Issue # 27 - The November Natter

# 27 – November 2009

Gidday! .

Welcome to the November Natter. Here we are again, another month gone by, and plenty happening with it. Some visitors, lots of sport and some cultural events as well just to make this a well rounded issue. Speaking of well rounded, Christmas is coming sooner than we think. Half of George Town is already lit up with Christmas lights and decorations and has been for a while!

So, away you go. Get reading!

Happy Saint Eligius Day too!

Christmas Lights

Visitor’s Report
Dave met up with BVI folk Mark McDonald and Nick Carter early in the month. They were over on business from the BVI but made the time to catch up over a couple of OJ’s which was nice.

Johnny and Emma also returned for another one-nighter on their return from Cuba en route to BVI. The weather wasn’t the best here in Cayman but they at least had to get a look at Seven Mile Beach before it got too dark. This was achieved from the beach-side bar of the Marriot. Then it was off to check out the Rugby club and enjoy some of the atmosphere there before heading out for a bite to eat, and a drink or two at Sunset House (sans sunset). This was followed by a rather large Mudslide and few more drinks at some other local establishments.
Saturday morning it was up early to catch their flight. Dave and the kids dropped Johnny and Emma at the airport and then went home to mentally prepare themselves for the All Blacks v Wales game that was being shown live at the rugby club at Midday.
Upon arriving at the club they were greeted by (lo and behold!) Emma and Johnny who were propping up the bar! Their flight had been canceled and they knew the club was open for the game so they had made a beeline for it. They managed to demolish several buckets of Heineken while watching the rugby before making their second attempt at departing Cayman. We can only assume they made it this time…

Some early Xmas photos:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=125132&id=766998601&l=2aa193cead
Battle of Wounded Knee
The recovery process continues with Michelle becoming more mobile by the week. She has cast aside at least the crutches and has ventured back into the water, but only to do certain exercises. No real swimming allowed just yet. She is still wearing the knee brace, but only if out and about.

Michelle’s Birthday
Michelle got to spend part of her birthday at the pool. No, not that sort of pool. One where you race in. She was watching Sam race while Jake and Dave were at the Rugby. So instead of a nice relaxing time, she got to sit in front of about 50 screaming kids for a couple of hours. But Sam did swim well so that was a bonus.
Later that night a small gathering was held at home to assist in the celebration. As Michelle was still on the injured list, a few of the guests dressed up in sympathy with black eyes, fake blood etc. We also had a Dr and a Nurse in attendance as well as a couple of Pirates (well, it was still Pirate’s week after all). After a 3am finish it was an early start and back to the pool, as both kids were racing.

A motly crew indeed...

Pirates Week in Cayman
This is an annual event here and Pirates from all over the place come down for the week dressed up in all of their swashbuckling pirate garb. The new government here proposed that the week be renamed to something like “Cayman Heritage Week” as they felt that celebrating pirates wasn’t a good look for Cayman. However, one might point out that if they want to celebrate their history then maybe Pirates week is the way to go. There were plenty of them around here and we suspect that many families here descended from that line of work. Slavery is the other option as many here are descendants of slaves. There has been much debate in the media over this and we will see what results in due course.

All sorts of pirates and wenches were there

But the week itself was fairly full on. On the Friday night there was a 5 km run (in which we didn’t partake) then a big fireworks display in the Harbour which was pretty cool. Pirate competitions and bands etc where also part of it.
On Saturday there was the street parade and also the town was attacked by Pirates who came in on the Jolly Roger for some Pillagin’ and Plunderin’. Lots of people dressed up in theme and a lot of effort went into some of the costumes.
The remainder of the week was marked by various Pirate related events around the island and finished on the following Saturday with another fireworks display in the Harbour.

Pirate's Week Photos:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=121533&id=766998601&l=f00a1e3c2a

Avast ye scurvy dogs!!!


Sport

Swim Meet
Another swim meet was held recently during Pirate’s week. Sam swam on the Saturday and the sunday while Jake just had races on the Sunday.
Both did really well again and came away with a bunch of medals each. Their next event is the Inter-schools swim meet to be held in the second week of December.

