I am afraid that we are very behind on our blogs and there is too much that has happened in between to recount all
of our adventures, but I will try my best to get the highlights without boring our audience too badly.
Tongatapu, Tonga
Malo e leiei! Fefe hake? Hello and how are you in Tongan! We have a lot to
explore yet on Tongatapu, only one of the many islands that makes up the Tongan nation.
It is now July 27th for us here in Tonga and we have only been here 2 days. Having crossed the International date line, we were cheated out of a day
of life but were welcomed to the island with the biggest festival of the Tongan year!This years Heilala festival, a week
long celebration, is combined this year with your Majesty the king George Topou the fifth's coronation. There are
LONG LIVE THE KING banners strung about everywhere! The day after we arrived
the block parties and parades began full of food, old and very loud American(Madonna/Rap)music, traditional Tongan
dress and dance, as well as a cultural exhibitions from other countries around the world. We have had a blast wondering
around the lively city full of people, pigs, huge elaborate grave yards, small markets with cold refreshments, vegetabel
stands with conveniently cheap produce, and pizza shops with delicious Hawaiian style pizza pies we devoured!Today
being Sunday, everything is closed allowing us to truly relax for the first time for as long as we can remember.We have
actually just sat in the boat extremely content the entire day filling out journals and attempting to update this blog.
The "cruising" life is much more social than we both had anticipated, being invited over for cocktails or dinner almost every night.
Yesterday after the float parade and pizza with another cruising couple, we thought we'd get to enjoy a quiet movie night on Mai Miti,
but as soon as we returned to the boat, the couple next door insisted we come over for appetizers and drinks. No
complaining because it is always a very nice treat, but we were definitely not expecting so much of it!
Niue"No-way"
After a long 20 day passage from Palmyra atoll, we managed to find our way into the security of Alofi bay. Due
to unfavorable conditions with howling winds and large seas, the last 100 miles of our trip took us over 3 days
to conquer. The crystal clear blue waters with 140+ft visiblity and secure mooring balls of the island made the fight
worth it. The first day and night in Alofi, the largest village of Niue, we enjoyed the simple things in life like,
walking on solid ground, fresh baked bread, cold soda, and a "sausage sizzle" as they call it in New Zealand, with
hot sausage and onion sandwiches, and cold New Zealand beer. This special thurday night sizzle put on by the Niue
yacht club(a family run business at their home tucked away in the palm trees) allowed us to meet the other
cruisers and to get the scoop on the best island hikes, snorkels, ect. We were fotunate to arrive when we had because
the upcoming Saturday morning the south village of Alofi would be putting on their village festival. It took place
at the primary school grass field with tons of food and crafts. We tried the coconut porridge which was half a coconut
filled with gelatinous but mushy pudding like substance. There was a hint of sweetness to it but not much. It was good
but what really got our taste buds rolling was the Roti, a homemade tortilla stuffed with corned beef, potatoes, and
a yellow curry. Mmm.mmm...After much eating occurred for the Niuians, the village put on their dance show with various
groups performing dances similar to the hula but with different dress. One custom we were not used to was the spectators
would get up at any point in the dance and stuff money down the dancers shirt, skirt, ect..., if they liked what they
saw. It was funny to watch the dancers try to keep the beat during all of this. Forgot our camera, whoops! we also forgot
the camera for the big Niuian dance performance later that week, full of elaborate costumes and even a fashion show.Being a
country of only 1000 people, events like this are huge and everyone shows up. We soon started recognizing faces where ever
we went.
In between snorkeling through underwater caverns with white tip reef sharks and 1 of the top ten most poisonous sea
snakes that were everywhere(don't worry moms and dads, their mouths are too small to cause any harm even if they
were to bite you), we went on humpback whale chasing expeditions succeeding twice in our mission. The first one being Jmz'
closest encounter, being only 5 ft from the enourmous creature. The second was for Amber's birthday present where we
both swam with two of them before they gracefully dove into the deep blue and out of sight. Not such a bad b-day especially
since Jmz played me happy bday with his violin, cooked me reeces pancakes,treated me to shakes at the incredible Frosty Boy
and took me to dinner at Falalafa restaurant that night:-) Besides our aquatic explorations,Our land adventures consisted of
rugged hikes through thick bush before winding up at protected natural pools, lime stone caves full of stallactites and stallagmites,
and underwater swimways leading to hidden dark caverns in the coral.
