Blog Update # 28 – December 2009
Gidday! . Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you all... or should that be 'you both'.
This is a big one. Bear/bare/beer (take your pick) with us! You might need more than one tea/coffee/beer/wine/pizza to get you through this one.
December was a very busy month for us with something happening every weekend and then our departure to the US for a White Christmas.
This is a big one. Bear/bare/beer (take your pick) with us! You might need more than one tea/coffee/beer/wine/pizza to get you through this one.
December was a very busy month for us with something happening every weekend and then our departure to the US for a White Christmas.
Apologies for the tardiness in getting this particular issue out. The editing crew have been on a bender all year and have only just walked in the door.
Travel Report
The plan this year was to head to Massanutten for a white Christmas. Of course, only three people in the world have heard of Massanutten and we were two of them. What/where is that you might ask, as did we when trying to find it. It’s a resort-type place in the North of Virginia a couple hours inland from Washington DC… sort of.
Anyway, the Friday before Christmas we rock up to the Cayman airport with kids in tow and catch our first flight to Charlotte. So far so good. Unfortunately there was a major snow storm travelling up the east coast of the US and it closed most of the airports around, including Dulles (Washington DC) where we were headed. So, a night in Charlotte ensued. We found a place (cheap AND nasty) to stay and spotted a restaurant across the street. Unfortunately the restaurant (The Cracker Barrel) didn’t serve any form of alcohol at all and after the day that we had had, we weren’t that impressed. So we hit the top shelf… coffee. But the food was nice and the Gas station next door had a healthy selection of beers so we did alright.
Travel Report
The plan this year was to head to Massanutten for a white Christmas. Of course, only three people in the world have heard of Massanutten and we were two of them. What/where is that you might ask, as did we when trying to find it. It’s a resort-type place in the North of Virginia a couple hours inland from Washington DC… sort of.
Anyway, the Friday before Christmas we rock up to the Cayman airport with kids in tow and catch our first flight to Charlotte. So far so good. Unfortunately there was a major snow storm travelling up the east coast of the US and it closed most of the airports around, including Dulles (Washington DC) where we were headed. So, a night in Charlotte ensued. We found a place (cheap AND nasty) to stay and spotted a restaurant across the street. Unfortunately the restaurant (The Cracker Barrel) didn’t serve any form of alcohol at all and after the day that we had had, we weren’t that impressed. So we hit the top shelf… coffee. But the food was nice and the Gas station next door had a healthy selection of beers so we did alright.
WTF! No beer?
The next day was spent waiting in queues at Charlotte airport and going nowhere fast. All flights cancelled…
We finally got booked on a 10:30 pm flight to Richmond which is sort of in the direction where we were headed. Unfortunately we had arranged to meet up with Wayne and Dorothy in Washington the previous night as they had some winter clothes that we were to borrow. We also had a hotel and rental car booked, none of which we even got close to. So we headed to a mall in Charlotte to do some emergency shopping before our flight. We made our flight and landed in the middle of a good dump of snow in
Richmond around midnight on Saturday. They had managed to clear the runway of snow but the plane had to power up to get over the bank of snow left on the side to make it to the terminal. Our bags never turned up (as they were headed to Dulles, and made it) but we managed to get the last Rental car in town and headed for a hotel.
The next morning we awoke to a winter wonderland. Quite pretty but not actually what we needed at this stage. But we headed off and did another shop at a mall in the vicinity before heading to Hillbilly’sville.
As there was so much snow about, the trip was relatively slow, but we made pretty good time despite one last stop in the Walmart from hell in the middle of nowhere. We just needed a few supplies (beers, wines and some food) but it took us forever to get through the checkout as the Clampetts, the Waltons and all the other inbreds in the region just happened to be doing their Christmas shopping at the same time.
We finally got booked on a 10:30 pm flight to Richmond which is sort of in the direction where we were headed. Unfortunately we had arranged to meet up with Wayne and Dorothy in Washington the previous night as they had some winter clothes that we were to borrow. We also had a hotel and rental car booked, none of which we even got close to. So we headed to a mall in Charlotte to do some emergency shopping before our flight. We made our flight and landed in the middle of a good dump of snow in
Richmond around midnight on Saturday. They had managed to clear the runway of snow but the plane had to power up to get over the bank of snow left on the side to make it to the terminal. Our bags never turned up (as they were headed to Dulles, and made it) but we managed to get the last Rental car in town and headed for a hotel.The next morning we awoke to a winter wonderland. Quite pretty but not actually what we needed at this stage. But we headed off and did another shop at a mall in the vicinity before heading to Hillbilly’sville.
