Day 285: A Little Break in the Weather
Date and Time: Sunday, July 30, 2006, 2330 Tahiti Time
Weather: Downpour All Morning, Clearing Skies in the Afternoon

It looks like the weather is improving. For that we are all very thankful. About 3 AM the north winds starting blowing into the harbor, but they were not as strong as predicted. In the morning, we sat in the cockpit and watched the pouring rain, thunder and lightening, and the black clouds of the front pass over Rarotonga and out to sea. It took a couple of hours, but we finally started to see patches of blue. It has been raining here day and night since last Monday, so any patch of blue is most welcome. We made it all evening with no rain, but it is raining as I write this log. Hopefully, it will clear by morning.

We spent a bit of a lazy day aboard Windbird. Linda and I worked on getting pictures ready for the website while Mike and Garrett cleaned the topsides of the boat. Wow! What a nice gift that was for Mark and I. Mark helped with the cleaning of the boat and took the dinghy around the harbor visiting some of the other boats. White Swan with Bod and Diane aboard came into the harbor this morning. I had asked them to buy a copy of the DVD of Bora Bora’s Heiva Festival 2005 for me and they delivered that today. We saw them in Raiatea after we had left Bora Bora and they were on their way there, so they offered to get the DVD for me that I had forgotten to buy before we left Bora Bora.

We went back to Trader Jack’s for a pizza dinner and then to the National Auditorium for a night of Polynesian singing. Many of the cruisers that are currently in the harbor were at Trader Jack’s tonight. The entertainment choices tonight were to go to the Empire Theater to see The DaVinci Code or to go to the singing competitions as part of the festival. John from Endangered Species went to the singing competitions with us while the rest of the gang went to the movie. Many people are not interested in the singing, but I really love it. The Te Maeva Nui Festival here is now in full swing, so we will be going to the auditorium each night for singing and dance competitions. I feel blessed to be able to be here to see the celebration of South Pacific culture and hope to take in as much as I can.

Day 284: Log by Linda
Date and Time: Saturday, July 29, 2006, 1900 Tahiti Time
Weather: Overcast and Rainy

Judy is taking the day off. Well, actually, her mouth is still working. Judy’s ankle is still very swollen and we have ordered her to lay with her ankle up on pillows. It is not easy for her to just relax, but the 24 oz Big Kahuna beers seem to make it easier. I’ve told her she can order me around, but she is not to get up until the swelling goes down. Judy is allowing me to be a “guest” writer of today’s log.

We woke up to the sound of pouring rain. We all decided to roll over rather than face another day of rain. Finally, Mark got up to get our laundry off to the laundry mat. On the way home he stopped at the market and picked up five Belgian waffles. When he returned to the boat Judy got out the maple syrup she brought from home and we ate breakfast in the cockpit looking out at the pouring rain. The dark clouds and pouring rain are definitely not the picture of the south pacific we all dream of.

Determined not to let the rain get us down, Mark, Mike, Garrett and I went off to the market and shopping in town. We bought lettuce, tomatoes and peppers for dinner and stopped off at the waffle place for another waffle, this time with ice cream, bananas, chocolate sauce and raspberry sauce.

Once we got back to the boat, we decided to watch the rest of South Pacific so Judy could keep her foot up. Mark replaced a valve on the watermaker since he has already seen the rest of the movie. After the movie we watched slideshows of all the pictures we have taken so far. We laughed over many of the pictures remembering the last few days. Mark and Judy have been fantastic hosts and we are having a terrific time despite the black wall of clouds and the rain. We have had many fantastic meals, the best being the five star double decker tacos that Mark made tonight for dinner. Judy always makes sure Mike has a beer in his hand and they both make sure Garrett has a smile on his face.

Tonight we are going to stay in and play some card games and try to edit and organize more pictures. We hope that when we wake up tomorrow we will see the sun again, but if not I am sure we will still be having a good time here at the Handley Windbird Resort.

