24 August 2011

We arrived at first light, the entrance to the atoll was pretty easy to navigate due to the light winds, but the only container ship we have seen for the past week happened to be right in the entrance. No biggy. It is so beautiful here. The sea is really clear – the clearest we have seen to date and we needed no prompting to go snorkelling in the afternoon. All I can say is it is the best snorkelling we have ever seen. All the coral in the Caribbean seemed to have died, wiped out by hurricane, but here the coral right next to our boat was so beautiful, all shapes, sizes and colours and the most gorgeous array of tropical fish. Just fantastic. We had dinner ashore and to our horror realised we didn't have enough money. No problem, said the lovely lady, and we have arranged to change money at the post office tomorrow and pay her the extra. It feels really safe here. I asked about the sharks and was reassured that they are not dangerous here. In one of Lochy's dangerous animals books, it says that 100 people are killed every year by coconuts falling on their heads, compared to 10 people by sharks. I know it's been a lot in the news this past week and I don't want to belittle what has happened in other oceans, but now all I can think of is how to stay out of the way of the coconut trees – they're flippin heavy and I'm only little.