March to Read About

. Blog Update # 31 – March 2010 .

Greetings Readers!
Here we go again. Our 31st fun filled and factless issue. In fact if you want to get technical, it's really our 32nd. That's if you count the Special Movember Edition 3.5 of November 07.
Anyway, back to now. The kids are now on a break for two weeks over Easter before returning for their final term of the year. Dave is busy keeping them entertained as they eagerly await the arrival of the Easter Bunny. Happy Easter Everyone!

We would like to take a moment to make a special mention of our very good friend Kath who, sadly, passed away recently in New Zealand. Our thoughts are with you and we send our love, condolences and best wishes to Darrell, Rhys, Wade and Quinn.

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Swimming
Swimming continues at the Lions Pool with another meet planned for the near future. There was an 800m sea swim scheduled for last weekend, but it was postponed due to expected high seas at the time – it turned out flat as a pancake!
It has been rescheduled for April, so we’ll see who does that!

International Beach Volleyball
Once again the circuit descended on Cayman’s Public beach for a weekend of quality sport in brief beachwear. Dave just happened to find himself down there at the bar on the Friday afternoon, partaking in some refreshments while pointing out the finer points of beach Volleyball to Sam and Jake. A very pleasant afternoon on the beach with the setting sun on one side, a bar (Yes, I meant "Bar") behind and some Pro beach Volleyballers bouncing about on the other.

St Patrick’s Day
Another big day at the SSG (South Sound Ground) as the Irish took over the Rugby club for the day. They played Gaelic Football, Hurling, a mix of Aussie Rules/Gaelic Footy (Called “Compromised Rules”), “Welly” throwing (that’s a Gumboot Toss to those of superior breeding), Tug O War, Boat races and a few other tests of skill and endurance.
Sam and Jake got involved with the kid’s games and then took great delight in retrieving the Gumboot (at pace!) during that prestigious event, which was fairly late in the day with some wayward throws coming close to causing injury to unsuspecting passers by. As expected, a good day was had by all.

There was also the annual St Paddies Day 5k jog, but Dave didn't partake this year due to his body falling to bits.

RATS!
No we haven’t had the onslaught of rats like we did in the BVI – Michelle & Sam went to see the Prep High School's musical production called Rats, based on the story of the Pied Piper. For a school of about 200 kids they did a great job – we thoroughly enjoyed it all. The only negative was that although Michelle thought it would be nice to be a Mother/Daughter outing, she was shunned when Sam found her mates there and preferred to sit with them – hard to believe that it’s starting already!

Eggmania
Jake chose to go to the school’s Easter egg fun day, rather than the Rats show – he got to hunt for eggs, jump around in the bouncy castle, throw a ball to drop teachers in a tub of water, eat candy floss and sno cones, and have a great time with his mates. He had a ball while Dave had a job serving sno cones!

National Gallery of the Cayman Islands
Michelle went on one of Jake’s school trips to the National Gallery – which was a very small gallery, showing a number of pieces that related to Cayman’s history but in a modern format ie. Pieces that were based on something from the past but made with modern materials. The kids learnt about Cat boats, weaving, spinning tops, cooking and games in the olden days. It was very well done and quite interesting. The kids drew a picture of one of their favourite pieces – some of them were very good.



Speaking of Art, here's one of Sam's recent creations for a school project



Big Seas
The Norwest winds arrived and brought some high seas to Cayman. The cruise ships had to berth a bit further down in South Sound while George Town got pounded again by some huge waves. Roads had to be closed off, and business would have been tough in the retail shops.


A Night at the Ritz!
A few weeks ago there was a big fundraising bash for the Olympic committee at the Ritz-Carlton. One of our friends sent an e-mail out to the girls advising that their firm had purchased a table of 10 for the do (at $2500), but no-one wanted to go so they were giving it away. Who would be interested? So, in about 15 seconds flat a table of 10 freeloading women (including Michelle) were panicking about what to wear.
Off they went and had a fun night with plenty of champagne and entertainment. They rubbed shoulders with Willie Nelson, Stevie Wonder, Whitney Houston, Tammy Wynette and Hugh Heffner (yes, they only rubbed his shoulder)!
They had prime seats in the middle at the front and made the most of it – not too many people did not notice them having a ball! A Reporter even snapped them at one stage doing an impromptu can-can on the stage. They ended up at one of the popular bars afterwards, dancing up a storm all around – some of them had sore heads the next day but it was worth it!

