping is permitted in Cayman. We don't know why, but will try and find out.
We popped out to Spotts Beach on Good Friday, just to chill before heading off to Jamaica that night.

Jake might be trying to sneak a beer!

Some of the locals have set up camp just along the beach

More have moved in to Smith's Cove.


A lot of the campers hire Port-a-loos and rig up electricity and cart all sorts of things down to the beach for their camping weekend. Some just camp during the day and then go home to bed at night.
We reckon it's just a little bit hot to be camping in a tent around here. The occasional Mosquito and ant might also add to your woes.

OK, that's it for this month. We hope you enjoyed it.
Catch you at the end of April for what is shaping up to be an incredibly low-key and uneventful issue...
Hmmmm.... I'm sure something will come up. It always does!
.