Luke vs food

One absolutely amazing thing about Cayman is how adorably tiny it is. Within 10 minutes of being picked up from the airport, we were parking at a beach-side bar and I was rummaging around for my bikini.

Within 20 minutes I'd shed my flight ensemble (leggings. Always leggings) for something more tropics-appropriate, and had a Dark and Stormy in hand. Nothing shouts 'Welcome to the Caribbean, Celia!' louder than rum, if you ask me.

Less than an hour after my delayed landing (actually that's a whole other subject. American Airlines, I HATE YOU) I was enjoying a late-night dip in the sea.

So by the time my first morning in Cayman rolled around, I was already in full holiday mode. And you know what's a really strong indicator of holiday mode? Morning drinking...

And some serious eating too, to be accurate.

The Westin Hotel, on Seven Mile Beach, offers a weekly all you can eat champagne brunch which is, or so I'm told, a staple of the island's social scene.

And all of us, but particularly my friend Luke, see the magic words 'All you can eat' as a challenge of sorts.

This is Luke:

This is Luke's first course:

I'll add a spoiler at this point, and mention that there were six more courses, one of which was a (very unseasonable) full roast dinner.

By the time we reached dessert and cheese, even Luke was flagging.

And all any of us were good for was an afternoon of beach-side lounging, some very lazy floating around in the sea and, for some of us (OK, fine - me) a little afternoon nap in the sand, before settling down to watch the sun set.