6th May - Ocean View marina - Samal Island Davao - Mindanao

Wednesday 6^th May 2015

Today we caught a ride to the ferry in the little shuttle van which leaves the marina at 8.45, or maybe 8.30, depending on God knows what set of circumstances, every morning.  This took us to the ferry, which, in turn, took us to Davao on mainland Mindanao.

We had pleasant company – Steve, from the US, who has left his boat on the hardstand, and who is going home to build an energy-efficient house on the Colorado River before darting back with his wife to set sail again.  He was full of useful information and enthusiasm and both Pete and I were quite struck with his close resemblance to…my ex-husband!

Davao was a great success.  First of all, Steve led us gently to the SolarZone shop – we shared a taxi to the airport, and the shop was very close by.  And – oh joy – Pete was able to get the missing piece of the puzzle – the last of five big strong solar panels to fit onto the beautiful new aluminium frame.

Local bikies (Samal Island)

Our taxi driver, Rolando, waited patiently, and took us, eventually, to a big shopping mall, where we checked out the goods in the supermarket.  We don’t want to rush into our big provisioning project – we need to case the joint first.  But we had an actual shopping project – Pete needs shorts!  He has managed very well for the past three years with three pairs… Plus a slightly better pair for “formal” wear.  And they are falling apart… We went into about six different shops, where Pete inspected every single pair of shorts with a gimlet eye – they had to have many pockets, preferably with Velcro fastenings; they had to be lightweight, of a certain length and breadth, they had to be various shades of beige.  But in one of the shops he found a pair which he just had to try on, because they were…cheap… The shop assistant and I were very kind to him but we did giggle in rather an unseemly manner when he came out to ask us what we thought…

Eventually he found a Regatta shop where he could buy three pairs for the price of two (two beige, one maroon,) so he is happy.  (And I am RELIEVED!)

On the way back we bought a slab of beer, a slab of tonic water, some of the tiny chillies which are very powerful and very delicious, some potatoes, some sausages, and one piece of steak from the Swiss Deli.  So...our provisioning has almost begun!

We also had lunch at the Swiss Deli café and it was so delicious I nearly cried – roesti, with ham and cheese!  Nothing I like better than potatoes and cheese, and they were VERY generous with the cheese!

At the ferry terminal I bought four tiny bags of peanuts from a Sea Gypsy boy…he was delighted with his sale and rushed happily off with his 40 pesos (about $1 – probably he made a huge profit!!)

People swim here, in the marina.  When I saw heads in the water yesterday I was thrilled to bits and leapt into check it out.  It is very VERY warm, and a bit soupy, but quite clean.  One of our neighbours, Gail, told me that OUTSIDE the marina wall there is good visibility and a bit of a reef, so I went to check it out when we got back with our heavy shopping bags.  And it is not just a bit of a reef – it is gorgeous!  Pete wants to stay here for maybe a week, while he does some work on the boat.  I wasn’t totally keen because…it is so very hot and I wanted to get moving towards Raja Ampat, but now I have found a glorious little reef close by, I am happy to stay for months if necessary!

Meanwhile back in Australia - Zoe meets Lego Cinderella!