Hi everyone, Welcome to our February 2011 issue.
Firstly we just wanted to pass on our thoughts and best wishes to those friends and family in Christchurch as well as those who have friends and family there. We watched in disbelief as the news coverage of the earthquake made it's way over here to us. There are a number of Kiwis here and they have been watching events unfold from a distance.
We were touched by the amount of support and concern offered by people here just because we are from NZ. But it's always nice to know that people still care.
Moving right along, this is possibly the last thing people in Christchurch want to look at just now, unless you are planning on taking a break and heading over here (and you are always welcome!). But the Blog must go on.
Be strong.
Enjoy the read!
Firstly we just wanted to pass on our thoughts and best wishes to those friends and family in Christchurch as well as those who have friends and family there. We watched in disbelief as the news coverage of the earthquake made it's way over here to us. There are a number of Kiwis here and they have been watching events unfold from a distance.
We were touched by the amount of support and concern offered by people here just because we are from NZ. But it's always nice to know that people still care.
Moving right along, this is possibly the last thing people in Christchurch want to look at just now, unless you are planning on taking a break and heading over here (and you are always welcome!). But the Blog must go on.
Be strong.
Enjoy the read!
Island Air Party
Early in the month it was our turn to head out and rub shoulders with the rich and famous. Okay, we didn't see anyone famous, and didn't know anyone rich, but we rubbed shoulders with a bunch of people at the annual Island Air Party at the Airport here in Cayman. One of the guys in Dave's rugby team runs a business that caters for the Jet-set crowd and this was a party to display some of fineries of life.
Miss Cayman begs us for a photo opportunity... They had a number of their private jets (see photo at the top) as well as some luxury cars, boats and motorbikes. Some fine fashion and jewelry were also on display. They also had enough Verve to sink a ship and enough rum to sink a couple...of ships. If you wanted you could buy a 1/32nd share in a Private Jet. Dave didn't have his wallet, so maybe next time...
Fortunately the keys weren't in it....
Slow down!
Come in, take a load off...
Right, found the keys. And we're off!!
Had to be really...So yes, one of the biggest parties of the year. And it's only February! We had a great night. There were a number of sore heads the next day - being a Saturday. Rugby and all that...
More pics from the Island Air Party:
Kittiwake Dive
As promised, here we have some pics from the Kittiwake Dive. The Kittiwake is an ex US Navy Submarine Rescue Boat that was recently sunk off Seven Mile Beach here in Grand Cayman. As the deepest point it sits (still upright) on a sandy bottom at around 60 feet. The Crows Nest sits at about 10 feet below the surface and is accessible by snorkelers.
Ironing. As you do...We went out on a mate's boat one Sunday to check it out. It is almost like exploring a normal ship on the surface, as it has only been in the water a month. A lot of the fittings are still there and not many fish have moved in as yet, although Michelle nearly had kittens when she shone the torch into a dark recess and saw a massive Jew Fish. It's body was as wide as an average person and about as long as Sam, and in the darkness, looked pretty menacing! She sure turned around fast!
It was a very nice dive with so many places to explore. It will only get even better as more sea life move in and claim it as home.
Inside the Decompression Chamber inside the ship"So, Liz, when are you coming over?"
Lookout! Iceberg!!!!!http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=265679&id=766998601&l=7913b6e0fb
School Sports Day
Sports day again and the kids head off for their annual athletics day. Dave was Coaching Rugby and couldn't make it but Michelle fronted and watched the events as they unfolded. Both Sam and Jake did pretty well, getting several firsts, seconds and thirds between them.
Focused....
Even Michelle got roped into a parents teamTouch Rugby
No, the summer touch league hasn't started just yet. But there is always some social touch going on somewhere. Michelle is back into it having recovered from her knee injury.
Running
For someone who hates running. Michelle seems to be doing quite a lot of it lately. The Cross Island Relay was held the other weekend. Michelle was part of a girls team that did pretty well. They came in third womens team in a fairly respectable time. Each leg was 4 miles (approximately 6.5km), and there were six in each team.
Michelle had the last leg (no pressure!) and gave it everything, although she was disappointed to lose a couple of places to some faster runners and didn't pace herself very well, going out too fast from the start, resulting in a very tough second half. It took her about five minutes before she could even speak after the race - and that's saying something! Well done though.
Across the Island Team
And this last weekend Michelle took part in the Off The Beaten Track relay which was off the beaten track really. So much so that several participants got lost (more than once!) while running on all sorts including sand, dirt tracks, service roads, grass etc. This was another relay event with six legs, with Michelle doing the 5th leg this time. She was pretty happy with her run - pacing herself better and not losing any places! Michelle's all girls team finished 7th overall (out of 21 teams) in blistering conditions, which was really awesome!
Birthday Cake and Sand - new form of sunscreen
Sam and a school mate on a recent field trip to the Botanic Gardens, where they learnt all about the blue iguanaCasino Royale
The Rugby Club's 2nd annual Casino Royale evening was held the other Friday night. It's a fundraiser for kids rugby and this year was again a popular event with around 400 tickets sold. Dave was working on the door and running the Chips around while Michelle was enjoying the bubbly and gambling the chips away (the bubbly lasted longer than the chips - no prizes won this year). It was a great night with well over $10,000 being raised for the kids.
This fine looking trio is well on their way... Gaelic
The Gaelic season continues. Both Michelle and Dave are playing. Michelle's team has won one and lost three in very close games, to date. Dave's has won two and lost two. The competition is fairly even in both the Women's and the Men's league.
Full coverage of games is available on www.caymanrugbytv.com (Just click on the Gaelic Channel)
Rugby
Schools Rugby
The annual inter primary Tag Rugby Tournament was held last week. After the Dave-Coached Cayman Prep Teams all cleaned up at last year's tournament, the School split their teams into House teams this year to even up the competition. Sam played in the year 5 Redpath Team.
They won all their games right up until the final where they were pipped by "Young" in the final, who they had beaten earlier in the day.
Cayman Prep teams won the other two grades (Year 4 and Year 6) as well, so the school was pretty happy about that, and the kids all had a great day off school playing rugby.
On the burst!Sam's games are the Redpath 5 games. There are two of them featured on the www.caymanrugbyTV.com site. Check them out! She even scores a try or two!
Club Rugby
Club rugby continues. Dave's Iguana's lost their first Game in the Round against the Buccaneers. But since then they have won the following three games to put themselves back at the top of the table. With a bye weekend just gone, they need to win the next two to take out the AA Cup for the second year running. However, the other teams have been steadily improving and the Iguanas will need to be on top of their game if they want to come out winners in 2011.
Again, the games are all filmed so you can watch full coverage of games on www.caymanrugbytv.com (AA Cup Channel) or view highlands on "Backchat" or on the CaymanRugbyTV page on Facebook http://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/caymanrugbytv .
Iguana's Hit the Water
As we said above, it was a bye weekend in the AA Cup, so the Iguana's didn't hesitate, they grabbed a couple of boats that were lying about, filled them with beers and headed out on the water for the day.
They spent most of the day near Rum Point and then Starfish Point, where a party boat with about 150 people on it turned up to entertain them.
It was a big afternoon, as Dave will testify struggling around the Gaelic field the following day.
Well, the Iguanas do like to travel in style...
Couple of Deck Hands... on a break
The Iguanas
Yep.... every team has one....http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=271607&id=766998601&l=578a34014b
Next Month:
Kids Swim Meet
Rugby
Gaelic
Mid Term Break
Someone's birthday
and more.........