Day 283: Back in Rarotonga
Date and Time: Friday, July 28, 2006, 2300 Tahiti Time
Weather: Overcast and Rainy

See Pictures Here

We made it back to Rarotonga, but the weather here is still rainy and totally overcast. And the harbor is full of boats. Four big catamarans came in here since we left–Endangered Species, Wind Pony, Honikai, and Surabi. Linda from Finland, Rontu from the USA, and Ka Pai from Australia are still here. In addition, a big square rigger, the Soren Larsen from New Zealand, is also here, so the tiny harbor is full. It took a bit for us to get anchored, but we did it in time for Linda to go rent a car and get me to the hospital in time for my appointment to remove the cast. Mark, Michael, and Garrett stayed on the boat to make sure we were securely anchored. The cast removal went smoothly, but all I was told to do was to use common sense in terms of rehabilitation. I wanted to say that if I had common sense I wouldn’t be sailing around the world and I certainly wouldn’t have walked off a dock and broken my leg, but I kept quiet and will try to figure out a rehab program on my own. When we get to American Samoa , I will go to the hospital there and hope for some advice from a physical therapist. I am not to put weight on the leg for two weeks, so that will be about the time we arrive in American Samoa.

It rained all afternoon, so we decided to stay onboard and watch a video. We watched most of South Pacific before heading into town for dinner at Trader Jack’s. Rick, Robin, and John from Endangered Species and Lynn and Dick from Wind Pony were also there. We had a great dinner, a good live band, and good company.

We are hoping for better weather tomorrow, but the reports are not encouraging. I’m just hoping the reports are wrong.

Day 282: A Wild Ride from Aitutaki to Rarotonga
Date and Time: Thursday, July 27, 2006, 1800 Tahiti Time
Weather: Totally Overcast with Squalls; Winds Switching to the South

We left Aitutaki just before sunrise this morning hoping to get back to Rarotonga before the stationary front/trough/low (the weather forecasters are referring to it as all three) could be pushed east by a strong high to the south of us. That black wall that we went through on our way to Aitutaki was the front and it has just been sitting here, but about an hour ago, I think we broke through the wall and have come out on the other side. Garrett and I had been below sleeping. When I got up, I decided to check to see if we had any weather information coming in as e-mails before going up into the cockpit. I was sitting at the navigation table when all of a sudden, one of our folding cushions from the cockpit came flying down, and I, along with the computer, went flying across the cabin. Garrett’s eyes were as big as saucers as the boat kept heeling further to starboard. That’s because he was watching Mark up in the cockpit being thrown across from port to starboard and onto the cockpit floor. I didn’t see that because I was looking out the starboard ports and seeing nothing but rushing water. Whew! I knew we had been hit by a very strong gust, but we’ve never had such a hard hit before. Michael, Linda, and Mark saw a black cloud coming our way and before they could shorten sail, the gust of wind really knocked us for a loop. I am so thankful that no one was hurt. Somehow, I was actually able to hold onto the computer and not hurt my already broken leg. I landed on my good foot with the computer going into the kitchen sink. One food cabinet at floor level flew open and cans of food flew everywhere, but everything else looks fine.

We were able to roll in the staysail and the headstay and are now motoring under a double-reefed main. It was double-reefed all the time, as was the headstay, but that was just too much sail for these changing conditions. We are motoring because the wind is now on our nose. At this time it is only 10-12 knots, but it is supposed to build if indeed that front is moving on, so we will just make sure we are well prepared for a stormy night. It will be slow going if the winds build to 20 knots, but we will just have to deal with what is thrown our way. If all goes well, we will be back in Rarotonga sometime tomorrow morning. I think we will all be glad to get back “home” and walk on land for a while.

Day 281: A Day on the Lagoon, Aitutaki
Date and Time: Wednesday, July 26, 2006, 2000 Tahiti Time
Weather: Mostly Overcast, Some Sun, Some Rain; Northeast Winds 10-12 Knots

Ugly weather . . . beautiful day. The weather trough that has been sitting on top of this area for the past few days is still here. The sky is full of heavy clouds and today it drizzled and finally poured rain. We thought the pouring rain might bring nicer weather, but the clouds are still here. The nice thing about being in an absolutely gorgeous place, however, is that no matter how bad the weather, it is still beautiful. The motus around Aitutaki are picture postcard perfect and we got to visit two of them on our lagoon trip today.

