Island Adventure Day 6 (I think)
November 18, 2012

It feels like we have been here forever. And there is seriously not a lot to do unless you like lying next to the pool. I can’t see that I will be rushing back to the Bahamas any time soon.  Helen (who actually has been lying next to the pool most of the time – see video on Facebook), hasn’t even managed to get much of a tan.  Even the sun doesn’t seem to work here. Most people have this idea of idyllic island when they think Bahamas. I will think of wind swept, very flat and nothing to do island.

Today I had a breakfast meeting which was very productive.  What I have come to realize is that the meetings outside the official programme are the best ones and what I am really coming to these events for.  I then didn’t have another meeting until lunchtime so I headed back up to the room to find a website that was streaming the rugby (SA vs Scotland). After that I headed down for a lunch time meeting and then another meeting after that followed by another unofficial meeting (which was again productive). All this time Helen didn’t leave the hotel premises and was either at the pool or on the balcony. She was probably trying out more of those drinks she keeps having.  I have lost count of how many different varieties she has tried but I know she has had Long Island Ice Tea (no tea in it); Bahama Mama and many others.  I have just stuck to the local brew (tastes better than the water). Alcohol is ridiculously expensive here and even a beer will cost around R70 with the cheapest wine (Brian T type wine) costing around R250 a bottle.

This evening was going to be a romantic dinner with just Helen but that quickly morphed into 7 of us going out together. While having the meeting this evening it turned out that the President of IAA (International Actuarial Association) – who is a South African – was going out for dinner by himself so I invited him along and then the Australians gate crashed and so we ended up with 7 people. We went to Fish Fry again and tried out another restaurant called Twin Brothers (surf & turf). Unfortunately they only have tables of 4 (more like booths) so we had to split up. We sat with the Australian couple and it was a really easy evening as they talked very freely. Being Saturday evening the whole area was pumping by the time we left. Clearly the place to go on a Saturday evening as all the locals were there.

Talking about talking freely … I didn’t tell you about the women we met last night at dinner (I was too tired to blog her yesterday). After our dinner had been rain interrupted we ended up with other people at our table. We had an American couple join us.  He hardly said anything. She spoke non-stop. Seriously, non-stop. And the very first thing she told me was that they had been to CT and she flew First Class. It was like name dropping but more like class dropping. She then went on to tell us about the multiple houses they owned, where they had been in the world, which hotels they had stayed at etc etc.  All at the top of her voice (@Lynne – Jeff would have loved her as an ambassador for America).  She did make a fatal error though. At one point she offered us the use of their holiday house. She clearly thought we would never take that up. But what she fails to understand is that if you make Paul an offer of the use of a holiday house for free he will definitely take it up. He never misses an opportunity like that. We speculated whether she was drunk or always like that and we settled on always like that. How her husband ever gets a chance to say anything is questionable. The table of 8 people and only she was talking for 80% of the time.

I am now typing this blog while listening to Karaoke being blared out from the pavilion below us. I have heard some songs been absolutely hacked to death. Helen was wetting herself with laughter at some of the singing. I definitely could have done better.  In fact, Bryan (M this time) would even do better. In fact pretty much anyone would do better.  I am hoping they are going to stop soon otherwise I am not going to be able to fall asleep with that whining in the background.

Sorry there were no photos.  I need to get some of them off Helen’s camera (will do so tomorrow). And just to make up for the limited work on Thursday I get to work again tomorrow morning with another meeting (soooo looking forward to that).

Until tomorrow …

2 thoughts on “Island Adventure Day 6 (I think)

  1. You have given me a challenge, the mic will definately be on in future. You will be to blame if church attendance dwindles!!

  2. I have chuckled my way through this one. Despite it being nearly a month out of date. Didn’t even get time to chat to Helen about it. Very amusing Mr. T. The American woman sounds the pits. And the catering and charges even worse.

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