Our Caribbean Adventure - continued: Issue # 79

. March 2014 .

Hello there!

Here we go again. Another month gone by in 2014. That's three by our count.

Another interesting month for us. A couple weekends away (not far away though) for Michelle and Dave while the kids went in different directions, and a bit farther afield as well! There were a couple of swim meets as well as some Gaelic and some Touch.

Enjoy the read!

Little Cayman

While the kids were out of the country (Jake in Jamaica on his first offshore Swim meet sans parents. Sam was in Washington on a School Trip - "Nothing like that in my day!") Michelle and Dave took the opportunity and headed over to Little Cayman for the weekend. Little Cayman is about 90 miles away and you get there via a Cayman Airways Cessna, laden with Chilly Bin/Cooler and a few other supplies. It's pretty cool rocking up to the check-in like you are off on a picnic or a day at the beach. You just need to make sure that you've taped lid down good on the chilly bin! Little Cayman is a quiet little spot, it's great for just relaxing and also there is some really good diving there.

We headed to the airport on Friday afternoon to catch our flights. Michelle had booked using Air Miles so the flights only cost $11 each (return). The first round of drinks in the airport departure lounge bar cost more than that! Unfortunately because we were flying freebies, we had to go on different flights, although they were only about 20 minutes apart. Dave was on the first flight and took the opportunity to wait for Michelle at the other end in the local pub which is located less than 100 paces from where you get off the plane. Bargain! He had time for a quick pint of the local brew before the next flight landed.

Friday night was spent relaxing with dinner and a few drinks at the hotel while keeping up to date with results and banter from Jake's swim meet in Jamaica (via a Whatsapp group chat). We did start out on the balcony/deck enjoying the sea breeze and the rustle of the coconut fronds in the breeze. Unfortunately our tranquil spot was ruined by an all out assault on our ears, as the karaoke cranked up in the outdoor bar down stairs. Some of those tourists should stick to diving.

Saturday was (unfortunately no sleep-in) an early start with a couple of dives with the local dive company.

A happy "monster" dive spot.

Nasty Evil Lionfish.

We got three dives in on Saturday. Two in the morning and then we decided to head back out for one more in the afternoon. There was plenty to see. Turtles were out in force along with plenty of other reef fish. Sharks were apparently about as well, but we never saw one. Although other people on our dives claimed to have seen plenty!

A young turtle comes over for a play

Mr. Barry Cuda was lurking

Angelfish

Christmas Tree Worms

The Grouper are very friendly and inquisitive and don't mind a little tickle under the chin

Michelle obliges

Tourists...

The remainder of Saturday afternoon was spent by the pool or on the beach. Then it was time for dinner. We decided to try something different from the hotel we were staying at so we headed down the road to dine at the Hungry Iguana. We summoned the Limo and cruised on down with the AC on full.

Michelle warms up the Limo.

We had a fairly substantial meal before summoning up the strength to get the Limo going again for the massive 800 m trip back to the hotel. We made it, then spent the remainder of the evening out on the deck listening to our own music for a change.

Sunday was a lazy start and then a big fat boy breakfast. We had arranged for the hotel to make us some picnic lunch so we grabbed that and headed off on the Limos for a bit of a ride. The wind had come up and although it was still sunny, the waves made it too rough for snorkeling, as we had planned.

In the end we explored a little bit before heading back to the hotel and having our picnic on the deck!

The Pier to there

Found a spot sheltered from the wind

If you look closely, you will see a real Iguana sitting atop the wall.
He didn't look all that hungry though.

Little Cayman Airport is fairly extensive and it took us at least four or five seconds to locate the right Terminal.

We made it back in the late afternoon on Sunday so we would be home in time to meet Jake's flight later on Sunday night. A nice weekend with some nice company.

Jamaica Swim Meet

As reported in last month's issue, Sam and Michelle went to Jamaica for a meet. The majority of Club swimmers were heading there in March, and Jake was part of that group. This would be his first tour overseas without Mum or Dad. But he was with a good bunch of people and other boys the same age so we weren't too worried. We also made sure he didn't take anything important that he could lose, as 11 year old boys wont to do. That's why you don't see any pictures here...

