Cayman - Week 1

Well folks we are in the Caribbean, Grand Cayman to be specific visiting Bridget, Mark and the “Bump”.  What’s it like here? Well, here’s a clue.

Beach Walk with Bridget and the Dog

Here’s another clue - Ben Miller in “Death in Paradise” (http://www.uktv.com.au/shows/death-in-paradise/).

Ben Miller - No one wears a suit on the beach.

I suppose anther question is “Well, where the devil are you?”.  See map.  Ben Miller filmed at Guadeloupe (circled on the right).    

So, is it easy to get to? Hell no – it involves a long time sitting in an uncomfortable airline seat, and worst of all, the worry of getting half way around the world means transiting the US of A, this time LAX (as in BrookLAX, a LAXative).

Better in the Picture than Real Life

No connection to LAX

What you don’t need at a major American hub is a delay.  Kidner Jeremy stuffed the immigration thing up by putting his visa on one passport and embarking on another thereby confusing the system as Mr Shih, the officer at LAX pointed out.  By this time I didn’t need the Brooklax for obvious reasons as I thought I was bound for Guantanamo Bay never mind Botany Bay.   KJ compounded this up further on arrival at Grand Cayman by producing the Qantas seat reservation confirmation in lieu of the required bank statement.  “Never mind” the officer said, “you’re going to see Bridget right?”  That’s island life for you. 

We were a little concerned about luggage.  Such is the warmth and generosity of our wonderful friends is Aus, there was a constant stream of people arriving with “a little something for the baby”.  Thank you one and all, and please if you send something, DON’T post it.  Post costs more than the airfare and there is duty payable on arrival at the Cayman end – because the place is tax free, everything that arrives on the island is taxed.

The new family looks well – Bridget is blooming and Mark’s intensive rugby training has made him a bit of an Adonis.   Three good looking people.

Mark, Birdget and Doreen

Bridget and Mark have their hands full with BK’s full on work, Mark’s battle with bureaucracy to get his new business off the ground, getting their reno finished and moving out of Mark’s townhouse to provide us with somewhere to live while we are here.  Kidner Jeremy for a change was found something useful to do – push a wheelbarrow down the garden path and chuck the tiles into the trailer after Mark jack hammered them off the floor.   Because I left the lead to connect my mobile to the PC at home, I can’t show the photo of Mark hard at work, so I thought the ladies might like the star himself.  

Doreen and Mark

I thought I ought to include one of the local chicks.

local Chicks....

In between working all the hours that God sends and organising a reno, BK was also a prime mover in their office party which provided some revealing moments according to Tim, her boss who admitted that “never in the history of Walkers had so much flesh owed so much to so little cloth at an office party” (with apologies to Sir Winston Churchill).  And these are lawyers – can you imagine what the night crowd are like? Here’s some “Brown Girl In the Ring” by Boney M to give all this some Caribbean flavour.  http://youtu.be/zaWsIzWZFr0

One of the anomalies here is that, Brit style, everyone drives on the left.  But, US cars are cheap and plentiful and, because they have the steering wheel on the wrong side, people need to be reminded sign. I thought this was a little over the top until Mrs K had to avoid a car coming at her on the wrong side of the roundabout.  Then we saw it repeated the next day.  Maybe this is the car for the Caymans. My school friend Michael Good had one of these and we thought it would pull the birds only to find out there wasn’t enough room in the thing.

Hasn’t the test against England been an absolute cracker!  Mrs K found the series live on Cayman TV just in time to watch Mitchell Johnson’s historic 5 wickets in half an hour.  Watching him bowl was like a slow motion replay of an artillery barrage. http://www.smh.com.au/sport/cricket/ashes-2013-mitchell-johnson-destroys-england-20131122-2y0d8.html.  Picture courtesy of the Sydney Morning Herald.  I didn’t bother searching the UK papers – I figured they would probably want to feature the bingo….

Historic Test Bowling