Our Caribbean Adventure - continued: October 2017

. September 2017 .

Hi there,

A relatively quiet month for us generally, but having said that, there were some major happenings during September which wouldn't necessarily be seen as being good, positive, or fun. We'll talk about those later.

However, all is not lost! We did have a little bit of fun during the month and caught up with a few acquaintances from our recent past.

800m Sea Swim

The first 800m sea swim of the new season haooened early in the month. Sam, Jake and Dave entered. Michelle nearly did, but ended up being needed as a race marshall/safety person out on a Standup Paddle board for the race.

The Race Venue - Governor's Beach

Official...

The race started with much splashing and kicking and churning of water - that was from the kids. Some of the more senior entrants tried to avoid the chaos and swim their own race which was one lap around the 800m course which was marked by some bouys laid out in a rectangle.

Jake wins his age group and came 4th overall.

Good effort!

Sam decided to have a fun race and bimbled around with a couple of her mates.

Then several minutes later (OK more than several), Dave came powering up the beach .....................(in 79th).

It must have been a fast race because he came 3rd in his age group... woohoo!

OK, there was only four in his age group....

Alright...., one of them didn't complete the race.... Happy now?

Dave's FIRST EVER podium finish in any swimming event...ever!

Meanwhile, about 30 paces away, a party was going on for our friend Mick's birthday. We had to wait until after the swim race before we could have a beer!

The sun goes down on another day at Governor's Beach.

The birthday boy attacks his prize!

Done.... buuurrrp!

Summer Touch - Finals Day

The Touch Finals were also held in September. Dave's team was playing off for the wooden spoon in the Big league... Fortunately, they won that and avoided the spoon!

Michelle's team advanced through to the semi, and then the final of the middle section of the Big league.

The kids had to play an early game, which was a catch up game from the previous week to see who would win the League.

Michelle and Dave also reffed a few games throughout the day.

Jake scores to put the kids in front!

The Referee looks on

The kids won that match and were now the official league champions in the Social League. They now had the play-offs, then a semi and a final to get through.

Prowling...

Michelle's team won their final. Michelle scoring a vital (and also impressive diving try) to keep her team in the lead

The kids made it through their play-offs and were into the final.

Judging by the smiles, I think you can guess the result...

Weather

Meanwhile, in other parts of the Caribbean, the weather was causing havoc on a major scale.

In Cayman, we were incredibly lucky that the Hurricane(s) did not head in our direction.

Our friends in the BVI weren't so lucky. We could only keep a worried eye on the news and random social media updates to see what was happening to the place we once called home. It wasn't good.

This shows how big Irma was and where we were located (Pink Circle).

The link below is to a Facebook page that has been up and running during the last month. There are a bunch of pictures, videos and messages that will give you a good idea of how bad things actually got, and how things are right now.

Click here:

BVI Abroad - Hurricane Irma

There is often something good that comes from tough times. One of the good things for us was that our good friend Liz arrived in Cayman. Liz is based in BVI but because of the devastation, is working out of Cayman for a while. Although it's been a rough time for Liz (and everybody else down there - Hey Guys! Stay Strong!), it was great to finally catch up with her. It's been a while! I think we'll be seeing more of her and others over the next month or two.

Liz, also in possession of a "Honey Badger' beer coozie (long story).

There are plenty of other BVI folk now here in Cayman. Mark and Rachel MacDonald (BVI Kiwis) came here before the hurricane, with their little crew of three. We haven't managed to get a picture of them yet - they don't sit still for long enough! Three little ones to manage will do that! But they have been out and about and joined us at Touch and also at the beach, and that's pretty cool.

There are others about as well that I'm sure we'll catch up with at some point.

But our thoughts do go out to all the people that we know who are still in BVI working on their properties and a host of other things (or are now scattered about as a result of the weather) and hope that things can return to normal (or better!) as soon as possible.

Touch Rugby League

The local Touch association put on a social TRL tournament that was a fundraiser for the National Touch Teams to travel to San Diego in October for the US Touch champs. Dave and Michelle went to this event last year (In Orlando).

Michelle and Dave played in a Kiwi Team. Jake was playing in a kids (under 16?) team.

It was quite fun playing the game. It was a bit like Touch, but you could kick the ball at any time. More like Rugby League (as the TRL name suggests).

Jake and Tommy working together

The Kiwi team lost their first, won their second and then got pounded by the kids in the last game of the pool. The kids won all of theirs and advance to the main Semi final.

The Kiwis won their Semi and were into the final for the (believe it or not) Saucer.

However, when it came time for the Saucer final - the opposition had fled. Clearly they were terrified of taking the Kiwis on. That suited the Kiwis as they were already halfway through their beer supplies at this point and being presented with another Case of the sponsors product for "winning" their final was only going to lift their spirits more on this very wet afternoon.

Liz was scooped up by one of the teams and had a fun time.

The wet look is actually from the rain - and not exertion at this point!

The kids made the grand final. They were playing a bunch of serious touch players, who really didn't fit the mould for a Fun Tournament. Anyway, the kids gave it a good crack and had the opposition worried for a while. The large crowd went wild every time the kids scored or did something of note. There was silence if the opposition did, which was quite funny really.

But in the end it wasn't to be.

The crowd favourites

Michelle headed out to the Gaelic end of Season Dinner.

Always a good night!

Ooh look! Another beach day!

This time with Generator.... and that means...

MUDSLIDES!

John and Carlie come back for a visit.

They lived here for a few years and now reside back in the UK. It was very cool catching up and enjoying a beer or two!

Random morning picture of the sea at Sunrise - when Dave heads down for a swim before work.

A great way to start the day!

Some other good friends (ex BVI) Michele, Nick and Helene passed through Cayman the other week. Nick recently was on his way to start work back in BVI. The weather put paid to that, at least for now.

We caught up over dinner, which was great. Reminiscing, catching up and laughing. Again, it had been a few years since we last all saw each other.

These guys have grown...just a little ...

The crew!

Cool Stuff

The annual shave for Cancer was held last week. At the last minute, Sam decided she wouldn't shave her head, but would donate several locks of her hair to the cause which would be made into wigs. We weren't sure if she'd actually do it, but she did. In the process she also raised a couple of hundred dollars for the cause.

Nice one Sam!