I have to pinch myself sometimes this morning we are at a fund raising brunch for the swimming association Poppy’s synchro team are part of!
Just stunning a really posh kids party and my little girl and her friends are dressed to the 9’s and looking so grown up!
I guess life out here is suiting us…
Sorry its been a little while, to quote my favourite film ‘life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it…’ so today I have stopped to look around and write-up the last couple of months… with a little help from my mum’s diary.
Sunday 17 December
Hooray we are here! M and James came to pick us up in the minibus he has ‘borrowed’ at a very good price. Dropped the bags at Eldemire and then round to Sandalwood close. Unfortunately Ben and Tam’s flight had been delayed out of London, not arriving until midday tomorrow. We adjourned to Sunset House for something to eat – lovely, feels like home to be back. Then we had a look at the Christmas lights.
Finally got to bed at about 11.30 – (4.30 am UK time). Absolutely whacked. Shame about the cockerel outside – it crowed non-stop all night!
Monday 18 December
They’re here! All very excited. We went to Sunset for a drink and some chips. The girls had a dip in M and B and Tam had a dip in the sea pool and the pool, then on to Smiths Cove for a swim in the sea. Matthew made curry for supper.
Ben and the girls were thrilled to have their first dip in the Caribbean Sea, I guess coming from minus 2 degrees celsius in the UK to plus 27 degree celsius here its a bit of a change. As we swam out of the sea pool for the first time we met a nurse shark hanging around to greet them double cool!
Tuesday 19 December
Busy, busy. M wanted to do all ends of the island from Hell, to Rum Point, to Spots. We managed Hell, and round the West loop and Al fresco for some food and a swim. Ian and I sat in the shade on the beach. The rest of them had a glorious swim. Then we got ready and went to a party at Clive and Carol’s house Spooky Clive comes from West Cornwall and used to be involved with ‘Kneehigh’. It was before Ben went down there but they knew lots of the same people, it’s such a small world. Everyone seemed to have a good time.
We stopped at Vivo for coffee, I love this spot at the north end of the island a great dive centre and restaurant overlooking the sea.
We also bumped into Benny’s doppleganger here…
Wednesday 20 December
We took a day off from the crowd. They were all off to the Westin Hotel for the day. Matthew and Victoria had booked Ben and Tamsin in for a night’s stay so they all spent the day up there. They sent the children paddle boarding and apparently had a bit of a scare when they all started drifting away. Apart from Lara who brought herself in and Poppy, who had made a valiant effort to reach the rest and bring them in, ended up getting herself back, the rest were rescued by jet ski! Glad I wasn’t there, I would have panicked like mad. Anyway all was well in the end thank the Lord. We had a nice day wandering about. We went to Cost-u-less and bought a few things and spent a while at Smiths then went to Sunset House for a drink then back to M’s for supper – very nice Carbonaro. Then home to bed.
Well it will make a good story when they are older, ‘remember that time funny Uncle Matthew hired us all paddle boards and we all got swept out to sea.’
The chaps from Red Sail had it all in hand, they said it happens all the time… still it was a lovely day all in all.
Thursday 21 December
OMG one of those days where we spent all day chasing our tails. The plan was all go and meet Ben and Tam at the hotel, have a bit of time there, have a walk round town then go to Spots Cove turtle hunting. Nooo .. got to the hotel late, bad traffic so off back to town, Matthew kept diverting his contingent so after we all called in to J Michael Outlet, Victoria, Ian and I went on to town. Then we called in to Bristol Court and Vicks made sandwiches while the advanced party went on to the beach. Those who were snorkeling saw turtles and those who didn’t had a good swim or sit in the sun. Matthew made a delicious lasagna for supper.
Friday 22 December
Matthew and Victoria were off on John and Dee’s stag/hen does. Ian dropped Ben and Tamsin and Lara and James in town. Then came back – I stayed with the little girls. Then Ian went back to take B and T somewhere else and they all shopped for lunch and dinner. Ben made us all burgers for lunch. We had a trip to Smiths and then made Chinese noodles for dinner. Archie the repair man came round and installed the new microwave and, as a by the way, at my request, sorted out the tumble dryer. Ben and Tamsin, and James and Lara went for a moonlight walk to the beach – Ben had another swim. M and V appeared back just as we were leaving.
Cracking day for the boys, I collected them all in the van and we headed to the distillery and learnt how rum is made. Very educational and tasty.
Then round to Singh’s for Roti before setting off to Rum Point and the start of our round the island pub crawl. The best thing about being the ‘DD’, designated driver was watching the carnage unfold!
As a side game, to keep me entertained while everyone else got sloshed, I had a load of leaflets for a Caribbean themed festival in Cornwall next summer that Benny had brought with him, everywhere we went I put up a poster for his tropical gig.
Over the Edge, South Coast Bar, Pedro, GOH, Bar Crudo, Al-a-Kabab and lots of manly singing all featured on the tour before we eventually caught up with the girls at the Marriott Hotel on Seven Mile Beach for cocktails and then on to the Royal Palms for ‘dancin’.
At this point Bradley (the future brother in law) disappeared so Lucky the bar maid stepped in.
Saturday 23 December
A huge shop – M, B and T and Ian and I went to the supermarket and got all the stuff for Christmas meals. A mammoth task! Ben and Tamsin made burritos for supper.
We had an explore around Camana Bay.
Sunday 24 December
Christmas Eve. Hung around the house all morning.
Ian got cabin fever so he and I and Lara went out for a drive. We went just past the Lighthouse, stopped and had a drink in a beach side bar, had a little paddle then came back. All got burgers from the Burger Shack and took them to Governors beach, and picnicked as the sun went down – lovely.
