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A video to accompany the post before this one. Me having a shoot at Antigua Clays. After hitting 9 of my first 10, this is the next 10, where I hit a disappointing 7. Got the Mongoose targets though (the ones that run along the ground). Overall a pretty fun way to spend a Sunday morning.

Ears: The soothing sounds of a gun.

So many activities.

One of the things I miss most back home is the cruisey days on the weekend I would have with some of my best mates. Those where there was no sailing to be done, or waves to surf, just a day full of random activities.

Like all good days, these ones would always start with a good breakfast, up to eight of us would meet at Petrie Pt, and find somewhere glorious around New Farm or the Gabba for the most important meal of the day. After the meal, usually accompanied by the four-drink phenomenon (water, coffee, juice and tea). It would be time to move on for some activities. These would range from kicking a footy, buying books, a fish tank or other things in the city. But without a doubt, Buck hunter at the Brewhouse would always be on the agenda. That with some lunch beers and an afternoon of sport watching before having a sauna and a spa back at Petrie Pt. would usually cap off a good weekend.

I miss those days, and I can't wait to hang out with everyone again.

There are two reasons why this story popped up, the first is that it is actually a great segue into how last Sunday was for us.

Stuck on a Caribbean Island is fun, but there is only so much sun and beach you can take sometimes. So a few of us decided that this day would be an activity day, which I would loosely base off these activity days at home.

Myself, Cam and Hannah met April at  a breakfast venue with the aim of going to Antigua Clays shooting range for some fun. However, with a car and a Lonely Planet in hand, the possibilities soon became endless, a precise program was needed to ensure we got everything done on time for sunset at Shirley Heights.

So it was time to write these activities on a napkin, highlights included:
1051 - Hannah runs into Dave, team to now be referred to as Team 4+1.
1115 - 1345 - Gun Range.
1347 - Apply sunscreen.
1430 - 1610 - Lunch at Dickenson Bay, include swim.
1656 - Return to Falmouth harbour and get taxi to Shirley Heights
1755 - Enjoy Sunset with drinks.
The rest of the evening was a blur, but consisted of "seizure and spaz hand" dancing to the steel drum and reggae bands before free time from 2100 onwards.

The shooting was fun, I always watched the shooting at the Olympics and wonder how impossibly good they are, but after hitting 13 of my first 15 clays and ending up with a hit rate of 65%, I don't think it's too hard (must be the hours of practice during the Buck Hunter days!). I will put a quick video up shortly if you don't believe me.

Overall it was a pretty good day, one of my favourites in a long time.

The second reason for the story at the start, was that Elliott had messaged me saying he and Dillon (two of the big players in the breakfast days at home) would be in Antigua on his tour through Central America as I write this. I was pretty excited, however it turns out there is a town called Antigua in Guatemala, a simple geographic mistake can sometime cause a lot of heartache - sad face.

Keep on keeping on!

Ears: Little Red

A happy song, for happy times.  

The napkin takes shape over breakfast.

Angel

Angel and Wacko Jacko

Bike Gang?

Overlooking Skullduggery's and into the Marina.

Guard Dog

Rod, the man.

April

Yours Truly

Cam, trying.

Me, doing

B - Dave, Me and Cam. F - April, Rod (shooting guide) and Hannah

Station

Organising the afternoon activities on the napkin

Beach time

Correct

Dickenson Bay

Stray dog freedom

Here is a video from a couple of weeks ago, it's from our drive around the island when we went ziplining. I  like it, and if you do force yourself to sit through all 9min of it there are some funny little observations that I highlighted.

Anyhoo, enjoy.

Ears: Bright Eyes

The longest day.

Friday 20/01 was a long day. 

It starts the night before where I didn't get to bed until well after 11, a 3:15am alarm was set, so it was up at 3:13am (not sure about other people, but I have this uncanny knack of waking up two minutes before alarms when it is an early flight or appointment). A taxi to the airport, which rocked up with military precision just as we opened the entrance gate of where we are based, followed by a 5:30am flight to St. Lucia and then onwards to Barbados; landing around 7am.

