The End of an Era…

This week two of my best friends Sian and Ferg who I have been lucky enough to work with for the past 2 years out here in the Caribbean have gone home.

They have moved back to the UK (with the cat) to start some very exciting personal and professional adventures and I just wanted to take this opportunity to thank them both from the bottom of my heart. I have progressed in so many ways with the help and support of them both.

While we were sat waiting for the time to pass before I had to drop them at the airport and say our final good byes we took a few shots to with the epic view.

Thanks, good luck and I will see you both hopefully in the not too distant future xx

 

In other news Michelle is going up for the Saint Lucia Carnival Queen 2013. We need your support so if you could follow the link to the Facebook page and like her photo that would be great. The more likes she gets the more points she gets so feel free to share :)

St Lucia Jazz – HOT Couture Fashion Show

Last night I went to my first cat walk fashion show and it was very exciting as Michelle was one of the modals :D

I love going to see Michelle when she doing her thing! Its like watching a different person out there as she changes to the different  roles that are required of her. The first time was last December when she took part in a Bikini Bombshell competition. She was the first girl to walk out (must have been scary to go first!) Everyone went crazy for her and that was not just because Simon and I were in the audience telling people to haha. She was able to make the whole crowd fall in love with her just by walking out with a beautiful smile on her face. She of course won the competition!

Last night was a completely different story. It was all about selling the cloths and of course she rocked that to! Her first out fit was part of the forth collection and I remember feeling a mix of excitement and nerves waiting for her to walk out from behind the wall on the run way!

I know what your all thinking a biased opinion from her boyfriend but its all good ;) I am very proud! The St Lucia Jazz and Arts Festival is one of the biggest festivals not only in St Lucia but in the Caribbean so I have a great deal to be proud of :)

I was also surprised to see another friend of mine Chacho who is the Activities Manager at Smugglers a resort I work at.

I started the night going to the show to support Michelle not knowing really how it was going to go but I left 100% enjoying myself. The free wine and the after party might have had allot to do with that to ;)

 

Visit to Seaton to see Dad

My last weekend back at home in March was set aside to do the long but beautiful drive to go and see my Dad in his new flat in Seaton Devon. Kat was doing all the hard work in the driving seat and I was able to sit back and watch all the views as we drove across the country on yet another gray morning! Still we had an amazing driving CD that Kat had put together and I got to see Stone Henge along the way.

Sadly my iPhone does not do it justice!

Dad has found this second floor flat that over looks the English Channel, that really is a stones throw away! I tried it when no one was looking! Up in the flat they have these floor to ceiling patio windows and even on a gray cold day the view can still keeps you mesmerised all day long with the epic views.

It was a special weekend for another reason to as I got to meet Dad’s new girlfriend Barbra for the first time who is very nice. Even though it was very cold outside we all got wrapped out and had an explore. After a hearty Workman’s Breakfast at the Trotters Cafe (well worth checking out if your every hungry for a proper fry up!)

We set off to a place just down the road called Beer (must run in the family) and of course took some photos :)

That was not enough for my Dad! Being an avid follower of my blog he had spotted the photos I did of Michelle on Choc Beach just before I left and just had to try and recreate the Devon version!

Well sort of…

 

Thanks Dad for a great weekend and it was great to catch up with you and Barbra.

I also want to say a quick good luck to my sister as she is back on her travels again and is currently in New Zealand!

If you have liked what you have seen don’t forget that follow button and there will be more coming soon. :)

 

Birthday in Kent

It was my birthday this weekend and I went to see one of my best friends Thom down in very sunny Whitstable. I love being near the sea and love how different it can look in different parts of the world and at different times of the year. I have been on this same beach in summer and had some amazing BBQ’s but this weekend we walked along the coast in two jumpers and a snowboard jacket!

He may not agree with this but I like the fact that we often wake up to the same view, even if it is many miles apart!

Quick thank you to all the boys who came down for our night out as eventful as it was :)

Leon and Alfie

So I am back at home :) and the weekend just gone my Mum, Sister and I went up north for my Grandads 80th birthday dinner. Sadly he was not well for the dinner, he is on the mend now but I wish him a speedy recovery! The weekend was not a complete lose at all we had a great family meal and I got to meet this little fella for the first time :)

This is Leon and he is awesome at blocks! Sadly I am nothing cool to Leon, he is my great cousin (so my cousin’s son) which is a shame but this is the first time I got to meet him and we got on like a house on fire. We played blocks…

Then this awesome game where Mummy was the start line and jumping on me was the finish line…

Now if I mention Leon I can’t forget his little brother who the last time I saw him was Leon’s size and that’s Alfie. He was always a smart little kid but now he can talk and has more energy then a nuclear reactor!

Kat is still bigger then him though!

First weekend down and allot more planned! Was really great to spend some family time with everyone. Jo you have a beautiful family :)

More soon!

Running Down to Choc Beach

I know its been a long time and I am sorry about that! We have had allot going on over here in St Lucia that has required my full attention. I have some exciting news though… I AM GOING ON HOLIDAY :)

I am going home for 3 weeks! It will be the first time I have been home in 2 years so its a well over due trip!

I have been promising Michelle that we would go out and do a photo shoot since Christmas so we set a deadline for before I left.

We got up at 5am to catch the beautiful morning light and it did not disappoint!

She makes it look all so easy :) Just a short one for now but hopefully I will have some stories to share once I get back on UK soil :) Can’t wait to see you all.

