July 18, 2010

Vacation

Today we snorkeled in a crowded stream of beautiful Tuomotos fish.
Sounds so poetic and perfect. You may be picturing us swimming as one
with the fish. All headed in the same direction. NOT. Picture me
yelling into my snorkel and jumping on Graham's back, so the fish
would stream around him and not touch me! LOL. Picture Amelia grabbing
my hand and laughing hysterically into her snorkel. Picture Alex
diving up and down and all around the stream and poking at the fish.
Oh what fun..so much fun..so new and cool.

We all snorkeled along together, pointing out all of the spectacular
marine life. There was so many different types of fish to see we were
overwhelmed. We would all be pointing and calling to each other
underwater. I am shocked at how many new species of fish we saw within
10 minutes of being in the water. It is like they were from outer
space. Their colors were so vibrant and varied.

Graham and Alex got the hooka (snuba gear) out and all put together
and in the afternoon we went back to this awesome reef and brought it
with us. The kids saw sharks, eels and manta rays and we were SO
HAPPY! Amelia was thrilled to sit on the ocean floor at 40 feet down
with her Dad. They found a really cool claw shaped clam and a very
unique shell. She has them soaking right now and has been scrubbing
them with a brush. Alex says he is happy to be back into "Vacation"
mode. We are thinking we will spend 5 days here just exploring the
reef and touring the motu. I even dug out the hammocks today and I am
hoping for some lighter winds so I can get em up tomorrow.

Alex is dying to fish. I won't let him because the guide books say
that Ciguetera (basically a disease the fish have here) is a huge
problem on this atoll. I found him today on the end of the dock
talking (or at least communicating) with these two local women. They
had a couple lines in the water with raw chicken as their bait. They
were catching small red snapper. They let him know that the snapper
was safe to eat since it was small enough and not infected. Not sure
if I mentioned it before but Alex has an obsession with raw chicken.
It seems every time he throws his hook in with raw chicken on the end
of it he gets a bite, so he is constantly beggin me for it. Anyone who
knows Alex knows he isn't the most careful kids ever. Alex + raw
chicken = disaster, so I don't often give in! Anyway, he was
like..."See mom raw chicken works and ciguetera isn't a problem!" I
guess we will see how long I can keep the lines out his hands.

Right now Amelia has Maia over for a sleep over. Tomorrow we have more
snuba planned, a hike of the motu, breakfast at the Gromits and maybe
even an afternoon siesta. I am so grateful for vacation days.

4 comments:

  1. SOUNDS like paradise. All of that sea life at your finger tips. Take lots of pictures for us back in Canada. We had Lacombe days with the parada which I was in this year and pancake breakfast, chili bake off and fireworks. Don't you miss us a little. Enjoy your vacations time.

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  2. Julie the sound of that raw chicken is a bit scarey....salmonella here you come.
    Then the fish is consuming raw chicken and you are eating the fish?? I dont know about that. Doesnt sound good to me. Alex is really loving the fishing eh?A true fishermen. Enjoy paradise it sounds wonderful.

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  3. Did you say you guys are taking the reef with you? Is this coral reef? :O
    Sounds like a wicked time....excluding fishing with raw chicken!! Eww

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