. April 2016 .
Hi there,
April sneaked past at a reasonable pace. We were mostly here for the month, although Michelle got to escape for a few days to Chicago. Meanwhile the rest of us continued with the usual chaos around town. The beach featured a few times. Also a little rugby, some touch and ANZAC Day rounded off the month.
Life's a Beach
So, we spent the occasional Sunday afternoon at the beach...
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| Someone brought a big slide along for our entertainment one Sunday afternoon. |
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| Jake is now one of the bigger kids! But still loves to play! |
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| Sam and Sami await the sunset |
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| Hometime, but no-one wants to go! |
Meanwhile, Somewhere in Chicago
Michelle took advantage of the "free" flight she won at last year's Flowers One mile sea swim and met up with her friend Tonya from Vancouver in Chicago for a long weekend. They managed to keep themselves busy for 4 nights and 3 days with no trouble and didn't even spend much time shopping (according to Michelle at least)!, The first day included seeing some of the sights while running around the city, then doing the hop-on-hop-off bus tour after lunch. They stopped at the Hancock building and went up to the Signature bar on the 96th floor - what amazing views of the city, and able to be enjoyed with a drink and a bite to eat. They got back on the bus and ended up at a cool outdoor rooftop bar that the concierge had recommended - Cindy's. They could have stayed there for a while but they wanted to get back and change and take advantage of the free happy hour in the hotel (The Virgin Hotel - very cool)! They then went to another bar to watch the start of the Chicago Blackhawks Hockey game, before heading out for a late dinner at one of the popular restaurants, The Girl and the Goat. After a lovely dinner, they went to another bar to see the end of the game - this was an important game as Tonya had bought tickets to the game that was supposed to be in Chicago on Saturday night but the Blackhawks had to win on Thursday for the game to go on. At the end of dinner the game was tied, and the girls were desperate for them to win - after lots of holding of breath, the Blackhawks came through - thank God for that!!
Steel sculptures of legs
On the Hop-on-Hop-off bus tour
View from the Signature Bar on the 96th floor of the Hancock Building
A cheeky cocktail at Cindy's Rooftop bar, overlooking Millennium Park and The Bean
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| Bean there, done that... |
The next day Michelle felt a bit ropey and slept in. It was rather cold that day so they wrapped up warm and headed of for a huge breakfast at a popular café - they had to wait for 45mins for a table and managed to have a wander around the old public library that had a display of Strandbeest: The Dream Machines of Theo Jansen while they waited. They decided to get some more culture and go to the Museum of Fine Arts, where they had a large Van Gogh display, including quite a bit of his personal history which was interesting. Michelle was desperate to do a bit of shopping so they wandered down Magnificent Mile for an hour or so before heading back to change for the evening's activities - happy hour again, then to a nice Mexican tapas restaurant. Michelle wanted to take Tonya up to the rooftop bar of the hotel - they went outside but not for long - despite the amazing views, it was far too cold and the so called heaters didn't do much to help, so they had to spend the rest of the evening inside, looking at the view through the windows.
On the Architectural Boat tour
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| They went all out on this one! |
On day three they went for another run in a different direction - trying to run along the river. It wasn't very successful as you couldn't run far alongside the river and they had to keep stopping at lights to cross the roads! It was a great way to see different parts of the city though. After a late breakfast they went on the Architectural boat tour up the river, checking out all the cool and different buildings. Michelle wanted another shopping fix and managed to squeeze in another hour or so before heading back to the room to get ready for the big game. They took the train to the stadium and proceeded to the beer tent in the carpark across the road. The eventually went in with the crowds and got settled in with a few drinks. The game was very exciting with the Blackhawks being behind at the end of the 1st quarter, then coming back in to the lead in the 2nd, and then bringing it home with a good 6-3 win in the 3rd. The crowd were wild with excitement - it was a fantastic atmosphere and Michelle came home with a new appreciation of hockey and even called herself a fan! They had to celebrate the win and went to the rooftop bar in the hotel to finish off the night. After only 3 hours sleep, Michelle dragged herself out of bed to catch her early flight back to Cayman. She had a fabulous time and was sad that it finished so quickly. Here's to girls weekends!
