17:46.27S
177:22.90E
Still waiting, so a day at the beach
It is now Sunday at 6am here. Yesterday the consensus (herd?)
and our own interpretation of the maps agreed that we should not leave
yesterday,
So, we bought a day trip excursion to the closest island resort; imaginatively
named South Sea Island.
We took a big catamaran ferry for 25 minutes to a tiny island that you could
walk around in 10 minutes. It is very beautiful, but I could have done
without the forced ‘atmospheric help’ of the tour company; the
little band singing on the beach to welcome us and, the responsive cheering and
calling back and forth orientation, between the staff and the 60 or so
visitors. It was beautiful; we snorkeled, had a massage on the beach, a
bar b q lunch, and just cooled out. It was a welcome respite from
the intense concentration and a touch of heaviness and gloominess as I was
trying to figure out the weather and wondering if we would be able to get a
handle on it and create a safe pleasurable trip.,
I started and finished a New Zealand book, the whale Rider,
by Witi Ihimaera; a Kiwi who may also be Maori. The story is about the problem
a Maori chief has in passing on his powers and knowledge and blessing to be the
next leader because there are no male heirs. It is a very soft and
engaging story in which characters encounter racism, loyalty, environmental
issues, gender politics, and leave the reader with thoughts about New Zealand
today. Apparently it was made into a film and shown at TO film festival in
2002.
While on books, I think yesterday I did not give enough
credit to Penny Green’s, See Naples and Die. She gives a believable
and engaging depiction of Naples and through her experiences, shares her
frustration, and that of many who love the city, with the contradiction of
people who live life passionately and to the fullest, and yet have an apparent
civic breakdown where garbage is not collected, bribes seem to be the norm of
commerce, as are murders and purse snatchings in the street. The Neapolitans
say they love their city but seem to have given up on it. The book is
probably of interest only to Italofiles.
The day at the beach was good as it allowed me to relax and
back away from trying to solve the weather puzzle. At the end of the day
I was feeling more into my own skin or paws (pick your metaphor) and more
confident about picking a strategy and, not having to give into thoughts
advanced by some, that it doesn’t matter when you go because you will get
hit by a storm anyway. With a clear head, we could see there are strong
south winds predicted for yesterday and today. So, we are not going today.
Likely tomorrow, although there is a strong bit of south wind and rain showing
for around Fiji
tomorrow at 1pm. These maps of course are not perfectly accurate and our
experience is that wind is heavier, especially in gusts, than shown. We
don’t want to delay, if possible, because the weather looks benign all
the way down to NZ for the coming week, but starts to deteriorate a week
today. So, it would be nice to get in before then.
One other thing about our South Sea Island. The ferry can’t dock
at it, so one is transferred to a small boat 100 feet offshore and then brought
into the beach. The process is reversed on departure. We left the
island at the appointed time in the transfer boat but the ferry was late. (schedule
pickup is 5pm) So, there we were floating in big waves at 5:45pm in a darkening
sky (sun sets at 6pm) and I thought; notwithstanding all the concerns about the
sailing trip, we may ignominiously disappear in this little transfer boat, 10
miles from shore. (Obviously the ferry came; just before dark) and
we are all here.
More tomorrow, and hopefully different.
Babelfish