As there was so much snow about, the trip was relatively slow, but we made pretty good time despite one last stop in the Walmart from hell in the middle of nowhere. We just needed a few supplies (beers, wines and some food) but it took us forever to get through the checkout as the Clampetts, the Waltons and all the other inbreds in the region just happened to be doing their Christmas shopping at the same time.
Gordonsville... another quaint little 'ville' in the middle of nowhere
So, as dark was falling (and we did go past the Keswick winery Johnny! But it was shut.) we arrived at Massanutten and moved into our unit, which was a very nice upstairs unit complete with plenty of room for all, a gas fire and full-size spa pool, which both got a thrashing.
The next few days were spent either skiing, tubing or skiing while Michelle (with her rehabilitating knee) watched on from the Café with increasing frustration. The kids went to ski school and after two days were already better than Dave. Dave spent that time trying to stay upright and warm on the slopes wearing his entire wardrobe (which wasn't that much) as our lost bags still hadn’t arrived.
For something different we ventured to the Massanutten Water Park (yes, an indoor/outdoor water park complete with water slides and the like.
Unfortunately the outdoors part was closed, and under two feet of snow). It was pretty cool despite being able 
to look outside and see nothing but snow.
The next few days were spent either skiing, tubing or skiing while Michelle (with her rehabilitating knee) watched on from the Café with increasing frustration. The kids went to ski school and after two days were already better than Dave. Dave spent that time trying to stay upright and warm on the slopes wearing his entire wardrobe (which wasn't that much) as our lost bags still hadn’t arrived.
For something different we ventured to the Massanutten Water Park (yes, an indoor/outdoor water park complete with water slides and the like.
Unfortunately the outdoors part was closed, and under two feet of snow). It was pretty cool despite being able 
to look outside and see nothing but snow. 
Michelle got sick of spectating and taking pictures of people having fun in the snow so wandered off one day to do some shopping in the nearby town of Harrisonville while Dave and the kids spent their day skiing. Apparently the shopping wasn’t all that flash but the change of scenery was, so that’s good.
The weather all week on the slopes was sunny and quite nice. So, as luck would have it, Dave decided to go skiing on our last day in shorts and a singlet (as you do). And there we are, in almost blizzard conditions, a nutter skiing down the run in boardies, a singlet and Santa hat (see video below). He got a few comments and turned a few heads, froze his butt off but had a good laugh. Even the local Hillbilly lift operators were quite impressed and asked for a photo!
On Christmas Eve Sam drew a map for Santa so he would know where to deliver the stash. She also left him a beer and a cookie which seemed to be devoured without too much trouble. The only carrot we had was already lodged in a snowman’s face outside so Rudolph was going to do it hard. But the big day arrived and the kids snuck out to the lounge to see if the fat guy had arrived or not. They checked the deck and noticed that Rudolph had in fact eaten the snowman’s nose, and there were reindeer hoof prints on the deck as well. Clearly, Santa had been… and any thoughts of a sleep in were Dashed, Pranced and Blitzened. We had a Champagne breakfast and then went for a ski (as you do) before heading out to the only half decent restaurant in the vicinity for a Christmas Dinner. In the end it was quite nice and we all went home with full bellies.
Boxing Day it was time to move on. Sam’s birthday too. We headed for Washington D.C. and made it with minimal hassles or geographical embarrassment. We had time for a quick wander around the Whitehouse and a few other landmarks before it got too dark (and cold!). Sam’s birthday was celebrated at the “Brewing Company” which was actually not too bad.
Sunday was spent doing the tourist thing and the sights of D.C. on a get on/get off trolley bus. We saw all of the things you would expect in D.C. and luckily the w
eather was sunny, although bitterly cold. Wayne picked us up later on in the day and off we headed to Baltimore for a few days.
Wayne and Dorothy looked after us real well. From the local ‘good ol boys’ restaurant to the beers, and rum-adapted egg noggs, we knew we were in trouble. And Sam and Jake were pretty rapt with their new big sisters!
