Grand Cayman: November 2005

Ian surprised me by taking me out for dinner tonight. We went to the Wharf (http://www.wharf.ky/) which is a really nice restaurant right on the water. I had beef tenderloin and Ian had the Wharf grill. What a treat!

Ian and I at the Wharf Restaurant.

Three cruise boats lit up the water like Christmas lights.

The Tarpon waiting for feeding time at the Wharf.

It has been two weeks since my last posting, but we are starting to get into a routine. We have been swimming on Mondays and Thursdays (I am up to 1.4K), and work quite a bit during the week. Last weekend was a write-off for me due to a wicked hangover that lasted both days. Last Friday I was invited to a sunset sail with one of our clients. The sail was really nice, unfortunately the drinks on the trip were incredibly strong! Ian spent the weekend working, nursing me back to health and finally puting our bikes together. This weekend we started out with a quiet Friday night, and did some jobs on Saturday (Ian bought his scuba equipment, and I purchased a new Vespa helmet that actually fits me). We then decided that we needed some good pictures for our blog; so we registered to do the Bank of Butterfield International Triathlon. Ian was so excited that we had registered that he had cranked the music in the car on the way to our snokelling spot...unfortunately we had chosen to snorkel at the cemetary site and we were a little embarassed to pull up to an on-going ceremony. As part of the triathlon we were treated to a pasta dinner at the Courtyard Marriott, and then went to bed early as we needed to wake up at 5am. We were able to walk to the event this morning (only 5 min) and set up our stuff around 6am. It was a 6:45am start for Ian who did the 750m ocean swim in only 13 minutes (he was a little distracted by the amazing sea life while he swam). He then tagged me and I hopped on my bike to complete the 20K ride into town in 39 minutes (I was excited so I started out fast...which killed me for the ride back!). After a little confusion, I got my bike back to the rack and tagged Ian to start his 5K run. He was back before I knew it, completing his run in only 21 minutes. We were really impressed with our time considering we haven't been training! We celebrated the end with a swim in the ocean, and walked back to our place to clean up before returning to the beach for breakfast. The event treated us to an amazing Sunday breakfast buffet right on the beach. Now I think I might take a little nap before going into work. Just think...it is November!

After the race we took our gear home before returning for breakfast on the beach.

6:20am - before the race.

5:30am - Ian shows off the race t-shirt.

Poolside Pre-race Pasta Party

Pre-race Pasta Party at the Coutyard Marriott.

Thursday night we joined the masters swim at the 25 meter pool in South Sound. Ian did well, and I was pretty proud of myself for being able to swim for 49 minutes (my longest ever). We celebrated the workout with a trip to Al La Kabob, where we got the beef/lamb gyros and a Red Stripe to enjoy on the patio. On Saturday we did some errands in the morning, and I did some exploring in the shops while Ian did another site review for the Caribbean Club. I bought a mask and snorkel and we spent the afternoon exploring the water just a couple minutes walk from our place. That night I cooked up some king fish and curried potatoes. On Sunday Ian did some more work in the morning while I figured out how to use our washing machine and broom, and then we drove up to Barkers national park. Apparently Barkers is the place to kite on the island for the winter, and we ran into 4 other kiters. I enjoyed my book while Ian kited in the smooth, shallow water for a couple of hours. On Monday we snorkelled again (this time we saw a school of atleast 100 fish...pretty amazing!) and hung around the house before heading off for masters swimming again. This time I was able to swim the full time, and actually swam 1.2K! Not bad for a beginner!

We enjoyed a fresh lime soda on the balcony.

Ian was a little tired after a great kiting session at Barkers.

Ian kites at Barkers.

Ian's new office (ha ha)...working by the pool.

Ian drove behind me the first day I rode my Vespa to work.

Dinner at the Lighthouse was really nice on Sunday. It took about half an hour to drive there so we really felt like it was an outing! We enjoyed the calamari to start, followed by the seafood plater (mahi, spiced salmon, lobster, shrimp and pasta). This week has been busy at work for both of us, but we had to take some time this morning to take the car for it's annual inspection, get our scooter licences and change ownership on the Vespa (what a pain). The weather has been great this week though, and the sunshine certainly helps to keep us in good spirits. Tomorrow we are going to try out the Masters Swimming, and on friday I have an American thanksgiving lunch at work. We are really looking forward to the long weekend this weekend! (We get Nov 14 off Rememberance day here).

Ian decided to work in my office to keep me company today.

Yesterday we decided to start the day with a run (up to the yaht club to check out hobies) and a swim in the ocean. We then did a couple of jobs including stopping by the Caribbean Club to say hello to the construction guys, and purchasing a Vespa to shorten my commute to work even further! (Now I will be able to make it to work in a 3 minute ride, rather than a 20 minute walk). We came back to our new place for lunch, and a lounge by the pool before heading back into town for the Pirate's Week celebrations. It all started with the pirate ships sailing into town. There was quite a battle (great pyrotechnics!) before the Governor was captured and the pirates took over the island. We stayed for the parade and music before returning to our place for dinner. We went snorkelling this morning, and are now working away at my office to get ready for the week. Ian is treating me to dinner tonight at the Lighthouse...looks great! (www.lighthouse.ky).