By 1000, we were at the dock in town and ready to leave on a glass-bottomed boat lagoon tour. Our tour guide was Lawton Story. He was born on Rarotonga but his mother is from here. He spent almost 30 years in New Zealand and is now back on what he calls his mother’s island. In addition to the Handleys and the Stuarts, there was a honeymoon couple on the tour. A young woman, Helen, from England, and a young man, Kevin, from Germany. They currently live in India working for UNESCO (Helen) and an oil firm (Kevin). No sooner than we left the dock, we saw a sailboat entering the channel. It looked like they were going to make it in, but then we saw them at a standstill. They were grounded. Since we were going to go out right passed them on our way to the ocean to observe the reef and look for turtles, Lawton asked us if it was okay if we took the time to pull this boat in. It was fine with all of us and it really only took a few minutes. We towed them into the anchorage and then it was out of the pass. There were huge coral heads, but we didn’t get to see any turtles. Still it was beautiful.

After returning to the lagoon from the ocean, Lawton headed south in the lagoon. He pointed out the temporary “city” that is currently Survivor Marine Base. It is truly unbelievable how much they had to have shipped here in order to do this series. They have 18 boats, including the two Bombards that rescued us yesterday, and 400 people living in the housing they built of materials shipped in. In two weeks time, they will be gone and all of the infrastructure will be taken down and shipped to the next location. Lawton then took us further south in the lagoon until we reached the marine reserve. This is an area where giant clams are farmed. The native clams are not as large as the ones that are being farmed, but they are much more colorful. The farmed clams are brown, not bright blue, turquoise, and purple like the natives, but they were certainly interesting to observe through the glass-bottomed boat. We also got to see how pearls are farmed. We then moved on to an area where everyone (except me) went snorkeling and then it was on to a beautiful motu where we went ashore to explore. I found a nice spot to sit while the others walked around the island. My view was of white sand bars, sparkling turquoise waters, lots of Pandanus trees with seed pods that look like pineapples, and red-tailed tropic birds flying overhead. Wow. The view was spectacular.

When we got back on the boat, Lawton had lunch prepared for us and was truly a feast. We had fresh fish that he grilled on the boat-wahoo, mahi mahi, and tuna-fresh lettuce salad, cabbage salad, grilled eggplant, local fruit-orange wedges, papaya (called pawpaw here), mango wedges, star fruit-arrowroot and coconut bread, and on and on and on. It really was a feast. We ate as Lawton moved us to another motu. We went ashore here and got to see baby red-tailed tropic birds, as well as the adults. Lawton explained that the Polynesians who settled these islands would follow white-tailed tropic birds, but never the red-tailed as they fly home every night and always to a low island or motu with no water or food. The white-tailed tropic birds always fly to islands with high cliffs which means there would be a better chance of finding food and water.

We left the small picture-perfect motu and headed to a snorkeling area. On the way, the rain started and it did pour. But snorkeling is still great in the rain, so everyone had a great snorkel and I was able to see many of the fish through the glass-bottomed boat. The fish here are numerous and varied, and the the coral is more alive than any place we have been on this voyage, so snorkeling today was great.

It was finally time to return home, still in the rain, but just as we got to the dock, the rain stopped. Lucky for us, we thought, as we would be able to get back to Windbird without being drenched. Well, that idea lasted only as long as it took us to get to the entrance to the channel. As we entered the ocean, there were huge swells in the pass and we got soaked. But that was okay. It was a great day.

Very early tomorrow morning we will be heading back to Rarotonga. It is almost impossible to predict what kind of weather we will have. That black wall of clouds we sailed into on the way here has stayed here with us and we’re just not sure what it will be like as we exit on the way back. We’ll let you know that tomorrow night.

Day 280: Windbird Rescued by Survivor-No Joke
Date and Time: Tuesday, July 25, 2006, 2000 Tahiti Time
Weather: Mostly Overcast and Drizzly, South Winds 10-15 Knots

You don’t even want to believe this story, but it is true, and we are fine. We arrived near the pass going into Aitutaki around 1030 this morning. This pass is only 40 feet wide and 6 feet deep, but we thought we might be able to get into the lagoon. This is a low island surrounded by a rock-strewn reef dotted with motus enclosing a shallow turquoise lagoon. When we decided to sail here, we thought we would just anchor out or hove to outside the reef, but we talked to someone on a boat inside the lagoon on the morning net, and he was sure we would be able to get in. He said that if necessary some local boats could help pull us in. So we decided to try it, knowing it was a little risky. Our first problem was finding the pass. Search as we might, we could not see any markers. We headed in closer and saw a few sticks that looked like they might mark the pathway in but decided to turn around and hail a fishing boat to check our perception. Indeed, the sticks we had seen were marking the port side of the pass, so in we went.