Michelle had to head back to Cayman for work the next day. Her trip didn’t go that well with the first flight being delayed – which didn’t worry her too much as it allowed her to go shopping! But then she never made the second flight from Miami and ended up staying there the night and returning to Cayman in the morning.
While Michelle was en route to Cayman, Wayne showed us around Baltimore and its environs. The kids loved the day at the Science Centre which had plenty of hands-on stuff for them to do. So much in fact that they missed lunch!
That night we went and toured the local Xmas lights display. The car was loaded up with a stack of people with hot chocolates and beers distributed evenly…3-D glasses and all! They had some pretty cool Xmas lights on show in a place where you drove around in a big park where the lights were set up.
Annapolis was another stop which was quite cool. We ate lunch in a little market place and had coffees and hot chocolate to warm us up. If only it was summer!
Then it was off to the Airport for our return journey back to Cayman. Fortunately everything worked like clockwork and we were home later that night and starting to thaw in the relative warmth of the Cayman winter!
Thanks Dorothy and Wayne (and the girls!). It was great catching up and being so spoilt!
Click here for more pics in the snow:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=133165&id=766998601&l=06d413f914
Click here for pics around Washington DC and Baltimore:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=133516&id=766998601&l=41c9f2b82d
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=133516&id=766998601&l=41c9f2b82d
The bed of nails...
Trinidad
The Official Match Report
As you may well know by now the BVI beat the Trinidad Enthusiasts by 41-29 last Saturday. The game itself was played on the Savannah after a day of 7s to celebrate Rugby’s re-entry to the Olympics. The BVI having spent a good Friday night at Smokey and Bunty’s was not in the best of shapes but to everyone’s surprise the crowd were entertained to some free flowing rugby from the men in the Christmas Elf outfits. In fairness the BVI had a few ringers, notable was 58 year old Barbados prop Martin Vaga as well as Floyd Fombo who had flown from the UK for the game. Throw in a random 17 year old Trinidadian at outside centre and a Guyanese back three organized by Victor the Quick, the BVI were dangerous every time the ball went wide.
That any points were scored at all was a wonder given the truly bizarre nature of le referee, who was a Martinique based Frenchman with a seedy moustache, little or no concept of the rules of the game and not one word of English. If truth be told I am not entirely sure who were all the try scorers, although in the first half BVI scored four tries including a powerful run from Martin Vaga. Highlight of the half came when Floyd Fombo who is of Nigerian descent made a break 60 yards out, pinning his ears back he sprinted away and the pack stopped running presuming the ball was in Victor’s hands and the after burners were setting in… so it was to our surprise that ten yards from the line he was pole-axed by two defenders, to which the Referee decided to give a penalty try… The second half saw both sides trade scores with Dave Bailey’s brutal hand off clearing several defenders for a 20 yard score. With almost complete darkness descending the ref blew the final whistle and then the festivities began.
I am aware that what goes on tour should generally stay on tour but the below email from one of our opponents who we kidnapped in a taxi bus on the Sunday following lunch and ended up parading around Santa Cruz in his wife’s knickers singing dirty songs gives you a good insight into the hospitality of our hosts and the amusing nature of the tour.
From: Paul Curzon Sent: 10 December 2009 10:21
To: BVI Rugby Club
Subject: Who Knows
Now Then,
I remember the soup and the maxi taxi, where the bars we went to, no idea. Where was the house where I fell asleep, why did I walk home after I left Smokey's, crossing the Savannah with my now 4 string guitar, and losing for a time my crocs. Where did the day go ?
Great Day - will remember it for some time. I rang the hotel they said you checked out 6.30 or whatever, shot down to the airport, you'd all gone. Thank god.
So that's my summary of what I recall of the BVI weekend. Any casualties? Seem a good set of lads.
Hope you all enjoyed yourselves and see you in the new year some time
All the best for Christmas and the New Year
Curzo
Visitor’s Report
Brodie & Joe (from BVI) came to Cayman for Christmas. Joe was playing in an exhibition squash match and Brodie was…. a tourist!
Here’s their summary of events:
Arrived Dec 15 - fish taco's at Sunshine Suites with Dan, Steph and baby Lola.
