Bite me!
Beer Goggles! Elvis Lives!!!
Pineapple headYes, we are a few days late getting this issue out, but hey, it’s the start of a new year and we’ve been busy trying to settle back in to life in the BVI!
So, in this issue we have a little catching up to do. Xmas do’s, school trips and health issues to name a few. There’s also the trip back to Enzed and back.
So, if you are new to this (yep that’s you “e”), you’ll need to start from the beginning… so grab your mouse and head on over to the right and up a little maybe. Look for the “Blog Archive” and click on the relevant heading (depending on how far back in history you want to go and how much time you have left in your life).
If you are the Blog expert, then just read on…
OK, are ya ready? Let’s hit it!
Xmas Decorations in BVI
They love the various seasons and occasions around here. Halloween, Emancipation Festival, Gospel Week. And now Christmas comes along. Lights have been strung up. Displays are erected and all the big businesses, not to be outdone have placed all sorts of decorations and displays out around the town. Take a look:
So, in this issue we have a little catching up to do. Xmas do’s, school trips and health issues to name a few. There’s also the trip back to Enzed and back.
So, if you are new to this (yep that’s you “e”), you’ll need to start from the beginning… so grab your mouse and head on over to the right and up a little maybe. Look for the “Blog Archive” and click on the relevant heading (depending on how far back in history you want to go and how much time you have left in your life).
If you are the Blog expert, then just read on…
OK, are ya ready? Let’s hit it!
Xmas Decorations in BVI
They love the various seasons and occasions around here. Halloween, Emancipation Festival, Gospel Week. And now Christmas comes along. Lights have been strung up. Displays are erected and all the big businesses, not to be outdone have placed all sorts of decorations and displays out around the town. Take a look:
Girls Rugby Dinner
The night after the MOvember party it was Michelle’s turn to party it up. The Rugby boys have an annual “Gentlemen’s Dinner” every Christmas and no girlies are allowed. So, the girls arranged their own night out (and good on them!).
After a quick training session and a round of Sumo wrestling (no reflection on the shape or size of the team, that’s for sure) they all headed off for a shower and to change into their ‘Girly Clothes’. Someone, who had only ever seen Michelle all sweaty in shorts and top at training remarked “Wow!!!! I hardly recognized you!”
The night after the MOvember party it was Michelle’s turn to party it up. The Rugby boys have an annual “Gentlemen’s Dinner” every Christmas and no girlies are allowed. So, the girls arranged their own night out (and good on them!).
After a quick training session and a round of Sumo wrestling (no reflection on the shape or size of the team, that’s for sure) they all headed off for a shower and to change into their ‘Girly Clothes’. Someone, who had only ever seen Michelle all sweaty in shorts and top at training remarked “Wow!!!! I hardly recognized you!”
Michelle, Marianne & Melissa (the undisputed Sumo Champ)
They went to a team dinner at the Jolly Roger (Bar/Restaurant) at West End where dinner was served and so was the wine. After dinner and a few drinking games, the bar staff were getting tired (or maybe worried) and it was time to go. So, off they went to…. You guessed it! Bomba’s! As you will see from the photographic evidence, everyone had a good time – especially the Coach (and his visiting Step Dad who were the only blokes in attendance). They stayed so late that even Bomba’s wanted to close the bar – well, it was a Wednesday! There were a few seedy ladies around town the next day.
They went to a team dinner at the Jolly Roger (Bar/Restaurant) at West End where dinner was served and so was the wine. After dinner and a few drinking games, the bar staff were getting tired (or maybe worried) and it was time to go. So, off they went to…. You guessed it! Bomba’s! As you will see from the photographic evidence, everyone had a good time – especially the Coach (and his visiting Step Dad who were the only blokes in attendance). They stayed so late that even Bomba’s wanted to close the bar – well, it was a Wednesday! There were a few seedy ladies around town the next day.
Michelle’s Work Xmas Dinner
We were treated to an evening at the Last Resort for Michelle’s work dinner. The Last Resort is a Restaurant/Bar that is on a tiny island (a rock almost) just out from Trellis Bay near the Airport. You have to catch the ferry across to it. We rang the resort “Hot Fone” to order the “ferry” and it duly arrived. But it wasn’t a ferry at all. It was a little crappy looking dingy/boat thing with a tiny outboard motor. But better than swimming however! We scrambled aboard and headed across (six at a time) on the choppy three minute trip.
We were treated to an evening at the Last Resort for Michelle’s work dinner. The Last Resort is a Restaurant/Bar that is on a tiny island (a rock almost) just out from Trellis Bay near the Airport. You have to catch the ferry across to it. We rang the resort “Hot Fone” to order the “ferry” and it duly arrived. But it wasn’t a ferry at all. It was a little crappy looking dingy/boat thing with a tiny outboard motor. But better than swimming however! We scrambled aboard and headed across (six at a time) on the choppy three minute trip.
