In the morning we went for a great snorkel with Laura and Ian. We started on our side of the bay, the water was a bit murky so we went over to the other side of the bay where the water was pristine. It wasn’t teeming with fish but the coral was in really good condition. The highlight was Rowan found an octopus, it was quite hard to identify. I finally spotted it and was surprised at how big it was.
In the afternoon David from the Yacht Club came out in his canoe to take us to visit his ancestor’s remains hidden in caves. We were meant to arrive at high tide to be able to get to the beach over the reef. We timed it slightly wrong, and poor JeldiJeldi did some serious scraping getting us to our destination. It was a stunning beach, well protected from visitors because of the reef, a good place to leave bodies. We did a short sharp climb to the first cave which we then climbed down into. Of course Rowan and I forgot to bring our torches, but with phone torches and Laura’s head torch we were able to see our way in through the darkness. It was a big cave, the bones in this cave were better organised and less disturbed than in Fiji. He showed us one chief’s mound, and the buckle from his clothes that had survived!
We then climbed a little higher, clambering up a rickety ladder. Only 2 at a time were allowed up as it was a small cave. At the top of the ladder you had to hold onto tree roots to clamber across to the cave, quite an effort that Laura did not want to do. It was a small cave and not very deep, it had skulls from two couples from a family and their security guard. The amazing thing was they all had their molars in tact which were flawless, no sugar in their diet! It was pretty atmospheric, David said a few words to the ancestors before we entered the caves.
We went back to Rala to drop off Laura and Ian, we had a cup of tea on board with them and David. David’s teeth aren’t so good, and not surprising judging from the amount of biscuits he ate!
The wind has completely died, it is very hot, which is producing magnificent sunsets.
Our snorkelling spot
Rowan’s GoPro is working! We did a drift dive along the reef, entering into one deep canyon
The beach where the ancestor’s rest above
Looking back at the cave entrance
The mounds of bones
Walking up to the higher cave
The cave we were visiting was not the one at the top of the stairs, but the smaller one on the left
Following David across the maze of roots and branches
The family and security guard far left, excellent molars in the middle of the bones!
Looking out
JeldJeldi safely waiting for us
Rala in the afternoon sun
What a sunset
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