. January 2019 .
Hello!
We hope you had a nice Christmas and that 2020 is treating you well so far!
We had a fairly busy Christmas and New Year. We had a couple of visitors come and share the spirit of Christmas in the Caribbean with us. Nick (Dave's Nephew) and Ange spent about 10 days here as an introduction into life in these parts before they headed off south from here on their tour for a while.
We also had Sam come back from Ohio to thaw out.
We all spent some time on the water, in the water and under it!
Sea Swim
Jake took part in the CUC 800m Sea swim and managed to come in in First place.
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| In order of Finish |
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Meanwhile, the Cayman Rugby TV Crew had their Christmas party at Sunset House.
This is the start of the day. Plenty of groupies and followers came along and a big day was had by all!
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Christmas and New Year
Nick and Ange arrived in time for our annual Christmas Eve outing to the mini sand bar (near Rum Point but a lot quieter). We traveled out on our friends Sue & Pete's boat for the afternoon.
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| Nick saying Hi to Sue & Pete's parrot before we head out. |
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| Not playing the game with Ange. |
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| The kids (not ours) made a Christmas Sand Man! |
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| Michelle, Lisa, Janet & Sue |
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| Spreading the Christmas cheer on the beach! |
After chilling on the beach for a bit, Michelle took Ange and Nick for a wander up to Rum point for a look about, but really it was to get a couple of their famous Mudslides.
We had a nice afternoon before heading back to check out some Christmas lights and find some local food at one of the Jerk places.
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| Sunset on the Sea |
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| This is at the Crighton House |
We visited a couple of the more prominent Christmas light displays. These are at people's houses.
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| Crighton House |
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| Bodden House (Across from Sunset) |
Then it was home for a nightcap and then some sleep before Santa came.
After a leisurely start to Christmas day with a Champagne Breakfast, we headed around to Pete & Janet's for some Christmas cheer before the main event at Chris & Jacky's later on. There may have been a small nap in between...
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| Raz, Chris, Dave & Michelle |
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| Nick, Ange & Jo |
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| The Ladies in Red - Michelle, Lisa and Janet |
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| The girls are all growing up! |
Christmas dinner this year was a little more casual but well organised pot-luck affair at Chris & Jacky's. As usual, there was plenty of food, lots of people and a heap of fun.
Jacky had arranged a bunch of games, starting with some for the littlies with musical chairs and relays and other games, and finishing with Beer Pong which went on until the beer ran out.
Another great Day!
A few days later we had the annual family touch tournament, which is very social morning of touch with each team representing a country. Nick & Ange were quickly drafted into the Kiwi Squad. We didn't do too bad, winning and drawing a few games before being knocked out by a fairly pale looking Jamaican team and watching the final from the sideline. A fun time with a bunch of money raised for a local charity.
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| Kiwis on the left |
Diving
About a week before coming here, Nick and Ange completed their PADI (Diving) qualification in NZ. That was good because we could take them straight out for a dive or two.
We ended up doing four dives here with them. All of them pretty good, as well as different.
The first dive was at Sunset House. A nice and easy shore dive with the Mermaid statue and also a small wreck a little further out.
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| Getting the feel of things under water |
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| First Wreck dive! |
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| Loving it! |
Next up was Eden Rock (Devil's Grotto) which has a couple of swim throughs (Caves) and a bunch of Tarpon hanging about.
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| No sweat |
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| There are plenty of Tarpon that hang about here. |
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| Nassau Groper |
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| Tarpon looking for a diver for lunch |
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| Nick and Ange - dive buddies |
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| Peacock Flounder |
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| Lighthouse point with the Neptune statue |
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| Angelfish turn up randomly. |
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| Michelle spotted the Moray that popped out to say Gidday |
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| A decent sized Trumpet fish. |
Next up was Macabucca, West Bay on New Year's Eve.
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| Ange's favourite - Garden worms |
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| Christmas Tree worms |
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| Trunkfish |
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| Nick spotted this large Turtle at Macabucca. |
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| Camera guy was a bit slow, but managed to get the turtle in the background! |
New Years eve started at Camana Bay for some fireworks, then around to Raz' Jo's on the beach for the New Year's Eve party. A great bunch of people there, and a good (and somewhat late) night was had by all.
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| Happy New Year! |
Sam and Dave were up early on New Year's Day. Sam had a 7 am flight back to training in Ohio, via Miami. It was a long day for Sam!
For everybody else, it was a bit of a sleep in before the annual pilgrimage to Governor's Beach for the New Years Day party. This thing seems to get bigger every year!
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| Early on in the afternoon. |
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| Barbeques, Coolers, Food & Keg(s). All set! |
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Most of the crew.
Note the two people waving on the Paddleboard, out on the water to the left. That's Nick & Ange!
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| Keg is pouring well! |
With about three BBQs running, there was a heap of really good food. It helps to have friends that are Chefs! Soon the Blender starts up and its Mudslide time. A popular time of the day!
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| Lisa likes the odd Muddy |
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| Jacky, Michelle, Janet & Lisa |
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| Having a beer with the Aussies |
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| Thanks Chef Mick! |
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| Nick and Ange didn't mind the odd Mudslide either... |
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| Jake joins the party |
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| Cuzzies - Trouble |
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| Another great day! |
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This is around 11pm (ish) and that's the moon, not the sun.
Time to go home!
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Sam in Ohio
They are having quite a few swim meets at this time of the year. They tend to travel to another University and compete as a team against each other, with points being earned for placings in each event. The team with the most points at the end of the meet win!
Here are some pics from two of them. One is the last Home meet of the season.
Pretty happy after winning the meet!
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| Pose off? |
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| Sam and Coach! |
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| The Swedish Swim team? |
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| This was the last "Home" meet for the seniors on the team, so they formed a 'Guard of Honour'/'Tunnel of Love' or something for them! |
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| And outside the pool, things are a little chillier. |
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| Sam did say she wanted to go somewhere cold! |
Michelle's work's annual One Sky Music festival - starring Sean Paul! It was awesome!!
The day after the One Sky Music festival was the annual Gaelic Mixed 9's tournament. It actually started on the Friday night but as Michelle's team all had their work social they had managed to arrange it so that their first game was 10.30am on the Saturday. Despite a few hangovers, they managed to draw the first, win the second and third and get into the semis. Unfortunately, three games took their toll and they were unable to pull off a win so did not make it through to the finals. Some of them were not all that unhappy about that as they were glad to give their bodies a rest and enjoy a beer or two for the rest of the games!
Michelle in action
Unfortunately Michelle did not have her kicking boots on and missed a few points but they had a good day!
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Our good mate Russ (of Vancouver fame) popped in for a visit.
We are planning on heading up there in March for the 7s.
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That's our whack for January!
Back to work now!
We'll see what February has in store.
See ya soon!
