Rena and Wade Around Cayman

Little Cayman

2005-12-13T13:02:00.000-06:00

And here is the Blue Iguana. There are only approximately 20 left in the wild and they are protected in the Cayman Islands. The signs on the road in Little Cayman say "Iguanas have right of way, please drive carefully" He doesn't look very blue here as he is blending into the deck, but if you look closely he does have blue skin. If you are interested in going to Little Cayman...check out the Little Cayman Beach Resort

This is the famous Bloody Bay Wall...the wall divers come to see. Just 100 yards off shore...under the water there is a severe drop off that goes to approximately 6000 ft. The wall is amazing to dive. The coral is so alive. It is like a tropical rain forest under the water. These pictures do not do it justice. The most amazing thing we saw was an 8ft reef shark. He was very quick at coming into visibility and then disappearing that we did not get a good shot of him.....but here is a picture of the wall.

The reason we came to Little Cayman was for the scuba diving. It is one of the top 5 dive spots in the world we are told. Seeing as we have only dove in Grand Cayman and Little Cayman, we are really not good judges of this. However, all the people we met up with assured us that diving doesn't get much better than this. Here is a picture of Wade under the sea.

The transportation. Little Cayman is so small (about 7miles long and 1 mile wide), that the plane lands on a gravel landing strip. There is no hanger...but there are a couple of benches! Completely how a tropical island in the middle of the Caribbean should be.

Life & Times in Grand Cayman

2005-12-09T13:01:00.000-06:00

A look out to cemetery Beach from our complex.

Our friends Charmaine & Dave and Tasha & Brian came down from Canada for a visit in November 2005. We went on a sailboat race...the boys on one boat the girls on another. I would just like to say that the GIRLS WON! Here is a look at the boys boat.

Here are the girls at one of our favourite restaurants...Deckers.

A night out on the town at the Hedge Funds Care dinner...the theme was a splash of red.

Long night...don't even think that Ice is melted yet!

My parents bought us a Murder by candlelight game for Christmas...and here we all are.

So it was farewell to our friends Shari, Eamon, Nicola & Craig who were returning to Dublin & London. On one of the last nights we went for dinner and tested their knowledge about their Canadian friends by playing Canadian trivia. They did pretty good at the last challenge...drawing a Canadian flag...but alas Shari's was the worst and thus she was the loser. Should we ask Canada to adopt any of these new drawings?

Here is Silver Sands from the air. When my parents were down this year we went for a helicopter ride.

Here we are at Stingray City...had the place to ourselves...can you tell? I think the rays are so hungry they just might eat the boys! Willie, Dave & Wade are in the water. We sent them in first ...just in case.

Tanis is in the Christmas spirit!

Long live Avalon No. 3! These are the people we shared a condo with for just under 2 months while we were all homeless after hurricane Ivan.

Another beautiful Cayman sunset.

Wade was a good boy...he got so sit on Santa and Mrs. Claus's lap! Although Mrs. Claus looks a little scary.

This is what Christmas is like in Cayman.

Our friends Jay & Kami came to visit us from Canada with their little boy Jack. Although he is not so little now anymore! Wade and Jack seem to be in deep conversation.

Our friend Mark came down from Canada. Here is Mark and Wade doing cannonballs into the pool. No wonder the pool was empty.

A street party downtown George Town, Grand Cayman during Pirates week.

A stormy day in Cayman outside of Silver Sand. This is what a tropical storm looks like.

Here is a typical night for the boys out on our balcony smoking Cuban cigars. Casey, Wade & Chris.

This is where we lived for 3 out of the 4 years we were in Grand Cayman...Silver Sands. Ahhhh...ain't this the life.

A good beach party always ends in Fives Alive, or as our Canadian friends now fondly refer to is as CI Turbo. Many a night has turned nasty because of this game...thanks to our South African friends who taught it to us. Cheers guys!

And here is Karate Kid! I'm not sure what kind of move this is, but everyone seems enthralled.

Have you been to Hell? Well we have. Here I am with my Mom & Dad on one of their 4 trips to Cayman.

And here we are at the end of our deep sea fishing. There were 12 of us and only a few people did not feel ill by the end. All of those sandwiches were for not boys! At least Audrey caught a fish...our only fish...and wouldn't you know it, it was a barracuda.

