Our Caribbean Adventure - continued: Issue # 105

. May 2016 .

Now that we have your attention...

Hello!

May was a pretty busy month really. The Batabano street parade/party. A swim meet. Tag Rugby. Freeport Rugby Tour. Usain Bolt. Cayman Big Game 6, and even a dive.

On top of that, the weather has got warmer...and wetter!

So, scroll down and enjoy the fun!

Batabano

Batabano is Cayman's take on the Caribbean Carnival (pron: karn - ee - varl)

Here it is all about Turtles making their way back to sea, although I can't see too much turtle-like activity going on here...

So what happens is everyone gets all dressed up in the Batabano outfits then heads to the start point - about 5km from the end point.

There are a few 'floats' and people gather behind them and follow them (and their music) down the road and into town while drinking copious quantities of rum-based drinks that are served from the floats.

Lots of people line the streets and set up little parties and watch the parade as it literally inches past.

Takes all sorts!

Don't look too close...

After watching for a couple of years, this year Michelle and a few of her friends decided that they'd give it a go. They met up mid morning to get ready - false eye lashes, make-up, hair, and lots of feathers - and some bubbles... They looked awesome! Had to have a few glasses of bubbles to loosen up a little before heading to the start early afternoon. The girls danced and laughed their way down the street. They were with the biggest group that brought up the rear of the parade - very colourful - there were about 6 different costumes and people were dotted everywhere.

By the end of the parade, some four or five hours later there is a big party - for those still standing. And there are plenty who weren't!

Michelle was still standing...with maybe a slight wobble on! They had a blast and are keen to do it again next year...so who's coming over to join them?!!

Dave's (un)Official Capacity

Still going strong!

Getting near the finish

Mother's Day

Mother's Day Lunch

After a lovely sleep in, breakfast in bed, and a nice relaxing day, a bunch of us met for a Mother's Day dinner in town, including all the kids - we sat outside with a view of the water, and sunset. It was very nice!

With friends

A warm sunny evening

And a nice view of the sun as it goes down

Swim Meet

The swim club held a sprint meet earlier in the month.

Promoted!

Michelle was the Meet Referee for this one

The two Coaches, and Sam & Sarah

Jake and co, chilling between events

Sam's favourite stroke....

A slo-mo start

Jake's first National Swim Cap (from Carifta)

Sam's 2nd CIASA record

They have both been selected for the National Team to go to Bahamas at the end of June for the Caribbean Champs. We look forward to seeing how they go!

Rugby

Jake played in the recent Inter-schools tag rugby tournament. His team won their competition, so he was pretty happy. Most of his mates all play rugby, so they did have a bit of an advantage over some teams.

The kids at the Tag Rugby Tournament at the rugby club

Cayman Big Game 6

Whenever the National Rugby Team have a 'Test match' its a big deal here. This year there are two Cayman home games in the Caribbean Champs, Bahamas (Big Game 6), and in June we have Bermuda (Big Game 7).

Dave and a couple of mates run the Rugby Club's live streaming channel where they stream all games live and free to the world, with expert commentary and sound effects of course.

To view the replay, follow the link below:

https://www.caymanrugby.com/index.php/cayman-rugby-tv/the-security-centre-big-game-6

The TV Crew for Big Game 6 - setting the bar in sports broadcasting

CRTV Groupies

The view from the Broadcasting Box

The view from pitch-side - the broadcasting Box is up the back

"It's a wrap!" - time for a (nother) beer

To get the low down on the game, click the link above and watch a little...you can fast forward if you wish!

Big Game 7 on 18 June!

Mobbed by the fans at the after-party

Kiwis everywhere

More pics from May, Click Here!

Freeport Tour 2016

For the sixth year running, Jake and Dave head off to Freeport for a weekend of rugby...and a few beers.

Once again they had enough travellers (104) to warrant chartering a plane so they could fly direct to Freeport (Bahamas). It's about an hour if you go direct. Otherwise going through Miami, then Nassau can take the best part of a day.

6am Friday morning - boarding in Cayman.

An early start to the day. 6 am departure, or thereabouts.

We arrived at Freeport about an hour later and were met by Rob and his crew who ferried us to the hotel. It seems odd going to a hotel once a year and the staff still know your name...

After settling into the hotel it was time to catch up with our hosts.

A little later...the CRTV crew make an appearance in Freeport

At Church with my good mate Rob - President of Freeport RFC.

It was good catching up with the familiar faces from previous years. They are almost like family!

Me old mate Vic!

The Chocolatier!

Adam, Freeport coach and one of the tournament organisers

Tourist

The rugby started for real on Saturday morning. Jake was playing in the Under 14's and is probably one of the smaller players. In the U12's last year, he was probably one of the biggest.

They played some very good and well-structured rugby over the weekend.

Half time team talk

Their final game was against Key Biscaine on Sunday, a bunch of Argentinian expats living in Florida.

The Cayman boys were about three tries up at halftime. Soon after that some very big U14's came on for KB. In fact they were from their U18 team and looked so out of place it wasn't funny. In fact it wasn't funny as two of them gang tackled one of the Cayman boys and snapped his collar bone.

The Ref, to his credit, questioned the eligibility of these players. Suddenly the KB coaching staff "No speak a da English!"

Despite some approaches from the organisers, they refused to take these guys off. The Ref had no choice but to call the game early before more people got hurt. Our boys were a bit disappointed as they were confident of maintaining their points advantage, but it was the right call in the end.

Happy bunch - they won all of their games!

The Cayman tent

Old school!

The Club put on a BBQ for all of the players on Sunday afternoon/evening. Another festive affair!

A Pom and Zimbo and a Kiwi walk into a bar...

Monday was a holiday in both Cayman and Freeport. The Cayman plane was due to depart around 8pm on Monday, so we had the day to kill.

The Freeport guys had organised a beach day for us. A really nice looking beach...with a bar attached, funnily enough.

I gotta say - some of the beaches in Bahamas are pretty nice!

Great spot!

We had a pretty chilled day at the beach. The kids spent most of the day in the water. The tourists up on the beach at the Bar/Restaurant with the Freeport folk...

Then, it was time to go back to the hotel, pack and head to the airport.

And once we had checked in and cleared security etc....

This was a devastating and morale-crushing sight...

it usually takes a bit of a pounding at this time of year.

Taxi!

So, all in all another successful trip to Freeport. Always a good time.

More pics from Freeport, Click here!

Usain Bolt

While Dave and Jake were in Bahamas Sam and Michelle hung out at home, with Sam mostly studying as she had an exam on the Monday (a public holiday too!). That weekend Usain Bolt was in town for a Track meet so they decided to go over the road and watch it, which was nice for a change. His race was at the end (which was a very exciting 10+ seconds!) but there were a few other visiting high profile athletes which made for an interesting and entertaining couple of hours.

Random...

We were going to bring you news of the Winter Touch series, however, leading into the knockouts (last week) most of our team were crippled or unavailable, so we had to forfeit.... pathetic really!

Maybe the Summer Touch will be a better prospect!

Diving