We could have stayed on Niue exploring much longer with endless sea tracks,torquise water holes, and beautiful sea life,
but with paying $10 a day for mooring fees and many more new landfalls ahead before hurrican season began, we departed the island
after 10 days full of amazing experiences. One experience worth pointing out was our cargo ship buddies.
The first night in the bay, we were alone with only 4 other cruising boats. That night Jmz wondered if he should put on
the anchor light as none of the other boats had theirs. Following the crowd, we thought, "no boat will be coming in
here at night". Just with our luck, in the morning we awoke to a huge container ship fearfully close to us unloading
cargo on the wharf(we learned our lesson about lighting). To our dissapointment we found they would be there for over
five days with their loud engines, generators, and smelly fumes. However, we were soon to learn our lesson about grumbling
as blessings can come from the most unusual places, quotes Jmz. One afternoon on our dinghy ride back to Mai Miti, a man aboard the
large ship motioned for us to come over. It was a crew member who had helped us the day before with loading our dinghy on shore.
With broken English we had only chatted with him briefly following his help, but for some reason he must have liked us because now he
was inviting us to dinner that night on the ship. We would never turn down free food so we accepted rather nervously, and headed
over around 6pm. To our surprise the small crew of 10 all greeted us with huge smiles and big hang shakes.Majority of them were from
sri lanka and we learned it was a part of their culture to make us feel welcomed which they did a grrrrreat job of! They fed us drink
after drink and then food until we were about to burst with icecream on top of that. At one point during dinner they asked if we
liked Indian curry to which we responded that we did, and we were then informed that we had to come back to the ship for lunch that next
day. When we were leavng they handed us a heavy black trash bag that was filled with fresh fruits, vegetables, can goods, chocolates,
coffee, and teas. We fell asleep that night wondering if we were dreaming and wondering what we had done to make them like us so much.
The next days lunch was filled with the same unbelievable hospitality with addition of two bottles of wine from the captain and a
picture print out of us and the crew made especially by the jolly Fijian welder. It was like we'd died and gone to heaven! Their early
departure later that night due to finishing their offload sooner than expected was actually kind of sad now that we'd made such good
friends with them. The Fijian captain who gifted us with the wines, gave us his contact info for when we arrive in Fiji. He is also
a pilot, so who knows the possiblities:-)
Sunday, July 27, 2008
Friday, June 20, 2008
New pics on www.flickr.com, J&A Adventures and if you click on the sets to the right they're easier to view
Last entry until Niue or Samoa!
Hello everyone! Today we spent the morning running our six gallon water jug back and forth between the land and boat, topping off the water tank before our departure. Thank you to Charlie, the island keeper, for allowing us this priveledge. While James hydrated the boat, Amber circled the deck refilling any crevices with silicone anywhere that sea water might possibly leak in during the long journey we have ahead. We calculated the distance to Niue which is 1572 miles south, so with averaging approx. 100 miles a day, we're hoping for a little over two weeks(keep in mind that days without wind will be much slower). We're excited to start moving again. We definitely feel that although the people are great to us and a ton of fun, we've stayed our welcome and it's time to explore new lands! We did get invited tonight for a going away dinner and yacht club hang out afterwards. We're planning to give the crew a couple presents to show our appreciation. Good times!
