Family Time

We've had a fantastic couple of weeks as my sister and her now husband chose to get married out here. As such most of my family came out as well as a few other guests to celebrate the blissful carnage, sorry marriage.

What better way to celebrate such a wonderful and private occasion than to blog publicly about it!?

I'm going to try and detail some of the services they used for the wedding, the activities that we planned to keep a larger group entertained, the places we ate and some of the experiences we had whilst enjoying the festivities.

Firstly, it was down to Kim and I to organise the mini Stag and Hen nights. Two very different nights were had by both parties. The girls went for cocktails at the glam Tiki Beach to take in the sunset, then off to Karma for some great food and ambience.

The boys opted for meat overload at Lone Star bar & grill and a couple of shots of Tequila before heading to Havana Club where a Blues band awaited us. Many Mojitos, five orgasms and a cigar for the groom left us with light wallets, but that didn't stop us from moving on to Agua (which in my haze of rum thought was Aqua Beach bar, but it was actually a quiet Italian restaurant/bar!).

An essential purchase for a large group is a keg of Caybrew from the brewery, I think we went for the 100 litre barrel at just over $200 (inc. delivery and pickup). The unit was refrigerated to keep the beer at optimum temperature and included a full on beer pump. I think everyone played barman at some point or other and within a week we'd polished off most of it.

Keg, keg, keg, keg!

The venue for the wedding was a beautiful, luxurious villa on the North side of the island in Kai, just next to Starfish Point called "Kai Conut". Before we all set off for the luxury though, we offered to put most people up in our modestly sized three bed condo; 13 guests for a few nights was a little tight, but good fun all the same!

Simply Weddings were chosen to carry out the ceremony, they also deal with the legal requirements, marriage certificate and can do the full on wedding planning if desired. There are countless additional options for the actual ceremony, for example arches/arbours, chairs, decor etc.  though my sister opted for a more simple and relaxed affair. Joy Basdeo the marriage officer was excellent throughout.

The villa was littered with Conch Shells, so an aisle was created for the bride to walk down which was lovely.

The day was beautiful, a nice breeze helped to keep the heat at severe level rather than unbearable. Kim and I were both honoured to do a reading each, though mine was a children's story about a Love Monster!

 Several Margaritas later and it was time to sit down for food. For catering, mise en place created a bespoke menu including canapes, cocktails and of course the main meal. The servers were extremely self sufficient and subtle meaning the bride and groom were able to relax and enjoy the occasion.  The food was outstanding with the baby back ribs and shrimp skewers being the popular dishes. The newly married couple also opted to have the caterers back the next morning for a lovely breakfast - which for those of us who were a little hungover was a real treat!

Mmm breakfast

Our own private dock allowed for some great photo opportunities.

The evening saw a fairly unsuccessful attempt at setting off Chinese lanterns, such was the breeze, nearly all attempts proved futile. Not one to give up, middle bro set off to the front of the house where the wind was down and created a sky full of burning lights. The only problem was that none of the wedding party saw any of them as we were unaware of his efforts! We also planted Tiki burners around the beach, mainly for effect but also to try and keep the mosquitoes at bay.

Fire!

A couple of days were spent relaxing at the villa with some beach and pool time, a few opted for a trip to Rum Point for a couple of hours. I tried my hand with a Wave Runner - it's a lot harder than it looks to be honest!

Then there was the obligatory trip to Stingray City - though with so many guests, it made more sense to charter a boat. We used Red Sail's glass bottom boat with Captain Bill at the helm, (and some of the kids at times!) and it worked out more reasonable to do it this way, plus we got a very personal service.

Coral Gardens

We also took in lots of snorkeling trips; Coral Gardens, Rum Point, Macabuca, Smith Cove and of course Seven Mile Beach, Testudos guide proved useful for finding the best places.
A few opted to go to Dolphin Cove to swim with the dolphins, whilst others took in some down time at the Botanical Gardens. Nearly all of us made a trip on the infamous Jolly Roger Pirate Ship to down rum punch, watch the kids scrub the floors, the pirates fighting and enjoy jumping in off the plank (or being pushed in my case).

