. October 2016 .
Well hellooooo!
October was a big month for us. Lots of travel and lots of sport! And a bit of socialising to add some balance.
Trips to Jamaica, Orlando and exploring the Amazon take up most of the month.
Pics and blurb below!
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Found this Amazonian tribe on our travels... Not very friendly
Touch Dinner
This years theme for the Touch Dinner was "Amazon'. And oddly enough there weren't that many mail order boxes or parcels to be seen.
Lots of tribesmen, Birds and tourists!
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Dave's team was a bit light on numbers.
Well, it is a bit of a Trek from South America!
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| Michelle's team of tourist explorer types |
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| Lots of parrots |
It was another great night that our pictures don't really portray. Plenty of cool outfits and costumes. Good food and fun...and lots of laughs.
What will next year's be like?
Elton
So, being suckers for punishment. The day after the Touch dinner was a fundraising dinner for the Swim Club. They arranged to have Elton John (or at least a good copy) come down from Vegas for the weekend and entertain the large crowd of about 200 people at the dinner.
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| (Stingray Swim Club - just in case the significance of the stingrays was lost on you) |
Some of the older kids from the club helped out with selling tickets, ushering and the like. They also got to see the show and have dinner.
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| And here he is! |
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| Glasses were the order of the...evening |
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| Posing with the groupies |
We stayed the night at the hotel and had brunch the next morning where 'Elton' joined us. It was interesting to hear his story and how he makes his living.
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| Sam and Coach Mark |
US Touch Nationals
Michelle and Dave both travelled up to Orlando the following week for the US Touch Nationals. Cayman sent four teams up; Open Men, Open Women, Over 30 Men and Over 40 Men.
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| It was held at the Wide World of Sports - just around the corner from Epcot. |
We stayed at one of the Disney resorts - which just happened to be the Caribbean one. What a treat....
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| The touring squad |
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| Michael... |
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| Girls getting ready for their first game |
The girls had a busy schedule. Four games on the first day against some very good opposition - the first game starting at 8.30am, and the last at 7.30pm - it was a long day. They played well though, although winless on the first day, they made the opposition work and only lost by one or two in their games, improving with every game. The next day they kicked off at 7.30am to face the top team - again they played well but went down. The next game of the day was against another strong team, that had some rough rugby players - by this time a few of the Cayman team were feeling the results of playing so many games with some recurring and new injuries starting to niggle, putting pressure on some players by having to cover for others - it was another tough game which they lost. After this time they had played every team and next up was the play offs. They played the first team they'd played the previous day and they came out on fire, determined to go home with a win. Agan, it was a close game but they defended really well and managed to score a couple of tries, finally coming away with a win - they were estatic! They ended up 5th overall, which was pretty good for the first Cayman women's team. The team and coach were happy - time to celebrate!!
The elder statesmen had it tough as well. They were supposed to be playing in the Over 40 competition, but ended up playing the first two games against over 30 sides, which absolutely caned them. 10 - 2 and 9 - 1 I think!
Finally at the end of day one they got to play another over 40's team. It was a great game. Very evenly matched...and fun, instead of chasing wippets everywhere. We won 6 -5! Woohoo! Off to the pub!
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And here we are!
OK, this is an all you can eat Meat resturant....'cos that's how we roll.
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One of the guys organised a booking for the O40 team at an Argentinian meat restaurant. He also brought a set of scales. We each weighed in before dinner, and weighed out after. No veges allowed. Just meat...and desert.
The biggest improver put on eight pounds.... Impressive!
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| That pesky rodent is snooping around again |
The second day had us up early for the first games of the day. The O40 ended up winning the first game by default! Woohoo! Unbeaten so far in the O40 league!
But then we had to play the same team we played the previous day in a knockout. Another really good game, and really close with the lead changing constantly. In the end we went down 5 -6! But it was a fun game, played in great spirits.
So, we were out...(but still placed third in the entire US)
Off to the pub!
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And here we are! This time 'Twin Peaks' was the venue....
It's a bit like Hooters...but with a country theme...and a few extra peaks.
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| Oops....we lost the road! |
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| Having a few beers and watching the finals |
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| CRTV Crew on the loose |
It was a fun weekend...tiring though!
Jamaica Swim Trip
And three days later, Michelle is tour manager for the kids swim trip to Kingston, responsible for 20 kids for the swim meet over the weekend, with 7 of them staying on for a training camp for two more days. It was full on, with a bright and early departure on the Friday, a warmup swim on arrival, then lunch, a short break before heading back to the pool for the first session. Michelle found out that session was going to be a lot longer than expected so had to go back to the hotel to rearrange dinner, pretty much missing all of the swimming!
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| Stingray Swim Club in Kingston |
Saturday was an early start for Coach and the younger swimmers, with the older swimmers being able to sleep in, as they were all in the later session. Michelle saw them off but had to stay back with the rest of the team which made for a bit more of a relaxed day. The afternoon session started at 1pm and it was over by 4.30pm meaning the swimmers could be fed and watered and early into bed for the last session on Sunday. Michelle and a couple of the other supporters decided to swim in the Masters 50 Free much to the amusement of the team (and embarassment of Sam!)! Michelle cleaned up and actually got the meet record for her age group (and most of the others as well!)!
The kids all had a good time, with some of the younger ones not wanting to go back home!
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| The Senior swimmers stayed on for a few days to train in the 50m pool The Seniors stayed on for some extra practice in the 50m pool, as well as some specialist talks on various relevant topics. Trainings got interrupted a couple of times with weather but Coach put the time to good use with dryland or talks. Michelle found it much more relaxing with the smaller group and even managed to get some training in herself. The kids bonded well together, and enjoyed the time away from home - hopefully they learned a thing or two! |
Randoms
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| Another nice sunset on Seven Mile Beach |
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| Celebrating the All Blacks win over Argentina at the club |
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| South African Player - Cornal Hendriks spent a few weeks at the club for the Club's Sevens tournament. |
Waitarere Beach
Last weekend we also sold our Beach House in Waitarere (NZ). We were sad to let it go because it is in such a great spot and is a great place to hang out.
But we weren't exactly making much use of the place and it was barely paying for itself. Maybe we'll get another place there at some point.
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| Little kids...big beach! |
Next Month:
Dave ventures to Chicago to watch a couple of games of footy...
Michelle enters the Cayman Triathlon
Pirate's week ... maybe!
The kids have the pirate's week swim meet - and maybe a 5 km swim as well!
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