We're starting a hash

When we get back to Canada we are starting a Hash House Harriers club. If you do not know what a hash is it’s  a run/walk through forest, roads and beaches. You can find Hash House Harriers all over the world! Ours will be for people in Brighton and the Bay of Quinte area (BBQ). This will also include Cobourg, Colborne, Northumberland County.

 

Its loads of fun because you can see our beautiful forest and beaches and have people to talk to. There will be a hash every Saturday or if it rains Sunday. For holidays like Christmas, Easter, Halloween there would a special hash. If it’s a full moon there might be a moon light hash.

 

Why we are starting it- It is a chance to get to know people in your community while you are exercising. When we hash here we meet people from England, USA, Canada, Trinidad, and France. It would be a neat experience for friends and family who are visiting to go for a walk/run in the area they are visiting.

 

My job will be to set the trails. In hash terms I will be the “hare”. I will also be a BOP! It stands for Back of the Pack. My job will be to have the people at the back get through and make sure no one gets lost. It is one of the most important jobs! There will be no littering allowed, if I see someone littering I will make them pick up their garbage. Hashers are environmentally friendly!

 

For each hash there will be a $2 entry fee. It helps offset costs for signs, garbage disposal, entry/group fees for using parks and to pay live entertainment.  

 

To start hashing you have to sign in. This is important because if you get lost we can search for you. Before a hash starts the Hash Master tells everyone about that week’s hash, welcome new comers and looks for people with new shoes! In Grenada if you have new shoes you have to drink beer out of your shoes! The BBQ Hash House Harriers are just going to make you step in some mucky mud to break them in!

 

The trails will be marked with shredded paper- sometimes with sidewalk chalk in towns. When you see the markers you are supposed to call back "on on" to let people know they are headed the right way. In the winter we will use coffee grounds. There will be false trails marked with an X. A circle tells you there is more than 1 way you can go.

 

There will be a BBQ at the end of the hash. Money raised will go to a different charity each week.

 

The first hash will be August 8th  at 3:00 pm and will start at our house. All ages can hash.

 

There is more info on our website www.bbqhhh.blogspot.ca be sure to check it out. Also like us on Facebook (BBQ Hash House Harriers) that way you will get updates on where the hash will be.

Cricket

On Friday we went to the Cricket Stadium. It took us about 10 minutes to drive down to the stadium and we had to park on a steep hill because the roads were closed.

We asked a policeman where to get the tickets. He said to go around the building. It took us about 10 minutes to walk around the building because where we came in was on the exact opposite side!

When we got the tickets and we went through security. We again had to walk the full length back to climb up to the second story. Then we walked back again to find our seats! When we were walking we saw that there other ways to get up that we missed.

We went to find our seats and there were four British people sitting in them. So dad told them politely to go to their own seats. After that we started to watch the game.

About three hours in me and dad went to get some food because I was hungry. We got French fries and chicken and a Coke. We went back and we ate the food.

When we left the West Indies was ahead of England. I was not feeling well so we left.

I thought the game was interesting but I didn't understand it. I now know how the points are scored. I would not go to another cricket game, but I am glad I saw one.

Hash #874

Last week we went to the Harrier Hash in Samaritan, St. Mark's. Samaritan is on the Caribbean side of the island and it takes about an hour to drive up to it from our house. The drive is along windy and steep roads so you have to drive slowly. It is really only about 30 kms away but it takes a long time to get there.

When we got there, there were lots of cars and it was hard finding a parking spot. Dad told us to get out of the car and sign in. (At a Hash there is someone who is sitting on a chair with a clipboard and a cash box. You sign in and pay $2.00 a person. Signing in means they know if you are still out on the trail or back!). Dad found us and the hash started.

The start was discombobulated. It started with false trails (which means you could go the wrong way). There was lots of "on backs" which means you went the wrong way. The pack initially went the right way but got confused and came back! It took a few minutes but we were all finally headed up the mountain.

We climbed up the mountain for about half an hour. There was lots of cocoa, nutmeg and bananas on this hash. It was pretty. At middle of the hill there was an option to do a short walk or a long walk. We chose.....long walk, of course. Mommy was tired already, but she was also doing a lot of stopping and taking pictures.

My brother I didn't want to keep waiting for her so we went ahead on our own. This was fun because we could go at a quicker pace. The downside was we didn't have any water or the phone,

For this weeks hash Aiden and I will carry one litre of water and a phone and we are going to hash on our own! This week the Hash is at La Sagesse my second favourite beach. It starts at four I am excited to go.

A donkey way up in the mountains
 

My dad catching up to us (Aiden orange shirt)
 

Cocoa shells

For real a porche!!

Birthday Boy

This Friday is my birthday. I am going to be 11 years old. I am going to be the last one in my family to have a birthday in Grenada.

