Awake at 8 and think, even though it's 12 hours since dinner, I'm still feeling well fed. Is this a good time to stock up pre-lunch? Of course it was. We play a bit of tennis and table tennis and by 11 I'm dripping sweat. Time to find out what the octopus is up to.
On the way out I spot a short-tailed grey ray. It turns out he [the octopus] has a friend who creeps up whenever I'm not looking then loiters outside the nest. Somehow I manage to waste another hour and a half watching them. I wouldn't mind but they really don't do anything -- just breathe.
Single chips and a portion of fruit for lunch. Another small black tailed ray wafts around the harbour.
We start snorkelling after lunch just by the bar and about 5 seconds in Helen eeks, I look down and in the foot of water we're floating in a sea snake swims underneath me. On reflection it could have been an eel but we're not taking chances and we're spooked out of the water. I head off to the other side of the island to see the octopi(?) and it looks like they're getting it on. The new octopus has snuk a tentacle into the nest. Again I watch them for over an hour but nothing happens. The new one has very knobbly skin and the only way you can tell it from the rock is by watching it sway slightly in the swell. The original octopus is smoother and does some neat work with camoflage. A fish swims too close and just one side goes completely maroon/purple, a perfectly split two-tone octopus.
I have now developed the snorkelling tan. This is an oval shaped "panda eye" around both eyes -- which fortunately I can make look as though I've wrinkled the skin raising my eyebrows -- and burnt achilles tendons. The backs of my ankles are worse, despite lashings of factor 45 sun cream, not aided by that place being the choice spot for the mosquitoes to bite me. When I stretch my foot pale mosquites bites show up amidst the sunburn.
Once again, we retire early. I'm guessing most people are all inclusive as you can't afford to drink at the bar. You can certainly tell most people are at least full board as the sun worshippers desert the beach at 12.30 and head for lunch. Sipping water at the bar doesn't sound like fun. Besides it doesn't seem right to come here and be so positively Western (music and drink). People just can't let go.
Giravaru N4.19916 E73.41219 Elev. 3m.
Copyright 2002 Ian Fitchet. All rights reserved.