And so the beginning of high season is just starting to take off. Hurricane season is effectively over now; and there is just so much happening here on our little rock in the middle of nowhere. The super luxury mega yachts have started arriving and the one that Johnny Depp rented last year, is safely ensconced in its mooring in the lagoon. I really don’t know who will be renting it this year though.

So where to start… hmmmmm! Yes . I know…. Let’s do the Rugby World Cup with all real passion; blood and guts to the fore. I’m not going to dwell on the actual games, because
that is now simply confined to history. But the passion shown by the fans here
was just fantastic. Dyana & I along with other rugby ‘aficionados’ ended up
going to a newly opened bar right on the lagoon called ‘The Harbour’ (Harbor in
Americanese), with its big screens, copious amounts of alcohol and a wonderful
breeze blowing through keeping us all so cool. I’ve selected a short video
taken right after the final between Australia and New Zealand, of someone who
must have bet on the losing team and had to pay the forfeit. Please click on
the picture as it becomes a short video to see what happened. And it was all in
the best possible taste!

Good news. A new small dock has just been inaugurated in Great Bay and a huge party was sponsored by the airport. It was billed as a big Family Fun Day and it truly was. The board walk was just mobbed with people come to enjoy all the festivities . Drumming bands; (Click the pic
for it to become a short video) … stilt walkers… dancers… the obligatory rides
for kiddies and to crown it all, and acrobatic air display. Well, the Red Arrows it was not…., but, the two planes they had, performed an absolutely marvelous display lasting nearly half an hour. It was organised by Red Bull, who know exactly what they were doing. Please click on the pictures to get them to turn into short videos. Well, it was the first time anything like this has
been seen on this island and the locals were all totally aghast in total wonderment as they strained their eyes upwards. Listening the crowd calling out OOOOOh’s and AAAAAA’s as the aircraft went through their routines.

Something about this island is that you just never know what is going to happen next, or
what you may see and encounter. Our little dinghy is running superbly at the moment and we fill it up with fuel on the French side. For some unknown reason it’s cheaper to fill it up with fuel on the French side than on our side . And the place we go to does one Euro = one Dollar. So we pulled in; and they now have a new sight awaiting us boaters. Quite tame animals. A small goat watches your arrival and then loves to be patted and petted. And once that’s done she
goes off to eat leaves off a small palm tree. So the fuel assistants now have another
job; and this is keeping the forecourt clear of… well you can imagine. Just take a careful look at the picture.  

Well, all sorts of holidays are soon to be upon us. Thanksgiving, Chanukah and of course
Christmas. Over here, we celebrate everything. And the attitude on the island is, ‘why not!’ Everyone loves a good party and this is just one more reason to celebrate.  
Christmas may not be in the traditional European way; you know, the way things are done in the ‘Old Country.’    For example, there are some gospel churches here where the noise is simply stunning as you drive slowly past whilst craning your neck and peeking inside the door. There you will see a seething mass of big flowery hats and everyone exceptionally well turned out in their ‘Sunday Best’ singing, jumping and clapping in time to the wonderful music . Reminds me of a scene from a movie called ‘The Blues Brothers’; you may remember the one where James Brown led the congregation in song and dance. SO this is definitely not quite like the sedate charms of the rural country church in England. In Scotland, there is definitely going to be snow on the ground. And we have our own… and here I use the term very loosely
‘snow’ right here. Yes, I hear you saying. Snow! In the Caribbean? Impossible! He’s lost his mind. Definitely!

But no. Just
read on. I told you we do things slightly differently here on our island. Every
year at about this time, the little white butterflies hatch. In England we used
to call them Cabbage whites. Little things about an inch or so long, flitting
this way and that looking like clouds of white snowflakes. They hatch after
good rains in their tens and hundreds of thousands; all in a two week period. Just
click the pic to see the video. So if anyone has been in a snow storm with
flakes being blown everywhere, this is exactly what it is like over here at the
moment . And they call it Caribbean Snow.

Definitely the funniest thing I’ve seen so far is a Christmas decoration on the French
side. Now I was always taught that there were three wise men that followed the
bright star to Bethlehem. Please correct me if I’m wrong! As we drove past a house with the big Christmassy display, I could not believe my eyes and had to take a picture and
video of it. This you may never see again. Now I know that in England, they are trying to bring equality to everything. But I think this may be a step too far for the equalitarians to ram down our throats. I want you to have a good look at the three wise people. Do you see what I see? Yes! One male, and two female wise people all sporting bushy eyebrows and trimmed beards and mustaches. Now don’t you find that so very different. We did.

Finally, and to end on a funny note, as we’ve been going round the island, I’ve been
photographing funny names, or in fact names that marketing people should definitely NOT Hope you like them.

Well, I’m signing off for this year now, and would like to wish you and yours a very, very happy, and healthy holiday season.

Love to you
all,

                              Dyana & Mike