Darnley Island

We were up at the crack of 745 for the start of our big day. Bags packed, things squashed into extra bags!! Already??? And 2 boxes of prawns rescued from the freezer. Its strange not leaving for the airport until you hear the plane, but that's the way it is when the airport is less than a km away. We joked about going early to the airport and having a nice coffee in the departure lounge. The reality is that no one mans the tin shed that is the waiting area for the plane! Anyway, we pulled up in the car to see Scott the pilot waiting for us, and the plane, the little plane, the plane that Ben's guitar could not fit across the seat in because the plane is not that wide!!!!

We loaded up the plane and climbed in with Scott. The kids commented on the size of the plane and Scott replied with "yeah, its pretty small, and in this wind its a bit like a roller coaster but with no track, ha ha " At this point I was happy to swim across. But we taxied to the end of the runway, which looks over the sea, and roared the engines and took off. Take off was smooth and it was amazing to now see Yorke Island from the air as we had pretty much walked over most of it. Despite the clouds, we could see reasonably well and the colours of the ocean were just beautiful. Deep blue, and light blue and reef visible most of the way. I settled back and was enjoying the flight and then I looked up and saw that Ben was flying the plane now!!

He had a ball, Nanna Timmings and Poppy you would have been very proud. 15 mins later and Darnley Island appeared out of the haze. Unlike Yorke, which is flat and almost at sea level, Darnley is very hilly and  about 5km in length. The runway end is a drop off into the ocean! It was an amazing landing, and I think we all had our feet bracing on the floor pressing an invisible brake and praying we would stop in time!! Having said all that, I think it was my favourite flight so far.
We spent to afternoon settling in to our home for the next few months. The flat is very comfortable and the kids are settled into sharing a room now. Once we had unpacked we took off in the car for a look around and find a spot to swim. This is a rocky island, rather than sand. The beach is covered with coral bits and shells. It is really beautiful, not so nice on the feet but amazing to look through. We had a snorkle off the beach and found Nemo and a few star fish. It was a lovely was to relax after a day of lots of new things. Its good to be here but I think we all feel a bit frazzled again. The kids have slept in four different beds in 4 weeks. They have done well. We just need time to settle and get used to the new culture, new people and new surroundings. Yawo for now