This must be sounding boring, but it’s such a beautiful place, it’s hard to tire of it.

Yesterday, we got Jack to guide us on a hike through the bush to the other side of the island. Sounds like a bigger deal than it is since we’re on the upper end of a peninsula. Still though, it was a 1 1/2 hour hike each way through the jungle. Really fun with Jack, since he was able to point out many exotic fruit and medicinal herbal trees and plants. And, we got to hear three more hours of his stories! (We took turns with who got to walk right behind Jack).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The day actually started with a tour of the local school which covers K through 8th grade. After that, it’s boarding school. The kids were a kick and a half and we spent some time in the 5/6 class where the teacher quickly sensed an opportunity for a teaching moment. He had each student stand and tell us their age, best subject and what they wanted to be when they grew up. Of course when it was my turn I made sure to note that I was never going to grow up!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ann had a brilliant idea and grabbed their world map off the wall and gave them a geography lesson showing where we came from and talked about the island groups we had visited. As always, she had the kids enthralled. We did this with Mark and Vicky from Southern Cross who are both teachers and they pitched in with their expertise as well. I’m sure the students will talk about our visit for a while.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Also today, more diving! I’m definitely hooked. Especially the drift dives where you “bomb” along in the current. Sometimes it moves really fast, and you feel like you’re on a freeway but with no brakes. It can be a little scary (for this new diver) because stuff can happen really fast on this kind of dive. It’s definitely on the edge and you’re at the mercy of the current and swirls up, over and around the coral reef. Anyway, we saw more beautiful coral and so many fish, you just get numb. I did notice a new, unique one though. The Unicorn Fish. Look it up-it’s pretty cool looking.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

OK, finishing the day-back on Charisma then an hour or so paddle boarding and a pot luck dinner on board Southern Cross. What did we have? Fortunately Jack rowed out and brought us Bok Choy and Eggplant from his garden, so the dinner menu was easy! We traded a package of dried beans for the veggies.

A new boat came in late afternoon. A Lagoon 38, named Pelagic. By the time we got over to Southern Cross Mark had already secured cocktails on Pelagic tomorrow night. Ahhh, such a busy social calendar out here cruising!

So now, we’re back on Charisma and there’s (wait for it!) LIGHTNING on the horizon somewhere. We can see the flashes but can’t quite tell when it is. Sigh. At least I can rest a bit knowing that today we fixed a little problem with our anchor. After spinning around for a few days as the wind shifts, our chain has fairly hopelessly snagged on the rocks below. We got what’s called “short chained”. Basically, it’s like a dog that goes round and round a tree on a leash until it chokes itself if it’s not careful. In our case, the chain lost its “catenary” which is the bit of sag that absorbs shock from wind gusts. It just went straight down to the rock it was wound around so as we “bob” up and down there’s no shock absorption of the chain-it just jerks the boat. It can be a bit unnerving to hear and feel. Anyway, we spent about twenty minutes maneuvering with the engine on going left, then right, back and forth, trying to untangle the chain. Finally a bunch of it came up, so we put a float on it to keep it from tangling again and let a bunch back out. A long story to say that if the wind comes up tonight from the lightning, I’ll be less worried now that we’ve at least sorted that bit out.

OK, that last bit was boat geeky-for our friends who are not cruising yet, but will be.