“A good holiday is one that is spent among people whose notions of time are vaguer than yours” – John Boynton Priestly
Day 19.
After breakfast at Yulia’s, we walked up a jungly path & climbed down through the trees, to don mask & fins & drift with the tide. We saw:
A turtle
A sting ray
A fat moray eel partially hidden under a big rock.
We were in the water for hours and hours. I’ve never managed to do this in the sea in Oz as I get too cold. But the water here is much warmer & before we know it, hours have passed & we are thirsty. We carry a waterproof bag with us that Dave keeps strapped to a belt. The bag has a notebook & pen in it, a couple of t-shirts, some water and some Rupiah. It floats on the surface & doubles as a safety device so that we don’t get run over by boats! When we feel like it, we come to shore, eat lunch on the outdoor tables & then slip back into the water for a few hours more snorkeling. There are so many colourful & beautiful fish to see. It’s like a documentary right in front of your eyes.
When we were needing a rest and a sip of water, we discovered our own tiny & private beach – like something you’d see in a movie. We sat down and realized the entire beach was moving. It was covered in small hermit crabs. We felt really heavy & awkward & lumbering on land. In the sea it is so easy to just drift along with the tide, being weightless.
We ate dinner at Oong’s. It is a simple outdoor restaurant with one giant table. Oong cooks one meal and everyone shares. You have to book ahead so we booked yesterday. 15 of us all sat around the table & chatted & ate spicy fish, rice, beans & salad. It was a great evening chatting with travelers from all over Europe. What a great concept!