Netball
Sam was selected to represent Cayman Prep in the inter-schools Netball competition. She has been playing at Wing Defence mostly.
They drew their first game against Georgetown Primary. But this was a good result as Georgetown had won the competition over the last few years.
The following week it was Prep 7 – Red Bay Primary 1. It was a really good game against a much bigger team. Prep’s defence really shut down the opposition for another pleasing result.

Rugby

Knackerfest
Knackerfest is an annual event hosted by the Cayman Rugby Club. It's an over 35's Rugby tournament. This year teams were coming from Miami, Delaware and Jamaica with Cayman also entering a team. Some of the players have been coming to this tournament for years and are well known around town. The club puts on plenty of hospitality for the visitors and plenty of spectators come down for a good day out.
Unfortunately on the Thursday night prior to the tournament, the president of the Jamaican Rugby Union was murdered and the team elected not to come over. However the other three teams played on in a round robin tournament. Dave fronted for the Cayman side (The Knackers)and they won their first game quite convincingly but then narrowly lost their second. But in the end they won the tournament on points scored.

Tens
Last weekend was the Cayman Tens tournament. Three teams contested this year, The Buccaneers/Pigs combined side, the Storm and the Iguanas who Dave plays for. First up the Storm beat the Bucc/Pigs. Then the Iguanas beat them as well, effectively putting them out of contention. The next game was to be a round robin game but since it would make no difference to who played in the final, it became the final. The Storm got out to a commanding lead early on before the Iguanas clawed their way back into the game. It was a tight last few minutes with the Storm making it home with just a few points to spare.

Kids Rugby Tournament

The rugby club recently held an inter-schools Tag Rugby tournament. This included the schools that Dave has been coaching in for the last month or so. On the day he had Nine teams from his two schools to look after. But thankfully the visiting UK Police Women's team were on hand to 'adopt' a few teams so he was able to keep a roving eye on his teams throughout the day. There were about 150 kids playing (in three grades) and for the majority it was their first time playing rugby against another team.
Dave's six teams (two in each grade) from Cayman Prep cleaned up coming First and Second in two grades and First and Third in the other. So a pretty good result really.
There is another tournament coming up in a week or so and he hopes to see his 'local' kids win a game or two. Even though they didn't win any last time, the kids had a ball and are keen to have another crack now that they know what it's all about... and Rugby was the winner on the day.














Dave and his Prospect Primary Kids


Sam & Co, one of the winning Cayman Prep Teams

Sport and other photos:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=118155&id=766998601&l=a615125d9b

Weather Report
Hurricane Ida passed us by. It was not really very close but Cayman spent several very wet days with a little bit of stormy wind to accompany it. It was enough to cancel the kids rugby, all training and a planned diving trip.

Next Month

Trini? Dave heads back for another crack.

Kids Tag Tournament # 2

White Xmas. Will we get one?

Visitors. Who's heading this way now? .

Issue # 26 - October's Tales

Gidday!
Another busy month has whizzed by. Swimming, Rugby, Halloween and Hospitals… and even a royal visit make up this months read.

Travel Report
No trips to report this month, although Michelle was trippin on some IV cocktails at the Hospital the other week. But that’s another story… below.

Visitor’s Report
Johnny and Emma (representing England and the BVI) popped in for a Royal visit en route to Cuba a couple of days ago. As Johnny said, “We’re here for a good time, not a long time.”
Arriving Saturday evening, they were whisked away from the airport, given a beer, chucked their bags in the house, donned some scary make-up and headed for the Cayman Rugby Club’s Halloween Party and Sevens prize giving. Next thing they knew, they were back at the airport Sunday morning ready for the flight to Cuba. Rumour has it that they might return for another one night stand in Cayman on their return leg.

Johhny and Emma chat to one of the local Pharoahs

The Kneedy One
You may or may not be aware that Michelle injured her knee a few months ago. Well, after a couple of attempts at recovery through physiotherapy it was decided that an operation was in order. The ACL (Anterior Cruciate Ligament) had been damaged so they grabbed a bit of the hamstring and tacked it on in it’s place and also did some work on the meniscus (you’ll have to look that up). But apparently it all went well. Michelle spent a night in Hospital and Dave and the kids busted her out the next day. Just in time to take her to the pool to look after the kids in a swim meet while Dave played rugby (which is featured below).