Played some squash, went shopping, had a lovely dinner with the Baileys, dinner with Sam and Giles at Casanova's and a trip to Rackham's bar. Swimming with the Stingrays at Stingray City, dinner at Osetra bay (awesome dinner and location, pretty pricey!), a visit to Fidel Murphy's one night where we ran into the Cayman Rugby Chicks dressed in Santa attire. Joe Kneipp vs. John White squash match - Joe won, woohoo! :)
Visited the movie theatre at Camana bay twice and saw Avatar and the Blind Side, swam at Smith's cove, Christmas at a lovely house on the canal, played tennis at the guy who owns the Ritz's house on Italian imported clay (I watched for 3.5 hrs!). It mostly poured rain on us and we spent a few nights of card playing with Dan and Steph, ate delicous sandwiches from Paperman's, thought that Caymanians really know how to put up some Christmas light displays & really enjoyed and loved that the Bailey's had a Christmas tree!!! ... ummmmm and that's all I can think of at the moment!
Knee
Michelle’s knee continues to improve. Some icy patches while we were away didn’t help the cause but Michelle has been pretty cautious and is doing a little bit of swimming these days. She may even get to dive again soon!
Click here for a few Cayman Xmas pics:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=125132&id=766998601&l=2aa193cead
As you may well know by now the BVI beat the Trinidad Enthusiasts by 41-29 last Saturday. The game itself was played on the Savannah after a day of 7s to celebrate Rugby’s re-entry to the Olympics. The BVI having spent a good Friday night at Smokey and Bunty’s was not in the best of shapes but to everyone’s surprise the crowd were entertained to some free flowing rugby from the men in the Christmas Elf outfits. In fairness the BVI had a few ringers, notable was 58 year old Barbados prop Martin Vaga as well as Floyd Fombo who had flown from the UK for the game. Throw in a random 17 year old Trinidadian at outside centre and a Guyanese back three organized by Victor the Quick, the BVI were dangerous every time the ball went wide.
That any points were scored at all was a wonder given the truly bizarre nature of le referee, who was a Martinique based Frenchman with a seedy moustache, little or no concept of the rules of the game and not one word of English. If truth be told I am not entirely sure who were all the try scorers, although in the first half BVI scored four tries including a powerful run from Martin Vaga. Highlight of the half came when Floyd Fombo who is of Nigerian descent made a break 60 yards out, pinning his ears back he sprinted away and the pack stopped running presuming the ball was in Victor’s hands and the after burners were setting in… so it was to our surprise that ten yards from the line he was pole-axed by two defenders, to which the Referee decided to give a penalty try… The second half saw both sides trade scores with Dave Bailey’s brutal hand off clearing several defenders for a 20 yard score. With almost complete darkness descending the ref blew the final whistle and then the festivities began.
I am aware that what goes on tour should generally stay on tour but the below email from one of our opponents who we kidnapped in a taxi bus on the Sunday following lunch and ended up parading around Santa Cruz in his wife’s knickers singing dirty songs gives you a good insight into the hospitality of our hosts and the amusing nature of the tour.
From: Paul Curzon Sent: 10 December 2009 10:21
To: BVI Rugby Club
Subject: Who Knows
Now Then,
I remember the soup and the maxi taxi, where the bars we went to, no idea. Where was the house where I fell asleep, why did I walk home after I left Smokey's, crossing the Savannah with my now 4 string guitar, and losing for a time my crocs. Where did the day go ?
Great Day - will remember it for some time. I rang the hotel they said you checked out 6.30 or whatever, shot down to the airport, you'd all gone. Thank god.
So that's my summary of what I recall of the BVI weekend. Any casualties? Seem a good set of lads.
Hope you all enjoyed yourselves and see you in the new year some time
All the best for Christmas and the New Year
Curzo
Visitor’s Report
Brodie & Joe (from BVI) came to Cayman for Christmas. Joe was playing in an exhibition squash match and Brodie was…. a tourist!
Here’s their summary of events:
Arrived Dec 15 - fish taco's at Sunshine Suites with Dan, Steph and baby Lola.