Yesterday was another arrival and departure day for the scientists and "donors" here on the atoll. Aboard the plane with 12 other researchers, our friend Alex, from Honolulu, arrived around 3:00pm. Just as the rain and thunder clouds cleared, the plane appeared in the blue sky. We greeted everyone after a safe landing and after the crowds cleared away, we managed to get two more sodas AND a box of chocolates from Clay the pilot. We had a cd of pictures from his previous two arrivals and departures, including his incredibly low fly by, so it was an even exchange:-) With a ton of work to do in a short period of time, the researchers went straight to the lab, so we decided to take a hike down the runway, and then search for treasures and bones along the North shore of the islands. Not finding the latter, James did luck out and find an old snorkel and mask in the surge getting pushed under a palm tree. It was a little eerie because we were far away from the camp and the set didn't look weathered enough to be all the way from Hawaii...so where was the owner of this mask....was there a body to be found??...Thankfully no. However, when we got back to camp and showed our hosts what we found, James was the hero of the day! Apparently a well revered volunteer named Bob, lost the set over a month ago while hiking. The mask had prescription lenses built in, so in deed it was a real treasure! James solved the mystery of the missing mask! To our surprise, we were also invited for dinner on the atoll again! More delicious pork roast, baked potatoes, shitake mushrooms, asparagus, and a sweet delight, homemade apricot cheese cake....all followed by premier showing of Finding Nemo on the big screen.(we gotta get out of here before we get too used to this and don't want to leave:-)
Yesterday was another arrival and departure day for the scientists and "donors" here on the atoll. Aboard the plane with 12 other researchers, our friend Alex, from Honolulu, arrived around 3:00pm. Just as the rain and thunder clouds cleared, the plane appeared in the blue sky. We greeted everyone after a safe landing and after the crowds cleared away, we managed to get two more sodas AND a box of chocolates from Clay the pilot. We had a cd of pictures from his previous two arrivals and departures, including his incredibly low fly by, so it was an even exchange:-) With a ton of work to do in a short period of time, the researchers went straight to the lab, so we decided to take a hike down the runway, and then search for treasures and bones along the North shore of the islands. Not finding the latter, James did luck out and find an old snorkel and mask in the surge getting pushed under a palm tree. It was a little eerie because we were far away from the camp and the set didn't look weathered enough to be all the way from Hawaii...so where was the owner of this mask....was there a body to be found??...Thankfully no. However, when we got back to camp and showed our hosts what we found, James was the hero of the day! Apparently a well revered volunteer named Bob, lost the set over a month ago while hiking. The mask had prescription lenses built in, so in deed it was a real treasure! James solved the mystery of the missing mask! To our surprise, we were also invited for dinner on the atoll again! More delicious pork roast, baked potatoes, shitake mushrooms, asparagus, and a sweet delight, homemade apricot cheese cake....all followed by premier showing of Finding Nemo on the big screen.(we gotta get out of here before we get too used to this and don't want to leave:-)
Tuesday, June 17, 2008
Louis and Clark
As our days here on Palmyra are coming to an end, we've been trying to do all that there is to offer before we're kicked out on the 19th or 20th. A couple days ago, we ventured out of the west lagoon(which we are currently in) and took mini miti clear to the end of center lagoon. We felt like the first explorers to ever set eyes on the prestine shoreline. As we reached the furtherst point of the lagoon, the dinghy engine sputtered to a stop. That's right, we ran out of gas! No fear, we had a couple trusty paddles and the wind at our back helping to push us along. Now we really felt like early explorers:-) During the paddle back we had some very close encounters with the endangered red footed boobies(?) who would swoop by our heads in curiosity at very high speeds. Amber threatened to lessen their population with her paddle(probably something nature conservancy wouldn't be too thrilled about:-)
As of today, we hiked out to the west end of Cooper island with our buddy Dadu, the island dog. We found old military bunkers and buildings that were overgrown almost completely with vegetation. With some hesitation, we were able to enter into a couple of the drury, ghostly buildings. On the brighter side of things, we enjoyed an apple and a beautiful view of the ocean on the furtherst tip of the island before heading back to camp. The giant land crabs, species crabiolis maximus(jmz' scientific identification), gave us good entertainment along the way.
As of today, we hiked out to the west end of Cooper island with our buddy Dadu, the island dog. We found old military bunkers and buildings that were overgrown almost completely with vegetation. With some hesitation, we were able to enter into a couple of the drury, ghostly buildings. On the brighter side of things, we enjoyed an apple and a beautiful view of the ocean on the furtherst tip of the island before heading back to camp. The giant land crabs, species crabiolis maximus(jmz' scientific identification), gave us good entertainment along the way.
Sunday, June 15, 2008
Dance Dance Dance!
Saturday night, Party time for Palmyrians! We were invited to the yacht club last night for music, ping pong mania, and latin belly dancing(which we are now experts at)! Most of the scientists are flying out today and they will be replaced with 12 other people, 7 of which are "Donors" to Palmyra atoll. It should be interesting to meet the newcomers and of course it's always fun to watch the plane land right in front of us. A couple new pictures are up on flickr. Hope you've been able to access them. Best wishes!
Friday, June 13, 2008
Pictures
If you go on http://www.flickr.com/ and enter J&A Adventures under the people search, we have posted a few pictures from the trip so far. Enjoy!
