We had a lazy morning today, relaxing with a nice latte. All of our out bound Christmas gifts had been handled via internet, Amazon.com mostly. I think we did pretty good and got most things to our nephews and nieces delivered by Christmas.

We got ourselves some gifts but in the end decided to wait to forward our mail until Pohnpei. Pohnpei is supposed to have great US Mail service with US Mail internal (not international) rates. This is due to the US Associated status of the Federated States of Micronesia, of which Pohnpei is a state.

We looked at our presents online instead of opening them, which was almost as good. The only thing I was really hoping to have in the Solomons was the replacement Olympus underwater camera we had bought. The one we have works but the display died. It has no view finder, so it is pretty silly trying to use it, though Hideko has managed to take a few pretty good blind shots.

At 11AM we headed over to the Gizo Hotel with Whistler, Angelica II and Polaris to catch a shuttle to Fatboys. Fatboys is a resort a couple of islands down and they were having a big Christmas lunch. The resort is lovely and the main building is the restaurant and bar, which is on pilings over the lagoon. The water was amazingly clear today and it was fun just staring over the rail into the water.

The bungalows at the resort were very nice and would make an amazing place to read a few books. The food was also excellent and the ambiance is very very relaxed. The atmosphere is a cross between island getaway and your friend's house. I don't know how else to describe it.

The folks who own the King Solomon Hotel in Honiara and the Gizo Hotel have just purchased the Fatboys resort. Grant, the owner builder of the place, is running it until the end of the year. The new owners and lots of Grant's family were on hand to help celebrate Christmas.

They served a great meal and we spent several lovely hours talking with the other boat crews and the folks who had come to join in the fun from all over the area. We saw an Australian couple that we had first met on the Guadalcanal battlefield tour in Honiara, among other interesting folks. The Solomon Islands is a small place.

After a great and relaxing day we were shuttled slowly back to Gizo, getting a wonderful tour of the islands along the way. It was a great Christmas.