Thursday, 22 February 2007
Whirlwind week end in London for Steph...
For the half term break I flitted off to London for a very brief visit. I was lucky enough to see so many friends who had made the effort to track me down in a cosy pub somewhere between Clapham and Earlsfield! I was especially happy to be able to spend some quality time with Bron, Norm, Jax and Steed.
I did some shopping, had a really nice boozy lunch, learnt the art of using hair spray and lay in bed till 3am each night reading Spud.
The jetlag (of which I really thought there'd be none) clearly screwed up my clock and so couldnt sleep at all. Only to get back to Cayman and sleep like the dead for a week solid! Its been bliss having the bed to myself- no 6 foot-something man to share it with.... utter bliss.
But alas, its been crazy being here on my own with no hubby to share a walk along the beach with. This week end we had a crazy night at Pippa's hen party- boy oh boy did us girls party... getting pretty used to these 3am mornings now... The girls were on fine form and ended the night with some fancy dancing at The Next Level.
Lee's back next week....
Tuesday, 13 February 2007
another move beckons...
So ... both Lee and I have resigned.
Yes- once more we are heading off into the great wide open... although its more like 'backtracking' this time. We will be back in London for the European summer. We plan on doing many camping trips, week ends away and a long gastronomic feast to Italy... but until then, its paradise here and we're very happy to enjoy it to the max.
deserted beach to have a scrummy late lunch, a beer and play some cards. Sunset was looming so we packed up and wakeboarded all the way home- and poor Dupree was once again the source of some fun as we took her on a drive-by past the tourists on their sunset cruise- needless to say she carved like a pro and jumped the wake with ease.
Home time- only to see the best sunset and hear that the boys caught us fresh Wahoo and Tuna!
That was Saturday.
Sunday saw us taking it easy and chilling most of the day. Lee did a bike ride in the midday heat and I did a scuba dive on the Nortwest tip with Amber and friends.
Here are two pics of us at Brad and Jax surprise wedding celebration.... they surprised us by secretly getting married after 13 years, and so we surprised them with a big bash on the beach!
This last week end us girls decided to get together and relax. We sent the boys off to do some deep-sea fishing and we started to pack for a fun day out. We gathered all our bags, snorkeling gear and big cooler and started the trek to the boat. Picture us 4 girls in bikinis, lugging a huge cooler, about 4 bags, a huge 20l petrol tank and all the snorkeling stuff through a crowd of tourists on the beach in front of the Marriot Resort. Besides the Italians screaming that they wanted to come with us- no offers to help were had, so us girls continued the lug all the way to the boat, kitted up and roared off with the first wakeboarder styling behind. 
We all had some great rides and some great wipes- but esp dupree who had a creep on a jetski circling us like a vulture, chopping up the beautiful, flat seas with a wicked grin and some dirty tricks while she was trying to do her stuff. We then gave up and charged off to do some snorkeling- which was beautiful although we had no major sightings.
deserted beach to have a scrummy late lunch, a beer and play some cards. Sunset was looming so we packed up and wakeboarded all the way home- and poor Dupree was once again the source of some fun as we took her on a drive-by past the tourists on their sunset cruise- needless to say she carved like a pro and jumped the wake with ease.
Home time- only to see the best sunset and hear that the boys caught us fresh Wahoo and Tuna!
That was Saturday.
Sunday saw us taking it easy and chilling most of the day. Lee did a bike ride in the midday heat and I did a scuba dive on the Nortwest tip with Amber and friends.
Wednesday, 7 February 2007
Wednesday, 31 January 2007
2006 in a nutshell....
What an incredibly eventful year...
In February 2006 I left the job and chilly life in London I had known for 5 years and headed to Cape Town to put all the plans of a great wedding together. I had a month with friends and family to arrange everything and loved being back in CPT.
We had a wonderful wedding on the West Coast about 100kms from CPT and were blessed with all our close friends and family joining us from all over the world.
We then departed on the most magnificent honeymoon to the rugged yet luxurious tented camps of Botswana and a week of bliss at the Hilton Rangali Island Resort in Maldives. We headed back to London via Dubai and stayed a month with the lovely Brett and Ange Bunting in their gorgeous spot in Surbiton on the river Thames.