About halfway in we started bumping on the sandy bottom. Although it was high tide, it was barely six feet and it only got shallower the further in we drove ourselves. We finally came to a standstill. Windbird’s motor could no longer propel us forward. We were grounded. It was bad enough to be grounded in a narrow pass with coral heads all around, but add to this that a rain storm hit about the time we got stuck. What to do? We got on the radio and talked to the only sailboat in the anchorage. The captain had gone to shore in the dinghy but there was a crew member onboard. This person said they would check for someone to help pull us off as soon as the captain returned. In the meantime, we launched our dinghy. But before we got the motor on, a voice came on the radio calling for the vessel in need of assistance. That would be us. The caller was from Survivor Marine Base. I have mentioned that the Survivor TV series is currently video taping “Survivor Cook Islands” here and evidently they monitor the marine radio. The person calling asked if we were in a precarious situation and I said that indeed we were. He said he would send help and that he did. The Survivor Base is on the opposite side of the island, but it only took about seven minutes for the help to arrive. Two huge RIB’s (rigid inflatable dinghies), each with a 200 HP outboard motor arrived. Each boat had a captain and crew, depth gauges, towing ropes, and any other equipment we might need. They checked the depth going on into the harbor and the depth going back out and decided that we needed to go out. The dinghies were named Alpha and Bravo, and I think it was Bravo that literally pushed our bow right around and then started pushing us out of the channel with Alpha pulling. It was quite amazing and we were very grateful. We now can add being rescued by Survivor to our list of interesting things that have happened to us on this voyage.

We anchored outside the reef in about 60 feet of water. I stayed on watch on Windbird while Mark, Michael, Linda, and Garrett went in through the pass in our dinghy to explore. They stopped by Lord Fred, the boat from Australia that had talked with us on the net this morning. They are not as deep as Windbird, so they were able to enter the harbor with a little assistance and anchor. Lord Fred is planning to stay here for a month. Fred, the captain, really wants us to try to get in again during high tide in the morning, but we have decided to stay outside. It is just too risky to try that again. Survivor might not come to our rescue twice!

The results of the afternoon exploration were interesting. Half of this island is off limits to visitors right now because of the Survivor taping. This means you can’t take your own dinghy around the south end of the island without a guide. The exploration “gang” tried to walk north to find a place to snorkel, but that didn’t work either. So they made arrangements for all of us to go out in a glass-bottomed boat tomorrow to see the fantastic underwater world here. Evidently they will allow snorkeling during parts of the trip, so the day should be fantastic.

I had planned to stay onboard the entire time that we are here and stand watch, but I am slowly warming up to the idea of going out on the glass-bottomed boat tomorrow. The sailing cargo ship, Kwai, that we got to know in the Rarotonga harbor, came in late this evening and anchored next to us. The captain rowed over this evening to say hello and to tell us to let them know when we are going to shore so they can watch the boat for us. They have someone on watch all the time and offered to watch us as well, so that should make tomorrow a little more relaxing for us.

Life is good and we are having a great time. The black wall that we sailed into last night is still with us. The trough that should have headed east is lingering, so we will just have to see what tomorrow’s weather brings. (Note to Michael’s Uncle Red: Southern South Pacific weather is just a little dicey. Let’s hope the black wall moves on by tomorrow and brings winds from the East.)

Day 279: Overnight Transit from Rarotonga to Aitutaki
Date and Time: Monday, July 24, 2006, 1800 Tahiti Time
Weather: Sunny, North Winds 2-6 Knots

See Pictures Here

If you have read the title of this log, you know that we did make the decision to go to Aitutaki today. Everything indicated that the trough should pass and switch the winds from north to east. Well, I think the trough has passed, but basically we have no wind. And the wind we do have is still right on the nose from the north, so we are motoring along to Aitutaki. Probably about the time we head back to Rarotonga the winds will switch and come from the south. We sure hope not as we do want the Stuarts to have some sailing experience. Since the wind that we do have is coming right at us, it is slowing us down a bit. Right now it looks like we will arrive at the pass heading into Aitutaki about 1 or 2 in the afternoon. Hopefully, we will get there in time for Mark, Linda, and Garrett to take the dinghy in through the pass and do some afternoon snorkeling. I will stay on the boat on watch since we will be anchored in the ocean next to the reef. If the winds do switch to the east, that should be fine. Or if they stay the way they are now, which is almost no wind, we should be fine no matter what direction the winds are coming from. But still, someone will need to be on the boat all the time. I think I have mentioned that we cannot go into the lagoon as we are just a few inches too deep, so anchoring outside will just have to do.

