22/08/13

Thursday 22nd August 

 No point in writing too much tonight just in case computer says NO… I have lost faith in the satellite connection, jusgt a bit.

But never mind!!

We are in a most beautiful place, tied up to a huge mooring and to Marieke III – moorings are few and far between so we are sharing. This makes sundowners drinks very easy to achieve, also dinner… We just hop across from deck to deck!

Last night Pete cooked his typically Tasmanian dinner of silverside with veg; tonight Seija is cooking smoked duck.

Life is good!

We are, it seems, in the heart of a big volcano, surrounded by steep, densely forested mountains. There is a narrow passage between Rinca and Nusa Kode, so we feel entirely sheltered and enclosed. No rock and roll through the night – a blessed relief!

I went for quite a long swim this morning, from the boat(s) to the beach (and, yes, back…) The water was lovely, cool and refreshing, and I saw a little bit of coral and a few fish, and one stripey sea snake.

But this place is teeming with wildlife! We saw a small, cute deer on the beach last night, and at the moment there are (Pete and Ingvar have counted) TWENTY SEVEN macaque monkeys prancing along the sand. They are also walking out onto the reef – it is low tide – and we are not sure what they are doing. Looking in small rock pools, doing Nature Study? Finding small things to eat? Pondering the meaning of life??

But best of all…this afternoon Pete and I went in to shore in the dinghy. (I wanted to swim but Pete was adamant that I shouldn’t the tide was running quite strongly and he didn’t want me to be swept out around the corner and into the slightly less placid sea beyond the passage.

We wandered and down the beach, looking for a walking track, and looking for Komodo dragons – they only live on these particular islands, Rinca and Komodo. No we do not want to get too close to their poisonous saliva…but we do want to see one, ro two. We had just about given up, and Pete suggested we sit quietly in the dinghy in the shallows. I got out and watched around – it is VERY hot and I am constantly in need \of a bit of a cool dip. He called me back – LOOK!! And there on the beach was a young Komodo dragon, only about 1.5 metres, but – WOW!

Well done Pete Attenborough Headlam!