Our friend Jamie came for a visit from Canada. Here is Wade and Jamie making sandwiches for our deep sea fishing expedition the next day.

Wade and Stevie Mac at Mardi Gras, Kaibo Yacht Club.

Cayman Critters

2005-12-04T13:00:00.000-06:00

Besides the turtle...these guys are Cayman mascots. Stingrays are so tame here at Stingray City that they are more like cats than anything else.

And they said no pets were allowed. Well our Landlord lied to us! Here is the first critter we became acquainted with in Cayman. Mr. Scorpion. We had about 9 of them in total when we lived at SummerField...needless to say after catching them in little zip lock bags and handing them to our Landlord we broke our one year lease about 9 months in and moved to Silver Sands. To date there have been no Scorpions at Silver Sands.

And here is the second critter we discovered. Mr. Crab. Who knew you could find them knocking on your front door wanting to come in. As we later discovered they can even climb walls...kinda like spiders. Only difference is...they taste great! Altough we could never bring ourselves to cook one up...turns out we are restaurant crab eaters.

Oooh....please don't pooh on my head. I really don't have the best luck with birds...but this one was okay. This was taken at Rum Point.

Well here is another guest...come on in! Good thing this wasn't our back door. Who knew Peacock's were so curious...I thought that was cats.

Don't you just hate it when you go to take a nap and an Iguana is in your bed? Yes...here is our latest guest, Mr. Iguana. Needless to say we were a little shocked to find him, however, once our bounty hunter Casey McDonald arrived on scene, we and by we I mean Casey, were able to catch him and release him into the wild.

And here is the only invited guest in our house...Gussy. Gussy is Anne-Marie and Rob's cat and he comes for many overnight stays when they are off island. This is Gussy's home away from home. As you can see...he is quite comfortable at our place. Although when there is lightning and thunder it is next to impossible to coax him out from underneath the bed of his choice.

Hanggliding School (Lookout Mountain)

2005-11-16T13:00:00.000-06:00

Tanis, Anne-Marie and myself went flew to Nashville, TN in November 2005 to attend hang gliding school at Lookout Mountain. We had a blast! Check out the school at Lookout Mountain I think our instructor Gordon was almost more excited than we were when we finally got off the ground. It was a great time and I'd highly recommend it to anyone. Here I am with Gordon running behind me...this is before we even got to the bunny hills.

And here I am with my tandem instructor Dan. We were towed up by an ultralite plane to 2000 feet and got to float down to the ground twice. It was an amazing experience and I am hooked for life. And it's not just for the birds!

Tanis & Anne-Marie

Bermuda

2005-08-13T12:59:00.000-06:00

A picture of downtown Hamilton. Colourful buildings and of course many scooters on the road due to the one car limit per residential address policy.

Bermuda is famous for it pink sand beaches. Here is a picture of one of its more secluded beaches.

Here is a picture from Crystal Caves. The Bermuda caves consists of numerous submerged integrated passageways of salt water pools. There is much study being conducted on the caves due to the biodiversity. There are currently only two caves open for tourist viewing.

Victoria (British Columbia)

2005-06-30T12:59:00.000-06:00

In June 2005 I had a client meeting in Whistler. Once that was finished I took a few days off and went to Victoria to visit my Aunt & Uncle and my friend Sheri and her family. My uncle is fond of hiking and so we went for a few hikes while I was there. There are so many trails around where they live that we didn't have to venture very far before being out in the wilderness!

One of our hikes took us to French Beach. It was a pretty windy day, but the scenery is breath taking. Just behind my Aunt & Uncle's house is the Royal Roads University. A scene from the movie X men was filmed here. Check out Royal Roads and see if you recognize it as the school that was invaded in the movie!

This picture was taken in the back yard of my Aunt & Uncle's house. The deer are so tame that if you leave the gate open...they wander in.

A view from the ferry on the way back to Vancouver.

Argentina

2005-04-03T12:58:00.000-06:00

We arrived in Buenos Aires and spent a day there before flying to Salta (in the northwest part of Argentina). We rented a 4X4 Turbo Diesel Truck (Wade fell in love with it) and drove to San Antonio. We originally wanted to take the Tren a Las Nubes (Train to the Clouds), however, it was not running the days we were there. So we tried to drive approximately the same route. The terrain was very arid and unusual.