M and V, Poppy, Sophia and I went to church for the nine lessons and carols service, that was really nice, I always enjoy Christmas church with M and V, real Christmas. Back at the house we ‘watched’ films till late.
Monday 25 December
Christmas Day in Grand Cayman 😎. Who would believe it! We got under way and turned up for breakfast before 10. M had made a breakfast feast. Then the great present unwrap took place.
Dinner turned out very well, if rather later than expected.
A quiet evening, we watched Dr Who and Call the Midwife.
Tuesday 26 December
All the tribe went to the Turtle Centre which they really loved. Ian and I had a lazy morning, a sandwich for brunch at Sunset House, a big tour round West Bay, a drink at Coca Loba and then a peaceful half hour at South Sound. Back to the house for a cuppa, then out to Kirk for some stuff for supper. We demolished the ham with eggs and chips.
We had a brilliant day at the Turtle Sanctury its just wonderful from being mesmerised by the giant fully grown turtles (the size of a VW beetle) to holding the babies just wonderful.
We stopped at Macabuka on the way back – I think this is Benny’s new favorite spot. I swear we saw Ann Hesh there…
Wednesday 27 December
Wedding cake making day. Matthew and I went to Kirk first to get supplies and food for dinner, then he started baking.
This turned into a real nightmare for Matthew, while the small and very small Bundt cakes were turning out perfectly the large size refused to come out of the tin without breaking.
Meanwhile Victoria and Tamsin had gone off running errands including going to Kirk to do the recycling and get a birthday cake for Lily. Then Victoria rang to say Matthew’s car had broken down, so Ian was diverted to go and rescue them. Ben was getting cabin fever so we bunked off to Tiki Beach and had some lunch and a swim.
Matthew still baking when we got back, still no big cakes. Time went on and on. Eventually at about 8.30 Ben made some food for the kids and we had turkey soup and bread. We left at about 10 M still baking.
Typical the cakes had been turning out perfectly in practice and I figured I had it cracked! But no, the wedding cake fairies decided to play pranks and no matter what i did the cakes kept refusing to come out of the tin! I baked 6 and only one survived…
<<<<<<<<<<<<
FortunatelyI had a plan ‘b’ and it turned out pretty well…
Thursday 28 December
Lily’s birthday. Breakfast at Coconut Joes – very nice. Then M and V and James and Poppy went back home to get ready for the wedding – M had managed to make one big cake, four smaller ones and 18 mini ones – we worked out that should be plenty.
We went with Ben and Tamsin and the girls to the Dolphin experience. Unfortunately Lily freaked out at the idea of swimming with the dolphins, and completely refused to go in. Ben was offered a refund, but then it all became too difficult so they ended up with a photo package for Lara instead. Initially Lara wasn’t happy about going in on her own, but she did and thoroughly enjoyed it.
Afterwards we had a drink at Macabuku, then called in to Tiki beach for a swim on the way home. I needed to retreat to the shade so Ian and I went for a drink in the Coca Loba Bar and while we were there I saw Maureen Pope and her husband Mike arrive and stand outside – that was a surprise. (Maureen used to work with mum back in the day at Reading Uni, her son resides here). I dashed out and accosted them. We arranged to meet in Camana Bay next week.
Back at home we decided to go over to the Grand Old House for a drink at Dee and John’s wedding while Ben and Tamsin and the girls went to Sunset House for a meal. We had a drink and bought a snack for supper, stayed a couple of hours and then came back.
Ben went over to join Matthew for a drink.
John and Dee’s wedding looked a million dollars! Not bad for a group of friends pulling together and sorting it out it. The day started with the ceremony on the beach with the happy couple framed by palm trees, with the glistening Caribbean as the back drop and Earl La Piere playing the steel pans, it was perfect. (Earl is only a national treasure and the man who brought pans to Cayman).
Dee looked beautiful. After the service we had champaigne and wedding cake…
Which was a real hit! I am chuffed to say it got loads of compliments including from the Native Caymanian contingent who were very impressed.
Then on to Grand Old house for a knees up!
Friday 29 December
A lovely, long, hot, sunny day at Starfish Point, followed by a drink at Rum Point and something to eat at Over The Edge on the way home. All tired out by the time we got in.
Saturday 30 December
Ben and Tamsin and the girls, plus Poppy went out with Captain Marvin to Stingray City. The rest of us had a quiet time, then Ian volunteered to go and pick them up, so we had a drive round Governors Harbour and a walk on the public beach while we waited for them.
As it was the Cornwall contingent’s last evening here we all went to Rackhams for something to eat.
Sadly they will be off home tomorrow, but they have had an amazing time, really packed in just about all they could manage in two weeks.
Well mum says a quiet day, dad decided to write to the national paper in response to an artical about rubbish and recycling and the issues we have with it here. His letter only went and got published…
< p class=”p1″>Sunday 31 December Ben and co had a last swim, then Victoria made them something to eat before they left. Ben didn’t want to hang around the house waiting to go to the airport so we all (except James) had a mooch round town and a final ice cream/milkshake.
Their plane was delayed but Ben wanted to get to the airport by 3 pm, so we dropped them off – luckily, despite the delay they managed to catch the connection in Dallas. It seemed so strange back at the house without them. Matthew made BBQ for dinner and then we took ourselves off to the Westin to meet up with M and V’s friends to see the New Year in on the beach. It was amazing, fireworks everywhere all round the Sound, they were going off all evening but at midnight it was just mad. James lost his phone on the beach but luckily someone picked it up and he got it back. We didn’t get to bed until gone 1.30 am.