Scrub harder ye urchins

Can't resist a damsel in distress

In terms of eating out, we took the group to Grand Old House which is usually a little more pricey, but Thursday night is pasta night with the dish cooked to your liking in front of you and the cost is much more palatable, particularly for those who aren't used to the island prices!
Luca at the Caribbean Club is also essential to experience the legendary brunch. With a strong focus on fish and seafood, it's a real treat, and of course unlimited Prosecco to wash it down with.
Other restaurants that cater to larger groups included Kaibo Beach Bar for the Tuesday night BBQ and Tukka in East End where we experienced another great brunch.

Our livers are still recovering (as are our wallets), but I think it's safe to say that everyone had great fun during their first stay in the Cayman Islands. Kim and I are looking forward to a well earned rest now and we'd like another holiday please!
Credit to the guests for the use of some of their photos in this blog post.

A hairy few weeks

We've had a quiet few weeks here, we were lucky enough to be visited by Kim's parents late February, and we now have a couple of weeks before most of my family come out for the wedding of the century (more of that in a future post).
There'll be nine people staying in our condo alongside the four of us which is going to be very cosy! We've also been trying to save money for the impending visitors as we'll no doubt be eating out lots and doing all of the touristy things.

Unfortunately our saving money plan went to pot as both the car and dog have required emergency treatment in the last few weeks. Only one of them came through unscathed unfortunately, but we do have a new (used) car to show for it.
Yes Izzie the 'Big Horn' gave up the ghost completely, and rather than spending more money on what has become a huge financial drain, we felt the time was right to buy an alternative (and safer) means of transport.
Therefore we are now joined by 'Dora' the Ford Explorer, a nice seven seater. When you press the 'Accelerate Pedal' - you go faster, when you press the 'Brake Pedal' you slow down and when you turn the steering wheel the car moves in that direction. These are all things we didn't really have with Izzie alas!!

Onto Duggy the dog, she took very ill last week with a pancreas issue and we nearly lost her. Luckily she was in excellent hands at the Cayman Animal Hospital, who were able to save her. She's now back with us and slowly recovering - our wallets however are not as there is no such thing as pet insurance out here. She's worth it though.

Anyway, enough of our woes. We finally made it to Barkers Beach in West Bay recently, a place we knew was very popular with kite surfers. We took the kids and watched in amazement as the confident surfers pulled tricks, flew through the air and generally entertained us all for a good while.

We also had the inaugural Tiny Tots Academy Sports Day, where Jonny was in full on training mode. He came 1st in the obstacle course which he was very proud of!

Jonny & Tess

Hurricanes

The hurricane season is still a few months away thankfully, but recently I came across an old page from stormcarib (a hurricane website). The page was from the 2004 hurricane season - the year that Ivan devastated the Cayman Islands.

It's a log of various people emailing in before, during and after Ivan. It turns quickly from optimism to fear and concern as details of the path of Ivan become clear. See a few select screenshots (click to expand):

It's a very powerful read, extremely emotional and really helps to paint a picture of what it's actually like to experience a hurricane.
There are huge gaps in the email logs where the power is down, and other people off island chip in to update.

Anyhow, I encourage visitors to this site to take a look - it was really quite humbling. Click here to read it (read from the bottom up)

FG

It's oh so quiet

Duggy - No caption required!

It's been pretty quiet for us since Christmas, in fact I think the entire island has had a month long hangover. Still the January blues are over now as we hit February, it's also been 12 months since we first arrived!

We've on the verge of crazy season with visits from family and friends, I think only May is without guests for the first half of the year. We are very much looking forward to having you all over though!

In the past few weeks we've had a lot of pool time, some relaxing on the white sandy beaches, lot's playing on the street as the weather has been beautiful and a quick trip to the Turtle Farm.

Starting with the latter, there's been a bit of controversy around the Turtle Farm, but we noticed some marked improvements this time around, particularly with the health and safety of the turtles which is positive.
Afterwards we went with some friends to Macabuca for the Monday night BBQ which was lovely.

Tess observing the turtles

Tess and I on the water slide for the 12th time!

Macabuca at Sunset

Back to our street, it's great that it's so safe, no souped up Renault Clio's racing around like some places we've lived at in the UK.

I think they've all had enough sweets don't you??

