Thursday 15 January – great snorkelling, interrupted by a very curious sea snake

We were glad to have had a comfy night as the boat has been bounced around by the current, we have been hitting the waves side on. It is a very picturesque bay with lots of bird life, but the brown beaches and murky water with loads of mangroves make it look like croc heaven. We decided to stay put today and wait for less wind. We went over in the dinghy to the little island which has two resorts on it, they both look very nice, but not welcoming to outsiders, I don’t think too many yachts come this way anyway. It was a very rough bit of sea to cross to the island as the water gets forced through here creating biggish waves. It was a necessary bouncy crossing, as the snorkel sites are all around the little island, which is obviously why the resorts are here. We got in at the edge of the reef and the current rushed us along at speed. The coral and fish life were really good, just terribly sad that all the rubbish channels through here too. The worst rubbish we have swum in sadly. The visibility was not the greatest, but there were some interesting coral formations and plenty of fish. We were just getting to the end of the channel when I spotted a sea snake. Unusually it was dangling down from the surface of the water. You usually see them sliding through the coral. Rowan hadn’t seen it, and then it turned and came swimming towards us, I was scrambling all over Rowan to get out, as family know I’m not that keen on snakes! It went under the dinghy and I was out the water in a flash. I have my step ladder to get into the dinghy but you have to get your flippers off first! It was all a bit of a panic for me. Once it went under the dinghy Rowan could not see it any more so he just continued snorkelling for a little while. I’ve googled these Banded Sea Kraits ….. ‘While the venom of banded sea kraits ranks among the most toxic in the world, they are so docile and non-aggressive that humans are rarely bitten’, I’m taking some solace from this!

Rowan got back in the dinghy and we went a little further around the island to the jetty in front of the smarter resort and snorkelled from there. The coral was lovely, not quite so many fish, but the visibility was better. Rowan saw a shark when we first got in but I never saw it, he said it got a fright and sped off! We snorkelled to the end of the reef before getting out and circumnavigating the little island. It was pretty bouncy crossing back to PolePole, always pleased to see the pretty dodgy mooring line holding her still. We had a relaxing afternoon, and were amazed at the constant stream of long boats passing us by. They all have what sound like lawn mower engines that put put along. We can’t believe they are all fishing. There are many more villages and towns around the coast here, so assume they are going between towns. A few come into the bay, but we can’t communicate, they speak no English, so different from coming up through Vanuatu, Solomon’s and PNG. The boats are not laden with goods to trade like we saw in Solomon’s and PNG.

We had a very tranquil night, although watching episodes of Tehran is not very relaxing, very topical though. The night sky was amazing, so many stars and not a sign of the moon.