With no trips planned for today after breakfast we sat in the hammocks in front of the Bure and swung gently under the palms. The ocean breeze made the hammocks the coolest place to be, we could have spent the day in the air conditioning but where is the point in coming to an Island for beautiful sunshine and then hiding from it!!
We had a break from the hammocks around midday when it was high tide. The snorkels from yesterday were still on the table on the decking so we decided to go and take a look at the marine life right outside our front door. It was a little more difficult to get to than the other side of the Island because there are rocks. They’re quite flat but, also a bit slippery which made a them a bit challenging. My chosen method was to get on my butt and scoot myself in until I could swim. Worked like a charm. What didn’t work like a charm was the equipment! Unfortunately the darth vader masks leaked like sieves for reasons known only to the masks. We managed to get one mask tight enough on my head that it didn’t leak quite as much, I just had to keep emptying it when it filled up.
Having been suitably equipped, I was off, here fishy fishy. Come to mumma! And they obviously heard my call because there were hundreds. Tiny little electric blue ones, lemon ones with black faces and tails, zebra fish, iridescent blue and geeen fish, white fish with red stripes and highlights on their tails. Sea urchins, electric blue starfish, tiny minnows so small I couldn’t determine a colour through the scratched up glass on the mask. Two jelly fish that had me swimming faster than I’ve ever swum before to get out of their way. Orange black and white fish, pure black fish,little yellow fish and a long silver fish with a blue flash on it and a spear shaped nose. It was wonderful! The coral isn’t quite as colorful this side, but there are tiny little clumps where it has spores and taken hold. The amazing part is, it seems to be be regenerating itself really really well. There were so many new clumps, I spent ages hunting them instead of investigating the established underwater garden. I found small blush pink coral that were a bit like bouquets of tiny budded flowers. Pretty little brain looking ones in a delicate yellow colour. Spikey stag corals that were white with bright bluey purple tips. A gorgeous lavender saucer shaped coral. Baby pink fronded coral. Pale yellow stag coral, and some that looked like creamy cauliflower florets erupting from beds of the pink, and lavender saucer shaped coral. With exception of the last clump, they were just randomly dotted along the ocean bed, with tiny little fish darting in and out of them. The clumps were varied in size, but ranged from two or three tiny shoot like sprigs, to palm sized stag coral. I didn’t go out much further because amazingly an hour had passed and I started to get a bit tired! Wimp.
Si had given up on his darth Vader mask, and was now contentedly reclined in the hammock letting the ocean breeze wash over him in the shade of the coconut palms. His mask was just too leaky so he hasn’t really had an opportunity yet to explore our side of the reef. Our plan is to return our useless masks and see if we can find some functioning ones, but we aren’t holding our breath.
Following my marine exploration I concluded that I may need an hour in the hammock so plonked myself in the second one and just listened to the waves lapping at the shore line. There is something very hypnotic about them and It’s one of my favourite sounds, when I used to do massage and reiki sounds of the waves was one of my go to sounds for relaxing the client. The sea air makes me a bit sleepy and Im feeling like Sid the Sloth from Ice Age. Slow!
1500hrs is tea and cookies time. Since we arrived it has been tea and chocolate cake which was very nice, however today, there were cookies, warm and straight from the oven! Oh my days we bit into one and they practically melted in our mouths, they were so delicate. I have to confess we may have over indulged and had 4 each. I know we are piggy’s! Si said they were just like the ones his mum used to make for his dad and store in a big glass sweet jar.
There has been a little breeze today, but it’s also been very hot, around 38 degrees, we’ve consumed so much water it’s crazy, but I think we are sweating it out as fast as it’s going in! After our tea and cookies we decided we were in need of a siesta so returned to the cool Bure. We had arranged with Amanda to go and see the sunset at 1745 and We all needed some cooler air before!
The sunset was 1828ish, so we made our way and sat in the rocks, the fierce heat of the sun fading as it dropped lower in the sky. Looking out over the ocean there was a huge amount of fish leaping out of the waves, my uneducated guess on the cause of that? Turtles feeding. Could have been anything but I’m sticking with turtles because I like them. Over the other Islands we could see rain. It was like when a child draws rain, and it comes down in vertical lines, Either side of it there were bright skies. Bonkers weather! There were a lot of grey clouds around and behind them fluffy white ones, we were hoping they would stay away long enough for the sun to set. We were rewarded, and as the sun hit the ocean, there were just a few small orange tipped grey clouds on the horizon. It vanished very quickly, and the sky lit up with its flames, casting shadowy flashes over the ocean.
As we watched, from out of the sea the crabs began to appear, not quite the number that were in Pirates movie moving Jacks Boat but still a good number. They eat the roots of coconut palms and make their way to shore at sunset. Of you’re out walking after sunset you can hear them click clacking as they scuttle sideways. The first time you hear it it takes you by surprise but you get used to it pretty quickly. Sat on the rocks with the waves splashing over them in front of us in the cool breeze, there were a few flashes of lightning and rumbles of thunder. It came to nothing, but to view it was great. A downpour wouldn’t have gone amiss. That would have meant we’d have to scuttle back to the Bure when it stopped before the mozzies started their vicious attack on our pasty British skin. We don’t hang around anyway as they like a snack after dark.
Due to the cloud cover we couldn’t see the stars but we have the rest of the week to do that properly. Despite it being early, we decided we’d done quite enough for one day. Our clothes were sodden from the humidity after the trip back through the jungle, and sticking to us in the most uncomfortable manner. The air con was very much appreciated. We’ve yet to have an evening meal here. The breakfast is huge and keeps us going all day, although I think the heat smushes any appetites we may have had anyway. So another perfect day in paradise…. With cookies!!!
Much Love
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