Dave’s Birthday
This must have been Dave’s best birthday ever (not!). He spent a relaxing morning in bed while Michelle took the kids to rugby for a change but then he had to go and coach his U14 team later that morning. He had time to come home for some lunch, then back to the club for his rugby game for the Iguanas v The Pigs. He was a little nervous - not so much about the game but about what he might be forced to drink afterwards as Michelle had foolishly advised his team captain that it was his birthday, and there seems to be a strange habit of forcing birthday boys to drink something very horrible – usually in a glass receptacle of about 3 feet in length. Anyway, he figured out a great way to avoid this – he managed to break his index finger during his game – unfortunately it was in the first half so he missed quite a bit of the game, and the team paid for his early departure – they lost. We then spent the next 2 ½ hours at the hospital waiting to be seen and have x-rays, and be seen again. He was able to have a couple of beers when we got home afterwards (at about 9 pm) but it just wasn’t the same!



Sunset Yacht Cruise



You may recall that Michelle and a mate managed to win a sunset sail for 10 at the Casino evening in February. Well, they managed to get a booking and ditch the kids and away they went on a Sunday afternoon/evening (the day after Dave’s birthday) with four other couples. It was quite entertaining watching Dave hold his drink with his finger bandaged – it looked like he was pointing all the time... but he was simply indicating that it was time for another beer!


The good hand is kept busy!

It was very pleasant sailing out in the open seas (although a bit cool in the wind), with not a care in the world (until a wave came over the side and soaked some of the passengers from head to foot!) – the two hours went by very quickly, so we all came back to our house for a bite to eat and another bevvie. Dave enjoyed that day a lot better than the day before!

A Night at the Races
Another fundraiser at the rugby club. This time it was horse racing where they had purchased a purpose built DVD game complete with 15 races, Odds, commentary etc that was simple to use for organizers and players alike. It was a fun night. The kids enjoyed picking the horses and running back and forth from the Tote. Unfortunately we didn’t make a fortune, but had fun all the same.

Knee Report
As you can see from the night at the Ritz (above), Michelle’s knee continues to improve. This column may be replaced next month with a new medical file – The Finger Report as we chart Dave’s recovery progress.


The Damaged Digit


As a start, so far this month, Dave has been to:
The Hospital
The Physio (Multiple Visits)
The Orthopaedic Specialist (Twice)
The X-Ray Clinic
The GP
The Chiropractor (Multiple visits)
The Pharmacy, and
The Dentist (although the Dentist was for the Six monthly check up and no injuries were sustained during that visit).


Ballet

Michelle and Sam went off for a bit of 'culture' the other night. A Ballet company was touring from the US so they thought they'd pop along. It was being shown at one of the many Baptist Churches here and, believe it or not, was free.

They enjoyed the show - the dancing was excellent and it was very professionally done. The lead dancer was a previous silver medallist (about 25 years ago) in the ballet equivalent of the Olympics - she was amazing, and we worked out she must have been at least 50. It was quite late when it finished but the narrator mentioned the 'Finale' so we decided to wait for it, only to find that the finale involved quite a bit of singing, waving your arms and carrying on which was led most vigorously by the narrator. Michelle and Sam exchanged glances, "Exit stage left!" Not quite the finale Sam (or Michelle) were expecting but it was still worth going to!

RUGBY
AA Cup – Round Four
This week it was the Iguanas v the Pigs Trotters. The Iguana beat the Pigs in the first round and went into this game fairly confident. The Iguanas made their best start of the season and opened the scoring with a try from Dave after a spell of intense forward play found then close to the line.
The Pigs struck back however and the game was fairly tight for the rest of the half. Dave took a knock to his index finger at about the twenty five minute mark which slowed him down a bit. After playing on for a bit he had to leave the field with a suspected break in the finger. This was confirmed later in the day. Not a happy camper.
The game carried on with some slack defence from the Iguanas letting in a couple of soft tries. They fought back towards the end of the match but it wasn’t to be. The first loss of the season for the Iguanas 33 - 17 to the Pigs.