We drove to the wine region of Cafayate and to get there went through Quebrada de Cafayate (Canyon of Colours). It was a mini version of the Grand Canyon in a multicoloured environment of bright oranges, reds, browns and greens. Many of the rock formations have been named, this one is Los Castillos (The Castles).

Here we are in Cafayate at the Etchart winery. An afternoon of sampling grapes, touring the facility and then sampling the wine. We ended up buying 6 bottles to take home on the plane with us.

Iguazu is in the Northwest corner of Argentina and can be viewed from the Argentinian or Brazilian side. The waterfalls here are amazing and make Niagara falls look small. There are so many waterfalls of varying sizes that it took us the better part of a day walking on a series of catwalks to see all of them.

Back in Buenos Aires right now at Casa Rosada. This is the Presidential Palace where Eva and Juan Peron addressed crowds of Argentinians. This is also where Madonna was filmed as Evita for the movie.

Here we are at one of the Pedestrian Malls in Buenos Aires.

Tortola (British Virgin Islands)

2004-11-12T12:57:00.000-06:00

In November 2004 Casey, Tanis, Anne-Marie, Rob, Wade and I went sailing for 7 days in the BVI. Here is our boat the Calypso Quean (still not sure of the significance of the spelling of Queen..can anybody help us out?). She was a 38 foot catamaran. We managed to sail her without a captain and were quite proud of ourselves especially when our only mishap was the loss of a propellor. Well there had to be something that went wrong on our maiden voyage!

Well we were able to navigate to the "Indians", a famour snorkelling and diving spot in B.V.I. Parked the boat, went for a dive and then had a barbeque off the back of our boat for lunch. What a life!

Calypso Quean to Cooper Island Beach Club, do you read me? Reservation needed for 6...over and out!

Parking for the night. Does it remind you of an RV park, except with water?

On the last day we rented a 4X4 and toured Tortola. The roads were terrible, but the views were fantastic. Here is a look down on Soper's Hole where we rented our boat earlier in the week.

Hurricane Ivan

2004-09-25T12:56:00.000-06:00

So much of the foliage was completely destroyed. Hard to believe trees this size could just be ripped out of the ground.

My office is the one on the top corner. Although it appears that the windows blew out...it was actually the roof of another building that came off and crashed into the windows.

A look at the office Board Room

The window broke in this room and the roof came in.

The pool is not looking half as inviting!

A look out our balcony 2 weeks after the hurricane

A look out our balcony doors before the hurricane

Quebec City (Quebec)

2004-09-11T12:56:00.000-06:00

In September 2004 I had a meeting in Quebec City and Wade flew up and we took an extra couple of days there. Unfortunately it was a tad unenjoyable the last couple of days as Cayman was getting pummelled by Hurricane Ivan and it was hard to get news as to what was really happening. Across the street from where we ate dinner one night was the largest disco ball we have ever seen.

A regatta on the St. Lawrence.

Rena on the Boardwalk in front of Hotel Frontenac where we got to stay for 3 nights.

Wade in one of the many narrow streets in old Quebec City.

Paradise Island (Bahamas)

2004-08-01T12:55:00.000-06:00

In July 2004 Wade and I were in the Bahamas and ended up spending all of our time at the Atlantis resort. It was amazing. This place rivals Disney World. Here is a look out at the property...and this is only part of it.

Here is a look at the Royal Towers. The middle bridge between the two buildings is one suite. Guests like Oprah Winfrey have occupied it for a mere $30,000 a night.

Fancy a float down the Lazy River?

Good thing these hammerheads are not allowed in the Lazy River or Wade might have been lunch.

Panama

2004-04-01T12:54:00.000-06:00

In April 2004 we went with Casey & Tanis to Panama for Easter break. The first day we drove a couple hours outside of Panama City to witness the re-enactment of the walk to the cross and the crucifixion. This was an all day event (completely in Spanish so it's a good thing we all went to Sunday school and knew the story!) that culminated in a parade at the end of the night with various statues of Christ being carried throughout the streets.

And what is a trip to Panama without seeing the Panama Canal? Here we are at the Miraflores Locks (the Pacific entrance the waterway) We were all amazed how narrow the locks really are. Not a lot of maneuvering room for a big ship!

Casey convinced us all that it would be a good idea to go rappelling down waterfalls. So we trekked into the jungle in Panama with a few local guides and gave it a whirl. After getting over the initial fear of falling to our death, we had an awesome time. This was our 3rd waterfall and Wade is a pro by this time! See him way down there?