Monday 1 January 2018
A very quiet start, waiting to hear from B and T, they got in on schedule and let us know when they were past Bristol, then again when they reached home. I was glad to hear they were safely back. Victoria made chicken korma for supper. We couldn’t all sit at the table because of the art work, then we sat in the dark and watched a Tom Cruise film called American Made.
Tuesday 2 January
Up and out sharpish – we’ll 10.30. We met up with Maureen and Mike Pope at the Waterfront Restaurant in Camana Bay. We had a good couple of hours with them, very nice breakfast and a good old chin wag. The wonders of Facebook! They seem to be very well settled in Bexhill, apparently they have got family round that way. Still homework going on back at the ranch.
Matthew made corned beef hash for supper then the four of us went over to Sunset House for a drink – I had my daily mudslide! It was quite chilly and windy and the sea was very rough big waves splashing right up against the front wall.
Wednesday 3 January
Everyone back to school so we had a pretty quiet day. We had a drive up to Tiki beach and an iced coffee at Coca Loba – the sea was very rough, no one out playing in the waves today. Came home and made ‘Kenturkey’ Mac and cheese for everyone.
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Vic and I were having our Saturday morning swim at Smith’s just now and I was hoping to catch sight of our resident barracuda.
I caught a movement in the water ahead of us. Something substantial no more than a flicker of a shadow about 15 feet away. As we drew closer the large shape began to resolve and I though there it is.
It was then that I realised it was a nurse shark!
I called over to Vic ‘shark’ she yelped and set off swimming the way we had just come and I set off after the shark.
Seeing I had gone in the opposite direction Vic then turned and followed me.
We swam with a nurse shark in about six foot of water for the next few minutes just lovely!
Only a little one today about four and a half to five feet…
Nurse sharks are like buses nothing for ages and then two come along at once.
Today I saw my first shark in the wild! I can’t tell you how excited I am about the encounter. Dive twenty-nine and I had the privilege of meeting a wild shark.
James, Sissy and I set out on a boat from the Westin Hotel on Seven Mile Beach at 8:15am this morning. We headed north-east toward the wreck of the Kittiwake on what was, to be honest, a very grey and unpromising day. The sea was mill-pond flat but there was none of the usual Caribbean sun beating down.
For those of you that follow dive news you will know that during Tropical Storm Nicole and Hurricane Irma the wreck of the Kittiwake took a battering. One of her four anchor chains snapped and she was driven across the sea bed. To the edge of deep and the Cayman Trench. The only thing that stopped her from disappearing into the black endless deep was the coral wall that she now rest against.
Tilted onto her side she is an entirely new dive adventure. Hovering above her you can look over the wall to the Deep. She is if anything more of a ghost ship than ever!
But for all of her eeriness she is beautiful. The gashes in her side that I entered through last time are now pressed into the sand on the side she lies on. So on this visit our dive concentrated on the upper hull, decks and super structure. A stunning dive.
The crazy angles of her rooms, floors and ceilings played tricks with our senses. The whole world tilted. Physics and perception array. Inside the ship it is so easy to become disoriented as fish seemingly swim along at mad impossible angles, bubbles rise sideways and you fall towards the wall. Wonderful, like a crazy house at a fairground!
In the six months, since I last visited her, nature has taken an even tighter grip of her. Her tilted angle making her less of a human thing than ever, remaking her as an alien place. The deck and superstructure are like a warped playground.
We left the Kittiwake laying there in her watery grave. Silent and hanging over the night below and headed back to the our dive boat on the surface.
Once back on deck we swapped our tanks and got underway. We relocated to a shallow site and a reef called Ballero. The reef was teeming with fish and we were greeted by a stingray, young grouper and snappers. There were stunning bright corals in a rainbow of colours. A curious young turtle came to check us out as much intrigued by us as we by it.
But despite all the beauty and mystery of the Kittiwake the high point of the dive was undoubtedly my first encounter with a shark in the wild!
As we explored the reef we spotted a nurse shark and against all sense we gave chase.
The hunter became the hunted.
But rather than fleeing the shark slowed and we swam with him, just feet away from a sleek apex predator. At 1.6 meters in length he was the size of a tiger with the same unmistakable grace and power.
Only unlike a visit to a zoo nothing separated us. No fence. No cage. Nothing.
Meet the oximoronically named Kiki.
He matched our pace for a few minutes and with an effortless flick of his tail he was gone.
We just hung there wide eyed and thrilled. Gradually we resumed our dive heading back the way we had come. Then a movement out of the corner of my eye and there he was again powering towards the group every inch a shark. Sleek lines, muscle and power heading right at me. Pouncing. I held my breath as he rushed. His tail lashed in an unmistakable sinuous fluid motion.
It was like a moment in a film and while I knew logically I was in no danger the visceral reaction was real. Time slowed. I watched his approach like an out-of-body experience. Heart in my mouth.
Our eyes locked.
At the last second he turned parallel to me about three feet away and slowed instantly to a glide and we swam together like that man, boy and beast. Just incredible, I am still buzzing, what an amazing privilege. Then after what seemed like forever and no time he finally took his leave and resumed his endless hunt of the blue.
This weekend saw the annual invasion of the pirates. The weekend opened with a huge street party, live music and fireworks in George Town on the dockside on Friday evening.
Saturday was a street food extravaganza. One that was so rudely interrupted by two pirate galleons hoving into view. Hundreds poured ashore, the local garrison of Redcoats bravely ran to repel their invasion. But just like last year they were soon overwhelmed and captured!
With the invasion complete the party really began and Cayman’s Pirate Heritage reasserted itself as the Islands once again became Las Tortugas. The poor Redcoats were paraded through town at the head of a carnival. Pirates were everywhere.