Beach Fire

Grabbing me a Piton from the awesome new cooler! :)

I have visited allot of beaches since living over here in St Lucia and been faced with a couple of problems. The first, once you find your self a nice spot you either have to walk a million miles to get a drink or bring it with you and it gets very warm very quickly and secondly, you find some coconuts or other amazing fruits that you just can not get into! (the tough problems I face huh :) Yesterday I fixed both of these problem I bought a cooler and a cutlas :D

The new cooler

Last night Michelle and I were sat in the room trying to work out what to do with our Saturday night. The cooler was in the boot of the car and quietly calling both of us to go and try it out. Very quickly we both agreed that we should buy some beers and go to the beach to test it out.

That day I had just put my 50mm 1.8f on to my 400D and put it in the back of the car. Every day is a photo shoot :)

We arrived at Vigie beach (the one near the small airport that I have mentioned before) and got sat down. Michelle went for a wonder and started dragging this big dead palm tree leaf and said she wanted to make a fire…

Awesome… The small boy in me who went to scouts (purely to learn how to set things on fire properly) came rushing out! If my girl wants a fire I am going to give her a fire. Now leaves don’t burn for too long but they were a good start. Resting up behind one of the beach restaurants was an old pallet which I quickly grabbed and started to chop up using our new cutlas!

Not drinking shandy…

It did not take long before we had a raring fire that only took 1 match to light! (Dingle my scout leader would have been very proud)

We had such a romantic night under the stars by the sea with our open fire and we got to use both our new toys!

Don’t forget that wonderful follow button if you like what you have read. More coming soon.

Spam!

Hello All,

I just wanted to kindly ask you all to ignore the last post that you received from me. It seems that some how my account has been hacked and a spam message was sent out to you all. I would never want to waste your time with such rubbish. I have reported the incident to wordpress. A big thank you to all of you who messaged me bringing it to my attention.

Now back to my beer :) Have a good day.

 

 

Meadow’s Battery – 1898

When you land at George F. L. Charles Airport in St. Lucia on the left you will see what I now know to be Meadow’s Battery. I have flown into that airport more then a few times now doing the job that I do and I have seen it every time and always wanted to know what it is.

Over looking the harbor, if you waited long enough you could also get a very close look at the planes landing at the local airport.

One weekend Michelle and I had bought some take away chicken and we were looking for a nice place to eat it. We took a drive around Vigie. Up on a hill there are some tight winding roads with some beautiful houses and this old Battery.

The Battery was built by the British in 1898 to defend the island from the French and over looks the Castries harbor. (“Vigie” ironically being a french word for look out) We had a good look around the old abandoned buildings, ammo stores and gun placements looking out to sea then climbed down a bank to have our lunch on our own private little beach that we found. (I am not going to tell you exactly where that is as that’s for Michelle and I :)

A couple of weekends later we packed the kit bags and went back to shoot some of the awesome locations.

I was getting Michelle to walk up and down like she was on a catwalk, shot this one as she was resetting.

We where there most of the afternoon and their are still plenty of other spots we could have gone with amazing backgrounds. Its only a short drive from the airport and well worth a visit if you are around :)

Thanks for reading, don’t forget that magic follow button if you like what you see :)

 

Dollar Sounds Full Moon Beach Party

Blade by the Ruins

When you come to the Caribbean and turn on the radio your ears are flooded with the sounds of Soka, Local Hip-Hop, Calypso and sadly bad dance music that is all mixed, no not mixed, smashed together with some annoying air horns or some other midi sound. It’s a shame because I really like some of the local music, its acutely quite good but the DJ’s just ruin it! Luckily there is a man on the island who knows about good mixing and he has had enough to!

Every three months an Expat named Ian rounds out some of the best local house DJ’s in St Lucia and gives them a stage to play on. The parties he puts on are hidden away in secret location that no one knows about until a few weeks before. The guys don’t advertise either, its strictly word of mouth but they still manage to pack out a location.

This weekend was no different; the location was Pigeon Island, normally a quite tourist attraction with old military remains and some stunning panoramic views. The Island used to sit out in the sea all by itself until the 1970’s when the tourist board built a new marina. All the earth they dug out to make the Marina they used to build a road to the Island, now it’s a national Park. Two attractions for the price of one! Go St Lucia :)

Blade Chilling

The party was set up at the bottom of “Signal Hill” near some ruins and right on the east coast of the island so you had a stunning backdrop of Rodney Bay lite up by a full moon. The restaurant, Jambe De Bois, that is set into the some remains played the part of bar beautifully. All that is missing is the massive speakers, allot of bass and some DJ’s.

Starting off the night was Blade, I manage to catch up with him after the weekend to have a chat with him and he was very pleased with how the night went and is looking forward to the next one. As am I!

Blade in the mix

Next was DJ Top Class playing a mix of rocking house tunes and Caribbean classics with a twist, keep all the locals happy.

DJ Top Class

As Halloween was just around the corner we where bound to get some costumes and Shay Smalls did not let us down in that department!

Shay Smalls

Then the man of the hour Ian finishing off the night with some quality tunes.

There was a great atmosphere all night and we were treated to some surprises, including some witches spinning fire works and a mummy climbing up the side of a ruin and dancing all along top!

Shout out to Michelle for helping me with the flash haha

If you’re lucky enough to hear about the next one you should definitely come along. I will see you there ;)