28th January - boys fixing toys in exotic locations - Coron (Philippines)

Wednesday 28^th January 2015

Coron

Eleven days since we left Tasmania…

We had imagined that we would be relaxing, quite relentlessly, back in the Philippines.

Not so much….

Yet!

It is very pretty here (2XS vaguely visible in the sunset)

Being home in Tasmania was wonderful but not in the least relaxing.  Too much fun!  Too many friends, family, beauty around us.  Maybe when everything is fixed and ready on 2XS…we will RELAX!!  However this moment has not yet arrived.

Last night we had (almost totally ) home-cooked dinner on board.  I cooked mashed potatoes and a big pan of steamed veggies with caramelised shallots and garlic.  (Plus a small roast chicken from a roadside stall.)  And oh how we enjoyed it!!  REAL food… The veggies were just a bit scungy…an enormous rooty carrot, potatoes which needed culling and chopping, a cabbage which needed much de-leafing, a cauliflower with many black & brown patches.  The shallots and garlic were perfect and not in need of pruning…

The new Bose speaker came into its own - beautiful music while I chopped and peeled!

Main street Coron

After much labour we now have running water again.  Pete had to take out the newer pump and reinstall the older one.  Very fiddly and difficult and not al that rewarding for him because now we are back to scampering to and from the pump switch whenever we want to pour a glass of water.  Never mind!  So much better than no pump at all, which was our alternative.

Soon there was another challenge… Down in the port engine hatch Pete discovered this corroded bilge pump tap….

He managed to pull it all apart.  I had a go at cleaning it as well – very satisfying, chopping away at the corrosion with a screwdriver, seeing it drop away into a bucket.  We had a little tricycle excursion to one of the twelve hardware stores in the afternoon, where Pete found some plastic fittings to replace the buggered bits.  It never ends…

It is very sunny and hot, no sign of rain.  Occasionally a black cloud passes over the island but the rain seems to dry up before it gets a chance to hit the ground.  So…we are buying water.  There are several water-making shops in town and they take it all very seriously.  The staff wear masks; all of the bottles are washed and disinfected and sealed.  Pete is carrying it to and fro; I think we should hire a gang of cheerful young blokes to lug it onto one of their big blue motorboats and bring it out to 2XS!