Naturally the only way to survive was to blend in…
With our faultless disguises we fitted right in and joined the revels. Bands and DJ’s ruled the streets and the street party began.
Sunday saw us retreat to the Westin for brunch.
and a bank holiday staycashion.
You’ll be pleased to hear once again the Redcoats escaped. They arrested the ring leaders and law and order were restored.
Well it has notall been cake this week. Despite the weather we have been getting out and about.
On Monday we dived at Lantern point with Dive Tech where we saw turtles and a five foot grouper, it was a huge fish! Easily as big as James.
I introduced James and Victoria to the Guardian of the Reef.
Tuesday started with breakfast at Coconut Joes. Always a favourite. Good grub in an unpretentious setting. Just as breakfast was served a chicken jumped up and stole my bacon! It made everyone laugh.
After breakfast headed north for a tour around West Bay. We found two more really nice spots for diving and we journeyed to Hell. Now I have driven through this part of the island a few times but did not realise that tucked away behind the shops and the eponomously named post office is an amazing landscape of jagged rocks and pools. It’s an amazing looking place and it looks like the surface of a mad alien planet. A truely hellish landscape.
This is the real ‘Hell‘, so named because one of the early Governors of the islands upon seeing it for the first time looked at it in the sweltering heat and said, ‘Gods’ this must be what Hell looks like…‘, true story.
We headed back down the island to spend the afternoon on the beach at Governors.
Thursday we headed back up to West Bay again to check out one of the dive sites we scouted out on Tuesday.
Turtle Reef and Sun Divers. Amazing! The water at Trurtle Reef was crystal clear. Refreshing after the heat and humidity at the surface.
20 feet from the shore there is a steep drop of about 50 feet, the ‘Mini Wall’. The Mini Wall is covered with coral and drops down to the sand sea bed. It is essentially a 1/4 mile wide plateau or step that surrounds most of the island gradually sloping down to between 100ft and 130ft were you reach a second reef wall only this one drops down to a depth of between 2 miles and 5 miles… the Cayman Trench.
The reef at the northern end of the island, below about 20ft, is in really good condition and teeming with life.
Almost as soon as we dropped off the mini-wall we were greeted by a stingray. In among the coral we found a stunning black and white conga eel. The reef teemed with fish of all types and hanging out in a cave were 20 to 30 huge tarpon.
The only way to describe the experience is that it is like flying. It so easy to forget you are actually underwater.
At one point I looked up at the pouring rain and thought ‘thank goodness I am not out there, I would get soaked!‘ the fact I was sixty foot underwater and looking at the sea’s surface did not occur to me…
All in all one of the best dives we have had.
Thursday was a quiet day just sat listening to the rain and doing a few little bits and piece (including my Tax Return…). Then in the evening we went out for lovely meal with John and Dee at The Brassarie.
On Friday Poppy and Holly went with the ladies to have high tea at the Ritz!
The boys in the meantime had Roti. At the Roti Shop. With the Roti Club. Not the most imaginatively named group but like Ronseal it does exactly what it says on the tin. Roti.
Lovely grub and loads of laughs.
I am back at home now writing this and once again listening to the rain, it is absolutely torrential and relentless. It was just like this for half term last year! The whole garden is flooded under about 5 inches of water.
It has been such a long half term! Returning formally to work on the 14th August and running up to 20th October has been a long slog.
I know my friends with real jobs will roll their eyes and sigh something like, “teachers” but teaching isn’t like the real world or a real job it is so much more demanding than many jobs and ask so much more of you emotionally, physical and personally than other professions. It has many of the demands of social work; as a head teacher you are also running a medium to large business with 50 to 100 staff and a multi million pound budget; it has very long hours (despite the popular myths its not a nine to four job at all); you are dealing with young children and absolutely everyone thinks they could do a better job and knows more about education than you do just because they once went to school…
Anyway it has been a very long and hard half term three solid weeks of rain and wet play have not helped as it has meant everyone is on duty without a break everyday for days on end and the kids never get a chance to run around and burn of all their excess energy!
But it is HALF TERM! Oh and its pouring with rain… But it is HALF TERM!
So what has this term brought so far?
Well as you know from my earlier posts it has been a really active hurricane season here in the Caribbean. We have watched the weather really closely and breathed a sigh of relief each time we have been missed.
That’s not to say we have been unaffected, as I have already said we have experience 3 to 4 weeks of near solid rain. The rain here has been torrential among the heaviest rain I have ever seen and I lived in monsoon countries…
It has meant rough seas but we have had some beautiful skies and rainbows as well.
The wet weather has allowed me time to learn to bake cakes. I have never been very good at cakes but friends have asked me to make a couple of cakes for them and an upcoming event so I have had to learn. The brief is to bake a traditional Caymanian Rum Cake. After several weeks of practice I feel that I have got it pretty well cracked so I am working on chocolate rum cake (think Bounty Bar) and my own invention an apple rum cake topped with toffee apples…
Of course all of the cake making has meant lots of tasting sessions and so tea parties at our house have become a feature of social life here.
In 2011 we spent a month in Australia among our adventures we flew to the Red Centre looking out of the plane window at the desert below I was struck by how much the dried lakes and salt pans looked like Aboriginal art or cave paintings.
Iricanji a poisonous jelly fish / iri wiri good water
Looking down on the dry river cut country tribal art is revealed
The lands ancient wrinkled skin
Weathered horny hide cracked and lined by countless endless summers
Covered by tattoos
Ancient etchings
Painted by dream time hands
Parched riverbed silhouettes spreading branches of long past trees
Each black dot of tinder dry bush
A leaf a pinprick of paint
Beneath the boughs
Green grey ribbon
Snake coils slither
Across vast brown empty
Half submerged bask
Salties, tortoise and go-ana
Huge vast and ancient
Scales and spines
Hills and escarpments
Reptilian and still
Red marsupial mountains
Hop, bound and leap
Between billabong and creek
Desiccated lakes
Iridescent salt pan opal
Birds and fish
An image of bounty
In a lifeless ochre and brown sun burnt expanse
We are under the storm. Somewhere.
