Not MTR Production

The walk was not organised by Fun and Thrills but it had an element of the mtr anyway. For instead of us getting ready for a 5am-6am departure, it was a 3am departure. But this is not unusual  for Professor Lawson Douglas and his team who have been walking around Jamaica for decades  and have done the entire island three times so far, to raise funds for the Kidney Foundation.

This was the third time Charles, Betty and I were doing a walk with   the Douglas team. The first had been Buff Bay to PORT Antonio, the second Oracabessa to Ocho Rios and this was supposed to be from Christiana, Manchester to Allsides, Trelawny. I say supposed as I did not complete the trip, (Charles and I think Tricia did) instead, I got into a support vehicle at  Litchifield to return to where we had left the cars as the others had to be shuttled back to Christiana. Anyway I had by then completed  about ten and half kilometers  of the journey which was about thirteen kilometers.

The other Fun and Thrills member who came  with us was Nicole Brown. My cousin

Sheila who lives in Canada and just bought an apartment here, also came along.

Also with our group was Yves, a  French friend of Nicole's who lives in St. Lucia; Kirk who is Spy's brother and Cynthia who walks the hills with us and Nicola who comes to the movies with us at times.

We were supposed to leave Kingston at 3am but the other group did not gather completely at the meeting place,  Constant Spring golf club, until well after 3 am and we left Kingston close to 4am.

 By 5.30 we were at the departure point in Christiana however and it was dark and cold but a wonderful and most welcome full moon had followed us all the way .

As usual Manchester was super cold and I had worn two shirts, figuring that I would get rid of one when we warmed up, but even when the sun finally got through after about 9 am,  I had not warmed up enough to remove any clothes.

We crossed the border to Trelawny quite quickly and the crossing point is called Line of Parish and as the dawn broke gradually, the fabulous scenery with the mist covered mountains, green productive agricultural fields, beautiful flowers, salubrious hills and lush hills and valleys started to peek out gradually.

The air was so clean, invigorating and fresh, that alone made the trip more than worthwhile.

Lowe River is one of the more progressive districts along the way and there we saw a huge poster of Paul Padmore, the only independent parish Councillor in Jamaica, who operates a funeral home in the area.

Other districts we passed through High Gate Hall, Battersea, Lime Tree and if I had completed to the journey to Allsides, the other district on the way would have been Wait-A-Bit.

Although the topography between  Trelawny and Manchester are very similar, the difference  in development  is stark with the Manchester side having much better roads including a bypass for Christiana while the Trelawny side was potholed, we saw people carrying water on their heads and of course there were far more yam plantations there.

However the Trelawny people are apparently more hospitable  because at the border there is a Welcome to Trelawny sign but when  you return there is no evidence of a similar sign before you enter Manchester.

It was a great walk with lots of camaraderie although Lawson's team walked much faster than we did and once we left Christiana,  I never saw any of them again.

The only rider was Carl Oxford who kept riding to and fro to keep a check on the participants. He solved a mystery for me too for at the 150th anniversary of Munro college in St. Elizabeth last year, I hear a mysterious rider had appeared riding all the way from Kingston and quite a few people, knowing I ride, had told me about it and asked me if I knew who it was. It turns out that it was Carl,

who although attending Kingston college, had ridden down to honour his late relative Douglas Forrest who had been the head master of Kingston college but a Munro Old Boy. Mystery solved.

When  we returned to Christiana, there was a pleasant surprise awaiting us as David, to ensure that Grace had a wonderful birthday, had driven her down  to Christiana to have breakfast with us at Lemar Plaza, then they headed off to visit Chris Dalrymple in Priory.

We sang happy birthday to Grace in front of the small plaza.

Nicole also did not come back with us as she took Yves to Little Ochi to lyme.

Betty did a fantastic job of driving from 2.30am, then all the way to Christiana, hiking almost all the way then driving back almost all the way to Kingston, then Charles relived her on the last  leg of the highway back home.

Another great day of invigorating exercise, camaraderie and wonderful food.

Of Crocodiles

I think I was eaten by a reptile in my past life, for that is the only logical explanation for my chronic fear of reptiles, from crocodiles to croaking lizards.

Anyway, with the help of Mr. Charles Swaby,

the operator of the Black River Safari, I felt so comfortable with a baby crocodile that I even played with it.

Not touching any croaking lizards though. Never. You see , croaking lizards are soft, crawly and yucky and just looking on them makes my skin crawl whereas at least the croc has a hard, coarse skin.

Anyway, it seems my long felt fear of crocs may be receding a bit, since I was convinced by Mr. Charles Swaby, operator of the fantastic and educational Black River Safari,  (also Jamaica's Crocodile Dundee!) to visit his hatching room and touch a baby one. And I did. Not touching any croaking lizard though. lol

Three six loves, WOW!

I know most people would disagree, but I am not really the boastful type...at least not all the time!

Anyway as as someone who just loves to play and dominoes and thus expects to get or give six loves, giving it really gives a rush and I gave 3 six loves on Saturday. Mercy me and these were not amateurs but rather, very boastful people who came to the table declaring that they usually pay for money but were willing to oblige us non gamblers.

This was at Calvin's birthday party at beautiful Pimento Hill overlooking the spectacular Long Bay in Portland.

Although Long Bay is beautiful and unspoiled, it tends to be a bit rough but I had still planned to get a dip. Unfortunately, Portland is also famous for its constant rainfall and Saturday was no different as we arrived in quite a heavy drizzle and each time the sun came out and one felt it was a permanent respite,
 the rain came again.

So we settled down to just enjoying the food scenery and camaraderie and that was no mistake as there was great food galore, unlimited liquor and great dominoes.

Stewie and I  played first and after we dropped the first six love, it was food time.

Then they dragged Stewie away to operate the karaoke set up and the boastful ones insisted that they were not going to play with me and a new partner as they had to give back the six love to Stewie and I . Eventually they relented and I played with Calvin's cousin who was here from Florida for the party.

 We quickly polished  them off with another 2 six loves.

The food break did not help them at all! lol

I guess that is the closest i will ever get to heaven, especially in light of the fact that the last time I  played, that's  two weeks ago at Silver Sands, I got two six loves myself.

The reason for the constant six loves is of course because we play bruk an spoil, that is when the six series is broken we start over again until one time goes to six non stop. But it didn't take too many starts to polish off those guys as they were more style than substance and as usual, men always under-estimate female players.

It was really a great party and  am glad that I took a leave from Jazz festival for the first time in about ten years to go east instead, although I understand my Beres mass up di place.

Anyway, I will see him soon, somewhere else.