Played some squash, went shopping, had a lovely dinner with the Baileys, dinner with Sam and Giles at Casanova's and a trip to Rackham's bar. Swimming with the Stingrays at Stingray City, dinner at Osetra bay (awesome dinner and location, pretty pricey!), a visit to Fidel Murphy's one night where we ran into the Cayman Rugby Chicks dressed in Santa attire. Joe Kneipp vs. John White squash match - Joe won, woohoo! :)
Visited the movie theatre at Camana bay twice and saw Avatar and the Blind Side, swam at Smith's cove, Christmas at a lovely house on the canal, played tennis at the guy who owns the Ritz's house on Italian imported clay (I watched for 3.5 hrs!). It mostly poured rain on us and we spent a few nights of card playing with Dan and Steph, ate delicous sandwiches from Paperman's, thought that Caymanians really know how to put up some Christmas light displays & really enjoyed and loved that the Bailey's had a Christmas tree!!! ... ummmmm and that's all I can think of at the moment!
Knee
Michelle’s knee continues to improve. Some icy patches while we were away didn’t help the cause but Michelle has been pretty cautious and is doing a little bit of swimming these days. She may even get to dive again soon!
Click here for a few Cayman Xmas pics:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=125132&id=766998601&l=2aa193cead
Jake, impressing the chicks at the School Xmas concert
Sport
Inter Schools Swim Meet
A big day was had at the Lions Pool. 12 primary schools took part in the Annual inter-schools Swim Meet. Cayman Prep (where Sam and Jake go) were the defending champions, last year winning by a mere five points.
After several weeks of talent spotting, the Cayman Prep team arrived en mass (all 80 odd of them) and took to the pool with the school represented in the majority of races. As Dave had been helping out at the school coaching rugby for the last two months, half of the kids thought he was now a teacher, as did a couple of parents! Dave was part time selector and Clipboard holder while Michelle (who had taken the day off work to attend) worked hard herding the kids between events and co-ordinating the relay teams.
The Prep team did really well this year winning the event by over 50 points. Sam won all of her races and Jake won at least one and placed in the others. They were both in the relay teams and cleaned up there too. So a pretty good effort all round.
Inter Schools Swim Meet
A big day was had at the Lions Pool. 12 primary schools took part in the Annual inter-schools Swim Meet. Cayman Prep (where Sam and Jake go) were the defending champions, last year winning by a mere five points.
After several weeks of talent spotting, the Cayman Prep team arrived en mass (all 80 odd of them) and took to the pool with the school represented in the majority of races. As Dave had been helping out at the school coaching rugby for the last two months, half of the kids thought he was now a teacher, as did a couple of parents! Dave was part time selector and Clipboard holder while Michelle (who had taken the day off work to attend) worked hard herding the kids between events and co-ordinating the relay teams.
The Prep team did really well this year winning the event by over 50 points. Sam won all of her races and Jake won at least one and placed in the others. They were both in the relay teams and cleaned up there too. So a pretty good effort all round.
Some of the victorious Cayman Prep Swim Team 2009
Netball
In the latest game the Prep Girls went down 13 – 1 to West Bay primary (who were all over 6 foot three apparently).
Rugby
Trini
You’ve seen the official match report above. The boys did rock up a little worse for wear but when the whistle blew, they knew who to turn to; Floyd and the Trini ringers. But to be fair the team did put in a pretty good effort. Changeable weather didn’t really affect the game too much, but the referee did. And for once it seemed that the locals were getting the rough deal, but in the end he was pretty consistent. He had a shocker throughout. BVI started off with a penalty try. It wasn’t long before a penalty try was awarded at the other end of the pitch as well. But the BVI team managed to use the ball a bit more effectively and scored a few early tries. They were probably guilty of taking the foot off and letting the locals back into the game. At one stage there was only a three point difference.
For whatever reason the game was going to be a 40 minute half, followed by a 20 and two 10’s. Because of the rapidly fading light (and luckily for the fading BVI team) the 10’s became about fives and the BVI scored a well constructed late try to secure the win.
Then it was off to the Carib’s Club for some Caribs and locally cooked chicken and rice, which was very nice indeed.
We were entertained by the self-appointed mayor of Rainbow (a Rastafarian community from the South), one Mr Jack who regaled us with a few of his Rasta verses and dodgy CD’s. From there it was off to meet the people of Trinidad… and things get a little hazy from there. Suffice to say that the next three days were spent in a similar fashion (less the rugby) at different establishments and localities around the countryside.
Another successful tour with the mighty BVI side draws to close.
In the latest game the Prep Girls went down 13 – 1 to West Bay primary (who were all over 6 foot three apparently).