Friday
Friday was an unusually hot and airless day.
But by the late afternoon we began to feel the forecasted steadily strengthening breeze.
By 7.30pm we we were experiencing a strong constant wind and the sea was starting to get more agitated.
As the wind grew stronger we could see all around us little signs of precautions being taken. Along the beaches furniture, particularly brollies, being removed. Many houses had their storm shutters closed.
An eerie quiet everywhere.
During Friday Irma’s anticipated path shifted west over central Cuba, so closer by 100 miles. It meant we were likely to feel more of her affects over night.
Here in Cayman we are on the edge of her cone of effect, all of the predicted tracks have her pulling north only glancing past us and then hitting Florida full on. But storms are notoriously hard to predict accurately a shift west or south, even of only 50 miles, would bring us further into the maelstrom and the the predictions are that as she hits the really warm water in the northern Caribbean she once again will intensify.
So we have watched the news and kept checking the websites compulsively all week. Every quiver, every change of path scrutinised and speculated on.
At the airport Caymanians and expats alike have been greeting friends and family from all over the Northern Caribbean and Florida as they flee ahead of the approaching tempest. Refugees seeking safety. Citizens of the most powerful nation on Earth sheltering here on the one of the smallest and lowest lying from a storm the size of France.
We have watched the news as Hurricane Irma has hit other islands, near identical to our own home and only a relatively short distance away.
We have seen houses and lives blown to pieces, communities washed away and devastated.
Whole countries gone.
Barbuda the first island stuck has been levelled, 90% of all buildings and infrastructure gone. The place all but uninhabitable and they, dear God, are waiting for Hurricane Jose in a couple of days!
Governor Gus Jaspert of the British Virgin Isles must really wonder who he annoyed. He was only posted to the Caribbean in May and already his territory has been wiped away. He has declared the islands a disaster zone and a state of emergency. Not I imagine what he thought he would be doing three months into a new job!
His peer Governor John Freeman of Turks and Caicos in the hours before the storm hit made a broadcast that made me choke and tears well up when I heard it. It still makes me shudder when I think of it.
Hunker down, stay where you are … Nobody can get to you either – people are, for a little while, on their own.
Turks and Caicos, like its sister Barbuda, has been devastated.
The resemblance to Cayman of these islands and people not just a passing trick of the light but the result of shared roots and history. The people and patterns of speech so closely related to the people we meet and greet everyday as to make strangers seem familiar.
But today where they are marked by horror, traumatised, we are touched by the guilt that comes from a sense of relief, ‘spared thank God‘.
Our hearts and prayers go out to them.
I’ve said before that prayer is everywhere here it marks all gatherings. My amazing Caribbean melting pot of a staff have been teaching me how to pray properly. Encouraging my baby steps. This week I got a big Amen and ‘yes Lord’ as I touched a chord.
Dear Lord,
It is not for us to understand your plan but to trust you and your design for us.
As Hurricane Harvey passed us last week we thanked you for sparing us, even as we remembered and prayed for all those who were affected by the hurricane and rains in the Texas.
Today we watch Hurricane Irma. We pray once again for those affected, for those souls on Barbuda, Puerto Rico, Haiti the Bahamas, Turks and Cacaos, Cuba and the Virgin Islands and all of Florida.
We pray for those on islands already impacted and those who are waiting.
We pray for friends and family who are affected, for strangers who lives have been blown apart or washed away.
Lord like the disciples on the Sea of Galilee who cried out in fear at the sight of the storm we ask you calm the tempest carry us safely in your arms.
In Jesus’s name.
Amen
Tomorrow is the 10th September and the peak day of the Hurricane Season.
Two months down and two to go as we watch storms swirl around us. One has to wonder what else this season holds? What other monsters lurk out there? Will we stay lucky as we play roulette with Mother Natures wrath?
This could be ‘Lee’. This depression has 40% chance of forming a named tropical storm in the next 48 hours…
Saturday
Cloudy skies and a stiff wind this morning. The clouds are scudding by at a rate of knots. We now know Irma ran along Cuba’s northern facing cost rather than moving inland.
We are safe this morning.
Overnight it was very blowy. All the streets and gardens look like they have been swept clean by careful gardeners while we slept.
The sea is very rough this morning but Irma has had other targets in mind.
So today we are all well here.
Biggest storm in the Atlantic in recorded history and we were there… and I was worried about hurricanes…
Thank you to everyone who is thinking of us.
Oh and we have another picture for the album. A family shot. This time of Katia, Irma and Jose. Siblings. Harvey’s children. The Children of the Storm.
As I say we are under there somewhere looking up waving at you to say we are well.
But here is the kicker…
We have been here before.
We do indeed reside under a restless sky.
It was a wonderful summer. I spent loads of time with Victoria and the kids, with friends and visitors. A time to play, rest and unwind.
I did spend time working but at my pace and without the sense of dread and impending panic I have known for the last few years.
Holidays used to be about trying to catch up or get ahead; data crunching; policy writing; filing; all of it a waste of time, none of it ever helped anyone. Least of all my pupils but there was always a pressure to get it done!
Not this year! The work I have done has been useful and productive. So much so that I was actually prepared for the start of the school year. Not only did I feel prepared for the start of term but for the first time in years I was ready and raring to go!
Looking forward to it.