Warming up for the Big Hockey Game - NHL Chicago Blackhawks
Warming up for the big game
All set
Yay, they won!! What an exciting game!!
Post game celebrations
Insects adorn the wall of the Virgin Hotel rooftop bar
ANZAC Day
ANZAC Day is a fairly low-key gathering here in Cayman. But there's always a few dedicated souls who come out and pay their respects, take a moment to reflect and also catch up with some fellow country-folk that they haven't seen for a while...or even met!
As usual, the plan was for a dawn service to be held at the South Sound dock. Dave was in charge of flags, and music. Usually we hang the flags from one of the Casuarina Pines that have established themselves near the beach. Unfortunately, several weeks ago, a local developer cleaned all the trees out. But we made do with a post, a couple of pvc pipes and some tape! Good old kiwi ingenuity!
Perfect!
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Even the sunrise came to the party!
There was a respectable number of attendees at 5:30 am, despite the day being a work day here.
The duties were split between a few Aussies and Kiwis, with some giving short speeches or readings. Dave read the Ode, and co-ordinated the music (Last Post, National Anthems etc) via an iPhone and a large Bluetooth speaker. There was a slight technical hitch which made the NZ anthem play a little louder than the Aussie one. Not sure what happened there...
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| The Dawn Service |
After the service, our resident Aussie Chef provided hot bacon and egg baps (rolls) and coffee - with a respectable serving of Bundaberg rum in the coffee! Great way to start the day... shame we had to go to work after! Although it seemed like a few had decided to give work a miss as they started doing shots with the rum...
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| Sun's up. Son's up... |
Randoms
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| Sam, Sky & Sami...hangin out |
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| Michelle going in to make the touch |
There were a few visiting US touch teams (New York & Washington) here one weekend. They played a tournament on the Saturday. Michelle played in one of the National Mixed Teams as well as one of the women's teams, while Dave reffed. They had a kids tournament during the break which Jake took part in (no visiting kids though). Ended up being a long old day! The next day the New York coaches took some training sessions for the Cayman guys, then they all enjoyed a boat trip to finish the weekend. And we went back to work on Monday for a break!
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| Beach again...what to do! |
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| Don't look! |
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| The latest jet-pack...bit close to the swimmers though! |
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| Meerkats... |
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| Power is out again. Candle lit dinner it is! |
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Sunset from one of the bars in town.
Dave was supervising Jake as he sold raffles to fundraise for the upcoming Bahamas rugby trip
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| And they found a shop that sells these in Cayman! Anyone want some? |
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| Sam and Jake went out on a boat one Saturday with friends...unfortunately it wasn't this boat... |
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| Saying Hi to the Stingrays. |
Rugby
Jake trains with the Under 14s these days. Recently two teams from Trinity College in Canada came down for a couple of games. They had an under 14 side and also an under 16 side. Cayman had an under 14 side, and a few under 16's.
On the Friday night it was the under 14's. This would be the first 15 a side game for most of the Cayman kids, including Jake. Trinity had a big side, but a few of them were new to the game. Cayman was a lot smaller, but they played a lot smarter. Jake came on on the side of the scrum and played quite well, getting involved in the tackles, rucks and mauls. Cayman won that game comfortably.
On the Saturday it was the Under 16s. Jake would be on the bench for this game. The Trinity side were huge, and well drilled. They were also very wound up at the start and scored two early tries.
The second half was fairly even as Cayman came back into the game. Jake played the second half. Both teams scoring two tries apiece to finish with a score of 20 - 12 to Trinity. A great game. And a good build up for our boys who will be off to Bahamas next week for a tournament.
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The Cayman Under 14's Rugby squad. Jake looking serious in his black shirt.
They just had a session with visiting coach (in the white hat) Brian Robinson, ex Ireland and British & Irish Lions No: 8.
They are off to Freeport (Bahamas) in a few weeks for their annual pilgrimage.
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So, coming up in May....
Batabano - (Google it)
The Freeport Tour - Jake and Dave head to the Bahamas
A swim meet - surprise!
Cayman Big Game - Cayman National XV v Bahamas
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