Rugby
Trini
You’ve seen the official match report above. The boys did rock up a little worse for wear but when the whistle blew, they knew who to turn to; Floyd and the Trini ringers. But to be fair the team did put in a pretty good effort. Changeable weather didn’t really affect the game too much, but the referee did. And for once it seemed that the locals were getting the rough deal, but in the end he was pretty consistent. He had a shocker throughout. BVI started off with a penalty try. It wasn’t long before a penalty try was awarded at the other end of the pitch as well. But the BVI team managed to use the ball a bit more effectively and scored a few early tries. They were probably guilty of taking the foot off and letting the locals back into the game. At one stage there was only a three point difference.
For whatever reason the game was going to be a 40 minute half, followed by a 20 and two 10’s. Because of the rapidly fading light (and luckily for the fading BVI team) the 10’s became about fives and the BVI scored a well constructed late try to secure the win.
Then it was off to the Carib’s Club for some Caribs and locally cooked chicken and rice, which was very nice indeed.
We were entertained by the self-appointed mayor of Rainbow (a Rastafarian community from the South), one Mr Jack who regaled us with a few of his Rasta verses and dodgy CD’s. From there it was off to meet the people of Trinidad… and things get a little hazy from there. Suffice to say that the next three days were spent in a similar fashion (less the rugby) at different establishments and localities around the countryside.
Another successful tour with the mighty BVI side draws to close.
Praying for beer
Click here for more uncensored pics from the Trini Tour:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=127132&id=766998601&l=f65beccf03
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=127132&id=766998601&l=f65beccf03
North vs South
The annual fixture at the Cayman Rugby Club between those from the North and those from the Southern hemisphere was held mid December. In the last few outings, the North has prevailed. This year both teams fronted up with their best available players and a good match was promised.
Dave played for the Southern Team which had a very quick looking backline and mobile forward pack with a decent front row to match. They took an early lead after butchering a couple of opportunities. They managed to maintain their momentum and score another try before the North struck back just before half time.
The lead was reduced to three with a very soft try to the North. The South woke up and spent some time on the North’s line before scoring again. The lead was never relinquished and the South came away as 27 – 17 victors in a very good game.
Game two was another tight affair with the good guys from the South showing who has rugby dominance at this stage.
AA Cup Draft
The AA Cup (Cayman 15 a side season) Draft was held in December. Dave will be playing for the Iguanas again this season which kicks off in February. More to follow on that.
Kids Inter Schools Rugby Tournament # 2
The second tournament was held in early December, with Cayman Prep (since they cleaned up last time) being the teams that everyone wanted to beat. All teams showed some real improvement this time and the ‘other’ teams beating each other and securing their first wins which was great to see, especially Dave’s other teams from Prospect Primary who, for some strange reason, seemed to have heeded his advice and actually came out to play, as opposed to smashing everyone in sight. Well, it was a Tag Rugby tournament and not contact.
The Prep kids managed to prevail overall in all grades, but a couple of them did drop the odd game on the way, much to the delight of the other teams. Sam wanted to point out that her team never lost a game. Another big and successful sporting day was concluded with a celebratory drink in the club….once the kids had departed for their schools that is.
Kids Cayman Marathon
The annual marathon was held here in December and the schools were encouraged to enter as many kids as they could in the kids race, which was an 800m fun run at the end of the Marathon course. Sam and Jake took part, as did a few of their mates and managed to complete the race without too much trouble - they even got a T-shirt and medal!
The annual fixture at the Cayman Rugby Club between those from the North and those from the Southern hemisphere was held mid December. In the last few outings, the North has prevailed. This year both teams fronted up with their best available players and a good match was promised.
Dave played for the Southern Team which had a very quick looking backline and mobile forward pack with a decent front row to match. They took an early lead after butchering a couple of opportunities. They managed to maintain their momentum and score another try before the North struck back just before half time.
The lead was reduced to three with a very soft try to the North. The South woke up and spent some time on the North’s line before scoring again. The lead was never relinquished and the South came away as 27 – 17 victors in a very good game.
Game two was another tight affair with the good guys from the South showing who has rugby dominance at this stage.
AA Cup Draft
The AA Cup (Cayman 15 a side season) Draft was held in December. Dave will be playing for the Iguanas again this season which kicks off in February. More to follow on that.