There is a big brace on her leg, which will be there for a while yet. The operation coincided with mid term break for the kids. They got to sit around the house while it rained outside and watch Michelle lie on the couch, the bed or a deck chair for a week. Although it wasn’t quite as bad as that. The kids enjoyed the novelty of having Mum home for a whole week and didn’t seem to mind that she wasn’t very mobile.
Back at work now but still unable to drive quite yet, Dave the Taxi driver is clocking up the miles. Pity we don’t have a left hand drive anymore, she might be able to manage that!
Physio and exercises are going OK though and we hope the recovery process continues!

One down!

Sport

A good haul for their efforts today!

Swim Meet
It was the first meet of the new season last weekend and the kids were keen to have a go. Sam entered the maximum allowed five events while Jake entered four. They both surprised us all by winning their respective Butterfly races. We knew Sam was OK at Butterfly and thought Jake might struggle, but no, they proved us wrong and both swam awesome races against genuine competition.
Sam also won her 100m IM (Medley) and came second in the Breaststroke, Backstroke and Freestyle races giving her the overall points award for the day as well.
Jake came Third in the Freestyle and placed 4th in the Breaststroke and Backstroke. So a pretty pleasing effort all round. Both kids are now swimming regularly at the swim club and are enjoying it too.

800m Sea Swim
Sam’s turn this time. As Michelle was out of action, Sam entered the last leg of the 800m Sea Swim Series. She hadn’t swum that distance before, but was quietly confident. She swam with some friends of ours who were doing the swim so they could keep an eye on her. They needn’t have worried – they even had trouble keeping up with her! She did the race in good time, coming out of the water in 2nd place in her age group. Another trophy! Apparently there has been a Crocodile sighted along the Seven Mile Beach (where the race was held) area recently. However the officials were confidant that captain Hook’s nemesis wasn’t around on the day and everyone finished with all of their limbs (and watches) intact.

More pics:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=118155&id=766998601&l=a615125d9b

Some Cayman School girls

Summer Touch Prize Giving Dinner
The Prize giving Dinner was held a few weeks back and Michelle and Dave went along. The theme was ‘Under the Sea’ and obviously people here get into the theme parties as there were some very clever costumes on show. The victorious Maples Team went as a School of Fish – School Uniforms with helium balloon fish attached. There were also Hammer Heads, Coral heads, Clown fish, a Jew Fish, a Tiger Shark (complete with Golf Club), Titanic crew, Steve Irwin (complete with Stingray), Rasta Jellyfish, Neptune, Mermaids, Sponges, Divers and lots of other get ups.
It was a really fun night and the next day was particularly long for some.

Check out the rest of the photos:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=111421&id=766998601&l=94b39e580b

Halloween in Cayman
Halloween is very popular here in Cayman. There were Halloween parties all over the island and themed events in pubs, bars and clubs. The Rugby club ran a Halloween 5km Fun run ealy in the morning which was followed by a Scary One mile dash, where a few people dressed up and ran a short race with the kids, who were reward at the end with a rather impressive lollie scramble.

Cap'n Jake is off to do some plunderin!

Dave ran the 5km race and did a reasonably good time despite the hot and humid conditions. Sam and Jake ran in the Scary dash while Michelle helped out at the registration desk.

They're off!

In the afternoon, the last day of the sevens was held which was followed by the Rugby Club's Halloween party. It was held in one of the pubs on Seven Mile Beach and was well attended by around 400 + people attired in all sorts of costumes and get ups. Emma and Johnny were given a brief introduction into Cayman life and sampled the local rum as well, as you do.