I have had none of my usual anxiety dreams the ones I have come to associate with the last couple of weeks of a break. None of the nerves, none of the foreboding! Just a sense that this is going to be a good year!
For years the last nights of any holiday have been marked by one particular recurring dream. One that I wake up from every time, actually force myself to wake up from, wound up and worried.
In my dream I am back at school. More accurately back at boarding school and The Mount House.
All my friends, no, more than friends we lived together and grew up together, have left and I have had to stay on to repeat the sixth form and my ‘A’-Levels.
I just stand there in the lobby of my boarding house. Alone. There is no one there just me waiting for the new term… There in front of me is the big old oak table where Paul Holmes, our House Master, used to put the post but there are no letters for me. I’ve been forgotten.
You know I can still smell the furniture polish and the claggy mud on the floor of the changing room. A metallic clay smell.
It has been more than twenty-five years since I left Bethany but I could still walk the mile from my old boarding house, The Mount, to the main school with my eyes closed. I remember every step, every turn, every rise and fall of the path. We used to walk it morning noon and night. In rain, snow, sunshine and in the dark. I used to walk the whole route while reading a book and never had to look up and never a missed step.
Thanks to Raaaaay the cook, he was deaf and rolled the ‘a’ in his own name with a nasally flat quality, I to this day can not eat overcooked pasta or stand the smell of boiled minced meat and the smell of school canteen Bolognese still affects me physically!
I do however have very fond memories of the tea. Great metal teapots on the table with teabags the size of pillows stewing in them. On a cold wet evening or first thing on a frosty morning they made the mile trek from The Mount to the dinning hall worthwhile, warming your fingerless glove covered hands on the pot in the morning was heavenly.
Yes I went to school in a Dickensian novel. OK the fingerless gloves were a fashion thing but other than that a proper old-fashioned British boys boarding school where we called each other by our surnames.
The new boys were ‘plebs‘.
Brothers carried the monikers ‘major‘, ‘minor‘ and for some poor sods ‘minimus’.
The Prefects had their own common room, where by ancient decree the Masters could not enter without permission. I think they stayed out because the place was a health hazard, but we loved it.
The Boys used hide in the bogs and smoke while the teachers lurked about outside trying to catch the ‘giffers‘. At least I think that’s why they were lurking around the boys toilets.
Maybe now looking back at the Victorian monochrome memories of childhood with modern more cynical eyes the Masters motives were not so innocent. Not the harmless cat and mouse I used to think it was.
Yes, some of the Masters were sadist pricks (Chaz and Dave) but the majority were thoroughly decent chaps who not only made school bearable but memorable and fun too.
The colourful nicknames we gave them still make me chuckle, Bomber, Fritz, Grabber, Axe, Hammer, Bernie, Waggles, Monkey and Gut.
I still tear up when I recall Richard Ashlin’s death during the Great Storm of ’87. Bloody good bloke and story for another day.
We had a sailing club, tuck boxes and letter writing. Exiates at the weekend and had to polish our shoes and boots the old-fashioned way with brushes. Everyday.
Yes, there was institutional bullying and I am ashamed to say that I, in turn, played my part in that sad tradition. Not to the extent of some and thankfully not for long but Collison and Thurley have every reason to hate the young me. Sorry lads, genuinely.
I will always remember the comradery fondly and oddly the musty dog piss smell of wet duffel coats as they steamed, drying on the radiators on a rainy dark winter evening.
Oh and the mortar shell, mustn’t forget the UXB. Oh how we laughed when it didn’t explode. The sort of hysterical, ‘I can’t believe we are still alive’ laugh that follows a near death experience. Thanks Gregory. You dick!
Yes there were some real laughs, an unreality born of 250 bored boys boarding together. But the thought of an extra two years there is just too much!
This year there was no dream. I didn’t go back. I wasn’t stood in the front hall of The Mount. Alone. Forgotten. This year I was looking forward to the start of term.
I welcomed everyone back twelve days ago and we set about unpacking.
One of the realities of living and working in the Caribbean is Hurricane Season. From the beginning of June to the end of November the danger of a hurricane hitting is a reality.
Our schools are built to be public shelters in the event of a disaster. In term time we have to be able to switch seamlessly from school to shelter with 24 hours notice.
Back in June we mothballed the school prior to the summer holiday exodus. We just have to pack everything away as a precaution in case there is a hurricane and the school has to open as a shelter.
Clearly this has implications on how we resource and manage our schools and hurricane preparedness is part of our curriculum. Its a fact of life but for the next two months we will be watching the weather closely and following how each storm system over the Atlantic develops.
Ready to run.
During our set up week we were watching Cyclone Number 9 wondering if we would have to repack everything just as we finished setting up.
Cyclone Number 9 was predicted to become Tropical Storm Harvey and then a hurricane of the same name. Its track had it entering the Southern Caribbean and passing close by or hitting us directly. Predicting the track of hurricanes is not an exact science there is all sorts of room for uncertainty.
However it tracked westward and stayed south. We were lucky, it passed 150 miles south of the Cayman Islands. It swung past and we had a few days of very heavy rain and high winds but nothing too alarming. When it made landfall in Venezuela it was barely a category 2. Bad. But a miss for us.
In truth, after that, we dismissed Harvey we thought he was done and then it got up to the Gulf of Mexico and exploded.
You have seen the news. When Harvey reached the Gulf of Mexico he went on the rampage and devastated swathes of Texas!
$16 billion of damage and 50 dead. We were lucky but they have paid a huge price.
Hurricane season 2017 is in full swing, two months down and two to go. The peak of the season is next week, 10th September, but this is a statistical misnomer as lots of the real monsters come late in the season growing huge as a result of gorging on all the energy (heat) stored in the sea at the end of the summer.