I am not going to school on my birthday, because we don't learn anything at school the week before school is over. In Grenada "March Break" is for two weeks instead of one and it is an Easter Holiday instead of a March Break. Our break starts the Monday after my aunt arrives!

For my birthday we are going to go to eat at the Dodgy Dock. After dinner we are going to go listen to music at Le Phare Bleu.

My birthday will be different than back home because I will not get any presents. We don't do presents here because they would be hard to bring home, and because it is expensive to give gifts.

I am looking forward to my birthday even though I am not getting presents. An awesome present is that 2 days after my birthday my aunt Ceilidh arrives!

Grenada Hash House Harriers

This weeks hash was at Fontenoy just outside of the city of St. George. We knew we had arrived when we saw a lot of people and cars lined up parked along the road. We had to park about half a kilometer away.

When we got to the start there were kids playing soccer on the beach. They were really good. The goals were three sticks tied together, but small no higher than my knee. They would be great a profession football because they use such little nets and they can score, imagine if they had real soccer nets!

The starting of the hash is crowded. Most of the people were standing on the road. There were at least 200 people doing the hash this week!

Most of the people with walking sticks get near the start. This older guy always beats us. There is lots of young people, younger than Aiden and I. Both Grenadian and "American" or "European".

This house was in the forest about a 1/4 of the way up and there were no other houses near it. It has an ocean blue colour of paint.

 

This is Grand Mal Bay. There is oil storage facility just in front of the tanker.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We were worried we were going to have to climb up this cliff but....

We ended up looking down and over to it!!

The mountains are narrow because you can see Grand Mal Bay on one side and Grand Anse beach and St. George on the other side.

Going down was hard, they ropes to help but some of them snapped! Strong men had to hold the end to keep them tight. My dad helped. It was really slippery, everyone but my dad fell. Aiden and I were sliding on our bums down. It was like tobogganing on dirt. We had lots of fun and we got dirty!
















On the way down we took a funny picture. These are vines hanging off a tree. They are dead. They felt tough, you could probably use it for rope.

On our way down on the hill we saw the cutest little baby goat!! We also a one week old baby, but the goat was cuter!

At the end of the hash there was a beautiful sunset.



Top three places to eat in Grenada

 

1. Le Phare Bleu is a restaurant in Egmont overlooking Calvigny Island. You turn right at the Marian intersection and down towards the water. Once you cross the bridge you turn left at the Egmont sign. Stay on the road and follow the  signs to Le phare Bleu.


Le Phare Bleu is an open air restaurant on the waterfront. It is part of a hotel and marina. There are about 25 tables and comfy sofas and chairs you can reserve.

 On Tuesday nights they have a special buy one get one free pizza, but you have to pay for the toppings. On Sunday you can use the pool if buy two meals. On Friday there is nice music and my friend Alicia plays guitar.

The food is delicious. They have vegetarian, meat, fish, salads and desserts. I like the pizza or chicken fingers.

The main chef is Nehandra Campbell, who is Mr. Campbell's daughter at NEWLO. She is awesome!






2. G Burgers is van that has been converted into a fast food truck. It can be found on "Wall Street" at the round about. or down at SGU by the small animal veterinarian clinic.

He specializes in burgers. They lots of toppings. Some you wouldn't find in Canada are- hot sauce, garlic sauce, jalapenos and real pickles.

The burgers the best on the island, hand made with real Grenadian beef.

The cook is from Italy, he moved here 17 years ago.

 

3. The Dodgy Dock is at True Blue Resort near SGU.

It is like Le Phare Bleu because it open, has about 25 tables, it is also a hotel and is on the water. What makes it different is it have a playground, and a awesome boutique store. It was very "docky".

The food was very delicious. It was North American food but I like that kind of food.

It had pop music instead of soca. I found it relaxing.

For my birthday I am not sure which one I will pick!

Night at the Movies

Me and dad with the condos behind

On Sunday we went to  Prickly Bay Marina. Pricky Bay Marina is in Lance Aux Epines, a nice neighbourhood with embassies and big houses. The marina has sailboats and dingys, it is not all like Port Louis. It has a rental complex of pretty townhouses and condos. Every night they have something different going Sunday was movie night.

When we got there found a seat near the screen. To show they movie they projected it onto the white wall of a small theatre. While we waited for the movie to start we order vanilla ice cream. It came in a small plastic cup. It was $5 XCD or about $2.00 Canadian. The ice cream was yummy. Mommy had coffee that she didn't drink. Mommy tried putting ice cream in it to make it taste better but it didn't work.

The little theatre where they showed the movie

The movie playing was Night at the Museum- The Secret of the Tomb. It was our second time seeing it in Grenada!

