Our Caribbean Adventure - continued: May 2015

. April 2015 .

Hello again,

Welcome back. Hopefully we've managed to rid ourselves of the Gremlins that stole all of our text from the first draft! Grrrr.....

Anyway, it was a fairly busy one for us in April. We headed south to Barbados for Easter, and a Swim meet. Jake went to Fort Myers. We had plenty going on here as well!

Enjoy the read!

Barbados

The Carifta Swim Champs were being held in Barbados this year over Easter weekend. We decided to all head down in support of Sam and the other swimmers.

The trip down was nothing short of a nightmare. We were travelling on the same flights as the team and a few other supporters. Our first flight from Cayman to Miami on the Thursday before Easter was delayed, which didn't bode well for the next flight as Miami is notoriously slow when it comes to getting through Immigration and our turnaround was quite short in the first place.

However they made up time on the flight and we arrived pretty much on time. However, even the little automated machines failed some of us (Dave!!!), so we had to go and line up in the Immigration hall with about half of Mexico and South America. Most of the swimmers got through the fast way, but there were a few that had to come through the slow route. By this stage, we had about 40 minutes until boarding. About 35 minutes later, we finally made it to the front of the line. Unfortunately for us, we got Miss Grumpy pants. She pointed out that we hadn't written our Flight number on the form. Not a problem, it'll take about two seconds to add. "No it won't" she muttered, "you have to go and fix it and join the back of the line. Next!"

So we walked away and then stood in the front of the next queue over. It was now boarding time.

The next guy was marginally better and we managed to get through and then sprint off down to the security area so we could then head towards our flight. We were seriously late by now and had visions of having to spend the night in Miami.

Security was moving reasonably quick. We noted that there were a few of our group in front of us, and some behind, including some of the swimmers!

We had taken the precaution of buying some duty free refreshments in Cayman before we left, and having them secured in TSA approved bags so we could take them through Security, which would be fine if we weren't in a rush! They needed to inspect the bags, remove the contents, run it through a machine, re-seal the bag, and also have a meaningless conversation about the merits of these so-called TSA-approved bags.

By this stage Michelle was having kittens, the swimmers behind us were still being processed and we had no idea if the flight was still there or not. It was past departure time now.

We sprinted down the terminal, via the elevator, then the train and finally back down the stairs in search of our gate.

Puffing and panting we raced up and got told to hurry up and board, which we thankfully did. The remaining swimmers came sprinting in behind us, with the haggard-looking coach bringing up the rear. There was a loud applause as we entered the cabin - this was from our swimmers and supporters, not from the pissed-off tourists looking forward to their holiday in Barbados.

Little did we know that the Team Manager had been pleading with the Head Steward asking him to wait for the rest of the swim team (not us mind you). He had refused and ordered the doors shut. The Manager asked who could approve a delay and he told her that only the Captain could do that. So she barged past the poncy steward and entered the Cockpit and asked the pilot if they could wait for the rest of the swimmers. "Sure! No problem!"

The Steward was apparently livid. But we all got on and away we went.

The first thing we did then was order a couple of drinks!

The rest of the trip was non-eventful and we checked into our hotel, which was different to the swimmers.

Up early-ish the next morning for a Fat-Boy breakfast and then off to find the dive shop we had booked with. We found them without too much trouble and got kitted up for our dive. It was a two-tank boat dive.

There was three crew, and one other diver on the boat. Apparently two other divers hadn't arrived. So, off we went.

The first dive started a bit slow. Jake, who had just got over a cold was having a few problems descending. Eventually he had to call it quits. The pressure was a bit too much for his head. So he ended up hanging with the boat Captain.

The dives were good. We saw a few fish, and lots of eels, including one massive critter.

'The Cathedral' - it's the supports under a pier, but quite cool to look up at.

This guy was massive. His body would have easily been the same size as an adults thigh.

This is the smaller neighbor

The Divemaster took a few snaps of us

A Seahorse (that Michelle didn't see, believe it or not!)!!

This fella seemed pretty relaxed about life and just bumbled around.

Another one!

The dives were good. It's a shame Jake couldn't get down to enjoy them. He would have loved the Seahorse. Not too sure about the eels though!

For more Diving pics from Barbados - click here

After the dive, it was off to a pub for lunch and then a bit of exploring in the rental.

Kensington Oval, and Mr. Sobers - ironic name given some of the stories we hear about this place!

NZ needs one of these - maybe re-name Dunedin?

This is Mt Gay Rum territory

This is about as far north as you can go on the island.

After a quick lap of the island, we had to be back in town so Michelle and Jacky (another Cayman 'Official') could attend their Judges meeting at the pool.

Jake and Dave then went in search of food. They found a place called Oistins, which is full of outdoor barbeque-type restaurants which specialise in fish, and also Jerk Chicken etc.

It all looked pretty good so they got a selection of dishes to take away and headed back to the hotel to wait for Michelle.