Journal entries
5/30
First full day of sea proved to be very tiring on both our bodies. A combination of waves throwing us around with the lack of sleep from working so hard during the daysleading up to our departure, made everylittle task a chore. We did take on a simple task of sunbathing on the deck, and just like "tourists" we burnt to a crisp in tender areas. The idea of "No Lines" got to our heads:-) At night the winds died down to almost nothing.
5/31
The sun rose to us doing circles in light and variable winds. With limited fuel we waited out the calm patiently and by afternoon the winds retrned out of the east to send us happily chugging along. James and i alternated napping in the day still adjusting and trying to catch up on sleep. A delicious meal of velveeta shells adn cheese lead toa clear planetarium night sky. James was a champ and did watch from 12-7am! He's a stud! Amber really enjoye the extra zzzzz's.
6/3
Jmz awoke feeling well rested due to a six hour sleep because Amber's intriguing books wouldn't let her put them down. At lunch jmz enjoyed a peanut butterhoney and nutella sandwich and Amber ate a PB and mayo sandwich in dedicatin to her wise father:-) Feeling dirty and in hopes of a fresh water rain shower that never came,we showered with our trusty blue salt water bucket and Dawn soap(for grandma Johnson). No fresh rain came but we felt incredible and retired below with crabby(aka "thunder claw" due to his beautiful large yet tough, purple claw) on watch while us humans took a siesta. Crabby is our pet crab who followed us from the docks in Honolulu. He eats sandwiches and apples with us. To our dissapointment, we had our first casualty of the trip after we woke from our nap. As a squal approached us, james went to bring in the main sail, however, it was jammed. Amber scurried to the deck and after much pulling and sail flapping, Amber realized her long johnsthat were out hanging on the boom earlier that day, were now wrapped around the outhaul preventing the sail from moving. The sail being very old and in far from good condition, inevitabley ripped with all the added stress. It looked as if an animal claw tore through it with mighty force. A dissapointment, yes, but we knew it was going to happen one way or another. Lesson learned, no more hanging underpants from the lines...
6/4
Half way party day! the crew awakes well rested and looking for the 450 mile count as that is approx. half way to Palmyra. Jmz can hardly wait to open the present fromMario and Debbie(our friends in Honolulu). He's like a little kid on x-mas morning. After the experimental corn beef and hash luch is a complete success,we finally reach the count and it's present time! Together we unwrap the booty and find the treasure! Chocolates! Shark and pirate repellent, in the form of silly string!Coffee liquor to keep us warm on cold nights! Jelly preserves! and more Chocolates!! It was glorious! Thanks Mario and Debbie! We consumed most of the chocolates and had a sillystring fight right in the cabin. We were wild! As our good friend Jay says, "Go crazy, take your tops off, Pour beer on your heads, i don't care". As the party comotion died down, Jmz took a little nap and Amber sailed on with only the juib which proved to be a champ for speed and maintaining course.
6/7
Rough night last night. We both ended up taking buckets of water in our beds untill we decided it was time to put in the top part of the door. With what seemed like giant waves and howlingwinds, we were constantly getting pushed over to the lee side and engulfing water in the cock pit, however, Mai Miti handled it very well. Uncomfortable for the crew as our bodies were constantly fighting against the motion which caused a little grumpiness on Amber's part. We did have some mighty fine beef stew in a can for dinner. It was warm and simple; exactly what we needed for rougher weather.