A little friend we found along the way to the next waterfall. Well not really....learned from our guides that this is the deadliest snake in central America. Kendra...this picture is for you. I had to talk Wade out of wrapping him up and sending him home to you for Christmas.

Almost at the end! We really had no choice because once we were down the first, we had to keep going as there was no way back. Once we finished the rappelling we had to walk out through a river bed to a boat that was waiting for us on the other side. Unfortunately the river had dried up and so we were trekking through mud up to our thighs. We eventually had to give up and take another route. In the meantime, Tanis was bit by some fire ants (we think) and had a severe allergic reaction. We were all pretty worried, especially when the boat was not waiting for us. We all envisioned Tanis being airlifted out of the jungle! But all ended well...the boat showed up, Tanis got some medicine...and then we drank $0.25 beers. What a deal!

Peru

2003-11-10T12:53:00.000-06:00

In November 2003 we traveled with Shari and Eamon in Peru for 2 weeks. Here we are on a bus from Arequipa going to the Colca Canyon. Along the way we get our first look at ancient terraces the Incans were so famous for.

The highlight of our trip was trekking the Sacred Trail (most people trek the 4 day Inca trail, however, we did not have time for that route) to MachuPicchu. MachuPicchu is one of the 10 ancient wonders of the world and truly was a magical forgotten citadel of the Inca.

Our guide, Bobbie, promised that we would be the first group at MachuPicchu in the morning and to our surprise we were! We enjoyed MachuPicchu by ourselves for about 15 minutes before the throngs of tourists entered. We were able to enjoy MachuPichhu with the Lamas in complete serenity.

Here we are on a 5 hour boat ride up a river in the Amazon. Our guide, Waldo, spots the timid Capivores on the shore line. They are like mini hippos! We spent 3 days & nights in the Amazon. Everyday was a new adventure. The first night we trekked through the jungle in the dark and saw either a Jaguar or a Puma. We compromised and called him a Jaguma. The first day we awoke to Howler monkeys throwing branches down on our camp. And on one of the days we had to hide from a pack of wild boars that were nashing their way through the jungle.

Ocho Rios (Jamaica)

2003-10-04T12:53:00.000-06:00

In September 2003 Wade and I went to Jamaica for my birthday. It was especially nice seeing as I had just come back from cold Canada after being at my friends Crystal & Mike's wedding. We were only in Jamaica for 2 1/2 days but one day was spent bicycling down the Blue Mountains. We got some great coffee to take home and it was an interesting experience winding down through the mountains while Reggae music and Ganga were wafting up to greet you!

Dunns River falls was a series of waterfalls falling into pools. You get a Jamaican guide, some special booties and then you get to climb the falls. Here is one section of the falls that we climbed. Nothing like trying to maintain your footing on slippery rocks with water coming forcing down on you!

Even when you live on a tropical island, a pool bar on someone else's island is always a vacation.

Cancun (Mexico)

2003-09-11T12:52:00.000-06:00

I was privliged enough to go twice to Cancun for client meetings. This picture was taken from my hotel looking out at the beach in September 2003.

A look down the beach.

Here is a picture of a Scorpion fish held in an acquarium close to the hotel. They are beautiful but deadly. They have venomous spines on their back and fins.

Orlando (Florida)

2003-06-20T12:51:00.000-06:00

In June 2003 we went with Casey & Tanis for a long weekend to Orlando. Who knew theme parking could be so much fun! We went to Pleasure Island at Walt Disney, Islands of Adventure, Universal Studios and then went for the day to Busch Gardens in Tampa Florida. This is the entrance to Islands of Adventure.

Oh yeah, look at me I'm Spidey and I'm so tough. You're a lot smaller than I remember you from Comic books and TV. Yeah I think I can take you with these Hulk hands. I wonder if they'll make a ride for me then....or if I'll get kicked out of the park. Hmmm...I really want to go on more rides and drink more beer. Maybe I should just leave Spidey alone. Anyways that girl he's with looks kinda tough. Yup, I like beer better. Rena, Casey, Tanis...wait up!

Universal Studios was a welcome day off from the roller coasters. Tanis and I discovered how old we truly were. Tanis got ill on the first roller coaster of the day (probably our selection of candy for breakfast wasn't the best idea) and I ended up with a sore neck and 3 months of physio upon our return to Cayman. The boys seemed to fare much better...probably something to do with all the beer consumption.

