Saturday 4 October – a braai on PolePole

We went to visit the school in the morning, the headmaster had been around yesterday for wifi, and said he would take us around his school. Kim came with us, it was tricky getting in as the water was so shallow. The water was a bit murky, near the beach the sand was like clay sucking our feet down, certainly not possible in shoes. It was rather smelly too and the fact we saw a number of out houses on stilts over the water did not improve the situation. Justin the headmaster was there to greet us, he showed us around their impressive school, which has obviously had some generous donations from the Australians, with two newish classrooms. They have just over 100 students and teach up to grade 10. They get a little money from the government, which he supplements with growing fruit, coconuts, betel nut and smoked sea cucumber. The classrooms were very impressive, all the notices on the boards were well done, full of rules of old fashioned manners. It is a Catholic school, so has the usual religious influence, but overall it was very impressive.

Another blistering hot day, we went for a snorkel around midday with the crew except Gary, who was busy trading with his internet surfers. He managed to negotiate 5 crayfish for supper. It was lovely to cool off in the water, but the snorkel was rather depressing after the wonderful experience in the Hermit islands. To be fair we never managed to get to the other side of the reef to snorkel the outside wall. The pass through the reef was too shallow to get across, it was also full of coral and had breaking waves. Inside the atoll the coral was in a terribly bad way, only a few small patches of live coral, plastic and rubbish floating about, and not many fish at all. We saw a couple of small clams but not much else of note. Really very sad, as it must have been magnificent at some stage. The water temp is over 32 degrees, which is not good for the coral.

We are thoroughly enjoying my awning, now it has the duvet cover and sheet over it, to make denser shade. It really has made a huge difference cooling the boat down, it is such a relief sitting up front in the shade catching the little wind there is. Going back into the cockpit area is like going into an oven. The awning has even survived the odd squall which is good news. It is also a lot easier to put up with my new elasticated baubles for tying it on.

We had the usual stream of boats wanting wifi, we were very generous with handing goods out, as these people in these remote islands need it the most. In Indonesia, shops are just that more available as there is a lot more infrastructure because of the huge population.

Gary and Kim brought the delicious crayfish tails and chicken wings for the Braai (BBQ). I made small burgers and we found some lamb chops to braai. It was a real feast with a fresh focaccia Rowan had made, a coconut rice dish Claudette made and my green bean dish. A very drawn out affair with plenty of booze! We were surprised to be ending the gathering at 1am! Claudette entertained us girls with her solo sailing escapades while the two men tried to sort out the Palestinian/Israeli conflict! I think us girls had a much better time!