6/9
Happy B-Day Erik!We made it! With sunfrise this morning we had a drifted about 5.6 miles from Palmyra and with the inching light, Jmz was the FIRST to see th atoll in the distance.James actually hand steered(first time since leaving Honolulu) to just outside the channel where the depth shallowed quickly and the water turned crystal clear.The vibrant yellows, whites and dark coral patches below wet our palets for the amazing snorkeling hopefully soon to be experienced. Upon entering the lagoon, John, the kive captian/coordiantior guy greeted us in his dive boat. With his blodn flowing hair, he showed us wheree to ancho adn then side tied to us he laid out therules/regualtions and quick history of Palmyra. His mellow demeanor was a nice welcome after many days at sea. With his departure, we began hanging all out to dryin attempt to make the boat "liveable" again. With success and a belly full f Ramen/potatoes, we took a nice long nap in the v-birth. Weell deserved and necessar for oursanity. After waking, we topped the dinghy engine off with fuel and and headed to land just before sunset. With little tie on solid ground, we greeted Daduthe island dog, and checked ou the fancy yacht club. Very rustic and unique place with much character. We look forwared to leaving our mark on it. We also met Susan, on the thegalley goddesses, Susun, Dan the scientist, and Charlie the island keeper. We already made a bad impression on him because we didn't bring out VHF radio on land which we are supposed to have with us at all times. Straight protocol for this guy. That is why right at dusk we brought the little dinghy(Mini Miti) back to Mai Miti. The atol rules are that no cruisers are to be on the island after sunset and before 8am. No loss on our part because we celebrated our arrival accomplishment with Beef alfredo angel hair pasta with mushrooms. Sitting in the cockpit enjoying the glow from the oil lamp, we reflected on the last couple of months and truly feltcontent and happy. A couple of grandma's cookies after, completed our night and we prepared for a calm, still night in the lagoons shelter.
6/10
With the rain falling steadily on the roof top, we had a long wonderful night of sleep. While Amber stayed sleeping in the early sunrise hours, Jmz took Mini Mitito shore to collect the 5 gallons of rain water we caught from the roof of the yacht club. With no real need to do much else, he climbed back into bed upon return untill late morning. With Jack Johnson's "makin' banana pancakes" in mind, we cooked up a feast of pancakes of every flavor imagineable. Mmm....mmmmm...Delicious! Weighing an extra couple pounds from those fluffy discs of joy and a cup of fresh roasted cafe we requested permission to go ashore and explore a little. Permission granted, we lightly explored the camp and north shore with our fearless guide, Dadu. The real excitement was at 1:30pm when a cargo plane landed on the old runway in rainy, windy,and overcast conditions. Coming from Honolulu, it brought some valued goods like papertowls(Alot), onions, beer, research equipment, and most needed, the IT guy to fix thewireless internet.With only 15 people on the island and a plane coming in only every month or so, there was a red carpet and greeting party for the offloading. Since we helped to unload the plane, we both lucked out with two ice cold refreshing sodas. It took a little wit and charm, but we walked away giggly and happy with our prized possessions. We then discovered the Swimming hole. "Swimming hole? What's so great about the swimming hold?" Everything!!! With a rope swing, a swimming platform for diving, trapezious hanging from the horizontal palmtree extending over the deep pool and crystal cool refreshing agua, we had a blast. John the boat guy said he could hear ourhooting and hollaring from the plane around the corner. We played for a while untill we heard the plane engine roar to life and headed back to the air strip so that wecould watch their take off. Good thing we did because after their intial take off which was already intense standing only 50 yards from the plane, the training co-pilot did a fly by, only 200ft from the ground over the runway. 200ft might seem high but in reality when you're sitting at the edge of the runway it seems like20ft. Amber chickened out by the incoming low,low,low plane and took off running! It was definately not OSHA approved for safety. With adrenaline pumping through our blood we went back to the swimming hole to cool down and then hit up the "Aquifer". The "Aquifer" is a fresh water shower hidden in the jungle next to the swimming hole.The shower is fead by the rain water which is collected in a big black barrel above. Although the water wasn't warm, it felt incredible as it was our first fresh shower in about two weeks. We felt like Adam and Eve, surrounded by nature, green jungle all around. Clean and fresh, we were ready to go back home and cook yet another amazing meal.This night we had elbow pasta in stewed tomatoes with olives, chicken, garlic powder, and olive oil. Eyes bigger than stomach we had to feed the left overs to Sammy the shark,who is one of the estimated thousands of black tipped reef sharks who live in this lagoon. Along with the giant manta rays that come in only a couple of feet from shore at nightto feed on the plankton in the dock lights, we think Crabby has surely met some new friends. (Atleast we hope so because he has apparently left his Mai Miti home.
6/12
What a day! After last nights cocktails and dinner party with the island staff, we woke up early and headed out the channel around 9am for snorkeling. We tied up to an orange buoy in Mini Miti, and explored the waters. We were awed by the brillant colors of the fish and corals surrounding us. Much more lively than other snorkeling we've done. The best part of it all was swimming with the manta rays and an occasional black tip shark who would wonder by in curiousity. A little nervous at times because of schools of black tips racing by our little 7 foot dinghy, we were still able to get within a couple feet of the friendly manta giants.