In the late afternoon Sam went to a friend's house and took her 'Hermione' costume for the Trick or Treating and Halloween party that was taking place. Jake went to another friend's place where they also did the Trick or Treating and had a party

More pics:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=118144&id=766998601&l=1f39bb63eb

Rugby

Sevens
October is Sevens month in Cayman. Five Saturdays. Five tournaments. Unfortunately the first weekend was the day after the Summer Touch Dinner. There was some pretty average sevens played that day as most teams had at least a few people who had attended the previous night’s festivities.
Dave plays for the Wolfhounds, which is an historically Irish team. That would explain why there are two Scots, two South Africans, a Chilean, a Kiwi, three Poms, a Fijian and one Irish guy in the side!
They play in the Premier Division against two other teams, the National Side and the Buccaneers, which is generally made up of players from one of the local 15’s Teams, the Buccaneers.
In reality, the Buccs and the Wolfhounds play each other and then combine forces to play the National side either as the Wolfbuccs or the Bucchounds.
They have beaten the National side a few times now, but given that the National side has been training together for about three months, 5 times a week, they should be pretty handy. And they are. Fit too! But the games are usually pretty tight and entertaining to the spectators who are generally in a good mood after an afternoon on the Heinekens or Magners.

Kids Rugby
Sam and Jake are both into Tag Rugby now. They play each Saturday morning at the club, while Dave sits in the air conditioned clubrooms with a coffee and watches whatever game is being broadcast in on the TV. Sometimes NZ games or Heineken Premiership games etc from Europe.

Dave also has a ‘sort of’ job where he coaches Kid’s rugby in a few of the local primary schools (years 4, 5 and six). This is a build up to two inter school tournaments in November and December. He takes one PE session per class per week and does about 11 or 12 sessions in a week. It is certainly challenging, especially when the local kids only know American Football. But things are slowly taking shape and despite the headshaking, the under-the-breath muttering and cursing, the glances to the heavens and the forehead slapping ‘Coach Dave’ is confident that his schools will do alright on the day.

Weather Report
Wet, wet wet…. “I feel it in my fingers, I feel it in my toes…” etc etc.
There has been buckets of rain this month. Everyone says that October is the wettest month here. We are now inclined to believe them. At one stage we had about three solid days where the sun didn’t shine and the rain was almost constant. And when it rains here, it really rains. You can hear in coming before you see it.

Next Month

Tens Rugby

Knackerfest

Kids Tag Tournament

The Battle of Wounded Knee

Pirates Week

another fleeting visit?

Issue # 25 - The September Salvo

Greetings all!
The Summer Holidays are over and the kids are now back at School. The months here just seem to whiz by. It seems like only yesterday when Dave was dreading the Two-month break at home with the kids. Fortunately Val and Gordon arrived part way through to save the day. The kids were pretty happy to have them here and did their best to wear our visitors down at every opportunity (see photo below).
Anyway, enough prattling on. Enjoy the September Salvo!

Travel Report
No trips to report this month, apart from Gordon and Val who skipped over to Cuba for a visit during their stay here.

Visitor’s Report
Gordon (Michelle’s Dad) and Val popped over to stay with us for a while. Here’s their summary of their time here:

After our fabulous holiday in the BVI last year, we weren’t expecting this one to have the same “Wow!” factor, as we didn’t think it possible.
However, this Cayman experience has exceeded the BVI. So much to do, we only went to the same place a couple of times.
What were the highs and lows?
Well the only low was until we acclimatized to the heat. It was 35 degrees C or thereabouts most of the time.
But the highs – too numerous to remember them all and Val and I had different levels for our list:
1. Catching up with Michelle, Dave, Sam and Jake
2. Stingray City – our pre-conception was a man made pool but these monsters were in the sea swimming freely. To be able to pick these massive fish up by their fins (some would be close to a metre across) was truly an unforgettable experience.

Get back you brute!

3. Nautilus (a boat with windows etc below deck – a little like a submarine). Looked at underwater shipwrecks, feeding fish then snorkeling among them with fish swimming only millimeters away.

4. Turtle Farm – being able to pick up the smaller turtles was great.
5. Our day at Rum Point.

6. Smith’s Cove Beach.
7. Governor’s Beach.

8. Pedro St James Castle.
9. Botanical Gardens
10. Our evening at Deckers – Double Decker Bus Restaurant and Gordon’s pre dinner Mud Slide (drink that is) at Breezes.
11. Can’t forget our few days in Cuba, another buzz seeing the old cars and sightseeing by Horse and Carriage.
12. Snorkeling nearly every day.
13. Was to get Val competent at snorkeling. She now loves it!

