29th September - cleaning 2XS - Coron (Busuanga Island)

Monday 29^th September

Seadive Centre at sunset

Another day of odd jobs.  2XS is now much cleaner and tidier than it was when we got up this morning.  Fortunately the water around the mooring is blessedly clean – no floating nastiness, not even a stray plastic bag.  We were therefore able to leap into the water whenever we got too hot, which was often.

But while in the water we did not waste our time!  We swam up and down the hulls with green scouring pads, getting rid of a thick layer of slimy brown and green algae.  Very satisfying!

Pete has a very sore toe so it is good for him to be in the water, where he can’t kick his toe into hard bits of boatfurniture. He said, plaintively, that he never noticed how often he must kick his big toe in the course of his daily activities – and now he is VERY aware of any slight bump or knock.

We were both vey domesticated – Pete made a beautiful load of sourdough bread, and I made lasagna with noodles I made with my own fair hands.  I suddenly realised I do NOT need a pasta maker to do this.  I channeled the archetypal Italian Mama and rolled out my dough (three eggs, a cup of flour, a bit of water,) with – a cold can from the fridge! 

Last night Toby – one of our dive masters, from Seadive – and his Rosie came for a drink on the boat.  Good thing we were all spick and span with space on the table instead of the usual pile of papers and computers.  Rosie was enchanted with the boat.  To her it was like the Tardis – It looks so small from the outside, but inside it is a HOUSE!

She is the resident massage therapist at Seadive, and works in a room with a big fan…no aircon… She says sometimes her heart rate gets up so high she thinks she is going to die, as she pummels away at her clients. 

There are lots of tourists here at the moment.  It still isn’t busy season, but there are Koreans, Chinese, various Europeans, descending on Seadive and going out in group of thirty and more, island hopping, diving, and often shrieking with joy as they chug past 2XS on the sturdy outriggers.

28th September - Coron (Busuanga)

Sunday 28^th September

So far we are all set for our air tickets.  Partly… We can get from Manila to Kl; from KL to Melbourne.  How quite we are going to get from Busuanga to Manila…and from Melbourne to Hobart…well this is shrouded in cyberspace mystery.  I bought our KL-Melb tickets many months ago, secure in the knowledge that we could easily get tickets for the short jumps closer to the day.  But…the internet is on the Go/Slow…It took Pete about five hours (with many an anguished cry of despair, crouched over his little phone screen,) to get the Manila to KL tickets; I am now trying to get Melb to Hobart.  With the internet being very s-l-o-w things are more complicated than one might think because just as I am poised ready to say YES…it all shuts down because I have been too slow. 

More anguish, with Pete struggling to book tickets on his computer

S-L-O-W…

AHA!  I now have Melbourne-Hobart tickets.  Busuanga to Manila is proving more difficult… Maybe we can swim??

In case I am giving the impression that life on 2XS is all coral reefs and extra margaritas… We perform complex tasks as well!  These big fat ropes, nicely laced with small scratchy barnacles, attach 2XS to the large solidly anchored mooring buoy, which gives us much peace of mind.  Until recently we were only attached by one rope; the other big fat thing was completely tangled around and about and over and under the buoy and its attendant small round black float (encrusted with barnacles and inhabited by many small crabby crabs.)

Well Captain Pete likes a challenge…two ropes are better than one!  He got into the dinghy in the late afternoon and began a long struggle with the ropes.  (Many anguished cries of despair…)  I was peeling and chopping onions but eventually I had finished so I could leap into the water to help… Leaping into the water was extra nice – I was extra hot after peeling & chopping.  I swam confidently up to the dinghy and offered to help… So for the next hour or so I clung to the big white buoy, hooking my fingers into the ropes and putting all of my weight on it so it would roll over enough for Pete to try to untangle the mess from the dinghy.  It was very hard work… Our neighbours chugged on by, in their outriggers, and I could see them wondering what on EARTH the mad inhabitants of 2XS were up to now.

But eventually we achieved our aim and now 2XS is held very tidily by two big fat ropes.  We REALLY earned our G & Ts that night…

27th September - hunting for tarpaulins in Coron (Busuanga, Philippines)

Saturday 27^th September

Yesterday we went on a Tarpaulin Hunt.  I remembered, on our first triketrip, that we had gone past a small shop with a sign saying TARPAULINS, amongst other useful things.  I imagined that maybe they were made there.  We had in fact found beautiful thick white tarps in a big hardware store; what we needed was extra eyelets along the sides.  Big fat strong ones, to prevent the big fat strong wind from ripping them to shreds.