We currently have four storms systems swirling around us. It is like living on a mythological Greek island surrounded by a wall of storms.
Watching Wonder Woman in the cinema here last month the audience just looked at the Amazons’ Island and went ‘yep, been there…‘
Cyclone Number 10, Irma, is a bit of a worry. She is heading west across the atlantic, already a category 3 hurricane and 1500 miles of growing to go.
She would be beautiful if she was not so scary.
The models have her shifting north and running up the east coast of the States or turning back into the Atlantic but the same models also say there is a good chance she will barrel straight into the Caribbean. As I said it is not an exact science.
Oh and then hot on her heals is Cyclone Number 11 or Jose to his friends.
Still, not as stressful as waiting for OfSTED to call. At least with hurricanes you know that they are mindless savage monsters intent on destruction. OfSTED claims to be about school improvement.
I digress. Storms aside it has been a really great start to the term and school year.
It was lovely welcoming the staff back and even nicer having all the children back filling the place with noise and life once more.
Last week also saw the official welcome for our new cohort of Cayman education staff. As a Principal I was invited to the briefing. The morning provided an opportunity to meet key personnel from the Ministry, Department of Education and catch up with my fellow school Principals. There was a lot of information for our newcomers to take in but the backdrop to the session reminded us all why we are here and why we work so hard to provide a world class education.
Its been hard work this last couple of weeks but rewarding.
And come the weekend we went for a dive…
Today we had our first family dive. Cissy, Paul, Stephanie and Euan joined us for a two tank dive at Eden Rock.
Victoria and Poppy both swam through the mysterious caves! As we swam through Victoria thought she saw a shark silhouetted in the cave exit ahead of us. I shook my head and made the sign of a 'T' for tarpon.
Admittedly it was huge nearly 2 meters long. Certainly bigger than Poppy but not a shark unfortunately! Darn those pesky fish.
We were rather spoilt with sightings of two turtles, a stingray, hagfish and a squadron of about 20 squid. The water was stunningly clear.
'I don't know where dad is". Surprise attack from above. 
A wonderful day out for the whole scuba gang.
Poppy has discovered Instagram and the art of the selfie…
Living like the Instagram Generation, blue skies and sunshine!
Victoria, James and Poppy had a trial dive a couple of weeks ago and inspired by the experience they decided that they wanted to get their PADI Certificates.
So this week they signed up for a three day course. Over the weekend they spent their time studying and on Monday they had a day studying the theory with a instructor.
A trip up to West Bay and Lantern Point on Tuesday and Wednesday for two days of training and testing with Divetech followed.
I am very proud to say that all three passed!
Quite a big step for all of them…
We had a meal out just after we first arrived here and I ordered the Cayman style coconut fish it was delicious. Unfortunately I have not been able to find it since. So I decided to give it a go myself, turned out to be quite straightforward.
I used swai, a relatively cheap white fish, rolled it in flower, then egg and finally desiccated coconut and shallow fried it… like I said easy. I served it with coconut rice, a green salad, guacamole made with fresh local avocado and a simple salsa. It was really yummy!
Well boys week is over. I packed Adam back on the plane. But not without a little drama I might add. First his flight was cancelled. But worry not the airline had a later flight it just meant flying to somewhere slightly further west in the States than he had initially planned. He took off after the short delay only to get caught in a storm and then have his connecting flight delayed. He was then diverted again and had to make an extra connection somewhere… I am told he eventually got home but it sounds like it was a bit of trek.
In the meantime I tidied up the house and got down to some school work. I had three days to myself before Vic and the kids got back so I put them to good use getting the shopping in; changing the beds; cleaning and going to work.
Monday arrived and I collected my brood from the airport.
Shattered but happy to be home. We had a couple of easy days as they got over their adventures and found their feet once again before John, Natalie and Chloe arrived.
I’ve known John since my first day at university and he is James’s Godfather and I am his daughter Chloe’s Godfather. I think that makes them God-cousins or something… Anyway we are close and I have missed them while we have been here especially my Chloe (John not so much…).
As an aside here we are when Chloe was just new! A day out in Rock Cornwall. I have lost track of how many times we visited this beautiful little spot.
True to form John had spent months researching places to eat. His objective was to eat ‘authentic and local‘, you have to say this in a deep authoritarian slightly posh voice to get the full effect. So we did.
The Heritage Kitchen in West Bay and The Big Tree Bar-b-que were our favourites serving unpretentious high quality local food like rice and beans, fried fresh caught fish and jerk meat. Simple food cooked well. He was very pleased with his discoveries and obviously at having introduced us to local fare that we otherwise would never have found on our own.
I didn’t have the heart to tell him that it is the same food we serve everyday in the school canteen or that he did not get the chance to try a proper fish fry or swanky but he seemed happy none the less.
We took our guests sight-seeing but on the whole we had a happy week on the beach relaxing and spent the evenings cooking. John is a really good cook so it was a chance to get him to teach me some really nice vegetarian recipes for when Tamsin visits at Christmas…
We spent most of the ten days in or on the water in one form or another either at Smith’s Cove; chasing sea turtles at Spotts; snorkelling the wreck up on Seven Mile Beach; Natalie and I diving; canoeing in the mangroves or lunching at Hemmingways.
We did head over to Kaibo for the beach bar-b-que and had a wonderful evening under the stars where Chloe, despite being horrified that we grown ups all got up and danced, joined in the dancing!
A few months ago, at a loss what to get Chloe for her 16th birthday, I promised that when she came to visit I would take her for her first dive. It was time to make good. I extended the invitation to James, Poppy and Victoria who all said they would like to go too! So we all headed over to Sunset House where they all spent a couple of hours in the pool before heading out to sea for their collective maiden dive!