We know we have missed some things. Not the least was going to Rugby, and our last day with Brunch and at the beach. Brilliant. The Rugby was something the All Blacks should have watched, some parts exceeding their best efforts.

Thanks Guys. Just another holiday of our lives to be remembered forever.

Love Val & Grandad

Val hunting the elusive Blue Iguana...

Fresh bananas from the back yard

Other pics from recent times:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=100176&id=766998601&l=b4306acb73

Sport

800m Swim
The annual Fosters 800m sea swim was held here a few weeks back. Michelle decided to give it a crack. Dave was unfortunately indisposed that day, having already committed himself to play cricket. Well, that’s his excuse!
Michelle put in a pretty good effort to win her age group (yes they did have an age group for her! They had about 12 groups for both males and females) in just under 13 mins, 24th over all out of 194. She was pretty pleased with herself and got a nice trophy out of it!

Cricket
Meanwhile, across town, Dave was playing Cricket for the Rugby Club. Here is the official report from one of the local newspapers:
The Village Greenies against the Cayman Islands Rugby Club annual charity cricket match was held recently at the Smith Road Oval.
This year the beneficiary of the game was the NCVO Nadine Andreas Residential Foster Home with the game netting CI $1,700 in donations.
The NCVO’s aim is to create a “family type” home and provide the essential ingredients that offer the children as normal a life as possible. More information can be found on the NCVO website www.ncvo.org.ky
This eagerly anticipated clash played in times gone by was resurrected in 2005. The rugby club was captained by long time rugby stalwart, Matt Bishop.
Going into this year’s match, the Greenies lead the rugby club 2–1 with all games being closely contested. The format of the game was designed to optimise participation. Six pairs bat for four overs each. The loss of wickets results in deduction of five runs. Hence it was possible to have a negative total after four overs!
The Greenies won the toss by mutual consent and opted to bat. They got off to a good start with Ian Rotsey and Shannon Richard striking 30 runs for the first partnership.
However the rugby team struck back immediately with three outstanding run outs that ensured that the next partnership (Aitken and Masters) added just two runs to the score.
There after solid partnerships of 20 (O’Conner and Ware), 11 (Matty Glyde and Ware), 27 (Wetherell and Robinson) and 34 (Sellers and Rajaratnam) ensured the Greenies ended with a very competitive 142.
Simon Wetherell provided the highlight of the innings when he scored 20 runs off the last four balls. For the rugby club, Martin Livingston and James Alt took two wickets each. Tennis coach Warren Urquart instigated two outstanding run outs.
If the Greenies thought that the match was in the bag they were mistaken. Sensing that the Greenies bowling was not at its strongest, the rugby club went on the offensive.
A great opening partnership between Jonathan Doak and Pete De Vere of 26 was followed by a solid partnership of 19 by Alt and Dylan King.
The Greenies then fought back to restrict the next partnership of McDonald and Quinn to six runs. With the hard hitting Urquart joining Carey Tasker a big partnership of 21 ensured the match was finely poised.
The rugby club required a gettable 70 off 8 overs – considering the main batting pair of Bishop and Livingston was yet to come.
Up stepped David Bailey and Aloysius ‘Bluey’ Hannon to set a platform for the final onslaught. However this was not to be. The Greenies stuck at regular intervals leaving the partnership 17 runs worse off than when they started.
This was all too much for the final pair of Bishop and Livingston to catch up. The rugby club ending 39 short of their target. For the Greenies, Wetherell and Andrew Dean both accounted for three scalps.
Overall a very enjoyable day. Steve Smith, jerk chef extraordinaire, took the opportunity to prepare a scrumptious BBQ.
Greenies captain Richard Sawle–Thomas said: “Thanks to Jacques Scotts, Cayman Distributors and all the people who offered their time and money to support this worthy cause.”
So, there you have it. Dave’s batting hasn’t improved since his last game (about 20 years ago). His bowling was alright and he did put in a sterling effort in the boat race with the rugby club winning that by two lengths. The cricket ball throw was a different story. Mainly because it was dark by then and no one saw where the balls landed.

But it really was a fun day and the heads were a little sore the following morning. Too much sun, apparently.