It’s a pretty cool place though. Nice food, good service (which is always a bonus here!) and a resident band that also entertains the crowd with their antics. Giving away Tequila shots to every man and his dog certainly gets the punters in the mood! They had two big bottles of the stuff set up in a rack on the stage in front of the Drummer and gave shots away as prizes for various things, like “Whoever came here by boat gets a shot.”
They used to have a singing Donkey there as well (true!). Apparently it used to chime in with the singing and it also drank lots of beer. But one New Years Eve party it had had a few too many beers and the story is that it tried to follow the Moon’s reflection on the sea. It wandered into the sea and kept on going along the white line and eventually drowned…(Dumb Ass!)
The organizers decided to have a gift swap game where people got a Xmas pressie, then the next recipient could either take that present (or any other opened present) or just accept the one they were given. Not may people took anyone else’s gift until it was Dave’s turn. He was one of the last so had the choice of everyone’s gift. Lo and behold, a bottle of Mount Gay Rum was sitting in front of a rather worried looking young man. “Sorry mate,” says Dave in his most sincere voice “but that’s coming home with me. You can have the chocolates or the Love Actually DVD.” He did feel a little bad about that, but hey
But back to us. It was a great night. We got home at about 2 am and that’s usually a good sign. We’ll be going back there! Next visitors – you will be there (Sorry Horse! You’ll just have to come back!).
The Gentlemen’s Dinner
The Rugby Club Gentlemen’s dinner was held at the Big Banana in Cane Garden Bay.
The invitation reads as follows:
8 pm Thursday 13 Dec 07 at Big Banana, Cane Garden Bay.
Weather permitting we may have a table on the beach.
Dress is bow tie, formal shirt and….. (wait for it)…. shorts.
So, Dave rocked up in his Bow Tie, Shirt, Shorts and Jandals/Flip Flops/Thongs hoping that it wasn’t a set up for the newbies in town. Fortunately is wasn’t – everyone was dressed pretty much as directed. It was raining though, so the table on the beach wasn’t a goer. But they did have the restaurant to themselves which is always a bonus when there is a rugby dinner happening. After a few beers, dinner was served, as was the wine… and plenty of it. The food was very nice including the Lobster Chowder, the Spicy Goat and the yummy Cheesecake. Apparently the wine wasn’t going down fast enough so a funnel was introduced to the group. And without going into the gory details everything else (and everyone) was history.
School Christmas Party
The kids had a little Christmas party/concert at school in their last week. They were up in their class lots and sang a couple of songs. It was quite good really. One song was “Catch a Falling Star (and put it in your pocket)” which was very cute as the littlies (Jake and co. had little Stars on their heads). The other was Calypso Christmas which the kids really enjoyed singing. Afterwards they had a few activities for the kids and some food stalls and a visit to Santa’s Grotto.
Power Company visit – hard at work.
Dave drove Sam and a couple of her classmates on a field trip to one of the Electricity plants here on Tortola. It probably wasn’t the most riveting of activities for a bunch of six/seven year olds but at least they got to see where the electricity came from – a bunch of massive Rolls Royce generators that chug away. And also some big banks of flashing lights and readouts that looked very busy.
On the other hand, we had to pass a number of offices before getting to the ‘nerve centre’ of the operation. All of the office doors where closed but all of them had those narrow windows in the door. So, as you do, we all peeked through the windows as we passed. Every office had someone in it, with their back to the door, very busy…….. playing Solitaire on their computers. They work ‘em hard over here I tell ya!
Dengue Fever and the lazy Mosquitoes
Dengue fever has reached the BVI with a couple of cases being reported over the last month or so. We understand that we are in a low risk area as we live on the side of a hill where there are no ponds or puddles of stagnant water lying about.
In the local paper the Chief Environmental Health Officer told the public that (And we quote) “The communities where the cases were identified will not be disclosed for the fear of pandemonium.” Yes, the locals will either be fleeing the island in droves or be out en mass with their fly swats and cans of raid getting anything that moves.
The CEHO also went on to explain (And again we quote) “Based on scientific findings - mosquitoes fly within a 100 yard radius unless they are transported by moving vehicles.”
(Dr. Tim, you may wish to verify this).
So we are now on the lookout for groups (or is that ‘swarms’?) of lazy and quite possibly fat Aedes Mosquitoes in disguise (most probably wearing sunglasses due to the bright sun) driving around the territory in what is most likely to be rental vehicles. Taxi drivers have been requested to refuse rides to any Mosquitoes waiting on the roadside for transport. The Transport Department has also been told to cease issuing driver’s licences to suspicious looking mosquitoes unless legitimate ID can be provided showing them not to be Aedes mosquitoes.
