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Cayman
XTRAS, 2010 Edition |
Panoramic view from Camana Bay apartment |
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Grand Cayman Map
The end of 7 Mile Beach
Mark at East End
Find-a-flight
Madeline and Sarah got lucky, as
they were on the phone to US Airways two seats came up on a
flight this Wednesday ... if it flies of course, today's
equivalent was cancelled ...
Rachael & Jenny made it to Miami, due out of New York on 27th
...
Steve's Saga ...
Due to fly out on Sunday 18th
First hear of the Volcano ash problems on Thursday morning
...should be ok by Sunday surely ...
My safety days pass, by Saturday it looks like bad news
Call US Airways, on hold for 2h10m, when they answer they can't
hear me so they hang up
Call again, get through in a few minutes, "at the moment your
flight is still on, we'll let you know if it changes"
Sun 8am, flight status still shows "on time"
Sun 9.30am, flight shows cancelled
On hold to US Airways for 1h45 m, no answer, better go to
airport in case they want me to go to Philadelphia.
Madeline's on same flight but not on the bus, she got through
and found they rebooked her for 30th, Sarah for 1st May
Go to checkin, I'm not flying (phew, I really didn't want to be
stuck in Philly). They start to say "you've been rebooked for
..." then say I'll have to contact Expedia to get them to rebook
me
Back to base, on hold to Expedia (UK number) for 1h30m, no
answer yet ...
Find an email form for Expedia, not for changes or urgent
things, fill it in anyway, so they know I'm here
Find an email form for US Airways, fill it in, reply says "a
representative will be back to you in 5-7 days"
Decide I'll give up at 3 hours, at 2'58 get an answer !
Put on hold for a while ... first available flight is 1st May,
Cayman to Charlotte to Gatwick to Heathrow to Manchester.
At least my return train ticket from manchester to newcastle
will be valid, but flights to Marseille for EuroTeams will have
to be cancelled ...
Hear that Steve Line is in Boston until 27th, Andrew Shelley in
Newark until 27th ... wish you were here ...
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#4: Thu 22nd April 2010, Around
the Island
Grand Cayman isn't
that big an island, about 20 miles long by 8 miles high with a
big hole in the middle. Most of the population and activity is
centred on the thin strip at the Western end of the Island, and
to be fair in three visits that's about the only part I managed
to see.
So today, the last day before my rearranged flyout, I was really
grateful to Mark Hennings, the owner of Cayman Contractor
Store who sponsored last year's CASA Championships, for taking
me on a tour around the whole island. So grateful, in fact, that
I let him beat me at squash afterwards, but that's another story
...
 Starting
from our regular morning meeting at Cafe Du Sol in Camana
Bay (about half way up that western strip) at 11am we headed
North on West Bay Road - with the famous Seven Mile Beach
(which is about five miles long) on the left - towards West
Bay, where many of the local Caymanians live. We stopped off
at the very end of Seven Mile Beach and watched a couple of
snorkellers play with a stingray that had decided to come
inshore.
A tour around West Bay then it was back down West Bay Road,
cutting around the top of George Town, which sits at the
bottom left corner of the island, and hitting the southern
coastal road just beyond South Sound Squash Club (around
Patrick's Island on the map)
 There's
not much in the way of beaches along the southern coast, but
with a reef running along the majority of it, the colours and
features in the shallow sound make spectacular viewing.
It's about 15 minutes to the Eastern end of the island -
logically called East End - with a mixture of 25, 30 and
50mph speed limits. This is the poorer end of the island, and
one of the things I noticed was the number of churches along the
way. "We had no television and no piped water until about 15-20
years ago," said Mark, "so going to church and singing was a big
thing."
 We
stopped off at a petrol station in East End (with a huge
Haagen-Dazs lorry outside), which sits on the edge of a beach
with a palm tree virtually hanging into the ocean, then set off
around the corner and along the northern road - that's North
Side.
It's not what you'd call built up, but there are many lovely
properties on this route, and you have time to examine them as
the speed limit is generally low and, as Mark says, "North Side
people get very upset if you exceed the speed limit (which we
never did, of course).
 Ten
or fifteen minutes along North Side Road - opened in 1983 by
Queen Elizabeth herself - and you're at Rum Point. And
what a lovely location that is, beachside restaurants, a wide,
shallow bay with gorgeous colours, a pier taking you out to boat
trips, just a lovely place really.
And even though there's sea for about 320 degrees, there's
always something there, whether it's reef, or the inside coast
of North Sound which, as Mark says, "is just a huge swimming
pool".
Back down Rum Point Road, cut down across the middle of the
island (which is mainly swamp or wetland) and back down South
Sound Road to the squash club for a 15.30 match. We'll ignore
that bit.
 Finally,
back through George Town for a last view of the cruise liners
and back into Camana Bay to start packing for my Friday
departure.
I finally feel that I know the island now, and Mark's comment
"we are privileged to live here" rings so true.
Thanks Mark, for a great day out, but I'll get you next time ...
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#3: Wed 21st April, rescue
... all out by Friday
Madeline and Sarah got lucky on what must have been the first
flight out on Wednesday, Rachael and Jenny fly to Amsterdam from
Miami on Thursday, Steve leaves for Manchester on Friday, and
Steve L and Andrew look set for mainland US departures on Friday
too ...