Meanwhile mom had her glorious trip to France and then Russia with T Steph and Ouma.
My godson, Joshua Francois Oberholzer saw the first rays of light on 6 May 2006 in Hong Kong, a few weeks earlier than planned! And Mom got back home in time to arrange celebrations for both Alex's 21st and Dad's 60th in June.
On 13th May Lee and I packed our bags and boarded the flight to the Cayman Islands, for a year of fun and island life. We stayed with Iain, Tanya, Liam and Cameron for 3 weeks while we searched for jobs and a home. It was such a different lifestyle and climate- rather difficult to acclimatise to the heat and humidity for me! But we loved the beach and sea and couldn't get enough of it.
On 13th May Lee and I packed our bags and boarded the flight to the Cayman Islands, for a year of fun and island life. We stayed with Iain, Tanya, Liam and Cameron for 3 weeks while we searched for jobs and a home. It was such a different lifestyle and climate- rather difficult to acclimatise to the heat and humidity for me! But we loved the beach and sea and couldn't get enough of it.
Mom unfortunately was very unwell and had an operation in July and seemed to bounce back extremely well and quickly. She is a very brave woman.
Meanwhile just before mom was unwell, I had made plans to go and meet my new godchild- and hurried over to Hong Kong via Japan (for a short stop-over) for 2 weeks and celebrated my 30th on the plane! I managed to convince Sal to let me feed Josh during the graveyard shift so that I could get some practice (ha) and she could get some rest. It worked well and I even got the most smiles from him when he learnt that trick! It was all worth it!
While I was gallivanting in HK, Japan and China (for a day) Lee started his new job at Celebrations in Cayman Islands- a family owned company. What started out as a challenge soon became an accomplishment- Lee has excelled by completing his challenge 6 months early!
In September I started what is my first ever permanent job at a private school on the island. I see about 8 children per day, mostly with developmental delays and learning disabilities.
We have made wonderful friends and enjoy the very social life that is the island. We were lucky enough to get a share in a boat and so started to enjoy the sea immensely. We go wakeboarding, skiing, snorkeling and scuba diving. We even drive the boat to deserted beaches for braai's and to the nightclub on the beach- so as to limit drinking and driving!!
We even had an incredible 5 days in Cuba where we bought beautiful art, watched a Cuban show and drank many mojito's.
Meanwhile just before mom was unwell, I had made plans to go and meet my new godchild- and hurried over to Hong Kong via Japan (for a short stop-over) for 2 weeks and celebrated my 30th on the plane! I managed to convince Sal to let me feed Josh during the graveyard shift so that I could get some practice (ha) and she could get some rest. It worked well and I even got the most smiles from him when he learnt that trick! It was all worth it!
While I was gallivanting in HK, Japan and China (for a day) Lee started his new job at Celebrations in Cayman Islands- a family owned company. What started out as a challenge soon became an accomplishment- Lee has excelled by completing his challenge 6 months early!
In September I started what is my first ever permanent job at a private school on the island. I see about 8 children per day, mostly with developmental delays and learning disabilities.
We have made wonderful friends and enjoy the very social life that is the island. We were lucky enough to get a share in a boat and so started to enjoy the sea immensely. We go wakeboarding, skiing, snorkeling and scuba diving. We even drive the boat to deserted beaches for braai's and to the nightclub on the beach- so as to limit drinking and driving!!
We even had an incredible 5 days in Cuba where we bought beautiful art, watched a Cuban show and drank many mojito's. December we were lucky enough to have Lee's folks come stay with us here on the island and had lots of fun showing them all the good snorkeling and fun stuff, like swimming with the stingrays, going in a submarine to see the reefs, sundowners on the boat and visits to numerous beaches, the Turtle Farm and Rum Point. A few days before Christmas, Jason and Sarah arrived and it meant the whole Bentz clan was together for the first Christmas ever.We had a smart five course meal on Christmas Eve and a great cold lunch on Christmas Day with a visit to Stingray City and Rum Point in the morning. The folks left mid January but Jason and Sarah have stayed to work here for 6 months. Its great being in a 'digs' again especially with all the new DVD series' to watch!
Happy New Year everybody- I hope its as fabulous and eventful as 2006. We wish you health and happiness.
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