Our Trip to NZ….and back
Gee, it’s a fair way isn’t it!
Saturday morning 5 am. Time to get up! Up we got, loaded the kids, fed the car and off to the Airport. Our neighbor Nir (pron. Near, as in not far) kindly dropped us off and then more than likely crawled back into bed, as you do at that time on a Saturday.
Anyway, we checked in and went to the security check area prior to boarding. Only thing was that the security check was only staffed by two people and there were two flights of people trying to leave the country. Well after our departure time we finally got through and made it onto the plane. A quick hop to Puerto Rico, where we had to clear US customs and immigration before heading for the Delta desk to check in. Only thing was, the doors were closed off. No way through. Luckily a friendly and willing Airport worker took us down some stairs, around a corner, up in a lift and around a few more corners and we were there. He even carried one of our suitcases. You know you’re not in the BVI when that happens. We made the flight with just a few minutes to spare and headed off to Atlanta – about a three hour flight.
We had a few hours wait there, so did a little wandering about and watching the rain outside. We realized that we were back in the US as thousands of round people wobbled by eating their donuts and slurping oversized soft drinks. We also realized that we were back in the modern world as the bathrooms had automatic soap dispensers – cool! Jake decided to do a little flying of his own as he leaped off the top of a children’s climbing thingy into the wild blue yonder showing us the perfect swan dive before gravity took over and planted his face directly on the floor in the gap between two padded mats. Only Jake could do this. After some blood and a few tears, a fat lip emerged. Our hero was treated to a Strawberry Milkshake for his efforts and calmed down a bit after that. Great work Jakey man!
LA was next, after about a four hour flight and arriving early evening (local time). So after about 15 + hours of travelling, we called it quits and went to sleep. The next day we ate a big fat boys breakfast from the buffet and set off on a guided tour of LA, which was pretty good really. Venice Beach, Beverly Hills, Hollywood etc. Even saw Larry King wandering about, as well as Spiderman, Superman, Batman, Captain Jack Sparrow and others.
Larry King (in the black jacket)
Hotel viewNext up was a 9:30pm Air NZ flight to Auckland. All seemed to be going quite well until, just as Michelle and Dave were about to nod off, Sam decided to impress everyone around us with a “technocolour yawn”. You can contain quite a lot in those Air NZ blankets you know. An hour later, same again. Although a bag was ready this time. Then again for the next few hours, on the hour.
We arrived in Auckland to a warm (ish!) 22 degrees. We were welcomed in ChCh by a chilly 11 degrees with an added bonus of rain and wind! Did some catchups and shopping before heading out to Rangiora for a few days with Granddad & Val. The weather improved and we took Granddad’s boat out for a ski, but a few technical hitches slowed us down a bit. Never mind, the kids enjoyed their time steering the boat!
One night Michelle and Dave went into The Southern Ex RNZEME Headquarters in Upper Riccarton for a bit of a gathering of the old clan from days gone by. And plenty of days have gone by it seems. Dave, over a couple of beers, caught up with heaps of guys that he hadn’t seen for a long time. While they all swapped war stories and lies Michelle and the other female guest present went shopping at Riccarton – it was a late night… shopping. But a very good night and thanks must go to the sponsors, Hondi & Margot and the organizers, Rabbit, Shamus and Horse (yes, they are real people, sort of. Well, Margot is anyway.).
We headed south to Waimate but stopped in on the way at the Richardson Estate in Chertsey. Checked out their barn and a couple of Hay Burners. Very cool.
"Hayburners" 
Waimate for Christmas. More catchups with rellies and friends. More food, wine and beer, as you do! A family Christmas was organized by Lil, and the kids just loved Grandma’s Christmas Pud! They are still talking about it. We also had Sam’s 7th Birthday party at Grandma & Pop’s. Although a bit of a wet day, the weather cleared enough for it to be held outside so as to keep the house in reasonable order. The highlight of the evening was Grandma’s spoon & string threading game – it was very entertaining watching each person in each team racing to thread a spoon attached to a string through their clothes (including down their pants!), one after the other, with the result being the whole team was attached together by the string! The old fashioned games were enjoyed by all!
Kaikoura was next on the itinerary so away we went, arriving there in time for dinner on the 27th. This time it was rellies and cuzzies from the other side of the family. Again, the kids disappeared to assume the role of shadow to a cousin or two. The common theme continues (eating and drinking). We checked out the Seal colony and even tried a spot of fishing – no good. We are apparently the only people in the history of Kaikoura to go fishing there and not catch anything. Luckily they have some pretty awesome fish & chips there which was something we miss in this part of the world.
Time to move on again. Off to Wellington via Sounds Air. A nice little scenic and slightly bumpy hop across the straight saw us in Wgtn just after lunch on New Year’ Eve. It certainly beats three hours on the ferry, and was about the same cost!
