Today I got to take two of my talents and use them on the same day (though not at the same time). In fact, I used a multitude of talents. There’s a subtle humming sound whenever I have a shower and the breeze blows gently between the pines. This morning before going to the school I thought I’d do a trip to Ball Bay. This morning I was on Norfolk time; slow to do anything. But, I had to get my butt moving (no pun intended). Ball Bay is down a fairly steep road but the view is amazing! Parking my bicycle at the top of the hill I walked down the path to the rocks. It’s incredible!
To the end of the bay I ambled slowly over the rocks as the waves crashed over them. Trees grow straight out of the rocks in some places, and you can see the giant roots. I walked back over the rocks and back to retrieve my bike. Norfolk has to be one of the few places in the world where I can leave my bike somewhere and it’ll still be there when I return. The ride up the hill was a fairly tough one but didn’t take nearly as long as I anticipated, and I arrived at the school 45 minutes early. In the meantime I shot hoops (like I did nearly every day in high school). In middle school a special teacher by the name of Julie Hoecherl taught me how to shoot a basketball properly. That particular day I was a stubborn child and assumed she was picking on me by saying my way of shooting was the wrong way. She calmed my stubbornness and I shot the ball properly, and from there I learned to enjoy basketball. Sharing that story with some of the children I calmly sank a free throw. Ro, the PE coach approached me and knew exactly who I was! Seemingly I’m becoming a rock star on this island. Several classes joined in for my talk and the kids had a million questions.
They asked me questions relating to how I travel and how I deal with Asperger’s. One student asked “what’s the most complicated place you’ve ever travelled?” I explained Ethiopia was among the toughest, explaining how I saw children sleeping on the footpath with no clothes on. When I made a joke about Thanksgiving turkeys I felt like I had to explain the joke, but it turned out I didn’t because Norfolk is one of the few places outside North America that celebrates Thanksgiving. It’s a tradition from when American whalers visited the island generations ago. I held up my book and said “the things I do, any of you can do! I’m not Superman. Any of you can write a book.” The most important thing I wanted to go over with the children is importance of accepting people on the spectrum and not to think twice before inviting them to their next birthday party. Hearing of Teddy crying for three days after being left out of a birthday party broke my heart, and I told the whole group “I’d like Teddy to be at the next planned birthday party; he deserves to have as much fun as any of you.” He asked for my autograph again and even brought their copy of My Journey: the World within My World to school today! When I said I had one copy of my book for sale nearly all of the kids raised their hand, though the headmaster said “that’d be great for our library.” For the children who wanted my book I wrote the link on the board so they can order it. It was such a joy to speak at the school today! How many people can say they’ve spoken at a school on Norfolk Island? My time on Norfolk will only be a week in total but the impression I’ve left on people will last substantially longer. As I cycled off I took the route along Cascade Rd. and the kids waved me goodbye gleefully. Then, there were cattle in the middle of the road.
Some hills on the island are very steep; going to town this way required going down a very steep hill and up another one. After my talk today I was up for relaxing with a coffee, but the Café Tempo was closed. Some school kids pointed out the Blue Bull Café as a great place for a coffee so I sat for a wee while whilst chatting to these Aussies. I strolled into the mall because I wanted something light to eat but I bumped into to Ro, pointing out that I didn’t want to eat too much since I was having dinner with Gaelene tonight. “If Gaelene is cooking for you, you might want to eat beforehand” she said humourously. Gae is a notoriously bad cook (or non-cook). The plan was to have dinner last night but since Rosco, her boyfriend, was busy it was pushed back to tonight (he’s the cook). It drizzled lightly as I slowly made my way back toward Mokutu. For dessert I brought courgette (zucchini) bread and Nicki made a gluten-free orange cake. Nicki and Wally both joined in and it was a fabulous dinner as we feasted on chicken, fish, pumpkin, and fried rice, but perhaps the specialty were sweet potatoes dusted with coconut.
A few glasses of wine helped wash down a fabulous dinner; I was so full afterward! Now it was time to show the night crowd how to make a mojito (quite a contrast to motivational speaking earlier). A lot of people on the island have never even heard of Cuba’s signature cocktail.
The MiniBar is the closest the island gets to having a nightlife scene. Australia’s all-night revelers go to Bali; if you come to Norfolk expecting all-night fun, you’ll be very disappointed. Mojitos were on the house tonight and the crowd really enjoyed them! Carrie is an art dealer in town and I enjoyed chatting to her. Her sons live in Auckland and are visiting from there. Troy agreed to give me a lift back to Mokutu afterward. What a great day it was! A walk along Ball Bay, speaking to school children, a fabulous dinner with Gaelene and Rosco, and making mojitos! Not bad for a day, eh?
