Tuesday- getting old at Turtle Bay
Turtle Bay Lodge
Breakfast was simple and enjoyable- cereal fruit and toast. We finally planned to do some kayaking (after days of anticipation and quite a bit of research by Li) The lodge hires out kayaks to its guests, and we decided that the convenience of having kayaks for the day, no time pressure, and no vehicle issues made it a no brainer to hire them from here.
3 lifejackets should be plenty for 9 people! That's all they had. One had no straps, so I retrieved two belts from the rooms. The kayak rudders were all disabled due to multiple damaging incidents. Janice wasn't really sure of her capabilities, being a novice to the fine art of circling aimlessly in kayaks, which is what Mary and I tended to do. A bad workman blames his tools, but a bad kayaker has only themselves to blame. I insisted that our kayak pulled to the right, despite there being no rudder, and really no physical law to possibly explain the behaviour of our craft.
Janice had chosen the single kayak, being an adventurous thrillseeker. She did well. We made our way southwards, intending to hug the coast which we did more or less. Dianne had warned us about some unfriendly dogs who were renowned for bounding through the shallows and attacking and biting the kayak. We were petrified and armed ourselves with flamethrowers, cattleprods and stereotactic lasers. Sure enough the dogs stalked us along the shore, making their way commando style through the bamboo in full military camouflage gear. Once we reached the river mouth, the pincer attack began and they soon had our kayaks up-ended and they were tearing the fibreglass into shreds, crunching through the frame and making mincemeat of the aluminium paddles. Did I mention artistic licence? In fact they bounded towards us, tails wagging and were easily evaded and easily discouraged.
After a short regathering on the far shore of the river we were paddling upstream and under the road bridge. Mangroves and buttressed trees lined the watercourse and we saw a cow drinking from the stream. A serene paddle of about 1.5 km ensued and we then noticed the water becoming clearer, bluer and the bottom sandier. Around the last bend we emerged into the blue hole region. This is where the watercourse ends, with nothing upstream but a bank. Blue holes are watercourse origin with water arising from a subaquatic Spring. This was a lovely little touch of paradise and we sway, swang, swaggered and swashed ourselves. We snacked under the little pavilion and admired the overlooking banyan tree, complete with aesthetic timber ladder.
An hour or so later we were ready to return, backtracking down the placid stream to the open waters of the bay. Our kayak was even more determined to turn right, making our navigation home more easily achieved by making a series of semicircles, with the diameter heading home.
What to do after a long paddle? Shower and relax in our rooms, preparing for the "big event"... My 60th dinner.
I have to say, I'm not one for ceremony, and also (and people might find this surprising), not keen on being the centre of attention. This dinner had both, and it was actually lovely. Michael and Amanda arrived at 7 and soon we were into the big dinner. The group had thoughtfully found wonderful gifts, and I was receiving carved flying foxes and a beautiful fish. Thankyou so much, Bettine, Amanda, Michael, Li, Trevor, Jade, Issy, Simon, Janice, Peter and Robyn and Mary. This was a wonderful night, spent with friends, and nothing at all like I would have anticipated for my 60th.
The meal was great. I particularly enjoyed the Kumala chips (sweet potato chips) and the regular chips too. (NB if you are vegetarian, you might struggle in Vanuatu, as meals are served assuming you eat meat)
Just as we were tiring, a huge caramel cake arrived, with a second Happy Birthday singalong. (The other table didn't join in this time). Tired, happy and bloated, we rolled into bed.
Breakfast was simple and enjoyable- cereal fruit and toast. We finally planned to do some kayaking (after days of anticipation and quite a bit of research by Li) The lodge hires out kayaks to its guests, and we decided that the convenience of having kayaks for the day, no time pressure, and no vehicle issues made it a no brainer to hire them from here.
3 lifejackets should be plenty for 9 people! That's all they had. One had no straps, so I retrieved two belts from the rooms. The kayak rudders were all disabled due to multiple damaging incidents. Janice wasn't really sure of her capabilities, being a novice to the fine art of circling aimlessly in kayaks, which is what Mary and I tended to do. A bad workman blames his tools, but a bad kayaker has only themselves to blame. I insisted that our kayak pulled to the right, despite there being no rudder, and really no physical law to possibly explain the behaviour of our craft.
Janice had chosen the single kayak, being an adventurous thrillseeker. She did well. We made our way southwards, intending to hug the coast which we did more or less. Dianne had warned us about some unfriendly dogs who were renowned for bounding through the shallows and attacking and biting the kayak. We were petrified and armed ourselves with flamethrowers, cattleprods and stereotactic lasers. Sure enough the dogs stalked us along the shore, making their way commando style through the bamboo in full military camouflage gear. Once we reached the river mouth, the pincer attack began and they soon had our kayaks up-ended and they were tearing the fibreglass into shreds, crunching through the frame and making mincemeat of the aluminium paddles. Did I mention artistic licence? In fact they bounded towards us, tails wagging and were easily evaded and easily discouraged.
After a short regathering on the far shore of the river we were paddling upstream and under the road bridge. Mangroves and buttressed trees lined the watercourse and we saw a cow drinking from the stream. A serene paddle of about 1.5 km ensued and we then noticed the water becoming clearer, bluer and the bottom sandier. Around the last bend we emerged into the blue hole region. This is where the watercourse ends, with nothing upstream but a bank. Blue holes are watercourse origin with water arising from a subaquatic Spring. This was a lovely little touch of paradise and we sway, swang, swaggered and swashed ourselves. We snacked under the little pavilion and admired the overlooking banyan tree, complete with aesthetic timber ladder.
An hour or so later we were ready to return, backtracking down the placid stream to the open waters of the bay. Our kayak was even more determined to turn right, making our navigation home more easily achieved by making a series of semicircles, with the diameter heading home.
What to do after a long paddle? Shower and relax in our rooms, preparing for the "big event"... My 60th dinner.
I have to say, I'm not one for ceremony, and also (and people might find this surprising), not keen on being the centre of attention. This dinner had both, and it was actually lovely. Michael and Amanda arrived at 7 and soon we were into the big dinner. The group had thoughtfully found wonderful gifts, and I was receiving carved flying foxes and a beautiful fish. Thankyou so much, Bettine, Amanda, Michael, Li, Trevor, Jade, Issy, Simon, Janice, Peter and Robyn and Mary. This was a wonderful night, spent with friends, and nothing at all like I would have anticipated for my 60th.
The meal was great. I particularly enjoyed the Kumala chips (sweet potato chips) and the regular chips too. (NB if you are vegetarian, you might struggle in Vanuatu, as meals are served assuming you eat meat)
Just as we were tiring, a huge caramel cake arrived, with a second Happy Birthday singalong. (The other table didn't join in this time). Tired, happy and bloated, we rolled into bed.
Comments
Post a Comment