AA Cup – Round Five
This week was Iguanas v The Buccaneers. The Buccaneers had struggled so far this season but were now starting to improve as their star players returned from injury. Dave was out for this game, and probably several more as his finger recovers. He also developed sciatica in his left leg which has really slowed him down. Knackers yard for him!
The Iguanas stacked their midfield defence and this helped with some of the problems experienced the previous week. The Iguana pack as always dominated the scrums and forward play and they built a good platform to come away with a solid 37 – 17 win over the Buccs.

AA Cup – Round Six
The big match up of the season. Iguanas v The Storm. The Storm had talked themselves up all season and on paper had a pretty handy side. All the local experts had their money on the Storm as well, despite the Iguanas already beating them once and having only suffered the one defeat so far in the season (to the Pigs).
This game would decide who would walk away with the Alex Alexander Cup for the season.
The Iguanas started pretty solidly with their defence looking much improved from previous games but some quick thinking saw the Storm scamper off for a try under the posts after a quick penalty. One of their Fijian flyers thought he would make a big hit on one of the Iguanas but came of second best. In fact he managed to knock himself out cold, which wasn’t a pretty sight.
The Iguanas then struck back with a try at the other end. The Iguanas muscled their way through the game and from a half time lead of 17 -14, and although the lead changed a couple of times they pretty much controlled the whole affair from start to finish, much to the despair of some fanatical (yet uneducated) Storm supporters. The Storm kept in touch with a few break out individual tries, but it was never going to be enough.
The Iguanas walked off the field victorious and very happy, having beaten the more favoured opposition fair and square by 33 - 26. The Iguanas are now the official AA Cup Champions of Cayman Rugby in 2010. The celebrations started immediately, and many were not walking so well by the end of the night and many a sore head was throbbing the following day.

Cayman Rugby TV!
You can now watch the Rugby from Cayman on the Internet (Free!). It just depends how good the Broadband service is near you. Log onto www.caymanrugbyTV.com and check it out. There are archived games from this season and previous matches. You can also watch games live! The site is still under construction but working OK so far. Official launch is in May supposedly.

Since he’s had nothing better to do, Dave has been the Camera man for a few of these games - if you watch you'll be able to tell his superior skills with the camera. A couple of games were shot from some dodgy scaffolding on the side of the pitch and others (more recently) from the roof of the clubhouse, which does offer an excellent view, but access and situation might get a wee frown from the Health and Safety dude. Especially after a few beers up there in the hot sun!


Kids Rugby
Jake continues to train with the Under 10 squad for the Bermuda Cup. In all likelihood, he will most probably just play in the round robin games on the first day of this tournament and an “A” team will then be selected to play the “Test” on the Sunday. But don’t write him off. He’s keen, despite walking around with a bruised finger… a bit like his Dad.

Dave’s Under 14’s are starting to come together. With only a month before the tournament, they’ll have their work cut out.

Tag Tournament
As you may be aware, Dave has been coaching Tag Rugby in schools for the last few months. Last week it all culminated with a mini Tag Tournament for the School Dave was at (Grace Christian Academy), Montessori and Dave’s previous charges (Cayman Prep) also got an invite to make up the numbers. Sam was selected in that group and enjoyed her time with a couple of tries and some good defensive play. Although some of the boys in that team weren’t happy when Dave changed the rules so only girls in the Prep team could score. This was in an effort to allow the two newer schools to stay in the games and actually have some fun, which they did.

On the last day of March, Dave was helping out at the Club with a Seven's Tournament for one of the local High Schools. He ended up Refereeing a few games (yes, Dave with a whistle) which he found to be an enlightening experience.
Half of the kids had boots, the other half were in bare feet. But they didn't hold back and there were some massive hits being put in. All bodes well for the future of Cayman Rugby.


Dive Report.
Since Dave was out of action and able to mind the kids, Michelle got out for a Dive recently. She even remembered to put all her gear on right this time, and to take the camera with her when she entered the water. This time she saw two impressive lion fish, pictured below (which are sought and killed here as they wreck the coral reef), and a spotted eel, as well as the usual angelfish, parrot fish, tarpon etc. It was very nice – we really must organize ourselves better and do it more often.



More Dive pics:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=141009&id=766998601&l=cc10c479bf


Weather Report
Hot, dry and windy of late. More occasional high seas from the Nor Westerly wind with lots of foliage around the place suffering as a result of the salt and lack of rain to rinse it off. Days are warming up and Michelle is finding that she doesn't need the duvet at night any more!



The Dive shop across the road. Not much doing today!