Kids Inter Schools Rugby Tournament # 2
The second tournament was held in early December, with Cayman Prep (since they cleaned up last time) being the teams that everyone wanted to beat. All teams showed some real improvement this time and the ‘other’ teams beating each other and securing their first wins which was great to see, especially Dave’s other teams from Prospect Primary who, for some strange reason, seemed to have heeded his advice and actually came out to play, as opposed to smashing everyone in sight. Well, it was a Tag Rugby tournament and not contact.
The Prep kids managed to prevail overall in all grades, but a couple of them did drop the odd game on the way, much to the delight of the other teams. Sam wanted to point out that her team never lost a game. Another big and successful sporting day was concluded with a celebratory drink in the club….once the kids had departed for their schools that is.
Kids Cayman Marathon
The annual marathon was held here in December and the schools were encouraged to enter as many kids as they could in the kids race, which was an 800m fun run at the end of the Marathon course. Sam and Jake took part, as did a few of their mates and managed to complete the race without too much trouble - they even got a T-shirt and medal!
Kids Triathlon
The following week was the Cay Kids Triathlon. Sam and Jake were in action again, both doing all three legs of the race (100m swim, 3k bike and a 500m run). Sam was early out of the water and looking good, but had a slow transition which allowed Jake to catch her up. They both completed the bike leg together and then set out on the run, finishing almost neck and neck with Jake having the stronger finish in the run. Both kids were very tired after the event but soon perked up when the organizers passed out pizza, ice cream and candy canes to all competitors.
The following week was the Cay Kids Triathlon. Sam and Jake were in action again, both doing all three legs of the race (100m swim, 3k bike and a 500m run). Sam was early out of the water and looking good, but had a slow transition which allowed Jake to catch her up. They both completed the bike leg together and then set out on the run, finishing almost neck and neck with Jake having the stronger finish in the run. Both kids were very tired after the event but soon perked up when the organizers passed out pizza, ice cream and candy canes to all competitors.
Click here for more kids sports and stuff pics:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=118155&id=766998601&l=a615125d9b
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=118155&id=766998601&l=a615125d9b
Diving
Dave managed to squeeze in a quick dive before we headed off for Xmas. The highlight of that was the Lion Fish that they spotted… and the Moray that was cruising about.
Dave managed to squeeze in a quick dive before we headed off for Xmas. The highlight of that was the Lion Fish that they spotted… and the Moray that was cruising about.
The nasty evil Lion Fish which devastates the marine life here
Click the link for more Diving pics:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=103167&id=766998601&l=6fa2464544
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=103167&id=766998601&l=6fa2464544
Sam's Birthday Party(s)
Sam's 9th birthday was on Boxing Day, but as usual, she had a party with a few of her friends before Xmas. They went to a place called "Cayman Critters" where you select your toy, and whatever clothes you want for it and they stuff it for you. Then they came back to the house for some games and party food etc. They all had a lovely time and went away with armloads of birthday cake and of course their very own 'critter'.
We were travelling to Washington DC on Sam's real birthday so once we got settled in and had had a wee look around town, Sam got to choose where she wanted to have her birthday dinner. Thankfully there were no McDonald's or KFC's in the vicinity and we ended up at a very busy but nice "Brewing Company" where we all ate until we were stuffed and they even put a candle on her desert!
The following night we were in Baltimore with Wayne and Dorothy and went out for dinner there at a "Texas Road House" which is an entertaining experience in itself. Wayne let it slip to the server dude that it was Sam's birthday, and next thing we know, the entire serving staff are standing in front of Sam calling out some birthday chant. Sam was a little taken aback and replied with a blank stare while the rest of us looked at each other with raised eyebrows. But the effort was appreciated!
Weather Report
Apparently the weather in Cayman over Xmas was quite wet. The temperature has dropped a little now to something that is quite pleasant really - 26-30 degrees (similar to what we had in Massanutten althought that was Farenheit!).
Next Month
Rugby
Gaelic Footy – Dave tries it out
Jake’s Birthday
Apparently the weather in Cayman over Xmas was quite wet. The temperature has dropped a little now to something that is quite pleasant really - 26-30 degrees (similar to what we had in Massanutten althought that was Farenheit!).
Next Month
Rugby
Gaelic Footy – Dave tries it out
Jake’s Birthday
Check this short video out!