Just now we watched the sun go down in the west and we are headed toward a black wall of low clouds. This looks like a front, but since there is almost no wind, we should be fine. (Note to Uncle Red-No worries. This terrible wall of black clouds that we are about to enter should be no problem.)

We are getting ready to have dinner in the cockpit. At 1900, Mark, Garrett, and Michael go on watch and Linda and I sleep. We come on at 2200 and then switch off every three hours. We decided to do boy-girl watches tonight. We’ll hope for a quiet night and an early arrival in Aitutaki.

Day 278: Sunday in Rarotonga
Date and Time: Sunday, July 23, 2006, 2200 Tahiti Time
Weather: Sun Mixed with Clouds

What a delightful day! We are still having days of mixed sun and clouds, sometimes with a little rain, but for the most part the weather has been great. The winds have switched to coming out of the northeast which causes the anchorage here to be very bouncy, but sometime tomorrow the winds should shift back to the southeast and things will be calm here again. We are still debating whether or not we should leave for Aitutaki in the morning or wait until Tuesday, but that decision will be in the AM when we check the wind direction. We are heading north/northeast and certainly don’t want to head out when the winds are coming from that direction. Once we get there, we will have to anchor on the outside of the reef because we are too deep to enter the lagoon there. Evidently they are filming a Survivor series there now and there are more than 400 crew on the island. Seeing this in action should be most interesting.

Linda and Michael headed out this morning on a cross-island hike. Mark drove them to the end of the road and then they hiked up to “the Needle”. This is a 413 meter spire known as Te Rua Manga. When they got to the Needle they found that there are chains bolted into the rocks that allowed them to climb up to the base but scaling the Needle would have been a very difficult climb. Linda and Michael chose the safe route and headed down the mountain to the south side of the island. Garrett, Mark, and I met them there and headed for the premier snorkeling site on the island. The coral here is basically dead but the fish life is incredible. Mark came back from snorkeling raving about the huge blue sea stars, and then Linda, Michael, and Garrett returned raving about the schools of fish they had seen. Lagoon snorkeling here is fantastic and I only hope that I will be able to do some snorkeling before we leave here.

After snorkeling we headed Maotangi Road and the trail head leading up to the top of Ikurangi (Tail of the Sky) or another that climbs to Te Manga. The hike up the Tail of the Sky is difficult but gives you a view of the whole wave-washed reef as well as the fruit and vegetable plantations. I know Linda and Michael will want to make this climb before leaving here. I know if my leg were not broken, I would certainly want to do this. We also visited the site of the Marae Arai-te-tonga-not as impressive as other maraes we have visited, but certainly a lovely spot.

We have been so busy that I have hardly mentioned the beaked whale that beached itself here and then became ill and died. That was two days ago. There is a Whale Center here that we have not visited, but it is a top priority as soon as we have time. The director, Nan Daeschler Hauser, is a PhD candidate at Southern Cross University in Australia. Other cruisers here have met her and even been invited to her home. I can’t wait to meet her and learn more about the beaked whales.

We are anchored next to the boat Linda from Helsinki, Finland. We first met Linda in Walliabou in St. Lucia. It is so much fun to meet up with people we have met previously.

So tomorrow we will either head to Aitutaki or wait until the next day and explore this island some more. Whichever will be fascinating.

Day 277: We’re Going to Be Grandparents!
Date and Time: Saturday, July 22, 2006, 2355 Tahiti Time
Weather: Sun Mixed with Clouds

Our daughter Heather just let us know that she had a healthy 12-week check-up and that we will be grandparents in late January. We can’t tell you how excited we are for Heather and Jed and how delighted we were when the news came. It means a slight change in our plans, but a change we are glad to make. We will be coming home for Christmas and staying until after the baby is born. In mid to late February, we will head back to New Zealand. I don’t want to think about how hard leaving will be, so for now, I will only think about how excited I am at the prospect of being Grandma.