View more pics:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=135944&id=766998601&l=da5db89bbe

Next Month:





Rugby – The Waterford Trophy
Some Diving – hopefully
800m Sea swim – weather permitting
Easter
Back to School

February's Fun

Blog Update # 30 – February 2010 .
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Welcome back everyone!

This month is action packed with plenty for all! Plenty of sport, a bit of travel and a few other bits 'n pieces to help fill in your morning!

Remember, older issues can be found by scrolling down or using the Archive button over on the right.

Read on!

Swimming
Another swim meet was held recently with most races being 50 meters or more. Both Sam and Jake raced and came away with personal bests, which was pretty good. They now have some stiff competition since they have both had recent birthdays and have moved up an age group.

Sam's class trip on the Pirate ship 'Valhalla'

Waitangi Day
As you may or may not be aware, Waitangi day isn’t celebrated to any great extent in Cayman, nor is there a public holiday. In fact there wasn’t a holiday in NZ this year either. So we’re even. The best we got was a few handshakes between the kiwis at the Rugby club, and a few beers.

Sam’s Sports Day
Years 4 & 5 had their sports day in February and Sam made the finals for the “Three Laps Around the Playground” race and the long jump. She placed 2nd in the long jump and 5th in the race. The next day she was in the sprint race, the obstacle course race and the relay. She came away with a 2nd, a 3rd and a 4th from that and had a lot of fun doing it.

Agricultural Show
The family popped out to the Ag show on Ash Wednesday where they were showing Cayman’s best farm animals and produce. It’s a big thing here and is well supported by all of the locals. The kids enjoyed the animals as well as the Doughnut shop and the Cheesecake shop.

"Mum. Thank you, very much!"

The world's smallest bananas... grown in our own backyard

Mardi Gras
Just after lunch on the same day, Dave was off to Kaibo to assist with security at the annual Mardi Gras. The rugby club help out here and get a sizeable donation for their trouble. It’s basically a big party on a beach with bands and DJ’s and the like and is very popular with locals and tourists alike. Dave was only there for the early shift (due to a prior arranged commitment – BBQ – later in the day). He thinks he should stay for the duration next year as things were starting to warm up when it was time for him to head back on the ferry and enjoy a nice BBQ around someone’s pool.

A couple of tourists at Rum Point...

RUGBY
AA Cup – First Round
The Iguanas (Dave’s Team) were up against the Pig’s Trotters in the first game of the 15-a-side competition. They had trained pretty well in the weeks leading up to the start of the competition and were quietly confident going into the game with the 2:30pm kick off. After about 15 minutes they weren’t feeling quite as confident as they were 10 nil down! The Pigs had the wind at their back, as well as the sun. It was a bright sunny day, and the temperature was around 32 Degrees Celsius.
The Iguanas started to pick up their game and spent some time in the opposition half before taking three points from a penalty. The Pigs struck back with a soft try due to some weak tackling in the midfield. Just before half time, the Iguanas were camped in the opposition 22. The Pigs muffed a lineout and the Iguanas pounced (as Iguanas do…) and scored under the posts.

Half Time - Pigs 15 – 10.
The second half was a different story with the Iguanas using the wind well to gain territory. They looked after the ball a little better as well and had the Pigs under pressure for most of the half. Dave scored a try after barging over close to the opposition line. That was followed by three more well worked tries to the Iguanas. In the end it was the classic “game of two halves” with the winner having the most points at the end. Final Score: 34 – 15 to the Iguanas

Makin Bacon v the Pigs

AA Cup - Round Two

This week it was the Iguanas v the Buccaneers. Last season, in Dave’s first game for the Iguanas, the Buccs thrashed them by about 50 points. There was a little bit of ‘feeling’ in the game and the Ref had his hands full at times. Dave found himself in the gap early on and crashed over in a tackle to score. No more tries came until into the second half where the Iguanas picked up the pace and secured the game with another few well worked tries. The Iguanas played well enough to win but should have put a few more points on the board.The tables were reversed this year but the Buccs put up a pretty good fight with the Iguanas coming away victorious (34 – 0).