Our trike of the day was called Ashyln & Camille 4, and our wiling, helpful driver was Israel.  He faithfully tootled us up and down the main road while I feverishly peered out at the many little humpy-shops, while Pete watched with a jaundiced eye.  (He didn’t think I knew quite where I had seen the tarpaulin sign…)  But – sigh of relief – I found it.  And it turned out to be a gift shop…And what they commonly called tarpaulins here are in fact big plastic posters, printed with slogans, advertisements etc.

Storm clouds and rain storms all day in Coron

Poor Israel was totally confused by his mad old Australian customers.  He kept suggesting other options.  Hot springs?  Island hopping??  But the caught on to the fact that we were going to go to every single hardware store in Coron.  (There are, I can tell you, EIGHT!)  He even took us to a new one down a dirt track, which nobody knows about.  Everyone was very kind and helpful but…No have, sir.  Pete did mange to buy two big tarps, perfect for the purpose, and we will have to work out some other way to get extra strong eyelets.

I am less enthusiastic about hardware stores than Pete.  But I had fun, chatting with Israel, and occasionally espying beautiful girls, ready for a dancing concert, and very happy for a photo shoot.

In the little laneway leading to Seadive, and the jetty where we keep the dinghy, there is always a small posse of small kiddiewinks.  They are very cute, and very cheeky.  And NOT very old at all.  A few days ago I was waiting for Pete at the corner, and idly watching the children.  They looked extra cheeky, and I noticed a man standing outside the little shop.  He seemed a bit agitated so I looked to see what was up.  The kiddiewinks had mugged him and taken his lit cigarette.  While we both watched, in various degrees of horror, they rushed down the laneway, happily puffing and handing it from one to the other.  These children are about THREE years old!!  No I didn’t intervene, and they vanished (in a puff of smoke…) into one of their houses, giggling wickedly.

When I told Pete he wasn’t quite as appalled, and told me that he probably started smoking at about the same age.  (I do NOT believe him!!)

The other end of the rainbow (dimly seen...)

26th September - Coral Gardens

Friday 26^th September

Yesterday was indeed picture-perfect.  It only took an hour to get to our destination – a small island with no visible name on the charts.  The charter boats call it the Coral Gardens.  So that will do.

It was very busy.  Island-hopping boats came and went; dive boats came and stayed a bit longer.  Snorkeling tours came and dislodged shrieking parties of happy people, all wearing bright life jackets.  I can’t imagine how busy it must be in tourist season.  This is very much the low season, because of the heavy rain most days.

Pete and I very much enjoyed our own snorkeling sessions – one to the left of 2XS, the other to the right.  There is a steep drop-off from the reef, which is always fascinating to see.  Lots of very small fish swimming around us in formation, lots of big bommies, each one slightly different from the other.

The coral was lovely but mostly sepia-tone, and there weren’t any big fish at all.  When we went to the Helldivers bar at 6pm we talked to Chris (Jim the owner’s son,) who has been coming here for the past 21 years.  He now works for Seadive and lives here permanently.  He said that when he first dived there it was a jungle of coral, a riot of colour, with many glorious fish of all sizes. 

So what has happened?  Well maybe the odd big storm, or extra-hot summer has damaged the reefs.  But mainly it is…dynamite fishing, and cyanide fishing.  Also the beach used to be big, stretching from one side of the island to the other.  A company in Manila came and mined it all, leaving only a small sliver of beach.  This didn’t do the environment and good at all.

So distressing…I won’t dwell on the environmental horrors but…I rather gather they are still dynamite fishing, cyanide fishing, sand mining…

On a cheerier note…we did have a wonderful day.  In the evening we went to the Coron Bistro (recommended by Dolores) for dinner.  Food here is very nice indeed.  (I had fish – Spanish mackerel; Pete had pork.)  Pete ordered drinks when we arrived – beer for him, and “for Marguerite” a Campari with ice.  And this is what arrived…a Campari with ice, and a margarita… Our poor waiter was mortified but really it was a very logical mistake to make.  (So I drank them both…)