Saturday is market day here. We got up and tried to listen to the weather on the Net, but in the harbor here we have very poor reception. Shortly after that, we headed to the market which is very close by. Mark dropped me and my borrowed wheel chair at the market and went to pick up the Stuart’s. We figured their luggage and the wheelchair would not both fit into the car, so that’s why I stayed behind. I had fun exploring the various booths. They sell everything from wood carvings to potatoes. In about an hour, Linda showed up and said that Mark, Michael, and Garrett had taken the luggage to the boat. Linda and I did a lot of “window” shopping, but the guys didn’t return. We decided to go ahead and purchase the fruits and veggies that we would need this week. And when we finished that, they still had not returned so we headed back to the dock. When we got there, we saw the reason for the delay. It got much windier last night than it has been, and evidently Windbird was moving closer to the dock than was comfortable. Mark had decided to reset the anchor and retie the lines holding us to shore. We had hoped to all go back and eat at the market, but by the time the lines were secured the Saturday morning market had come to an end. We ate instead a place called Fish & Chips which is right next to the dock here. Good food and great smoothies.

We spent the afternoon driving the rental car around the island and stopping at points of interest along the way. By the time we got back to the boat, it was almost time to get ready to go to Island Night at the Manuia Beach Hotel. The restaurant there is called ROB’s (Right On the Beach). We got there in time for sundown, but as has been the case for the past few weeks, there are too many clouds in the evening blocking the view of the sun going down. If we have a really clear evening, we all decided that we would go back to this spot to enjoy a beautiful sunset. The dinner buffet was very good and was a mix of local and international foods. There was traditional live music during dinner, and afterwards the dancing began. It was not the very best dancing we have seen, but we all agreed that the drumming was superb. It continually amazes us how the young men and women here can move their bodies the way they do. It is fascinating to watch.

Since it has gotten windier than we would like, and since we are getting to bed very late, we decided not to leave tomorrow for our trip to Aututaki. We will go on Monday or Tuesday, weather permitting. Mark and I will spend tomorrow checking out the weather on the internet and writing long overdue e-mails to friends and family. The Stuarts will probably spend the day hiking and then we will all get ready for our sail north.

Day 276: Another Beautiful Day in Paradise
Date and Time: Friday, July 21, 2006, 2300 Tahiti Time
Weather: Sun Mixed with Clouds

It is hard for me to believe that this is the fourth day that we have been here in Rarotonga. I have hardly had time to even take a picture of the island, but I’m hoping to take care of that problem tomorrow. We spent this morning getting ready for the Stuarts to move aboard tomorrow, and then this afternoon we did some in town exploring in the rental car. I realize that I haven’t described the island in detail in my logs and plan to being to do that little by little, starting with today’s log.

The Avatiu Harbor is small, very small. Only six boats can tie to the quay or concrete dock, and they say another six boats can anchor in the harbor. I have a hard time imagining that, but I think we will see how many boats will really fit here during the next week as we hear on the net that boats are headed this way. Rarotonga is about half the size of Moorea as it is only 32 kilometers around the island. The mountains here are also about half as tall as those on Moorea, but in other respects, the two islands are very similar. This island is actually a little more developed, however, and parts of it feel very city-like. When you get away from the “main drag” things change and it becomes a beautiful, lush island of green. Like Tahiti, Moorea, Raitea, and Bora Bora, this island has a fringing reef. That means that it has a coral reef surrounding it with a lagoon between the reef and the island. In French Polynesia, the lagoons were deep enough for boats to navigate, but here the lagoons are very, very shallow. That has allowed the Stuarts to walk in the lagoons and get great video and still shots of fish without using an underwater camera, but it means that we cannot take our boat into the lagoon and anchor. We miss that, but will just have to make the best of what we have. We are planning to leave here on Sunday morning and sail north to another island, Aitutaki. That will give the Stuarts some sailing experience and a chance to snorkel in a deeper lagoon. We will return here on Wednesday or Thursday and get ready for the celebrations that happen here between the end of July and the fourth of August-Constitution Day.

Tomorrow morning we will go to the local Saturday morning market to pick up fresh fruits and vegetables and then go and pick up the Stuarts. They will move aboard and then we plan to hike up to a waterfall on the south side of the island. I will have to “stand watch” in the car, but I will spend my time looking at the great new reef fish identifications books that Linda brought to us.

Tomorrow night we will attend an “island night” at one of the local resorts. This includes island food followed by an island dance performance. We can’t wait to see how the performances here compare to those we have seen in French Polynesia.