. October 2015 .
"Wah Gwaan!" as they say in Jamaica. It pretty much means "what's up" or "What's going on", with the general response being "Every ting is irie, Maan." Which means "Everything is alright, Man".
Anyway, Jamaica was the main focus for October. We all popped over for a week. We also had the Annual Touch Dinner, took part in an 800m sea swim, went to a 50th Birthday party and even watched a bit of Rugby which was going on.
Touch Dinner - "London Underground"
The theme for this rear's dinner was "London Underground".
Michelle's team went as "Black Friars" which is a Tube station. Dave's Team went as Seven Sisters, also a Tube station.
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| OK, Six Sisters and a Father? |
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| The Black Friars 'Tuck'-In! |
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| "Heathrow?" |
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| "Cock Fosters" |
There were a whole bunch of different ideas and costumes, with people in Jail suits, school uniforms and all sorts representing their take on a number of the Tube stations. It was held at Grand Old House again this year, which is handy, as it is staggering distance from our place!
Another fun night was had by all!
800m Sea Swim
Sam, Jake and Dave entered in the recent 800m Sea swim at Governor's beach, along with about 140 others. Michelle volunteered as a safety marshal out on the course on a stand-up paddle board.
Jake had a good swim coming in 2nd in his age group. Sam had had a heavy week training so just went along for a cool-down social swim. Dave went all out and came about 5th in his age group (of six) but within the top 100!
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| Nice swim Jake |
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| Another funday sunday beachday |
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| Lisa is going to stay the night on the beach |
Jamaica - Swim Meet, Swim Camp and Escape
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| Stingray Team before departure in Cayman early Friday morning |
There was a swim meet in Kingston that both Sam and Jake were competing in. We decided to make a holiday of it as well, so we all went over.
When we arrived in Kingston Airport, the kids jumped on a bus. Michelle and Dave did a runner and caught a taxi into the hills above Kingston.
The kids would spend the weekend at the team hotel. Michelle and Dave didn't go near the pool and stayed up in the Mountains at a place called 'Strawberry Hill'.
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| Sam at the blocks |
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| Sam in the Back |
We didn't get any other photos from the meet, apart from those above. Jake had a great meet with PB's in every event. Sam, who, as part of the senior group, has been doing a lot of heavy training of late got one or two PBs, but for that group, the aim was to get time in a 50m pool (Cayman only has 25m pools). She was part of the IM relay team that set a new meet record, so that was pretty cool!
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| In case you didn't know |
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| More Jamaica "Patwaah" |
Meanwhile, a few hundred feet further up the hill...
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| Hummingbirds and others loved the offerings of this tree which was directly in from of our cottage |
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| Lots of these little bars around the place |
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| The resort called "Serendipity" was a mile or so around the road. It is built around a big rock! |
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This is an old army camp, but still in operation. The officers used to live up here, and once a week they would come down and visit the town of "Red Light". And yes, that is how the town got it's name.
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| Looking for work... |
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| Blue Mountain Coffee comes from here |
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| Yes it is! |
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| Nice view from the pool |
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| Some people can walk on water |
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| Day time view from our cottage (Cedar) overlooking Kingston |
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| Red Light by day |
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| We went on a walk with "Rasta Dave" who showed us around the local area |
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| There are lots of these little shops in the middle of the bush |
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| The next town over |
We got back from our walk just as the sun was setting.
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| Sunset view from the cottage |
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| We managed to watch the All Blacks game v South Africa at Strawberry Hill (with the assistance of two Waiters, a Gardener, the Manager and a Maid) so thought we should celebrate accordingly! |
After two nights in Strawberry Hill we had to come back down to earth (literally) and collect Jake from the team Hotel (as the other kids in his group were going back to Cayman that night) and go to another hotel in Kingston for the night. Sam was staying another night with the Senior Team to do some extra training on the Monday. We did a little looking around Kingston while Sam was training.
