Hiking the Golf Course, Shipwreck, and Running the 3rd Tri Series

So I was feeling a bit blah about things, particularly after learning about two more friends whose houses got robbed (one lost all the Christmas presents they just bought/wrapped - the a**holes even threw the food from their fridge on the floor - !!). Sigh. Add my frustration with the health insurance situation (we decided to just sign Michael up and cross our fingers I stay healthy) and the fact that the electricity went out again for 7 hours yesterday, and I needed my usual fix when I'm feeling blue. Hiking.

We didn't kill ourselves, but we wandered the roads of the one-day golf course on the southeast peninsula. The island is so beautiful that just taking it all in always refreshes me. It was so quiet with nothing but the bleeting of the goats, the birds soaring overhead, monkeys running around in the distance, magnificent views. Yep, just what I needed.



Hiking also helps work up an appetite, so we decided to have some soft veggie tacos and fries at Shipwreck. We hadn't been there in a long time and were glad to see that they got a lot of their beach back. They've also fixed the damage from Hurricane Earl, so have stairs back down to the beach. It was nice to see them with a pretty good cruise-ship crowd.



Of course, the monkeys still know where to get some yummy goodies (mongoose too).



Then it was time to root friends on for the final (third) triathlon series. This one consisted of a 600m swim, 20km bike, 5km run. Because it was a bit harder, only 14 teams signed up this time. Two individuals did the whole thing by themselves, and the rest divvied up the activities via teams. Tina, the traffic controller, was back in her pirate gear - this time with a Christmas twist. Ho Ho, Aaar!

Rob's leg was the swim, and without Arnie to hog the lead, came in first. Kat, who just ran a frickin' marathon, came in 3rd, swimming with one team and then later running for another team. Incredibly, both her teams placed in the top three (crazy!!!!!).

Michael wasn't in the tri this time, but decided to run it with "little" Steven so he didn't get lost and Rob decided to keep Kat company. They were running neck and neck and Steven started to panic when he realized Kat was so close behind, but he and Michael ran across the finish line with time to spare. I could have had a great pic of Steven really gunning it across, but it came out blurry %$(*$!!!!. I'm posting it anyway!

Here's the winner. Incredibly, it was one of the two individuals who did the whole thing by himself - Reggie. He won the last one too. He just bounces across the finish line like it's a day in the park.



Misc:

When I went to take the pictures off my camera, I laughed when I saw this picture. This was Pat at Banana Bay the day after the hash. She really had worked her butt off to pull the off the Christmas hash and all that came with it - from setting the darn thing, to organizing the tent, the food, calling in Santa, etc. etc. She so deserved this.

Views and more views from Cardinal Point and Friars

So we went to our usual spot on Sunday, with a little extra. There's a goat path that runs along the northeast cliff at Sandy Bank. It takes you out toward the ocean and is easy and short and then wallops you with a "wow!" at the end.

I mean, seriously. Look at how clear this water is. How spectacular.




Once you get where you're going, there are a couple of rocks nice and comfy for sitting and letting you take all the splendor in.



You get a great view of the ocean-side coast of the island.






It was really windy. Really, really windy.


Here's the view heading back toward the beach. You can see the salt pond in the distance where the marina will eventually go (and the sea beyond). You can also see clear patches here and there where development has begun.



Ah, development. Not only is it already in progress down below, but will also be along the cliff we were walking. That's right. This path we and the goats were enjoying will someday be a road, and the cliffs will have some of the luckiest people on the planet living on them.






Back to the beach for a little fun in the sun.



Then it was time to say goodbye to a fellow hasher who was having a going away gathering at The Godfather. Right as the festivities were supposed to begin, rain started heading our way.






First came the rainbow.








Then the wind.

And then the rain.







No worries. We just moved to the other end of the bar.

We'll be sad to see Letteke go (that's her on the right; Scott's the idiot with the shirt over his head), but she's headed to Spain for a bit and we have every intention of dropping in on her to see how her house refurbishment is going.

Another great weekend, even with the rain.

We'll do both! Beach Day & PIzza Party!

Stop one? The one-day golf course. I've taken pictures of this a million times, so will only give you a couple as a reminder.



Then we headed over to Sandy Bank, one of my favorite beaches on the island. The strand is just long enough for a nice walk, the sand is white and powdery, the water is a clear green/blue... There are no services/bars, so it's uncrowded and quiet.

The Mom couldn't help but be drawn in.


Michael either. He was even surfing the waves.



Then it was time for a pizza/superbowl party. Our neighbor actually has a wood-burning pizza oven!! Homemade dough, chefs, and every ingredient you can think of. Yummy.


We started with a cheese pizza. It was delicious.



The outdoor kitchen was the place to be. Was there a Super Bowl on?



Apparently Michael hadn't had enough water time. Looks like the whale had had enough though.



I was content to watch.



Today - our own pool!

Island New Year at Banana Bay

Yep. We went to the beach, hiked, and went back to the beach. The sun's been out and the temperatures have been perfect. I knew we picked this island for a reason.

Here are Michael & Steve playing bocce ball in Banana Bay.



We were supposed to snorkel too, but that was too much work.

Today we hiked for a couple of hours around the still-under-construction golf course on the peninsula. On the way there, a huge troop of monkeys crossed our path but I wasn't ready with the camera yet. Once on the paths, a baby goat decided it wanted to go home with Pat.



Then it ran to the guys (it's in the lower left-hand corner).





Next up was a huge hawk on a rock.




The ocean/island views from the course weren't bad either.



Look at this tough bunch of hikers. I believe they were standing at the 3rd hole.



Then it was back to Banana Bay to cool down and eat lunch. Just in case we didn't have enough beach time, we then stopped off at The Godfather to visit John & Tina on Friar's Bay.

Michael's off to watch his Eagles and I have a new book to read. The perfect New Years weekend. Well, perfect if the Eagles win...Otherwise, condolences are in order.

Next up? First hash of 2010.