I tagged along to watch and see how they got on and to generally share the experience.
It was like watching ducklings. The four of them waddling around with tanks strapped to their backs it was hilarious! I half expected one of them to turn turtle at any minute and lay there on the floor with their legs kicking feebly in the air. But no they all managed to get to the sea.
I don’t mind saying being responsible for sending your children and god-daughter on their first dives is a little nerve-wracking. You know one of those things that sounds cool when you suggest it but as they all sink out of sight beneath the waves you re-evaluate!
I followed along on the surface. Given they were only going down to 40 feet they were close enough that in the event of a calamity I could reach them.
From above watching the poor dive instructor with the group it was like watching him trying to herd cats (or cat-fish at least). As he tried to keep the group together and they shot off hither and yon distracted by all the shiny fish! Unlike herding cats on land under water they can go up and down as well adding whole new dimensions to trying wrangle them!
As it turned out they had a blast.
When they all surfaced safely 45 minutes later they were babbling happily, as high as kites with the excitement of what they had just experienced! They all loved it.
Status as the cool Godfather firmly intact!
James and Poppy have asked to do their PADI qualifications on the back of it.
Oh and Poppy turned 12! So we took her out for lunch at Al Frescos. Poppy loves the lasagna there…
We saw John, Natalie and Chloe off on Sunday it was great seeing them!
This week Castaways began drifting back from their various adventures…
We headed up the island to Tiki Beach and the Red Sail Sports where we rented a couple of Wave Runners. The chaps gave us a quick ‘safety briefing‘ which was more about keeping other people alive as opposed to us.
He pointed out three large buoys about 1/2 a mile from the beach. One marking the north end of the jet ski run, one the middle and the other the southern end about 1 and a 1/2 miles apart. Three miles in total, running from the top end of 7 Mile Beach down to the Westin Hotel.
We climbed onto our boats and at five miles an hour headed out from the beach to the appointed area. Once out in the designated channel we opened up the throttles.
The things moved like rockets. Torpedoes. Totally mad just zooming along inches above the surface of the water the slightest waves sending the wave runners jumping into the air.
I clung on each time the machine jumped it nearly threw me off. It was everything I could do to hang on.
I was not so much riding as hanging on for dear life. Griping the handlebars just held the throttle down causing the machine to go faster and faster. The wave-runner shot over the water at 25mph, 35mph until we hit 45mph.
The three mile course took a little over four minutes to cover, running out of road, I managed to force myself to let go of the the throttle. I eased it back and managed to slow down! It was a total act of will it went against all instinct.
After a couple more wild runs I relaxed enough to be a bit more in control. Turning was a case of leaning to one side or another rather than steering. Steering just led to wild overstear!
By the end of the half hour we were racing each other, zig-zagging across each others’ wakes to catch waves and jump, skidding into turns and spinning around doing doughnuts!
It was great fun hurtling along Seven Mile Beach, completely crazy, I spent the whole time giggling like an idiot.
When we finished our legs were like jelly and they ached so much from hanging on! We hobbled around like old farts for the rest of the week.
For Adam’s final dive of the week we went to Sunset House and swam out to meet Amphitrite. The fish on the Reef were amazing some of the best we have seen all week.
We had a spot of lunch and headed for a walk around Camana Bay. Where we headed up the observation tower for a view of the whole island.
James, Poppy and I have had a great week out of Grand Cayman. Although we are without Matthew and we are missing him.
Don’t feel too sorry for him though as he has a friend with him who is visiting from the Uk. They are probably having a right old knees up! They have been diving, jet skiing, eating out and going to the pub.
The photos are of the church where my sister got married (inside and outside), my beautiful sister and handsome new brother in law, George, Poppy and my nieces Alice and little Daisy. The other bridesmaid photo also has the three youngest bridesmaids, Poppy, Alice and cousin Vienna.
We arrived into Heathrow on Tuesday at midday after an 11 hour flight.
We were picked up by friends who live near Heathrow (thanks Debbie and John) and spent a couple of hours with them and Stephanie at their house.
We then dashed off to Cyprus on Wednesday morning at 5am to get to Cyprus for my sister’s wedding. There was a villa party that evening followed by the Wedding the next day. It was a traditional Greek wedding. It was translated into English too.
Then we went to the beach on Friday, Water World Aqua Park on Saturday followed by a lovely evening meal at the restaurant where the wedding venue was, courtesy of George, my new brother in law (thanks George, very kind of you) then we went home (to my mum and dad’s house in Bournemouth) on Sunday.
We got back early hours of Monday morning. We have done one trip to Tescos and brought lots of bargains (everything is soooo expensive in Grand Cayman) to take back. We have met friends in Bournemouth yesterday, it was great to catch up. I am meeting a friend for lunch today.
We travel back to London on Saturday evening to stay with my aunt near Richmond before leaving for Heathrow on Monday morning as we have friends coming to see us in Grand Cayman on 13th July.
We are having coffee with one of James’ friends in London (we are squeezing that one in between his friend’s and our busy schedules on Sunday) and meeting Poppy’s old school friends in Richmond on Sunday. Sorry to our Ford and Wilkinson families in London and all our ‘London’ friends but as we are without transport and only in the UK for such a short time we are finding catching up with all of you a bit tricky.
I know this is a busy time of year so we’ll just have to keep using Facebook to catch up. We are also sorry that we can’t catch up with the Read family in Cornwall.
However if anyone who live nearby Richmond thinks they might be about and be able to pop to Richmond on Sunday evening then we will be there.
Love to you all. X Victoria.
Under an Endless Sky 