First full day of sea proved to be very tiring on both our bodies. A combination of waves throwing us around with the lack of sleep from working so hard during the daysleading up to our departure, made everylittle task a chore. We did take on a simple task of sunbathing on the deck, and just like "tourists" we burnt to a crisp in tender areas. The idea of "No Lines" got to our heads:-) At night the winds died down to almost nothing.
5/31
The sun rose to us doing circles in light and variable winds. With limited fuel we waited out the calm patiently and by afternoon the winds retrned out of the east to send us happily chugging along. James and i alternated napping in the day still adjusting and trying to catch up on sleep. A delicious meal of velveeta shells adn cheese lead toa clear planetarium night sky. James was a champ and did watch from 12-7am! He's a stud! Amber really enjoye the extra zzzzz's.
6/3
Jmz awoke feeling well rested due to a six hour sleep because Amber's intriguing books wouldn't let her put them down. At lunch jmz enjoyed a peanut butterhoney and nutella sandwich and Amber ate a PB and mayo sandwich in dedicatin to her wise father:-) Feeling dirty and in hopes of a fresh water rain shower that never came,we showered with our trusty blue salt water bucket and Dawn soap(for grandma Johnson). No fresh rain came but we felt incredible and retired below with crabby(aka "thunder claw" due to his beautiful large yet tough, purple claw) on watch while us humans took a siesta. Crabby is our pet crab who followed us from the docks in Honolulu. He eats sandwiches and apples with us. To our dissapointment, we had our first casualty of the trip after we woke from our nap. As a squal approached us, james went to bring in the main sail, however, it was jammed. Amber scurried to the deck and after much pulling and sail flapping, Amber realized her long johnsthat were out hanging on the boom earlier that day, were now wrapped around the outhaul preventing the sail from moving. The sail being very old and in far from good condition, inevitabley ripped with all the added stress. It looked as if an animal claw tore through it with mighty force. A dissapointment, yes, but we knew it was going to happen one way or another. Lesson learned, no more hanging underpants from the lines...
6/4
Half way party day! the crew awakes well rested and looking for the 450 mile count as that is approx. half way to Palmyra. Jmz can hardly wait to open the present fromMario and Debbie(our friends in Honolulu). He's like a little kid on x-mas morning. After the experimental corn beef and hash luch is a complete success,we finally reach the count and it's present time! Together we unwrap the booty and find the treasure! Chocolates! Shark and pirate repellent, in the form of silly string!Coffee liquor to keep us warm on cold nights! Jelly preserves! and more Chocolates!! It was glorious! Thanks Mario and Debbie! We consumed most of the chocolates and had a sillystring fight right in the cabin. We were wild! As our good friend Jay says, "Go crazy, take your tops off, Pour beer on your heads, i don't care". As the party comotion died down, Jmz took a little nap and Amber sailed on with only the juib which proved to be a champ for speed and maintaining course.
6/7
Rough night last night. We both ended up taking buckets of water in our beds untill we decided it was time to put in the top part of the door. With what seemed like giant waves and howlingwinds, we were constantly getting pushed over to the lee side and engulfing water in the cock pit, however, Mai Miti handled it very well. Uncomfortable for the crew as our bodies were constantly fighting against the motion which caused a little grumpiness on Amber's part. We did have some mighty fine beef stew in a can for dinner. It was warm and simple; exactly what we needed for rougher weather.
6/9
Happy B-Day Erik!We made it! With sunfrise this morning we had a drifted about 5.6 miles from Palmyra and with the inching light, Jmz was the FIRST to see th atoll in the distance.James actually hand steered(first time since leaving Honolulu) to just outside the channel where the depth shallowed quickly and the water turned crystal clear.The vibrant yellows, whites and dark coral patches below wet our palets for the amazing snorkeling hopefully soon to be experienced. Upon entering the lagoon, John, the kive captian/coordiantior guy greeted us in his dive boat. With his blodn flowing hair, he showed us wheree to ancho adn then side tied to us he laid out therules/regualtions and quick history of Palmyra. His mellow demeanor was a nice welcome after many days at sea. With his departure, we began hanging all out to dryin attempt to make the boat "liveable" again. With success and a belly full f Ramen/potatoes, we took a nice long nap in the v-birth. Weell deserved and necessar for oursanity. After waking, we topped the dinghy engine off with fuel and and headed to land just before sunset. With little tie on solid ground, we greeted Daduthe island dog, and checked ou the fancy yacht club. Very rustic and unique place with much character. We look forwared to leaving our mark on it. We also met Susan, on the thegalley goddesses, Susun, Dan the scientist, and Charlie the island keeper. We already made a bad impression on him because we didn't bring out VHF radio on land which we are supposed to have with us at all times. Straight protocol for this guy. That is why right at dusk we brought the little dinghy(Mini Miti) back to Mai Miti. The atol rules are that no cruisers are to be on the island after sunset and before 8am. No loss on our part because we celebrated our arrival accomplishment with Beef alfredo angel hair pasta with mushrooms. Sitting in the cockpit enjoying the glow from the oil lamp, we reflected on the last couple of months and truly feltcontent and happy. A couple of grandma's cookies after, completed our night and we prepared for a calm, still night in the lagoons shelter.