Pumping around in a mini moke all day was what we were about, except for the US Embassy part, for which we had to separate from said mini moke. Most people who are in this industry probably have the B1/B2 Visa, and will know exactly what the process is to get into the Embassy, pretty hands on, would be the best way to describe it..........

Once we did the Visa gig, it was time for the second military pick-up of the day, this time courtesy of Jim with the Moke timing the run to perfection just as we were walking out of the prison.... I mean Embassy gates.

Next up it was time for some exploration of the island, we drove pretty much east from where we started, then north, then west, north, south, east, and finally north, before eventually getting to near where we were trying to go. We then spent the next hour driving all the roads in the area, before finally settling at Bathsheba. This place is meant to be the best surf spot on the island, and one of the best in the Caribbean, hence the reason we went there, needless to say we were greeted with 3-4ft of slop generated by the unfavourable tradewind that really haunts these parts of the world for wave lovers. So we settled for some lunch and a beer before heading off on our next assignment.

This next assignment would be known as "excuse me where is the nearest gas station?", we say gas because that's what the Seppo tourists say, and we were pretty much that for the day. It all seemed pretty hopeless when stopping to ask a number of different locals for directions. who all seemed to say a different way, and use phrases like, "turn left at the old tree", or "if you see a pink house turn around and take the third right", or "once you are directly under the sun, drive away from it for 400 paces". 

Needless to say we eventually got there, with what could be considered a dry fuel tank.

After that it was time for me to leave Jim and Laura in Barbados, and bounce back to Antigua, landing there around 7pm and catching the 30 min cab ride home with an awesome cab driver who talked non-stop about the cricket and tennis and growing up on the island. 

In conclusion, it was a long day.

The end.

Ears: Zulu Winter

Hot Tip: Expect to know this band in 6-9 months.

Sunrise

A beach in Barbados

Taken looking out the back of the moke whilst going north.

Not the best thing to see when you don't have a roof on the car.

In search of Bathsheba

Jim

Not Bathsheba

Again, not Bathsheba.

Going on foot in search of Bathsheba.

Not Bathsheba (it's actually Laura)

BATHSHEBA!

Mush at Bathsheba

Going home, my plane is the last one, I think the lack of security meant I could have also gone to Guadeloupe or Jamaica.  

Create.

Here is my first foray into video, turns out the editing program I got my hands on wouldn't run on my laptop, so I had to revert to iMovie, which wasn't ideal. Somehow though, I made it look half alright for a first timer......... well at least I think I did.

This video was shot during the Trans Atlantic crossing we did at the end of November. Special thanks to Jack for helping me get a lot of the footage, as well as everyone else on the boat for being awesome.

Apologies if it is a bit grainy and blocky too, I'm not too sure about what specs or quality to upload. Oh and please be kind, it's a first.

kthanxbye

Ears: Radioseven

Settling into Antigua

We have been in Antigua for almost a week and should be here for another 5 weeks, it's a nice island in the sun and a lot less Americanised than St. Maarten. Falmouth Harbour, where we are based kind of reminds me of Lake Cootharaba back home in the sense that it is quite a small community with crap roads and the locals all seem to be stoned, I do love it though and overall, although hard to compare, I think it is a better place than SXM.

I have had a few days off over the last week and among the adventuring a few of us decided to go "Ziplining" which is where you climb through the rainforest canopy and flying fox between trees. It sounds fun and it would be for some, but it is a bit tame if you have bungee jumped or like we do, spent any amount of time up a rig. Nevertheless we didn't realise this until well after we paid for it, actually I think I realised it after the second line when the heavens opened and torrential rain drenched us all without mercy.

Here are some photos of the last week, including a trip to St. John's (capital city), Half Moon Bay, as well as a drive along the west coast and into the north. I was working on a short vid that I may one day show someone, so some of these photos were taken by Hannah with a quick edit by me. Now to figure out how to play videographer............

Ears: The Townhouses (remixing Alpine)

St. John's Life

Half Moon Bay

Pigeon Beach

The following are mostly by Hannah.

Cam before realising that cameras were not allowed whilst ziplining.

I am a sucker for dogs.

Except for the next two photos.

Sun protection

Hannah and Cam

Pina Coladas at Sandals.