And a few snaps of the beautiful beaches we've been enjoying

Duggy clearly enjoying the taste of sand

Royal Palms beach - with added Pirate hat for good effect

Sunset at South Sound Beach

 I couldn't resist adding this snap of a pond in South Sound.

A disturbing number of Iguanas plus a rather nervous looking Whistler Duck in the foreground

Jonny has really been enjoying the rugby classes at the rugby club, and we'll be taking him to football soon. Kim is working on a new blog post all about sports out here, so expect more in the future!

Jonny re-hydrating after an intense Rugby session

D-Dog chillin' - she takes the woof with the smooth

Until next time.

More dogs die from paraquat poisoning...

Not the happiest topic for my first post of 2013, but something I've blogged about before is the continued risk to our four legged friends in the Cayman Islands of poisoning with paraquat - a weed killer.

Several news sources are reporting that at least four dogs have been poisoned over Christmas as a result of ingesting paraquat at beaches (probably as a result of food being laced and left). There could of course be more unreported cases during this time.

I now only take my mutt to one or two beaches where I think she'll be safe which is a shame. I did have a scare last night where I caught her munching on a discarded chicken bone, but managed to grab it and chuck it in the bin. I count myself (and dog) lucky that it wasn't poisoned.

Why are people intentionally leaving poisoned meat to hurt (or more likely kill) dogs? I honestly don't know, perhaps not every dog owner is a responsible owner, perhaps not everyone cleans up after their dog, or ensures that they're dog is neutered if they can't afford to keep a litter, or perhaps some people hate dogs so much that they want them to die in a very slow and painful way.
There are a lot of strays on island and the Cayman Humane Society (who do a great job) is always full of very sorry looking dogs.

What I do know is that there are better (and far more humane) ways of dealing with the annoyance of dog mess and strays. Education, fines for not clearing up dog mess and licences to own animals to name but a few.

The more positive news is that a petition has been signed by around 10% of the population of the Cayman Islands to ban the import of paraquat. I hope that 2013 is the year that this happens.

More on the Cayman Compass.

Christmas in the Cayman Islands

Not that I'm a huge fan of Christmas songs, but I've got to give a nod to Jona Lewie for giving me my favourite festive song, can't beat a bit of uplifting lyrics about being shot at in the trenches in the first world war etc.
Anyhow onto what's likely to be the last blog post of 2012.

One thing that I'm continually impressed with in the Cayman Islands is their ability to throw amazing free events.
Following Pirates Week was of course the American Thanksgiving, and a week later we could celebrate the end of a quiet (for Cayman anyhow) hurricane season.
Then the focus really switched to Christmas, or the holiday season as it's known this side of the pond.

The first of the season was the Camana Bay Christmas Tree Lighting, we were treated to choirs, Father Christmas looking a little hot, fake snow and oodles of Christmas Spirit.

Snow in the Cayman Islands!

This was one of the cooler nights and bizarrely enough, the fake snow actually made it feel chilly. I was almost tempted to don a jacket, but resisted.

Hot on the heels was another event at Camana Bay, 'The Parade of Lights" organised by Cayman27. This is the busiest I've ever seen it, absolutely packed.

A fantastic atmosphere, brilliant music and of course the main event; the parade of lights is essentially creatively decorated boats, with tonnes of twinkling lights.

Unfortunately, it was getting late for the kids (starting it at 7.30pm is a bit late for young'uns), so whilst we appreciated the boats, we didn't get to see them in full glory.

The next day, a mere hop skip and a jump from our condo was the "Singing Christmas Tree" which was an outdoor performance by a local church.

It really was incredible, the singing was outstanding as was the decor and attention to detail. We were really impressed with it actually.

Nestling within our social calendar was my firm's kids Christmas party, is there anything a child wants more than face painting, bouncy castles, games, candy floss, pizza and of course a visit from the main man himself.

We've been amazed at the effort some people have been putting into their own house and decorations. The following are photos I took at a house on South Sound Road. Apparently all the houses are judged by CUC (Cayman's utility company) and the winner of the best display gets free electricity for the month of December - for the owner's of this house sake, I hope they win!

Now with less than a couple of weeks to go until our first Christmas out here, it's time to stock up on Port, cheese, wine and turkey!

Merry Christmas and a happy new year!

FAKE GEORDIE & FAMILY