Surprises in Oyster Bay, Santo

Hebe
Sat 30 Aug 2014 03:08
28th August 2014

15:23S
167:11E

We then moved Hebe to an anchorage close to Oyster Bay, this stunning lagoon, in the hopes that we could sneak across the reef at high tide early the next morning. 
In the end we found a large yacht anchored in an unmarked place just outside the lagoon  and thankfully settled ourselves into this simply stunning place.
The lagoon is nestled amongst an archipelago of islands with mangroves and coral reefs.

The thatched ferry from Oyster Island 

There is a pretty resort here, well let's say some dear little thatched bungalows and a restaurant….perfect. I love the loo its open on three sides and has it's own small garden. Very fragrant. 
The staff are wonderfully naive, smiley and hopeless.  No wonder there are few Aussie's here when they have the Great Barrier Reef with good internet, nice wine and no need for malaria pills. As a result the place is blissfully empty and beautiful. (and it's for sale - Ed)

Captain Lax with some strange fruit….any ideas? 

Being Tim's last day we planned to paddle in canoes and our paddle boards up the river to it's source, a huge sink hole spring called The Blue Hole.
But just before we could do that…..there was an EARTHQUAKE.  The whole boat shook for 20 seconds with Harry and Imo running about thinking the generator was exploding. Being down below I thought the washing machine  was having a particularly busy spin cycle.  One boat near us upped anchor and beetled off to sea and we looked around wondering if the reef would suddenly appear and the sea recede.  The staff at the resort assured us they had checked and no tsunami warnings had come through from New Zealand. 

 
We had a wonderful peaceful paddle upstream amongst the mangroves listening to the squawking birds and watching the swallows dipping in front. The river was all muddy and mirky and when we arrived at the source it was turquoise blue but cloudy. We were told it's normally crystal clear and you can see down into the bottomless hole, but the earthquake had jiggled up all the silt….that's pretty exciting !
 
Harry, Imo and Tim did wild acrobats from a rope tied to a massive banyan tree, you had to climb up the roots, swinging into the pool. The water was cool and delicious. Brilliant final day for Tim. I was chicken with the rope, and wish I had had the nerve. 
That night Tim treated us all to a fabulous meal at the restaurant, it took the chef hours to cook but was worth the wait. 
We were all sad to say good bye but glad he had such a brilliant time.

Looking back we are all sooooo relieved we weren't in the wreck when the earthquake happened. The silt shake up would have reduced the visibility to zero…..eeeeeks! 
Check in again for more wild adventures of Hebe.