Issue # 115 - Marching On

. March 2017 . 

Sun or Moon?

Well hello!

Quarter of the way through the year already!  Does it ever slow down? Or do the years just seem to get faster after you've clocked up a couple?

Anyway, here's our quick summary of March.  Seems like we (the royal 'we') spent a bit of time running, swimming or both.  Michelle managed a quick trip away, Jake tested his Brain against some other local talent and the training build-up for Carifta continued.

Splash n Dash

Early one Sunday morning in March, it was an early start for the family.  The Splash n Dash was on. It was Brother against sister...Girls versus Boys...and kids against Mum.  Sam and Jake teamed up with our local running star brother and sister duo (Tommy and Molly Kehoe) in this year's event. Sam and Molly would take on the boys.  The swim was 600m and then a hand over to the runners for a 2 mile run.  Michelle decided to do the whole thing herself - which, by her standards, wasn't all that far.  But she'd be doing well to keep up with this lot.

It's the moon...early on a Sunday morning, just before the Splash n Dash.

Jake leaps into the lead at the start, with Sam right behind him (Sam nearly missed the start - too busy talking - tactical error - Michelle told her to pay attention and put her goggles on...

He managed to stay ahead of Sam, and neither were bothered by any other opposition. As you can see, there aren't too many swimmers in shot (and no Michelle to be seen for a while...)!

Then there was the sprint up the beach and over to the trabsition area. Neither was looking forward to the run, even if it was a short one.

Michelle comes out of the water in a respectable time with plenty of people in her wake, not too far behind Sam and Jake...

Tommy built on the lead Jake gave him and bounded home in first place 

Molly, never to be under-estimated, powered home not long after Tommy, to secure 2nd place for the Girls.

Michelle steams home for 3rd Place in the individual women's race.

Hardly raised a sweat...

The kids...1st and 2nd teams overall, beating all-comers easily.  Very impressive really.

Click this link to read the story from the paper: Splash n Dash News

Someone had a birthday in March...

And he's grown a Fro for his night out! Just call me Rod

New York

Michelle headed off to New York the following week for work - lots of meetings and, of course, a bit of shopping when the moment arose! Not much time for photos, but here's a couple!

 There was a little bit of snow still about up there, so the change in climate was a bit of a challenge! Luckily the worst of it was the week before she got there but it was still on the chilly side for someone used to Caribbean weather. The week ranged from -2 to 17 degrees C, with some cold winds but no snow or rain so pretty good weather!

Found some sun!

(and a midget to take the photo)

A sign of things to come?

Nothing too exciting but Michelle did manage to catch a show (On your feet - Gloria Estefan), go for a run in Central Park and do some damage in a few shops. Caused a bit of a problem at the airport with baggage but after a bit of rearranging, got it all sorted and managed to get home in one piece, although she was a bit hot on arrival in Cayman given she was wearing pink fur lined Ug boots and jackets that she couldn't fit in her case - couldn't get to the car fast enough before she was taking the layers off...not sure when she'll get to wear those clothes again...

MASSIVE Sea Swim Relay

While Michelle was chilling in New York, life went on in Cayman. This is the annual Sea-Swim Relay, and of course the course the kids are in it.  This one was teams of four and they each swam a 600m lap. It's called Massive because the sponsoring business is called "Massive Equipment".

Sam and Jake teamed up with their swimming mate Elana and also convinced their new swim coach to take part as well.

There would be some big competition in this event with the top swimmers from all of the clubs taking part, as well as some social teams and little kids and a few individual swimmers.

The race start

Sam takes the second leg after Elana.

Jake tags 'Coach Neil' and heads off for the final leg.

Meanwhile Sam re-hydrates while waiting for Jake

Here he comes!

Photo with the Sponsor (and Coach Neil).

First place in the 18 - 39 year old group (don't ask) and 2nd team over all, so another good effort.

Taylor & Sam

 Saint Patrick's Day 5k Irish Jog

 Since Dave hadn't been allowed to show off his swimming prowess in the previous two events (which is probably a good thing!), he decided to head on out and do the 5k Irish Jog on St Paddy's day, along will around a thousand other supreme athletes.

Powering through the field...

This run has been going for about 25 years, so is very popular. It winds around and through one of the local golf courses so traffic isn't a problem.  Kids, and people with pets and prams etc can be!  But its really a fun run so no need for anyone to get serious about it.

Post-race with Sue and lisa.

"OK, that's done. Where's a beer?"

Half of the Cayman Rugby TV crew celebrating St Paddy's day and also the Iguana's win in the final at the Rugby Club.

And in breaking news...

Jake was selected to take part in the Cayman School's Math Challenge competition last week.

Apparently he did pretty well!