Action against the Buccs

AA Cup – Round Three
This week was Iguanas v The Storm who were touted as the pre-season favourites by most people, except the Iguanas. The Storm have a lot of pace in their backs and two very quick Fijians that always prove to be a handful.
However, the Iguanas were having none of this and used their superior forward pack to good advantage, keeping the ball away from the Storm backline. The pressure was applied and several penalty kicks were converted and the Iguanas came away at half time with a slender lead due mainly to a few silly mistakes allowing the Storm to pounce and score against the run of play.
The match became a little heated in the second half but the Iguanas stuck to their game plan and scored some perfectly executed tries from set moves. The final score seeing the Iguanas victorious with a 31 – 24 win.

Ruggerfest – Ft Lauderdale
The AA Cup took a week off and the Club sent two Teams (Seniors and Under 16) up to Fort Lauderdale for the Annual Ruggerfest tournament which has been running for over 30 years. A touch team also traveled up and played on the Friday. Dave traveled with the Seniors (mainly because of the age restrictions in the other team) and they met at the airport on Friday afternoon… in the bar funnily enough. A quick flight over to Miami (combined with some even quicker beers) saw the team arriving in good spirits as they traveled to Ft Lauderdale by rental van. They arrived there in even better spirits, thanks mainly to some hastily purchased Appleton’s at the Duty Free in Cayman. Needless to say that the team’s first game on Saturday morning at 10am was not their best effort to date. However, they put that behind them and fronted up for better results later in the day (against a Jewish team), taking the bacon and making it through at the top of their pool and into the Semi final on Sunday. This was despite a sudden chilly rain storm which saw the temperature plummet to something close to freezing. Even the locals were complaining. A slightly lower key evening was held with the team meeting at Hooters for a few beers before trying out the steaks at the Longhorn Steak House (or whatever it is).

Stephanie - our favourite beer bringerer.

The game on Sunday didn’t go as well as planned and the team was knocked out of the finals. So, it was off to grab a beer and watch the Under 16’s clean up, which they did. Then there was a repeat performance at Hooters to finish the weekend off in style. Monday was a day spent shopping or recovering before heading back to Cayman. A good tour, with mixed results.

More Ruggerfest Tour Photos:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=149016&id=766998601&l=b441692b31

Kids Rugby
Every year kids from the Cayman play against Bermuda in the Annual Conyer’s Cup. This year Bermuda are travelling to Cayman for the games. Games are played by Under 10, Under 12, Under 14 and Under 16 year olds.
Dave is coaching the Cayman Under 14’s which looks as though it will be a bit of a challenge. Under 14 is where kids start to play full Rugby rules. Prior to that they have uncontested scrums, no fending etc. Dave is hoping to get them prepared (and hardened) for the tournament but numbers have been a little low of late, but slowly improving.

Jake is training with the under 10 squad three times a week. We suspect he is a little small at this stage but we will wait and see how he goes and whether he gets to play his first ‘International’ game.

Dave is also back teaching Rugby at a few of the local schools for their P.E. sessions. He finds it very 'entertaining' trying to explain some of the rules to the kids, but enjoys it. It also keeps him off the streets.

Another one gone...

Surfing
The seas have been up a bit lately so not much sea swimming has been going on. But during the mid term break we took the kids down to South Sound (all of three minutes away) to check out the surf, which is usually pretty tame. It was fairly small but good enough for the kids to have a crack. Jake still has his board and managed to get a few half decent rides in before coming back into the beach to thaw out. Sam had a go to but seems to prefer the Boogie board.
We went out the following day as well and the waves were a little better and the kids had some more fun.

Ca$ino Night
The Rugby Club held a fundraising Casino night during the month at one of the local bars. Dave was doing a bit of ‘helping’ during the evening while Michelle and a few friends got stuck into the Craps table. The object of the evening was to win chips which you would use to bid for items in the auction at the end of the night. It was a really busy night and Michelle and co did so well that they managed to accrue enough funds to win the auction for a Sunset cruise (for 10!). It’s a pretty safe bet that the kids won’t be making up the numbers on this trip unfortunately. Dave did pretty well too with his helping, if the size of his hangover the next day was anything to go by. Or maybe that was due to the impromptu celebratory drinks that we held at home after the Casino night.

The port in down town George Town

Weather Report
Hot, cold, wet, dry, windy, still. We’ve pretty much had it all this month except snow. There have been some real stormy days that saw the main street of George Town closed due the high seas crashing across the roads and into some of the bars – which were also closed.

More photo's from Jan/Feb:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=135944&id=766998601&l=da5db89bbe

Next Month:

AA Cup continues…

Easter?

and... other stuff!