Cricket update

We're now two-thirds through the cricket season so thought a quick update would be in order. We've now won seven in a row to sit second on the table (though I've only been around for three of those games with my recent traveling).

It seems as if something strange happens in every game of cricket in Bermuda - something you'd never see anywhere else. Today's was a delayed start by an hour because the pitch was too wet. It hasn't rained here for days so the groundsman watered the pitch yesterday and then forgot to turn the tap off. Not smart.

A couple of weeks ago (I missed this one as I was in NY), the groundsman had just rolled the pitch (with the big steam roller in an earlier blog update) and then the roller conked out. Both teams together could only move it an inch so a truck had to be brought to the ground to tow it off the pitch, resulting in a two hour delay to the start of play. Nowhere but Bermuda would you see things like that!

Today (pictured below) was a fairly non-eventful day for me - faced one ball to finish with 1*, bowled one ball to take a wicket and end the game, dropped a hard catch and took an easy one. So not much action for me in seven hours of play!

New York

Naomi and I then headed to New York for four action-packed days. The clear highlight for me was a helicopter ride up and down Manhattan and around the Statue of Liberty. Absolutely loved it.

Our chopper:

Naomi before boarding... looking very nervous:

In the chopper:

Looking down on New Jersey:

Looking down on the Statue of Liberty:

Looking down on Madison Square Gardens, our hotel and the Empire State Building:

We managed to fit in a whole lot of other tourist destinations, including Chinatown, Little Italy, the Brooklyn Bridge, Central Park, Ground Zero, Wall Street, Times Square:
The Empire State Building:

And of course the Statue of Liberty from the ground:

So, another great holiday. And again, just as hard to get back into the work routine afterwards.

Visit from Naomi & Chris

It didn't take much, but I was able to convince Naomi and Chris to pop over to Bermuda for a short break. And in eight days Naomi managed to see more of the Island than I have... I really need to get my act into gear...

All the usual spots were visited, Gibbs Hill Lighthouse:

the beaches - it was perfect weather for the whole trip:

and exploring by scooter:

I was fortunately treated to dinner at the Waterlot Inn (thanks again guys), which apparently is only one of eight steak restaurants in the world with a four-diamond rating - not that I know what that is... but it's a great restaurant nonetheless. Naomi and Chris before dinner:

And we also visited Harbour Nights one night to check out a few local market stalls and traditional gombey dancers.