Day 7

A surprise 6.30am wakeup call greeted the touring squad this morning as Mr Castle and Mr Rowe decided that some early morning fitness work would remind the boys of the need to meet evening curfews! Our would-be Karaoke stars found the rising a little more challenging than most as we headed down to the beach. Following a few stern words from Mr Castle the boys undertook some interval training and shuttle runs across the sand….it soon became apparent that a rock and roll, late night lifestyle certainly doesn’t mix well with 6.30am shuttle runs!! With the point clearly made most of the boys returned to apartment refreshed and ready for the day, whilst a certain few crept back to bed feeling less than chipper!

With no game today most planned a day of relaxation and revision around the pool. Mr Rowe took the opportunity to escort our budding master chefs down to the supermarket in preparation of day 1 of our "Come Dine With Me" challenge.

The afternoon saw us return to the beach to resume our team challenges in a series of Barbados Beach Olympic events.  First up was the coconut shot, with Rookie Wren showing his explosive power in the process of seeing off some strong opponents in Simon Hulse, Elliot Tyler and Cameron Emanuel-Burns. Next up the Aussie beach lifeguard challenge saw Willem Bygrave pip Dan Marsh in collecting the cricket stump and in the coconut shy throwing challenge Henry Axon’s trusty left arm led him to victory. The beach volleyball keepy up competition was highly entertaining pitting the prized footballing skills of Messer’s Seal, Hulse, Mackay and Fakley together, much to the amusement of the on looking crowd. Lucky we’re on a cricket tour as the football skills on show certainly wouldn't worry any locals. After 3 attempts each the best score was 4 (courtesy of a couple of chins and a flaying elbow!).  In the ‘golden keepy up’ sudden death playoff Simon Hulse snatched  victory with an uncoordinated 5 that ended up with him covered in sand and requiring a lengthy dip in the sea! The final event saw each team compete in an ‘iron man’ beach relay. It ended up more plasticine man than iron man, as our finely tuned athletes struggled with the 100m run and 50m sea swim.  Jacob ‘the fish’ Mackay led his team to victory as others ‘floundered’ to keep up.

With 3 hungry mouths to feed, the master chefs got down to the business of preparing their dinners for their rooms. The first to don the aprons were Ronan Taggart, Elliot Tyler, Daniel Seal and Harry Wren, each with the dual goal of sufficiently feeding their roommates as well as trying to earn points for the room challenge competition.

Competition was fierce with spies attempting to glean any bit of intelligence about other room’s meals and make last minute decisions about décor, lighting and music to set the mood for their “guests”. Fajitas were a popular choice for the inaugural evening, with both Taggart and Tyler opting for the Mexican favourite.

Elliot’s meal was complemented nicely by salsa and corn chips as well as salad and it was served on time – something that not all our chefs could accomplish. Ronan’s Mexican dish was served with chips and he also provided a dessert of Neapolitan ice-cream and chocolate brownies – much to the delight of his roommates. Rookie Wren rose to the challenge with the youngster knocking up steak and chips, earning him rave reviews from his roommate Willem Bygrave.

After much deliberation by Mr Paul “Gregg Wallace” Castle and Mr Steven “John Torode” Rowe the winner, and standout performer, had to be Daniel Seal, who provided a full 3-course meal of beef wraps, followed by grilled chicken and egg fried rice and finished with ice-cream, all completed on-time and accompanied by background music and candles. The second installment occurs tomorrow night with the lads already discussing their menu choices and asking advice of the staff to get an advantage over the competition!

WALLY OF THE DAY: During the Barbados Beach Olympics, Jack Fakley demonstrated his sublime footballing skills by advancing through to the next round of the keepy-up competition with an accidental combination of deft touches from his right foot, left foot, chin, chest and elbow!!