Exeter University Netball Club Barbados Tour

March 2007
10.03.07
Fun ‘n’ rum with Julian!
Our first night in Barbados.
We met at the hotel bar, then went on to Jumbees, where we commenced our rum initiation. It was great to have Julian (tour rep) with us to show us where to go and give us an idea of the prices to pay and drinks to order. Ended the night in MacBrides.

11.03.07
Down time
Chilled out morning by the pool
Meeting with Julian and Ricky at lunchtime to go through the possible excursions.
Girls split off for the evening. Some went to Sweet Potato restaurant, others to Café Sol, a really nice Mexican restaurant, with tempting cocktail deals and plenty of tequilas.

12.03.07
Happy birthday Kate!
We celebrated Kate’s 21st with a rum breakfast and a day at the beach

Our first match against Silver Raiders at the Netball Stadium. We were impressed by its size and status. It was extremely beneficial for the teams to play after the sun had gone down as we were certainly unaccustomed to the heat. Both Exeter teams enjoyed victories! We were made to feel extremely welcome. We enjoyed meeting the opposition and especially the cake afterwards.

Exeter A vs. Silver Raiders A = 40 - 34 Exeter B vs. Silver Raiders B = 32 – 26

Meal at Jungle Café - our first experience of flying fish and macaroni pie. (A tip for those who don’t like macaroni pie – don’t visit Barbados!)

Off to the Reggae Lounge for some, well, let’s say, ‘local culture’.

13.03.07
Brilliant Boatyard
Day at the Boatyard, organised and assisted by Julian. We had a great day at the Boatyard with lunch and free drinks included.
We returned to the hotel around 4pm then returned to the Boatyard for the evening. A great venue, right on the beach, with a brilliant live band.

14.03.07
Flaming limbos!
Our second game vs. St Barnabas at the Netball Stadium.

Exeter A vs. St Barnabas A = 31 – 26
Exeter B vs. St Barnabas B = 28 – 12

Harbour Lights show and party. Wingman fancy dress social. We were massively impressed with the stilt dancers but thought we could give the limbo dancer a run for her money. Suffice to say, it’s pretty difficult to limbo under a flaming pole! Another all you can drink night and a really nice meal included.

15.03.07
The Hangover Hotel
A free day to recover!
In the evening the hotel arranged a caterer for us, who provided a tasty buffet beside the pool, followed by a wander down to St Lawrence Gap to sample a few more rums.

16.03.07
Cocktail Cruise
Rubiyat Catamaran Cruise. We spent a brilliant day on the catamaran - jumping off to snorkel reefs and wrecks, jet skiing, and swimming with turtles. We effectively had the boat to ourselves but for a couple of other sun worshippers impressed at our ability to drink so many Pina Coladas that the blender broke!
Another night on the Gap.

17.03.07
Making friends
Game at King George V Park. A brilliant day, playing in a beautiful open space. After the game we enjoyed some dancing and drinking outside the pavilion with the opposition and their families. They certainly celebrate netball in a new way!

Exeter A vs. Police Sports Club = 22 – 19
Exeter B vs. UAC = 25 – 12

Meal at Just Grillin’ in the evening – then Julian took us to a beach bar in the Gap, followed by our first serious take over of the Ship Inn.

18.03.07
Sing when you’re winning
Rubiyat Catamaran Sunset Cruise – we just couldn’t get enough of the Rubiyat! The evening’s frivolities included ruining some wedding pictures on the beaches of Sandy Lane, a christening for the new Pina Colada blender, last few rays of sun and then an amazing sunset.

We just hadn’t partied enough and unfortunately went on ruining people’s holidays by taking on the Gap’s karaoke bar at After Dark – with some scarily bad renditions of no one’s favourites, including the Welsh girls destroying Delilah!

19.03.07
Aloha!
A free day to recover once again from the night before. Some girls went shopping to Bridgetown, others ventured further on the local buses to find picturesque beaches off the beaten track, some stayed and baked at Rostrevor and on Dover Beach
We returned to the Boatyard bringing more fun to the party with our second fancy dress night – Hawaiian stylie!

20.03.07
Explore on tour
Another game – with an extremely interesting crowd. It was really nice to see different parts of the island and experience the local netball clubs.

Exeter A vs. Bank Spurs A = 22 – 25
Exeter B vs. Bank Spurs B = 22 – 7

21.03.07
They got the moves!
Some of the girls set off to find some surf and had an amazing day at an amazing beach learning how to surf the west coast!
Match at the Netball Stadium. The A team faced some stiff opposition, playing against some of Barbados’ national players. The game was kept in good spirits despite the large goal difference. The B team were again victorious. As Julian would say, “They got the moves!”

Exeter A vs. Combined Clubs A = 36 – 63
Exeter B vs. Combined Clubs B = 27 – 21

22.03.07
New tricks!
Our final game and another day of stealing the sun. Match at Silver Raiders’ home courts. They decided they had not brought enough of their “big girls” the first time round so decided to take us on again. Unfortunately, there wasn’t much the A team could do against effectively the same team as the night before! Nevertheless, by this stage in the tour we’d learnt a few of the Bajan’s plays and had their number on some of their moves. Clearly, we needed another fortnight to learn a few more!

Exeter A vs. Silver Raiders A = 16 – 38
Exeter B vs. Silver Raiders B = 12 – 17

We celebrated the end of the netball in style - an amazing carvery at the Ship Inn, dressed in our third and final fancy dress – the Exeter University Netball Club Cave Girl Tribe!

23.03.07
New friends – liquid and living!
Our last full day on the island – so it was sun, souvenir shopping and more sun.
We went to Oistins in the evening for a fish fry, and enjoyed the music, atmosphere, stalls, and our first real experience of rain! (It only lasted a while though)
To celebrate the end of an amazing tour we returned to Harbour Lights and met up with the many friends we had made over the two weeks and said our fond farewells to the rum.