Rugby

Reggie Hannon Memorial – Game Three
The final in the three game series was played earlier in the month. Unfortunately it was much the same as the last two. The under 35’s started with a flourish and scored a couple of quick tries. After half time, the Over 35’s came out swinging and really took the younger side to task. They even managed to score a few tries (one to Dave) but in the end it wasn’t quite enough. A three nil series drubbing and the Reggie Hannon Memorial Dog Bowl goes back on the shelf for another year.


Touch Rugby
The Summer Touch League has been running for the last couple of months. Michelle and Dave both played for Maples in the 1st Division and Dave also played for Digicel in the 1st Division. Michelle pulled up lame however (played ¾ of one game!), but did manage to ref the odd game.

Finals Day was held last Saturday. Maples was in the top six (2nd place) and looking for a spot in the final. The first game was a shocker and they managed to salvage a draw, which was enough to advance to the next round as they had beaten the opposition in the round robin part of the season. The next game wasn’t much better and finished in a draw as well, but since it was a semi final. Extra time was played with each team dropping a player every minute. It got down to three a side before Maples managed to scramble over the line and advance to the final.

Betweentimes, Digicel was playing in the plate round (bottom six teams). They won the first game, (just) and that was enough to put them into the final for the plate. In the final they actually played quite well for a change and won the game 5 – 2. Dave chipped in with a couple of length of the field tries. Digicel wins the Plate! No beers for Dave just yet, he still has another game to go.

Michelle and Dave both Reffed games during the day as well. Michelle came away a little worse for wear after being bowled over by some guy on his way to the line. But she gave him an earful and he eventually got the message!

Final Time. The opposition (Five Nations) hadn’t lost a game all season and the Maples team hadn’t played very well all day.

The game got off to a ripping start and both teams were defending very well. Maples slipped through and scored first. Both teams have a reputation for ‘chat’ and that soon started up. The Ref had his hands full! Dave saved a try with a spectacular diving touch late in the half. Half time, 1 – 0 to Maples.

The second half started in fading light but the pace didn’t slow at all. Five Nations pulled one back to even the scores, and soon after that Maples came back with another to reclaim the lead. It was looking like Maples could hang on for the win, but with only seconds to go, Five Nations slipped through to equalize.

Extra time was called. Sudden death Drop Offs… again. It was now almost dark, and there are no lights at the ground. Again the game sea-sawed, with a Maples player spilling the ball over the line in the corner. Every minute a player from each team was taken off. Down to three a side. Maples made the same move and sent the ball wide to the corner where their female player stood unmarked. The pass goes wide, she catches the ball and dives for the corner. Maples win!!! The crowd goes wild.

The 2009 champions

Sevens
The annual Club Sevens starts this weekend. There have been a few practice games on the odd Saturday, but this week it’s for keeps. Every Saturday in October. Dave is playing for the Irish Wolfhounds (given his obvious Irish heritage!).

We’ll let you know how it all goes in the next issue.

Attendees at a recent Beach Party

Calendar Shoot
The rugby girls are producing a calendar as a fund raising venture. Michelle has volunteered, along with most of them, to pose in various spots around the island. They’ve done some beach shots and the like and on Sunday they donned rugby gear and High heels for some pics. Then they got down and dirty and rolled in the mud for a few more pics. Should be an interesting calendar!

Diving
Having some on site babysitters was wonderful and we took the opportunity to do some shore dives together. Gordon, Val and the kids would come out with us and snorkel above us while we waved to them from below! At times, Sam was pointing out marine life to us or chasing turtles!

See more diving pics:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=103167&id=766998601&l=6fa2464544

Weather Report
Well, it has been pretty warm and dry… until about two weeks ago. Most days now there is a bit of rain accompanied by some fairly impressive Lightning and Thunder shows. It usually starts up just after lunchtime. Jake even had a birthday party cancelled because of the weather - torrential rain and heaps of fireworks resulted in the Pool Party being deemed unsafe. Luckily they decided to reschedule a week later where there was only a little bit of rain and thunder.

Next Month

More rugby?
Summer Touch Prizegiving Dinner

The Knee Doctor

and much much more!!!