11/09/2008
We got up at 6.10 am. By accident, for we were to get up at 7 am, but we confused hours:) We went ashore on a pontoon, and we ate breakfast there. Then we took a fast boat and we sailed to Home Island. We spent two hours there. Sightseeing entire island took us 15 minutes (!). Every inhabitant has the same identical house. We have also bought some ice-cream. Delicious:) The gentleman who was showing us around took us to his home. We were seated on a kind of a porch. There was everything there: tools, chairs, a table, and even the gentleman neighbour’s bed. Soon after, we boarded our fast boat again and went to West Island. We went to our hotel, freshened up, and we ate lunch. After lunch, Kylie came and took us for a canoe ride. We spent four hours there. It was wonderful. We departed in a  few canoes with engines. First, we visited a tiny island where there was a shelter too, but this one had tables and chairs, and we had a small meal organised there. Afterwards, we left for another island where we had a brief tutorial about coconuts. There are three kinds of coconuts. One has a kind of pulp inside, instead of coconut milk, and it has a kind of sprout which is ready to reproduce. Another kind of coconut has a green shell, whereas the coconut itself is white. Its milk is so acrid that it tastes a bit like champagne and, I must admit, we did not like it. The pulp is not good either. But there is one more kind of coconut, the best of all. These are coconuts which lie on the ground, which means that they are ripe. They have got very good milk and delicious pulp. Its milk is not white at all. It’s translucent!
After coconuts, we went to an island where we were to try out snorkelling. It is a kind of diving just at the surface of a body of water. One looks through a mask and watches the underwater world. Real diving is done with an oxygen bottle. Natasza and Eliza swam with masks and Eliza even saw a shark! I stayed in a canoe (towed by one gentleman) and I had a kind of tube with a glass bottom – I could see the same things as the rest, but I did not have to get into the water. I have seen a very interesting coral reef, and colourful fish:) We made a circle around rocks, but not everyone sailed that far. We have seen a beautiful sunset there:) It is an amazing thing, especially that you see the sun setting on one side, and the moon rising on the other! And so, full of fatigue, emotions and beautiful sights we went back to our room!