Cuba

2003-04-18T12:50:00.000-06:00

Che Guevara - an icon of socialist revolution. I believe this is the telecommunications building.

One of many impressive buildings in Havana that has been restored. This is the Theatre Nacional.

Some other less impressive buildings, given that they have not been restored. Gives a good comparison of the opulence that once existed in Cuba and now the poverty. That being said, we were very impressed with what happy and generous people the Cubans are.

And the old cars are not a myth in Cuba. It is strange to see cars from the 40's, 50's & 60's driving down the street alongside brand new ones.

And Cuba isn't Cuba without a ride in a Coco Taxi. That being said, there were a few races and some near death experiences. Needless to say, safety standards are a little different in Cuba. Here are Casey & Tanis...notice they are behind us.

On the last night in Cuba we went to the Tropicana show. Well worth the price. The costumes and performances were amazing.

In April 2003 Wade and I along with a group from Cayman went to Cuba for Easter break. Wade also went to Cuba for a weekend in January 2003 with the boys while the girls were in Miami. Here we are for a meal in someone's house (one of the only ways to get good food in Cuba). When people say Cuban cuisine is good...they must be people who have never been to Cuba. Food at the hotels, even the most expensive, is terrible. Here we are with Rob, Anne-Marie, Jen, Ryan, Casey, Tanis, Nicole & Nathan.

Costa Rica

2002-12-13T12:46:00.000-06:00

In November 2002 we traveled with Anne-Marie and Rob to Costa Rica. At the beginning of the trip we traveled from San Jose up to the NorthEast part of Costa Rica to stay at the Samay Lodge right on the Atlantic Ocean. To get there we traveled by boat for 4 hours up river and through Nicaragua. The river was teaming with crocodiles and here is a siting of our first "big" crocodile. It made us all a little nervous of the boat we were in as it was merely a glorified canoe with a motor. Guess that shows how chicken we are as the local kids swim in the river with no quams! Our guide expressed amusement when we were horrified to see parents allowing their kids to swim in the river.

Here is Anne-Marie & Rob with their guide in a canoe ahead of us (we are in and around the Samay Lodge). Wade and I were canoeing with a crazy drunk tourist named Reinhardt, whom continually tried to tip our canoe. Wade was losing patience due to the imminent concern of crocodiles and finally removed the paddle from Reinhardt and gave it to me. Between paddling from the middle of the canoe and holding up the camera in case we did tip, it was not the tranquil trip we had imagined. At least Anne-Marie and Rob enjoyed the moment!

Here is Wade swinging through the forest like a monkey...kind of suiting I think. This is in the Monteverde Cloud Forest in central Costa Rica where we went zip lining for an afternoon. There were 14 different platforms spanning over 3 kms. The highest was 300 feet and the longest was 2,300 feet.

A quiet paddle on the Pacquere River a couple of hours outside of San Jose. Or maybe not! Everything was under control until we got stuck in a water hole which was supposed to be a fun way to get wet for a while until our guide couldn't get us out and started to panic. Our boat was spinning uncontrollably dunking each one of us under the water in a cyclical fashion. Luckily the other guides pulled their boats to the side to come to our aid. I ended up losing an oar and just about my contacts too! We found my oar down the river some time later. The rest of the trip was without incident, except when Anne-Marie catapulted out of the boat. Luckily Rob was able to haul her in before we hit the Class 4 rapids. It was an experience! Lesson learned...never go river rafting with people who cannot speak fluent English.

After white water rafting, canoeing, zip lining,trekking through the rainforest and cloudforest, horseback riding for 5 hours (never a good idea I must say), atv'ing, and caving (also never a good idea outside of North America, especially when you see the same caves on the TV show Worst Case Scenario a few months later)...it was finally time to relax at the Tabacon Hot Springs at Arenal Volcano. And was it worth it! This place was heaven. Can you not tell by the look on Wade and Rob's faces?

Aruba

2002-11-02T12:44:00.000-06:00

I was lucky enough to go to Aruba twice with work. This picture is taken outside of our hotel in November 2002.

For being a tropical island, I did not expect Aruba to be so arid.

Black Swans at our hotel.

A natural bridge that has formed from the crashing waves.