A second winter in the sun

When we first moved here there were lots of fun (and mouldy!) observations I could share with you all back home.  We were learning about life in Bermuda and the blog was a great way to keep you all in touch with our progress.  What’s there to say a year on?  Nothing new you’d think…but Toby and I have started noticing a difference second time round!

Last year we arrived to get the very tail end of the summer, were settling in over the quick ‘autumn’ that we get and in no time at all were experiencing the Bermudian winter.  Now of course ‘winter’ is around 20 degrees C and quite different to home, but work with me on this!

A year on an we’re amazed how cold we feel zipping round on the scooter, particularly on the way to work and at night.  We are seriously wrapped up in jumpers, coats, scarfs and gloves.  I asked Toby, “Did we not go out on the scooter last year, because I really don’t remember this cold!”  We’ve obviously acclimatised…

And then there’s Christmas.  Last year, lights and decorations start going up from Thanksgiving onward.  It was just odd!  We’re on a sub-tropical island, regularly on the beach, not quite adapted to the heat and really not feeling very Christmasey.  We did our best and surprised ourselves with the fun we had, but dare I say it was ‘fun-fun’ rather than ‘Christmas-fun’.  This year is different though.  This isn’t an island paradise that we’re still exploring and getting to know.  This isn’t somewhere we’re trying to establish ourselves.  It’s ‘home’ now!  And I’m pleased to say now we’re properly settled into the island, it’s possible to feel Christmasey in the run-up to Christmas.  So much fun!

Last night we headed to St George for the National Trust organised ‘Christmas Walkaround’ with Naomi and Jon.  St George was lit up with Christmas lights (and bizarrely a lot of trees had jumpers!) ;

Old National Trust owned homes that throughout the year are rented out to live in are opened up for us to look around;

And the kind owners often offer eggnog, mulled wine or sherry as we explore the most adorable houses ever.  Dare I say part of the appeal was the very ‘old British’ feel, but it was so lovely!  We’re actually frustrated to not have managed a more organised route to see more houses.  I can see we’ll be moving back to a country cottage in the UK rather than a modern city apartment based on the ‘oooo’s and ahhhh’s’!!

For all we feel Christmasey, everyone still feel’s it’s not quite authentic unless you’re cold though.  We are all creatures of habit after all!

Bermuda Cup Match

Ever since we arrived in Bermuda, it seemed like everyone was suggesting the best event of the year would be ‘Cup Match’.  All we were told was that it was lots of fun, cricket was involved and we’d have two days off work.

We’re now a little more informed!

‘Cup Match‘ is an annual cricket game between the ‘west’ and ‘east’ of the island.  Week’s before, people start showing where their support lies with flags, badges, wing-mirror gloves and general chatter!  Once it arrives, it appears some people opt to camp…we don’t have much green space so you’ll find tents on roundabouts, along the sides of the road, anywhere!  Interesting!  Another chunk of people head to the host end of the island to watch a couple of days of cricket, drink a little, catch too much sun and maybe play a spot of ‘Crown and Anchor’ – a gambling game of chance where $1000’s can be won or lost!  What always amazes me is where all the ‘stuff’ comes from.  We’re a TINY island and from somewhere enough scaffolding and planks had been rounded up to create the stands!

Rain stopped play and then the teams were back out;

The boys, who were actually interested in what was going on, soon settled into it;

Having rained in the morning it was ridiculously hot and humid and we didn’t last till long after lunch when we decided a dunk in the ocean was required.  It was time to head off to Beach-fest.

This was where the third group of people in Bermuda were.  There were thousands!  There was music, games, dancing, drinking, sunbathing….anything seemed to go!  We gladly welcomed the relief of the ocean and bobbed round in the water for a few hours, only returning to land to reapply sunscreen!

A long and full day, we headed home to cool off.

The next day we decided to be ‘sensible’.  Some returned to Cup Match to repeat the experience but learning from others mistakes we opted for a day off rather than go ‘crazy’.  We are getting on a bit after all!  We watched the Olympics in the morning and managed to catch up with some of the action.  I’ll take time here to have a bit of a whinge.  I’ve heard all about the 10’s of channels the BBC are putting on for you guys back home.  We have two channels.  One Bermudian and one Caribbean (all our US and Mexican sports channels have been blocked for some reason).  With all the parallel activities you think it would be a problem to decide what to show….not something we worry about here – they show REPEATS!!!  We’ve missed so much!  Arghh!  Anyway, whinge over.  We have Cup Match!

So in the afternoon Toby and I headed off on a lovely walk along the cliffs near St George (opposite end of the island to Cup Match!).  Gorgeous.

On the way up the hill Toby stops in the shade outside ‘the unfinished church’;

Once on the coastline we were a little hot and sweaty but enjoying exploring!

As with most activities we ended the day with a swim!  It’s very hot and humid at the moment – did I mention that?!  We went to Tobacco Bay – one of the best spots for snorkling.  I wouldn’t say the number or variety of fish was amazing, but it’s got several rocks and alcoves to explore which definitely makes it interesting.  We’re going to have to get an underwater camera to share some of this with you.  We’re snorkling addicts now!  Toby got stung by a jellyfish which was a slight scary/negative point, but it was soon forgotten.  We headed off to our ‘final-final’ stop of the day and made our way to Tavern By the Sea for a Sam Adams and a Strawberry Daiquiri.  We love this place!

The next day we were out on a boat.  Karen and Jamie had booked a boat for the day and amazingly with no sea knowledge or skills we were sent on our way!

We headed off round the island stopping off at various places for a swim or just to enjoy the view or the culinary delights that had been brought along.  The water babies were definitely Toby and Jon who we could never get out of the water.  Here they are with the only 4 noodles supplied on the boat!

On the way home, Captain Jamie hung up his cap to kick back and relax, even allowing the unlikely duo to take to the wheel

It was a long day and unfortunately despite getting through 3/4’s bottle of factor 50 sunscreen, Toby and I are RED!  Too much sun, a few beers and glugs of sea water to help with the dehydration and we were exhausted when we got back.  Definitely getting old!

Today’s now Sunday and it’s tradition to go to the ‘non-mariners’ race.  The point seems unclear.  It’s not actually a race but an opportunity to hang out on the water, raft up with other boats to make a super boat party and continue with the weekend.  There’s also lots of political themes to the boats to have a dig at anything you might not have agreed with during the year!  Toby and I however had a lazy morning of Olympics watching (still recovering!) and he’s now playing golf while I relax.  Maybe next year!