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| Emancipation Park |
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| Usain Bolt's Bar in Kingston. We stopped in for some rehydrating Red Stripes. |
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| The statue of Robert Marley is across the road from the swimming pool. |
We collected Sam, who was absolutely shattered and then went to the Airport for our short flight to Montego Bay.
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| Our little plane awaits! |
We arrived in Montego bay in early evening - with plenty of rain!
We found out that we had actually arrived through the departures building, but eventually found our way to the arrivals hall where he found our pre-arranged tour bus to take us to Runaway Bay, about an hour up the road.
Arrival was hassle free and we were soon in our room, with the Cocktail of the day in hand. Then it was off for dinner. This was an all-inclusive resort, which means that all food and drinks (all drinks) were free.
There was the central restaurant which was a buffet-style for all meals, with plenty of options for all. Breakfast was always a good affair too!
There were a few other specialist restaurants - Italian, Jamaican Fusion, Pizza and Tepanyaki. We did all but the Pizza place, you can do pizza anywhere!
We also did a few tours and kept ourselves fairly active. We had to at least attempt to burn off some of that over-indulgence!
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The Caves where James Bond (Roger Moore) was strung up above the Sharks in 'Live and Let Die' (1973).
We actually watched this movie when we got back from holiday. It was cool to see the caves where we had been. |
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| One of the cave's residents |
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| To the Bat Cave Batman! |
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| Hair protectors and hard hats are the latest fashion in Jamaica. |
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| Looking good! |
While we were away the kids still had to keep up their training. The coach sent daily session sheets for them to do - and they loved getting up early for that....not.
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| Training pool - we measured it with the GPS as 100m long. Perfect! |
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| Ours is the room on the left. |
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| The pool was shared with the local sea life. |
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| Dunn's River Falls - beware of the tourists - lots of them! |
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| Water is a teeny bit fresh for us lot |
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| Next up - Bob Sled and Zip Lining |
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| Antipodean-style |
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| This is in the Reception area of resort - we were told not to swim in it again... |
We went on a two tank dive with the Resort Dive folk. They were typically Jamaican in their organisation and demeanour, which was fine by us. We had met up with some Canadians the night before and partook in a few extra cocktails and Appleton's. Some were feeling a little worse for wear.
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| And appropriately, the first spot on the dive was the Bar! A little table and benches with Red Stripe Bottles awaiting the thirstiest of divers |
The diving was quite good, and comparable to Cayman, although Michelle and Sam were a bit cold on the second dive without the comfort of a wetsuit!
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| The resort had a water park as well! |
We did another tour to some waterfalls that were a little more off the beaten track. They were very cool. A lovely blue colour (similar to Lake Tekapo in NZ) but probably not quite as cold.
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| Believe it or not, there is a cave in there that starts at the bottom and comes out where Dave is standing. Jake, Sam and Michelle are yet to emerge. |
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| Comfy spot |
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| We did lots of climbing and diving and jumping into the various pool, from various heights! The blurry bit is Sam heading for the pool below. |
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| There were a few Tarzan swings as well |
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| I don't know what to say... |
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| Front of the resort |
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| More roadside bars |
We had a great time in Kingston and also Montego Bay area. It's only an hour from Cayman as well, so easy to get to.
We did have a little trouble leaving though. Our work permit stamps had expired, so we weren't allowed to board the plane. Fortunately after a couple of phone calls and an anxious wait, it was all sorted and away we went. Which was just as well, cos we had a party to go to that night...and the World Cup final was on the next day!!!!
But we were back by lunchtime Friday....
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| A few of the crew |
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| Nellie the birthday boy |
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| The Hangers-on! |
The next day was Saturday - Finals Day.
We decided to head down to the club to watch the game. There were a few kiwis and a few Aussies, plus a selection of other folk who wanted to see a real game of rugby.
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Even our Aussies friends couldn't help but join in the post-match fun! In fact they joined in the pre-match and match fun with plenty of gusto as well!
A great day was had by all! |
That's it for October!
Next month:
- Michelle competes in the Cayman triathlon
- Michelle heads to New York
- Pirate's week in Cayman
- Pirate's Week Swim meet
Have fun!
