Snorkle Heaven!

Two days in one. Last night was a late one and then we remembered the blog! Sorry!! Yesterday started as a warm one. The winds are dying down on the island now so the heat is becoming more noticeable and the humidity slowly rising. Amy headed off to school and I decided to do some baking as Robert got the oven working!! I made a batch of "Flo's" pumpkin scones with my $12 pumpkin!!!! I took some into the clinic for Aunty Nancy, one of the elders who comes in every day for treatment, and has been really lovely. She took one bite, looked at me and said "These are deadly"! If the kids had commented again like that about my cooking I may have been offended, but here it means very good!! So I was very chuffed. She invited me back to see her garden and her maroon frangipanis. Just beautiful

Amy came home from school early again. She burst into tears when she got home and  said she was very home sick. We have been away 3weeks now and I think she is finding the school very different and difficult. We talked about strategies and how best to manage the next week before we head of to Darnley. It made me feel sad too and that is just so strange. Here we are in the most amazing location but we are pining for the regular, the comfort zone stuff. We knew before we left home to expect times like this and I guess its good we all are in the same boat and can support each other at those times.
We made fish and chips for tea with some fish caught by Ben and watched some of the RAN series. It was shot here so we all enjoyed identifying places around the island as well as locals we have met who were part of the series.

Today, we dropped Robyn off to the airport and popped down to the jetty for a quick look. This is what we saw:

Yep, its a good day to snorkel. We raced home, collected the gear and lunch and went back down to the beach for the day. The water was warm and inviting and so clear. Over the course of the next couple of hours the tide went further out and the coral became easier to see. I have never seen such variety of coral and fish in all my diving and snorkling experiences. It was just beautiful. Little brightly coloured fish darting in and out of corals, schools of rainbow wrasse, parrot fish nibbling on coral, huge clams with bright lips, big enough for Amy to climb inside....it was just amazing. I just can't describe it all. We all  floated around for a few hours in awe of what we were seeing, occasionally calling out to each other to share something special.

At about 5pm we headed back up the beach and Amy's friend Jocelyn arrived with her Dad in their boat. They had been catching crayfish and took Amy out for a ride in their boat. A great end to a really super day. Despite our spats of homesickness, we just feel so privileged to be here and see this very natural unspoiled world. Yawo