30 May - Drive to fill in the time

Well Sunday was upon us and it was a slow start to the day as Scott hadn't come home from fishing until 0145 and Nic and Heather (next door) had a girl's night in with cocktails and a movie. Scott got up at 0620 to look after our beautiful daughter who was screaming the house down for her milk. Scott watched the Super 14s final that he had recorded the night before and read stories to Indi and Jaxon in an attempt to keep them quiet so Nic could sleep in. Come 1100 or so the fishing gear had been cleaned and the fish was filleted so we had an hour to kill before lunch. Pack up the kids and go for a quick drive.

The radio isn't working at the moment so Indi and Jaxon provided the entertainment with some singing. Kind of.......

Scott was driving along when the car gecko emerged on his window. It then proceeded to walk all over the outside of the car as we drove along. Stopping just long enough on Nic's side for this great photo.

The best bar in Pohnpei. No we aren't joking but that is a whole other story.....

Still on the move past Indi's window much to her amusement.

Back at the compound: safe and sound.

29 May - Fishing

Now for those people that have complained to Nic about too many fish photos on the blog........ Scott went out for his first night fishing session over here in Pohnpei last Saturday night. He went with a couple of the local lads and enjoyed a relaxing night on the water. They didn't catch much but it only takes one good fish to make the trip worth it.

5kg Two Spot Red Snapper. Very similiar to a Red Bass (if not exactly the same). Caught on a 6-10kg rod that ended up with the tip in the water at some points during the fight as it was well and truly bent past the manufactures recommended limit.

Another fish photo for all the fish photo lovers.....

Jaxon and Indy wouldn't stop touching it. It was a mission to clean their hands before they stunk-up the entire house.

Not much meat left on that frame. We haven't eaten it yet. We've heard that they aren't top shelf (which may be a little hard to take after Baldchin Grouper and WA Dhufish), but we'll find out tomorrow night.

27 May - Jaxons School Graduation Day

The pre-school that Jaxon goes to broke up for the next three months on Thursday 27 May. Pohnpei follows the US school year so it was graduation time for all the oldest kids at the school. One of these was Scott's boss's son Josh. All the kids were part of the production though and all got certificates at the end of the show.

Graduation Day is a really big deal here. This is the graduating kids dressed up in their finest.

Jaxon and classmates singing about Antartica and polar bears. Very cute.

Jaxon with his certificate.

So what if they didn't spell his name right. Jaxon was stoked.

The star of the day for the Navy Compound. Josh.

27 May - Jaxons School Graduation Day 2

The theme of the year at Jaxon's school was visiting countries around the world. As part of the graduation day show little skits were put to together about each continent. Australia was a hit.

Lets all travel to Australia.

The cockatoo and CussCuss (its a possum but they needed it to start with a C).

Pretty excited about an echidna starting with the letter E.

Apparently K is for Koala, Kangaroo and Kookaburra.

And S is for Spoonbill.

26 May Rugby League State of Origin

Rugby League. Not our favoured sport but with Scott being a Queenslander and Pony and Paul being from New South Wales it was always going to be an event; even in Pohnpei. Funny that we could watch a State of Origin game live in a third world country but if we were in Perth we would have been watching a game delayed by four hours. Seems like WA TV is fourth world.....

Now who would believe that you would see a pile of XXXX Gold (Queensland Beer) and Tooheys New (NSW Beer) side by side in a supermarket in Pohnpei. A photo opportunity too good to miss.

We set out the projector down in the compound BBQ area and invited a few Aussie Expats to join us. It didn't start until eight-thirty so the kids were asleep and we could relax in front of the big screen with a few beers.

Try and find the extra Queenslander that turned up to watch the game in this photo.

Here he is. Can't get away from bloody canetoads. Well the mighty Queenslanders got up once again, on NSWs home turf mind you. Only need to win one out of the remaining two games for a five season winning streak.

24 May Boat Ride

Scott managed to finally take his Anzac Day holiday so off we went to Nan Madol, Sand Island and Manta Pass.

Indi trying her hardest to fall over the side. Surprisingly enough she was pretty sturdy on her feet and improved throughout the day.

After leaving Sand Island we trolled for a little while and come up trumps with a little coral trout and a yellowlip emperor.

Scott and Nic had a quick swim at Manta Pass. We only saw one Manta but there was heaps of the food for them swimming about.

About one mile from home we smelt a burning smell and shut off the engine. A little investigation found a pretty major oil leak. After a bit of 'island repairs' we crept up the home straight. Glad it didn't happen three hours earlier.

Indi was a little trooper. No afternoon sleep and still going strong right to the end. Funny enough though as soon as she had here milk after dinner she looked at Scott and pointed to her bedroom. Smart little girl.

Sand Island

Believe it or not but our little island in the middle of the Pacific doesn't have a whole heap of sand. It is mostly mud and mangroves. So off we went to Sand Island for a few hours after visiting the ruins at Nan Madol.

The water is knee-deep for the fifty metres. Awesome!

Secured to the tree.

Nic on the way back from yet another snorkel in Pohnpei.

Jaxon and Indi loving the sand.

Scott went for a snorkel and saw this little fella. 4 foot white-tipped reef shark. It followed Scott around for about five minutes before Scott headed back to the safety of the beach.

24 May Nan Madol 1

Scott finally managed to take his Anzac Day Public Holiday and so we took advantage of a 'great weather day' and visited a local tourist attraction called Nan Madol. There is a lot of mystery surrounding the building of the ruins, but needless to say it is a must if you visit here. Build about 1200AD Nan Madol was the centre-piece of Pohnpei housing the local leaders, isolating them from the rest of the islanders. Just how they moved the slabs of stone back in those days is something that hasn't been worked out. A real wonder of the world.

The welcoming committee. We had to pay $10 for the family to visit. Not a bad price to visit one of the world man-made wonders.

Our first view of Nan Madol.

The entrance.

The water was only about two feet deep at high tide, so timing the boat ride in was pretty important.

Watch your heads kids.

24 May Nan Madol 2

Little Miss Independent

Pretty impressive for something that was build 800 years ago.

Got to love time-lapse photography.

Not so independent now are you Indi....

The family portrait. Yet another great day for us in Pohnpei.

Nahlap 01

Nahlap is a 'Resort Island' just off the coast of mainland Pohnpei. We had heard a lot about it and were keen to check it out for ourselves. So Scott took a day's leave and off we went. Up at 0630 for a 0800 departure from home for a 40 minute drive to meet the boat at 0900.

Waiting at the boat dock. At this stage we weren't that confident that the boat would even turn up to take us.

Luckily for us the boat turned up as arranged and we were off for a 20 minute ride across to Nahlap

A confidence builder for sure.

Dodgy landing but that just added to the magnificent character of the place.

Made it safe and sound. 'Resort' may have been a bit of a twist of words.

Nahlap 02

Well Micronesia is pretty much a third world country so a lot of the things to do involve using your imagination and making the best of what is on offer.

Future volleyball stars practising for the the 2024 Olympics

Jaxon 'Eddy Charlton' Campbell

Accomodation is basic. No water, no air-conditioning, no bed. But it's on the water. Location, location, location.

Always wanted to be Tarzan for a day.

We finally found a patch of clean sand amongst the mangroves to build some sandcastles.