Kwaj trip, Post 2: New Year's Eve

[If you're observant, you may notice that I haven't posted about December 30th (our second day on Kwaj and also our 5th wedding anniversary!). However, that's because the main thing we did was dive, and I'm planning to dedicate a few upcoming posts solely to diving!]

The last day of 2011 - our third day on Kwaj - was the first time we experienced a few tropical rainstorms on Kwaj. They lasted for about 10 minutes and reminded us of Australia. In the afternoon, the sky was overcast instead of the usual bright blue with fluffy clouds. Although the temperature was still balmy, the rain and clouds meant that this was considered a crummy day on Kwaj! The temperature there is usually around 31 degrees Celsius (87 F), getting down to about 26 degrees Celsius (79 F) overnight. Just perfect!

The working week on Kwaj is Tuesday to Saturday, in order to be more in line with mainland USA (since Kwaj is 20 hours ahead of the US west coast). However, Peter only worked a half day, and then came home to an omelette lunch (made by Ben). Later, Marissa and I rode to Surfway (the grocery store) to get a few ingredients for the meal we would be cooking that night.

Around 3pm, we went to the Small Boat Marina and completed the paperwork necessary to rent two double kayaks. The kayaks were stored at Camp Hamilton Beach (beside the runway on the lagoon side of the island), so we grabbed life jackets and paddles and then rode our bikes up to CHB and launched the kayaks there.

The lagoon side of the island is reasonably sheltered and calm, so it was a nice paddle up to the beach we chose at the west end of the island. The wind was at our backs though, so we knew the return trip would take a bit more effort!

At the beach, we went swimming in the ocean and sat under the trees to wait out another rainstorm. We saw lots of hermit crabs and snails with interesting shells crawling on the rocks and sand. There were green shells, lilac shells, spiky shells, round shells, and long pointy shells. One large hermit crab couldn't fit all the way into the shell he had chosen, but he would bundle all his legs together outside of the shell to make himself as small and smooth as possible, then stick his eyes under the rim of the shell, poking them out now and then to see if we had stopped hassling him yet!

Our kayaks at the nameless beach we had all to ourselves

Ben and Herm

Eyes out...

...and eyes in!

After spending an hour or so there, we paddled back to Camp Hamilton Beach – against the wind, so it was a good upper body workout. However, you know the temperature's pretty perfect when you can be kayaking in the ocean, getting soaked with waves and rain, wearing short sleeves... and not even have goosebumps!!

Peter and Marissa kayaking in the rain

Peter, Marissa and Ben at Camp Hamilton Beach

Back at Small Boat Marina, we saw a fishing boat return, so we stayed to watch the catch being cleaned and the innards being thrown to the waiting sharks. We could see a number of sharks actually following the boat into the marina, and soon there were about 20 nurse sharks clamouring for treats below where we were standing!

Ben took a video showing the frenzy when the fisherman, Rick (a high school social sciences teacher on Kwaj), threw the remains of a filleted fish to them. Some blacktip sharks also came cruising in during the kerfuffle, but quickly swam away again – apparently they like to keep their distance.

The day's catch

Rick

Nurse sharks waiting for yummy fish guts

Layers of sharks - the darker ones are deeper

It was interesting to see some shark suckers hanging out with the sharks in the shallows. These are slim, 30cm-long fish with suction caps on top of their heads. They use these to attach to the underneath of sharks (or occasionally divers) and hitch a ride!

After spending a while in the Tank House talking to Rob, a colleague of Peter's we would be diving with the next day, we rode home and made honey curry chicken on rice with stirfry veggies for dinner. Ben also made two berry pies for the next day. For dessert, we ate decadent sticky pecan buns that Marissa had made that morning. Yum!

As it was New Year's Eve, at 9pm Marissa, Ben and I went bowling with some other locals (Peter stayed home to catch up on some sleep). The bowling alley had eight lanes, thumping music, manual scoring, plenty of balls of each size, and nicer shoes than I've ever seen in a bowling alley. It was $10pp for unlimited games. I was constantly impressed with the facilities on Kwaj, considering the population is only 1500!

The bowling alley was filled with NYE revellers wearing glittery hats and glow sticks. Our group had two lanes and we were with P&M's friends Kristi and Bryon (from the Bomb Squad) and Betina and Charlie (a helicopter pilot). We bowled for 3 hours and welcomed in the new year with the various noise makers provided. It was a fun night!

Ben, me, Marissa, Kristi, Bryon, Betina, Charlie

Happy New Year!