Monsoon season

As the season winds down the resort is getting much quieter. Those who have been here for the summer and are starting to look forward to going home and those who will be staying through the monsoon season are trying to make the most of the time they have with people here. Basically this week had much more of a holiday feel, and as I also did my PADI Open water the only volunteer tasks I was still involved in were turtle And poacher watch. This meant I had the nights to study and was still getting up at nine to be at the dive shop. needless to say I got through the course pretty quickly with the help of my awesome instructor Kat (who back in the real world is in finance and property investment). You can really appreciate the merits of becoming a dive instructor when you're in a place like this.
On Thursday I was able to go along to the village for the last Turtles Need Trees club of the season. Having already been there last week when we finished painting a mural we got right into things. After a short lesson on Marine parks we drew pictures and played some games. The kids fought over who got to hold your hand or sit next to you, and when they are prying your fringers in different directions and pulling you along it's hard to maintain control or suggest they take turns. They were also fond of a game that consisted of running around me in circles holding. My hands until we got so dizzy we'd fall down. Whatever the game though we all had a lot of fun (possibly with the exception of the resorts resident kid who came along although he didn't talk to the kids and kept on getting run over by the spinning kids when he'd walk right up to me and suggest I fall down. Thanks tips. The other volunteers were convinced he had a crush on me since he'd started using soap and was around a lot more, much totheir chagrin, but I think he just wanted the movies I had on my computer). As Malay timing isn't something you could set your watch by I had to take a water taxi in order to get back for diving, although it wad no where near as exciting as the small boar we'd taken back from long beach Sunday night in the dark with the driver shining a flashlight on his face...

My last full day I got two fun dives in as a newly certified diver. Somehow they just weren't the same as being one on one with kat who always spotted the eels, rays or prettiest fish. Although the sites were great there were other people above and below and a strong current that put the pressure to really practice everything I'd learned about bouyancy and control. Saturday night we got out the Monkey Juice we'd picked up in Long Beach and together Garth, Mike and I managed to get through it while we played tonka and UNO.
And our luck hadn't run out either. With a turtle on our first night and hatchlings on our second we got to see the hatchlings journey down to the sea on our last night as well. Cheesy, but this is something I will never forget - it's been like living in a segment Planet Earth. Whether swimming amongst 20 massive bumphead parrotfish, watching the goby fish and shrimp work together, seeing blue-spotted ribbontail rays selecting their mate or the dangerous triggerfish doing the same, or swimming with turtles, thousands of fish, and seeing a green turtle nest and 115 baby hatchlings crawling up out of the sand to make it down to the sea it's been surreal and simply epic.

As it got nearer to my leaving dollah gradually lowered his price for me to stay another week, From 1000 to 500, 1, 0... I would have loved another week of sunshine and diving but there are always other adventures and experiences and sometimes it's just time to move on.

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