I bit through the movie a very nice lady gave Aiden and me two glow sticks each. They were cool, they were two different colours. The lady had the glow sticks because she had three little girls. We thanked her a couple of times.

The movie ended at exactly 8:00 p.m. so we went home to get into bed. When we got home there were two little boys at the bar across the street. So we each gave one of them a glow stick. Dad said the children at the bar were really happy to get them.

I would like to go to the movies at Prickly Bay again!

The lady who gave us the glow sticks is in front of us

Glow sticks and ice cream!

A little while longer

On Friday my mom got her work visa. So we will be staying until the end of June. I was personally hoping that we would be going back at the end of this month because I want to go home.

I know I will miss looking at the yachts when we go home and swimming in the ocean.

I miss home. But my aunt Ceilidh is coming on the 29th so that is something I am looking forward to. And by then we will be home in less than 90 days!

Please Excuse Me

Me reading Harry Potter

Today I came home early from school. The school is practicing marching for sports day. Mom and dad wrote a note saying I did not have to march because they are worried about me getting a sunburn. Another reason is because without enough water I could pass out.

In Grenada, they take sports really seriously. At my school there are four houses; red, yellow, blue
and green (just like Harry Potter only without the fun names). I am in red house and so is my brother. The houses are insanely competitive, but I don't know who is winning.

I don't think marching is very fun and it doesn't teach you anything, that is why mommy and daddy let us come home. Today I got home at 1:15 which means the other kids would be marching for an hour and 15 minutes. I came home and played with my bigger brother who was at home, sick. It was ways better than marching!

A Valentine's Day with no Valentines

Me at Fort George

Today is Valentine's Day. Usually on Valentine's Day there would be stores all decorated up with red hearts and cupids and all kinds of pink and red stuff, teddy bears that say be my Valentine. And chocolate- lots and lots of chocolate.

We went downtown today and only one store was decorated for Valentines day. It was nice not having all the mushy stuff up. It was nice not having to buy Valentine's day cards, or make muffins.

A friend of my mom's sent milk chocolate candy bars to our family. So I am going to have some chocolate this afternoon.

We aren't going to do anything for Valentine's Day. But I hope you got chocolate!

Nana's Visit

The day Nana got here I was in bed and asleep.

On the second day she was here, we went to school and she went to the beach.

On the third day (Thursday) we went to drop mommy off at NEWLO and then we went to the nutmeg factory in Gouyave.

After the nutmeg factory we went around the island to Levera and then Rivers Rum Factory. This was my second trip, this time they were pressing the sugar cane. It was interesting and neat. See my later blogs about the Rum Factory visit.

Then we stopped in Grenville and got some baked goods for lunch at a bakery.

We came home by going over Grand Etang and we saw monkeys!! Three of them. I got to touch them! They were so cute.

Friday I went on a class trip to the airport. It was interesting, the weather station has someone working 24 hours a day. There are a bunch of different shifts so not one person is working 24 hours.

Saturday I stayed home while Nana went to the market. Nana and daddy went to Magazine beach.

Sunday we went to the workboat races. They were cool and "Wet" the boat fell over at the finish line.  In the afternoon we went to La Sagesse.

On Monday I went to school and daddy and Nana went snorkeling. After school we went for one last swim with Nana at Grand Anse.

Nana left early Tuesday morning before we went to school.

It was wonderful to see Nana.

My Christmas

About a week ago it was Christmas. Christmas in Grenada is very different than Christmas in Brighton.

First of all is the weather. There is no snow and no cold winds. Here the weather was about 30
degrees and very sunny. It was so nice we could eat on our back deck.

Next is decorations. At home we have a Christmas tree, lights, wreaths, bells, candles, dancing penguins singing decorations. There are presents under the tree, everything wrapped perfectly because my mom does it. In Grenada no tree, we had a few stick on the wall decorations and some window decorations. Presents were not wrapped at all.



Food. At home we would have pancakes with Smarties and bacon. For lunch we would have turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, carrots, broccoli, turnips, jellied salad and lots of desserts. Here we had pancakes and bacon so similar to back home. For lunch we had touritere and mashed potatoes, salad, green banana soup, curried rice, and veggies & crackers. We also had some yummy cupcakes and a yummy chocolate caramel dessert.

Steel band that played Feliz Navidad

Who. Usually Ama is at our house for Christmas and sometimes auntie Ceilidh and Uncle Ken come for lunch. This Ama was here. We had two Cuso volunteers (Linda and Nancy), our neighbours Meena and Janice, Mr. Campbell and Mrs. Douglas from NEWLO dropped by. I did not love having all the people over for Christmas.

But we had an awesome time at the beach Christmas afternoon!

My Christmas was fun.

Selfie!!!

My family at the beach

Sand angels