The next day (Saturday) was the start of the meet. As Michelle was a Judge we had to be there a bit early, but that was fine as we got to pick the best seats in the stand, and try and reserve a few surrounding seats for the other Cayman supporters.

Cat and Sam

Pre-race prep. Team Hairdresser fixes Sam's do.

The Judge is ready! No smiling allowed!

Sam's first race coming up

"Goooooo!"

The team were pretty vocal supporting their team mates - and they had the coolest t-shirts as well!

I wonder if that Judge is peeking to her right at all?

Supporting the team

Sam swam well. Got quite a few PB's and made finals in most of her events. She was very busy with at least two swims a session plus relays. It was very full on.

The morning sessions finish around lunch time, and the evening sessions start around 5:30pm so we took the opportunity to do some more exploring.

This time we found ourselves (after three laps of Bridgetown later) at the Mt Gay Rum factory for the last tour of the day.

If you are ever in Barbados, this is well worth a visit.

We were welcomed by a guy handing out Rum Punches - always a good sign!

He then talked through the history of Mt Gay rum, and gave an insight into the process involved.

After that we were taken into the Tasting room. It's just like wine-tasting, only better!

Everyone got a tasting glass of each of the four rums they were tasting. Some glasses got a bigger measure as the tasting went on and others got double servings as the wives couldn't drink the stuff...

After that, everyone was assisted down the stairs and ushered into the bar where, lo and behold, there were two barman offering an extensive range of rum-based cocktails. We didn't want to be rude so we partook in a couple of their offerings.

Then it was back to the pool for the evening session.

It was also the opening ceremony.

As part of that, the teams do a march past usually in their team tracksuits. For whatever reason, Cayman turned up dressed like Farmer Brown and his cows! check out the fashion statements below.

Some of the local talent on display!

After an afternoon at the Rum factory, some people found the going a little tough.

Others just kept their sunglasses on...

This how the cool people sleep

There are a lot of houses like these around town, some with great big holes in the roof where the iron has collapsed. On the right of the picture, at the top, you can see part of the Government Building, just along the street.

Don't get too excited BVI fans. This one isn't in the same class as Bomba's (BVI).

This is a nice spot on the North end of the island

It also has a bar...

Dave had to fly back to Cayman for work so Michelle and Jake did some exploring on their own.

They went to visit some caves that were 150 ft below ground - they jumped in a trolley that took them deeper and deeper. There were quite a few natural springs and mini lakes underground also.

View from inside the lift to get down to the start of the tour

Apparently there were monkeys in the area

Another day they went to visit the Concorde - they had a personal tour and got to go onto the plane as well as watch videos. It was very interesting!

Jake checking out the kids toys...

For more Barbados photos, click here!

Other Hapnins

The Kiwi side in the Cayman Islands World Cup of Touch.
They didn't quite take it out this year. Narrow losses by one to both South Africa and Australia, meant they were playing in the Plate final, which they did, in fact, win.

The Fort Myers crew

A week after returning from Barbados Jake was jet-setting to Fort Myers for a swim meet, with his coach, tour manager and about 10 other kids. He'd had a pretty big taper having not swum while in Barbados, then only a few days of light swimming before leaving - it turned out to be a bit tough as the swim meet was quite small and races were close together - he didn't quite have the stamina needed for lots of fast times.

He did a few PBs and had fun. They were lucky to have some time for fun and relaxation before heading back on the Sunday evening - they got to go to a trampoline park and some shopping (although he wasn't all that keen on the latter!)

ANZAC day was a big one this year in Cayman (as well as everywhere else!).

Dave and a few others got together and organised a few things for this year, including some flags and a bugler for the Dawn service. There was even an official order of events with people reading messages from the respective High Commissions, some vocalists, a few other speakers and the National Anthems of both countries.

About 90 people gathered at 5:30 am on the South Sound Dock. It was a great turnout - as usually there are about 20 - 30.

The Cadets did a great job.

The sun timed it just right, and popped up just at the end of the service.

Jake has Dad's medals

The afternoon arrangements were also part of the whole affair. A local pub with some grassed area outside was approached and they were happy for the ANZACs to invade.

Beer Pong was popular, although Dave didn't fare so well!

They also had cricket, which just carried on all afternoon. Jake had a ball with that.

The chook raffle was also well supported, with someone walking off with a Brand New Apple Air Book. Others with some donated goods from the local liquor stores.

Earlier in the month, the Mexico National Rugby Team came to Cayman for the final of the Northern region competition. The winner would go on to play in the North American and Caribbean final.
The Cayman Rugby TV crew were prepped and ready to go. Dave does the camera work and also provides some expert comments from time to time as they stream these games live to the world.
Since this was a special game, the boys decided to dress professionally.

About to leave the make-up room

The Crew: Robbo, Gnoman & Dave

Cayman

Mexico

There were over 4000 viewers for this game and everything seemed to go well as far as the technical and commentary side of things go. A complimentary supply of Heinekens also helped!

Unfortunately Cayman didn't bring their "A" game and Mexico came away with a convincing win.

But it was a fun day, evening and the after-party was lively as well!