They won the School Team Challenge, and Jake came second in his group in the individual contest, but not by much as they had to go to sudden death play-off questions. The questions were maths puzzle and logic related and required the participant to use all academic knowledge and skills.
The play-off went for four extra questions and Jake and the other kid were still tied. 
In the end they asked a trivia question about the total area that Cayman covers. The other kid's guess was closer...
But still, great effort by Jake!📚

Recent addition to the household - "Roo" tries to stare down Harry. Roo has a little more energy than Harry... but they do get on quite well now, after a firey start to their relationship! 

Sunday Beach Day - girls in the water... just cooling off... really.

Our good mate Heath (of Gore, BVI and now South African fame) rode into town last week for his annual visit. He popped around for dinner and a catch up. Dave just happened to have a few cans of Speight's chilling in the fridge.

Click here for more pics from March

Random...

WTF!

Kiwifruit in Cayman now come with a moustache and an accent!

So, that's it from us for March.

April will have a bit of a Swimming feel to it as we all head off to Nassau (Bahamas) over Easter for the CARIFTA Swim Champs. Lets hope the kids put all that training into practice. We might get to do a little bit of Touristing between sessions... we'll see!

Check out www.bahamasswimmingfederation.com for the latest news - or even the Psych Sheet on the Carifta page (for those swimmingly knowedgeable folk)

Later! .

Issue # 114 - Flickers of February

. February 2017 .

Hello!

February has been a month of activity.  A bit of swimming and also some running about the island.

The kids had the National Swim Champs and there was also the Cross Island Relay and the "Off the Beaten Track" event.  Apart from that, things have been relatively quiet.

Tourist Pics

 We went for a drive around the East end of the island one Sunday afternoon.  Its not somewhere we frequent that often, usually because we don't have the time, but it was nice just to cruise about and check out a few spots we hadn't seen in a while.

Bodden Town boat ramp

 Over on the North Side, there is a guy who makes sculptures of Cayman creatures out of cement.

  

This one may not be a Cayman creature, although there is such a thing as the 'Cayman Crocodile'.!

At Starfish Point

 We ended up at Starfish point later in the afternoon. It's a good spot to watch the sunset, and also see the Starfish that tend to loiter in that area.

The sun sets over George Town

The Jandal tree

(Locally called the shoe tree)

Swim Nationals

 The swim nationals were held at Camana Bay in February.  Both kids were down to compete in a bunch of events.  This event would be the swimmers' last chance to get qualifying times for the National Team to compete in Nassau, Bahamas for CARIFTA (Caribbean Champs) at Easter. Jake had a qualifying time from the 5km sea swim before Christmas, and one pool time. He wanted at least one more pool time to make the team.  Sam already had her times from the Coconut cup before Christmas so there wasn't the same pressure on her.

There were heats in the mornings with finals at night from Thursday through to Sunday night.

They both spent some time on the medals dais each with a few firsts, seconds and thirds.

Check out some fast swiming... click here to view

Jake wasn't allowed to wear his Highlanders hat on the dais.

Jake ended up getting another two qualifying times which would put him in contention for the Team.  In the end they both made the team so are now back into training with a focus on Easter.  Another 'Swim Holiday' to look forward to!

Some pics from the Nationals - click here

 Waitangi Day

A few of the Kiwis got together on the 5th (Sunday) for a couple of quiets and a get together at Public Beach.  It was a pretty relaxed and laid-back affair. We met a few other Kiwis on the island that we didnt know, so that was cool.

Cross-Island Relay

 Both Michelle and Dave did the Cross-island relay this year.  Michelle with her all-woman team that seems to enter in everything, and Dave got a call up for a scratch team of first-timers who just wanted to take part.

The relay has six legs of about 4 miles (6km) each starting from East End and ending at Smith's Cove near town.  Michelle did the 4th leg for her team and Dave the 5th leg for his.

Michelle's team came 4th women's team which was about the same as previous years - the girls all ran really well and had thought they'd come third so were a bit disappointed, until the bubbles came out!

Team "Are we there yet?" placed about midway in the field, which was pretty good result really.

Post-race celebrations... Bubbles of course!

  And then last weekend was the Off The Beaten Track race, which, as the name suggests, is a race that covers some ground (5-6 miles) that you wouldn't normally run across, including bush, farm land, Cows, Dogs, Iron-shore and sand.

Michelle's team was back at it again.  Michelle had the third leg which involved some bush tracks, cows and an awkward stretch along some rough iron-shore. The iron shore was really tough - it was impossible to actually run - it was more of a walk/skip/jump and seemed to be never ending! The good thing was that once that part was finished the end was just around the corner.

2nd Place in the Womens' group.

Randoms

Meanwhile, in Dave's orchard.... a Pineapple is taking shape

Check out the expiry date...

So, that's about it for February.  Not sure what March will bring us.  Michelle might be away for a work trip off island.  Dave probably wont be...

See you soon!