This Caribbean season was more work than play. There was some beach time but after Jayne left there were very few photos. Still was good fun but work was the priority. Many of the ports were new to me and I really enjoyed the Dutch ports of call, very different to the rest of the Caribbean (I thought anyway).
ms Noordam run in the Caribbean
In Barbados we have a yacht racing tour where they split the group of about 30 into two teams of 15 and the get on a genuine racing yacht. I hadn’t been on a yacht before (once again im not sure why considering I live in Australia but whatever) and it was a cool experience, shagun and kylie managed to avoid getting seasick which was good considering we were going quite fast.
the boat we beat
We were able to participate as much or as little as you wanted. It turns out there is a lot involved in sailing a yacht, there are ropes and sales and all sorts of things that have to be turned. As you can see I picked up nicely on the sailing terminology and now consider my self an expert……this may also need to be put on the CV – “Champion Yacht Racer” sounds good to me.
Go team green, turning the thingos to make the sail thing go up / or down
pro yacht person
Needless to say our Yacht won, they said it came down to the crew which I am confident is true.
More photos are here.
Barbados is usually known for its beach and sand but recently the operator who owns and runs the zipline we have in Belize has built a new and high zipline in Barbados.
about to go ziplining
So we got invited to go and try the zipline out, it consisted of about 7 platforms and was strung up in the canopy of the trees, about 300 ft up (it was high). Barbados is generally a flat land so I was surprised to a zipline there, the thing was that there were a series of caves that caved in a number of hundred years ago and created a unique landscape which was great for a ziplining course.
thats me going
On the day we managed to take a number of crew along, It was Stacy and I from shore excursions, Katie and Darren from Second City (comedy group), Brittany from the Dancers, Mark from the Band and Justin from the Youth Councilor group (a good mix).
darren looking scared
Stacy and Darren were the only ones who were a bit freaked out by the height, but it didn’t take long for them to overcome it.
the whole team after the last line
After ziplining we got dropped of at the beach where all the crew go, I didn’t realise it but we were there for 5 hours, it was nice to just be on the beach though.
Oh well back to work again, but I did get allot of photos and some video, the photos are here and on flickr.
I got to go to the England VS South Africa game in Barbados, the atmosphere was really good and my ticket was only 25 US which was also good, I need to pay the concierge for getting that for me….oops.
There were quite a few people from the ship there which was nice and I even got the day off to go (1st day off in 7 weeks).
It was hot in the sun but lucky I had beer to keep me cool. I got some good photos and you can see them here. All in all it was a good day, 
after I got back to the ship I went to sleep for 3 hours then got up and went to the crew party until 2. So the next day I was sleepy.
i actually do have alot more photos but some didn’t upload, i will work on that.
My post on Barbados was short because I was busy, thought I should elaborate a bit more on it as it was a awesome day and I also should have photos up to.
We were told in the morning that the port workers had gone on strike because one of the security guards was fired unfairly or something. It didn’t affect the tours but it was intresting to see a taxi driver drive past all the port security who were striking and yell “ im doing what I feel like today†then take a drink out of a bottle of rum.
I went on the Kyacke and turtle snorkel. I had been telling people who were buying tickets all week that anything with turtles was great, so now it was time to find out if I was telling the truth.
The kyack was good but the turtles were better, we got to touch them and swim with them. I got some good photos there and some good ones of the beachs and rum distillery. We were also given more free Rum Punch on the boat after the snorkel, it seems to be stronger and stronger at each port.
After the tour I went into town for lunch with some people from the ship, I also had a chance to upload the first 3 ports photos. I will probably wait until the last port to upload the rest.
Tomorrow is Castries, St Lucia. I drank some rum with some St Lucians on board, they told me that bundie was water and the west indies were going to win the cricket…..
Although I did speak to one the next day (after the rum) and he admitted that the rum was good but made him angry……
I finially got to a internet cafe today in Bridgetown, Barbados. So i have added all the photos (except Barbados).
You can see them in flickr or my previous posts.
Today was cool. One of the coolest days in the last 8. I went on the turtle snorkel and kyack along the coast. I also got to see where they make Malibu and Mount Gay rum. I will fill you in when I get more pictures up but now you can see exactly where I am on the “where am I now†page at the top. Anyway I need to go do a run or something as we have a party on the tennis court tonight (11-2) to celebrate a combined independence day for everyone who has one.