6/10
With the rain falling steadily on the roof top, we had a long wonderful night of sleep. While Amber stayed sleeping in the early sunrise hours, Jmz took Mini Mitito shore to collect the 5 gallons of rain water we caught from the roof of the yacht club. With no real need to do much else, he climbed back into bed upon return untill late morning. With Jack Johnson's "makin' banana pancakes" in mind, we cooked up a feast of pancakes of every flavor imagineable. Mmm....mmmmm...Delicious! Weighing an extra couple pounds from those fluffy discs of joy and a cup of fresh roasted cafe we requested permission to go ashore and explore a little. Permission granted, we lightly explored the camp and north shore with our fearless guide, Dadu. The real excitement was at 1:30pm when a cargo plane landed on the old runway in rainy, windy,and overcast conditions. Coming from Honolulu, it brought some valued goods like papertowls(Alot), onions, beer, research equipment, and most needed, the IT guy to fix thewireless internet.With only 15 people on the island and a plane coming in only every month or so, there was a red carpet and greeting party for the offloading. Since we helped to unload the plane, we both lucked out with two ice cold refreshing sodas. It took a little wit and charm, but we walked away giggly and happy with our prized possessions. We then discovered the Swimming hole. "Swimming hole? What's so great about the swimming hold?" Everything!!! With a rope swing, a swimming platform for diving, trapezious hanging from the horizontal palmtree extending over the deep pool and crystal cool refreshing agua, we had a blast. John the boat guy said he could hear ourhooting and hollaring from the plane around the corner. We played for a while untill we heard the plane engine roar to life and headed back to the air strip so that wecould watch their take off. Good thing we did because after their intial take off which was already intense standing only 50 yards from the plane, the training co-pilot did a fly by, only 200ft from the ground over the runway. 200ft might seem high but in reality when you're sitting at the edge of the runway it seems like20ft. Amber chickened out by the incoming low,low,low plane and took off running! It was definately not OSHA approved for safety. With adrenaline pumping through our blood we went back to the swimming hole to cool down and then hit up the "Aquifer". The "Aquifer" is a fresh water shower hidden in the jungle next to the swimming hole.The shower is fead by the rain water which is collected in a big black barrel above. Although the water wasn't warm, it felt incredible as it was our first fresh shower in about two weeks. We felt like Adam and Eve, surrounded by nature, green jungle all around. Clean and fresh, we were ready to go back home and cook yet another amazing meal.This night we had elbow pasta in stewed tomatoes with olives, chicken, garlic powder, and olive oil. Eyes bigger than stomach we had to feed the left overs to Sammy the shark,who is one of the estimated thousands of black tipped reef sharks who live in this lagoon. Along with the giant manta rays that come in only a couple of feet from shore at nightto feed on the plankton in the dock lights, we think Crabby has surely met some new friends. (Atleast we hope so because he has apparently left his Mai Miti home.
6/12
What a day! After last nights cocktails and dinner party with the island staff, we woke up early and headed out the channel around 9am for snorkeling. We tied up to an orange buoy in Mini Miti, and explored the waters. We were awed by the brillant colors of the fish and corals surrounding us. Much more lively than other snorkeling we've done. The best part of it all was swimming with the manta rays and an occasional black tip shark who would wonder by in curiousity. A little nervous at times because of schools of black tips racing by our little 7 foot dinghy, we were still able to get within a couple feet of the friendly manta giants.
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