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#2: Tue 20th April, there's life in Camana Bay ...
It may, from some
angles, give the impression of being a deserted town during the
day, but Camana Bay is a town with a plan. It's
essentially a leisure /retail / residential complex that's
growing out of the swamp just back from the famous seven mile
beach on Grand Cayman.
 That
doesn't do it justice though, and there's some crucial missing
details in that description ...
It's grown considerably since last year, and will continue
growing, shielded from the effects of the recession by being a
family-owned venture, with no loans requires. Ken Dart had a
vision for this place several years ago, and it's coming to pass
piece by piece, no headlong rush, each stage is meticulously
planned but may change in detail or substance when its time for
implementation comes.
Examples: Camana Way, the avenue that joins Camana Bay to West
Bay Road and then to 7 Mile Beach, has been stocked with
plantlife reflecting the four separate ecosystems found on the
island; consultants were brought in to make sure the buildings
were angled correctly to allow the plantlife the correct amount
of direct sunshine; the mosaics on the newly-opened observations
tower comprise 1.4million tiles; and on, and on, and on,
everything is planned, everything iq quality.
 It's
also being built back to front compared to many similar
developments, in that the Town Centre is the first phase, with
retail spaces, restaurants, cinema, public squares and so on,
with the residential development following once that's complete.
Currently there are 63 apartments (I'm still in one of them)
which will only ever be leased, not sold, with more to come in
the next stage.
This means it's a little quiet during the day, but that's sure
to change over the coming months and years. Already there are
regular events to bring people into the centre for entertainment
- on the day I arrived there was a music festival in one of the
squares, and of course last week we had the squash.
The court is almost gone, so the fountain that it was sitting
over will be uncovered soon, can't wait to see that spring to
like ...
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| #1: Mon 19th April, still
here ...
"Well, there could be worse places to be stuck for two weeks" is
a common riposte after hearing that Steve Cubbins, Madeline
Perry and Sarah Kippax (and possibly Jenny Duncalf and
Rachael Grinham too) have been cast adrift on a paradise island
awaiting return flights to the UK.
Over the next two weeks we'll be doing our best to discover what
this strange new land that we've been abandoned on is all about,
hopefully we'll find something new every day and let you know
what we find ... wish us luck!!!
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Cayman XTRAS ... #3, Aussies go
Scuba |
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Cayman XTRAS ... #2, A court for
Cayman |
A court for Cayman
Cedrus Investments to purchase Glass Court ...
 Last
year's Cayman Open was held entirely at the South Sound Squash
Club, while this year's final stages are being held on an
all-Glass court in Camana Bay, and it's already proved to be a
big hit with officials, players and spectators.
 It's
not a one-off though, this is part of a plan that includes
another event next year, and the Women's World Open in 2012,
and a Glass Court is obviously crucial to all these plans.
The court in use here has been hired from Mexico, shipped and
assembled by the McWil team, and mighty fine it looks too.
 On
opening night we had speeches by the Island's Premier and other
dignitaries, but the biggest cheers were for the Premier's
announcement that Cedrus Investments, one of the
event's Gold sponsors, had agreed to buy a glass court for
future events on the island to use.
Naturally we had to have a chat with the man behind this, Cedrus
Managing Director Rani Jarkas, at a special meet
the pros workshop at SSSC ... organised by Cedrus of
course ...
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more workshop photos |
 "I
grew up playing the game, and I was the #1 Amateur in the US for
four years in a row in the mid nineties.
"I stopped playing when I moved into business, but I love the
game and want to put as much back into it as I can, it gave me a
lot, and some great memories.
"Cedrus Investments is a global boutique asset and private
wealth management and advisory firm, we've been on the island
for a year now, we have around 40 employees and we'll be
expanding into Asia by the middle of this year.
"I joined the club as soon as I arrived, and met Dan who's a
wonderful pro and one of the main reasons I got excited about
doing this.
"I've played on glass courts in many tournaments in the past, so
I know how important they are for the profile of the event, and
how they're able to bring the game to the existing fans and to
new audiences, especially in fantastic settings like we have
here in Camana Bay.
"The game is dear to me, specifically expanding the junior
programme is very important, and the way Dan is gearing all the
junior activities around the event, and using it to support the
junior programme is a great move.
"So when the idea of having our own glass court came up, it was
simple, the decision was made!" |
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 On
Tuesday morning some of the girls took advantage of a trip to
Don Foster's Dive Centre for a bit of snorkelling.
"That was great, there's some wonderful creatures down there,"
said Alana Miller, for whom it was a first time
snorkelling experience.
While some of the girls stayed on Alana hitched a lift back to
the club in Mr Transport John Macrury's tiny Daihatsu
runabout along with myself and Mr SquashPics Steve Line.
Unfortunately a couple of hundred yards along South Sound Road
we picked up a smell of burning inside the car. "Too much
weight," said John, much to Alana's disgust. "Ok, let's say the
suspension just can't take it, that's the tyre burning," John
corrected.
Whatever the reason, Alana was unceremoniously dumped by the
roadside, to be picked up after John had dropped us at the club!
Still, I guess there's worse places to be abandoned ... |
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