Round to Graham & Suzie’s for new years. A good night capped off with some Hungarian Grappa and Pusser’s rum. Neither Sam or Jake wanted to drive at this stage so we stayed the night and woke to the scenic (and bright) vista of Wgtn harbour on a good day (at 5.30am!).
A quick visit to our temporary lodgings in Newlands then out to Waikanae for a bit of lunch and a swim. Sam, Jake and Dave got into the sea for a swim. Michelle hadn’t quite steeled herself to that extent yet after the bath-like water of the Caribbean. Lunch with James, Penny and Hannah in their lovely recently acquired beach house was followed by some shopping (Michelle) at Otaki and some more visiting and a couple of beers (Dave) at Raumati with a couple of mates from Daves’ last work, ESR.
“e” was next (That means Small e. Think about it.) as we gate crashed their BBQ and the kids bounced themselves to sleep on the tramp. Silly old bugger. I don’t know what he was doing there…
The next day was a swim with Sam’s friend Georgia, in an indoor pool (the kids were hanging out to go to the pool!), a bit of speed shopping, more catchups and a (nother) BBQ – well, it is the season! Cheers Katherine & Darrell and Martin & Cheryl!
It’s 3 Jan already. We’re off. Thanks Linda for the use of your home and car. It made life so much easier!
We’ve run out of time in NZ so it’s back into the travel circuit for a few days. This time not so efficient. Wellington to Auckland. Fine, no probs. Auckland to LA (Qantas), delayed a couple of hours but once we got away it was fine. LA was cloudy on arrival. We took to the hotel pool under the stunned gaze of several hotel staff who, funnily enough, don’t swim much in winter. Mexican restaurant for dinner (no one went home hungry that night) then sleep. Next day we planned to do Knotsberry Farm, but the weather was crap so just did a little sightseeing and shopping.
"What sign,Your Honour?"
We were due to fly out at 11pm but our plane hadn’t arrived yet and there were 300 angry Mexicans in the departure lounge whose plane hadn’t arrived either. The kids managed to sleep on the floor oblivious to all of this. Thankfully the plane to San Pedro or wherever in Mexico arrived and off they went. Ours followed and we left about 2 ½ hours late. But we had a four hour wait in Fort Lauderdale anyway so now it would be only two… or would it. Alas, the two hours turned into three and we finally got on the plane to St Thomas (US Virgin Islands). Only, we were to be delayed on the tarmac for over an hour as they located some luggage for some of the passengers from a connecting flight. Gee, that might be our stuff! Anyway, we eventually head off to St Thomas (another three hour flight) where we collected our bags and went to our hotel (we would have missed the last Ferry to Tortola anyway) and had dinner at the “Hook, Line and Sinker” just around the corner. In the morning we decided to make use of the pool and do a little shopping in Charlotte Amalie before taking a later ferry back home. Just after purchasing our tickets and heading off to the shops, the heavens opened and we got soaked. Dave and the kids sought shelter while Michelle raced off to K-Mart for some items we needed for the house. It wasn’t a lot of fun and the rain didn’t really let up. But it was funny seeing a sopping wet Michelle trudging down the road armed with two pillows in the pouring rain. I guess you had to be there.
So we then jumped on the ferry and headed back to Road Town to be welcomed by the passengers and crew of the Queen Mary II. We’re back, safe and sound but a few pounds heavier and a few more dollars lighter. Holiday over. It was a good trip and it was great to catch up with all of the people we did catch up with. It’s just a shame we couldn’t catch up with more! But we’d need a couple of months to do that. Hey, I know! Why don’t you come here???!!!!
So we then jumped on the ferry and headed back to Road Town to be welcomed by the passengers and crew of the Queen Mary II. We’re back, safe and sound but a few pounds heavier and a few more dollars lighter. Holiday over. It was a good trip and it was great to catch up with all of the people we did catch up with. It’s just a shame we couldn’t catch up with more! But we’d need a couple of months to do that. Hey, I know! Why don’t you come here???!!!!
Wally Park, where the Wallys park
What’s up next month?
Well, in the January edition we will be talking about Surfing and whether Jake and/or Dave can actually get a surfboard going.
Maybe we can find something to put into the Sports section as all we did last month was booze and eat!
We’ll hold off on the Rat Count for the moment – as we ain’t huntin’ em right now. Although the neighbor claims to have had one residing in his car over Christmas.
Maybe even a feature on “Signs in the BVI”.
Anyway, don’t despair, we’ll come up with some rubbish that will help get you through your lunch hour. Because, being the responsible Bloggees that you are you aren’t reading this in work time are you? Surely not.
OK, it's a wrap! See you in January...and don't be late.
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