Each time I head to the Caribbean to work on the project there my friends are jealous. They don't believe me when I inform them of the reality of the trip which is a day long journey to get there, three long days of work on site and then the red eye flight to return home. Instead they cling to their holiday vision of bright sunshine, cool drinks at the pool and lazing on beautiful sandy beaches. While the project is on a beautiful beach it does not live up to my friends' vision! Today was a national holiday in Trinidad and the site was very quiet. That made it the perfect day to dig up the temporary truck entrance to the site and install the myriad of pipes which will drain the putting greens of the adventure golf. We were on the road at 6:00 and It was a genuine tropical monsoon (with warm rain) for much of the day. As a result it was extremely muddy and wet. But our small crew soldiered on and we managed to get the drainage in for fourteen holes. In ten days I'll return for another Caribbean 'holiday' to supervise the last of the groundwork on site.
A visual feast
Skallywag Bay Adventure Park will be a feast for the eyes with photo opportunities at every turn. Even though the lush landscaping is yet to be started the beauty of the site is readily apparent. With each passing day more features are placed in their final spot and all of the pieces are assembled.. The ground shaping is almost done and in the next couple of weeks more than half of the golfing greens will receive their concrete. It's an exciting time to be onsite. The count down is on...
Race to the finish
It is always exciting to see a theme park being born - especially as the finish clock winds down and the opening day quickly approaches. On those last days a construction site transforms into a finished park in seemingly amazing speed. Concrete walls give way to theme work. Greys give way to bright colours and dirt and gravel are replaced with welcoming walkways. The landscaping is always near the end and that marks the biggest change of all as the hardscape is softened and greed up. Even though I knew what to expect as I arrived this visit I was amazed to see the rapid progress on Skallywag Bay. The beautiful rock work (by Trent and team of Wavestone Sculpture) is ready for paint, the pools are almost complete and the paint and thatch is well underway on the train station, We are working hard on the final grades of the adventure golf. Elsewhere in the park many teams are labouring hard and making fabulous progress. It will be some time yet before we are done but the countdown is definitely on...
