With Blake working 10-12 hour days we both look forward to the weekends, when we can relax and remember that we live on a tropical paradise. This weekend was one of the best yet. On Friday after work we met up with an Irish couple for dinner at Guy Harvey's. Guy is something of a legend on the island. Born in Jamaica and raised on Cayman, he is a well-known artist and marine enthusiast with a whole line of clothing and souvenirs imprinted with is name. He also owns a restaurant famous for their nightly $10 specials and half off happy hour drinks. An appetizer, bread, steak and fries for ten dollars is a huge deal here, so we couldn't pass that up, especially when the company is Irish, you know it will be a good time! Saturday we were up early for the long awaited and slightly dreaded confined water dives! For those of you who don't know, we have started our PADI diving course. Academics took up the better part of last weekend, and this weekend it was time to start the water theory. I've been determined to get my PADI certification since I visited UBC in grade 11 and saw a sticker on a dorm room wall... maybe not the best reason to attempt the sport, but a reason nevertheless. Blake, unfortunately, has had to withstand pressure from my end, as he wasn't as excited at the prospect of breathing underwater (maybe because he has just managed to effectively breathe while sleeping...) So Saturday Scuba Len took us out. Now before I go any further, I must describe scuba Len for you. He was a marine in the U.S. for years, part of the special service. He is over six feet tall, shaved head, beefy and his upper body is covered in tattoos. He used to jump out of helicopters for work, and now he drives motorbikes, dives into submerged submarines with dead occupants on board, and is attempting the world record for the deepest dive in June at nearly 500ft off the North Wall here in Cayman. He is optimistic about his survival rate... I'm not sure anyone else is. Scuba Len also has a softer side. The first time we went to meet him we were stopped dead in our tracks as he shushed us to be quiet. He was on his dock feeding the largest pelican I have ever seen. This is his wild pet who comes twice daily to be fed by Len. On Saturday he took us out on his pontoon (one of the 6 boats he co-owns with an oil barren from Texas) to North Sound. The water was crystal clear, perfect for learning to scuba, and learn we did. It was neat to be able to breathe underwater and not have to worry about staying near the surface. Almost like being weightless in space. We even got to follow a stingray for awhile. After our lesson we got back on board and ready to head back, but then Scuba Len decided he'd rather hunt conch. We stopped in the middle of North Sound and the boys went snorkelling for snail-like creatures. It took only minutes for us to reach the 12 conch limit and we were off and back to town, where we learned how to clean and harvest the conch. Len made an amazing conch dip in less than 5 minutes. It was delicious! Exhausted after our diving day, we headed home for the night.
Sunday does not need much description at all, because we were doing the same thing every other Canadian should be doing...watching the best hockey game of all time. We went to Legends, a sports bar where we met up with a couple from Edmonton who are down here for the same reason we are. He plays on Blake's ball hockey team ( go figure, that is where all of the Canadians can be found) and he actually knows KPMG people from Blake's home office. Small island, small world. The bar was a sea of red and the cheers we made were probably heard all the way to West Bay. After the victory the whole bar stood and sang O Canada. It was a weird feeling to be so patriotic outside of our country, but it also made us both realize how proud we are to be Canadian, regardless of the game outcome. I'm pretty sure that match added about 2 years worth of wrinkles to my forehead and a few grey hairs, but it was worth it! What a great end to a phenomenal weekend!
Pictured above: Conch dip, scuba gear, a beautiful conch shell, Blake and I in North Sound
No comments:
Post a Comment