He did some good swimming and made a couple of PBs. He was a bit lucky on the Saturday as he arrived at the pool without his togs/swimmers.... Fortunately there was still someone at the hotel who could bring them down for him.

He said he had a good time and enjoyed the company and the swimming. He did say that he missed his Mum and Dad though. Awwww...

Washington

Meanwhile a few days earlier, Sam was winging it to Washington DC for a school trip - alright for some!

They did a few of the major tourist attractions as well as some of the Smithsonian museums. The weather was kind for them but their wish for snow (which is uncommon in these parts, believe it or not) was granted on the last couple of days.

Hey, why the long face?

Not much reflection happening in the reflection pool this time - sadly it was empty

Looks like a burst water pipe at the Pres's house

So, all in all Sam had a fun trip, spending time with her mates and learning a few life lessons at the same time.

Snow!!!

Random...

Harry in the Cone of Silence.

CARIFTA
Big news for the month was Sam making the Cayman Swim Team for the 13 - 14 year old girls at the Carifta champs being held in Aruba the week after Easter.
She will be swimming in the 100m, 200m, 400m and 800m Freestyle, and the 5km sea swim (which she has never done before...). Watch this space in next month's edition for the results!

Sam receives her official Carifta Selection certificate from the
Minister of Sport and Swim Association President.

And not to be outdone, Jake was selected for the National Development Squad, which is made up of kids who didn't make Carifta or were too young but had times fast enough to be considered for future honours. They meet once a fortnight as a squad to train under the guise of the National Coach.

Some extra training sessions for Jake! Jake was so enthusiastic for the first session that he ended up doing his normal club training for an hour and a half immediately before the Development session that was also an hour and a half - what commitment (or was it just that he forgot he had it and went to the wrong one?)!

Swim Meet

Yes, yet another swim meet. This one was at the pool that kids train at. It was a Friday night and then Sat and Sun morning meet. Because of the Carifta training schedule, Sam was pretty much rested in this meet with about 3 events in total. Jake wasn't, he had 11!

How does that work?

Not sure what's going on here Jake! What happened to your legs?

Sam demonstrates how it should be done!

Gaelic

Gaelic continues. Michelle's team has had a bit of a mixed bag so far this season as the teams are pretty even, but the games all seem to be going pretty well and Michelle even managed to kick the odd ball straight and score! Michelle has been having a few niggly knee issues so has missed a couple of games but can't keep away - this was the game she was just going to fill in and run - no kicking...as soon as she got the ball she forgot about that, ran up the field and kicked for goal - oops! Unfortunately, they lost to the red team by 2 points - another close game which could have been anyone's. All in good fun!

Masters Swim Meet

The first Cayman Islands Masters swim meet was held here the other week. It was a more leisurely affair compared to the meets with hundreds of kids racing about and making a racket!

A number of these swimmers were out to put in qualifying times for the World Masters being held in Montreal later in the year. Michelle amongst them. Being in one of the "older" age groups, her qualifying times are quite manageable - she's made them in 6 events, and is now just trying to improve on them. Upping her swim training to twice a week seems to be making a bit of a difference as she took 4 seconds off her 200m IM time (still nowhere near Sam's though)!!

Michelle off the block, with Sam the ever attentive time keeper....

Rugby

Dave continues to do a bit of coaching with the kids on a saturday morning. Jake plays in the Under 12s so that's where Dave spends his early saturdays. The team is off to Freeport, Bahamas in May for their annual trip. The boys, and the Coaches are looking forward to that.

Jake was at the swim meet so didn't make this pic.

East End Weekend

It was Dave's birthday in March. He was somewhere between one and a hundred. About half way to be fair. A bunch of us headed out to the Reef hotel at East End to help him celebrate.

Friday night was a quiet dinner with another couple at a restaurant across the street. As it turned out, it was a bigger night than expected with a couple of seedy heads the next morning.

The main group arrived over Saturday morning and afternoon and a few quiets were imbibed on the beach which was a nice setting. That was followed by a group dinner in the hotel restaurant. It was going to be a BBQ on the beach but the wind had come up and it wouldn't have been all that pleasant on the beach at that time.