Sunday 24 January 2010

Weekend of firsts


As the post title suggests, we've experienced a whole host of firsts this weekend. On Friday morning we moved into our first Cayman Island home, a little beach side condo on a complex called Plantana, which as the name suggests is a green and lush place, with palms, pines and lizards galore. We are so relieved to be out of our temporary accommodation and able to start putting down roots. It's also our first home together full stop.


On Friday night we celebrated our new home by going out to meet friends of friends at a ocean-side bar in George Town and then on to dinner by the harbour, it was all very beautiful and for the first time we'd visibly relaxed to appreciate what was around us.

On Saturday we set about opening our first Caymanian bank account, but the branch was closed due the long weekend (it's National Heroes Day on Monday) so that first will have to wait until Tuesday.

I also made my first ever iced lattes, which were surprisingly easy and I also prepared and ate my first ever papaya, which was grown on the island (apparently) and was a delicious hybrid of melon and peach.

This morning we tripped down to the beach front, all of 15 seconds from our door and enjoyed a choppy ocean due to the mild Nor'wester blowing in. The winds have churned up the sea, but it has also brought new sea-life into our new backdrop. Today I spotted my first ever stingray, I was about 20 metres out and it was relatively shallow, say 3m, but oh my goodness Stingrays are enormous, I stayed about 3seconds before heading back to shore. I'm sure they're perfectly tame, but anything the size of a coffee table should be respected, especially as its bobbing towards you.

So there you have it, a weekend of firsts.

6 comments:

  1. Nice post Bowerbird, really sets the scene for your Cayman adventure now that you have a more stable setting. Looking forward to more pictures and sketches. P.S Iced lattes rock, I lived off them in NYC, mmm.

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  2. Glad you've found a home at last! is that your pool? Looks lovely. Wish I was there instead of sitting here trying to work while extremely hungover! x

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  3. Hey! Yes that's the pool, that's virtually on the beach, so as yet I've not used it, the sea's too tempting! Was the hangover worth it though Elise?!

    It's good to be in our home, but this week I'm home alone so I expect more chance to paint, draw and explore.

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  4. love hearing you have a place now...we are moving to cayman in May, and the idea of looking for a home is a bit daunting!

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  5. Hi Kristen, by May you'll have lots more choice than we've had. All the short term rentals will be up and you won't be competing with the new January starters for a home. Have you checked out New Resident yet? It really has been my bible, it covers everything, wish I'd read it pre-moving out. You can download a copy if not.

    http://www.caymannewresident.com/

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  6. yep, new resident has been my bible too! been planning for about 3 months now, and I have researched like crazy, although nothing is the same as getting there and doing it all in person! Especially driving around to see the areas we may want to be...what neighbourhood did you end up in?

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