Random island weekends

I live for the weekends here! Although we are on a tiny island, there never seems to be any shortage of things to do. It seems like every month there is at least one fair or event being held, and the rest of the weekends fly by in a blur of social gatherings, chores and beach time. One of the wonderful things about this island is that the most random things happen when you least expect them. Take last weekend, for example. In an effort to save our livers and a bit of cash, our group of friends decided to have a picnic at one of the only parks on the island. We gathered up salads, cheeses and wine and met at sunset on the edge of the beach in a nice shady and grassy spot. We had a great evening under the stars, just sipping wine and exchanging crazy work stories. It wasn't until my friend Kate and I headed off to the washroom, dodging iguana holes in the dark, that we happened upon a deflated yet fully operational bouncy castle. A quick look around in the dark proved that we were the only occupants in the park. We looked around the back of the castle and noticed that it need only be plugged in to blow up. We returned to the table with our wonderful observation and we decided that it wasn't every day you found an abandoned bouncy castle. We quickly headed back to inflate it. I was seconds away from connecting the plugs when I saw a uniformed guard come around the corner, flashlight in hand. I dropped the cord and exclaimed loudly "Well it is a good thing this is unplugged! I can just imagine what would happen if it had accidentally inflated!" Kate and I hightailed it back to the picnic table. The guards followed us and eyed up the crew. THe main guy struck up a conversation with Lachie and it wasn't long before they were calling each other mates and laughing. The guards left the park eventually and we all ran back to the castle. With one flip of a switch the castle inflated in to the best funhouse any twenty year old can imagine! Complete with a tiny entry door and four sides the 8 of us hopped on and proceeded to act like five year olds for the next half hour. It wan't until all of our crazy jumping stunts dislodged the castle from the air inflator that we were forced to crawl through the floppy rubber mess and call it a night! What a blast and completely random at that!

This past weekend we came upon another random feature of the island. After a beautiful morning dive with Brett and Sarah, followed by a great BBQ lunch overlooking the ocean, we headed over to Spott's Beach. A popular hangout for necking teens and snorkelers who love swimming with turtles, Spotts Beach is only a few kilometres from our house. However, with Brett's stealthy skills, he quickly had us clambering up ironshore cliffs and scaling rich people's garden walls in order to deliver us right to the most exciting cave. With a large opening and sandy bottom the cave was something from my dreams ( suffice it to say, I like small dark places)! There were bats hanging from the ceilings and huge concave holes leading to smaller chambers, most too small to wriggle in to. I could have spent the rest of the day imagining pirate's off loading their bounty and swigging rum, but turns out Blake isn't the biggest bat fan of bats, so we stayed no longer than necessary.

It is unique finds like caves and lonesome carnival castles that make every weekend on this island fresh and exciting. Although we are super excited to be heading back to Canada for 12 days this week, there is the smallest part of us that felt a little sad listening to the others plan next weekend, knowing we wouldn't be around. However, my little sister is getting married in 5 days and there is nothing in the world (except a hurricane... which is a distinct possibility at this point) that could keep me away from watching my amazing Melinda walk down the aisle! There is nobody quite as special as a sister!