26-28 Oct - US Coast Guard Visit

Tues - Thurs this week we were lucky enough to have the US Coastguard Cutter 'Rush' visit Pohnpei. The crew were glad to get ashore after a little while at sea, and the economy of Pohnpei certainly benefitted with many tours undertaken, surfing and diving, fine dining and the occasional beer or three. Scott assisted where he could by helping with the 'dos and don'ts briefing' on arrival and provided names of some of the more popular places to visit. The crew were great to Scott with the CO giving him a Ship's Coin, one of the Chiefs giving him a Chief's Coin and he also now is the proud owner of a 'Rush' T-shirt (which has worn constantly since they left).

The first night in port the CO, Officers and Chiefs hosted a cocktail party. It was a great experience for all that attended. The 'Rush' is more than likely the largest 'warship' to visit Pohnpei and was certainly a talking point around town. This ice statue was a beauty but was on the way out after the three hour cocktail party.

The Close In Weapons System on the bow.

The ship was originally commissioned in 1969 and she is still in great shape. Being a sailor Scott will attest to how much work goes into keeping a ship looking this good at this age.

Peter and Chris came along with us to the cocktail party and really enjoyed it. It is something that they would very rarely, if ever, get to do in Australia.

Not a bad picture with the CIWS and US Flag and Sokez Rock in the back ground.

Peter and Scott went for a quick tour of the ship. The Patrol Boats that Scott works with are over Peter's left shoulder and are quite small in comparison.

The standard visitor's photo.

CO and XO on the bridgewing for departure.

Another good pic with Rush and Sokez.

USCGC Rush making for Lighthouse Pass and the open ocean. The crew were great and Pohnpei enjoyed having them. Come back anytime.

24 Oct - Pool Fun

Having the pool in the compound has proven to be a huge hit; as it would in a place that rarely gets below 25 degrees. Jaxon and Indi are really improving, with both of them jumping in from the side on their own.

Fish boy Jaxon loves it. He is wearing a snorkel every now and again. Soon we will have him out on the boat looking at the fish with us. Not bad for a lad who isn't even four yet.

Indi has improved out of sight in the last couple of weeks. Kicking her legs and swimming independantly from Mum to Dad.

There is always time for play though. Indi loves being thrown high and then crashing down into the water.

Granddad watches as Jaxon disappears into the water.

Nana relaxing without any kids in sight.

The family that plays together........

The trip home from Ant Atoll

Everytime the boat leave the compound and Scott is onboard some form of fishing gear is onboard. After our snorkel and lunch at Ant Atoll we slowly made our way back to the mainland. We trolled the outer edge of Ant on the way past for a couple of nice eating fish.

Scott with a nice little Dogtooth Tuna. Definately the smallest one Scott has caught here but extremely tastey all the same. Sashimi is a big hit in the Campbell household, with even the kids feasting on raw fish.

About three minutes after the dogtooth came in one of the reels screamed off again. This time Peter was on wind-in duty with a nice little wahoo the result.

23 Oct - Saturday at Ant Atoll

Luckily for us, and Peter and Chris, the weather has remained unseasonally calm. This allowed us to head over to Ant Atoll for the day on Saturday. The sea was calm even if it was a little overcast for the majority of the day. The trip over was pretty easy and the sun managed to stick it's head out once we hit the sand on the 'vistors island'.

Peter and Chris enjoying some Grandkid free time.

The day after the wedding anniversary was a little seedy but worth the trip over.

1100 in Pohnpei must be four in the arvo somewhere. 27 degree water makes for a perfect seat while enjoying the first beer of the day.

After a quick drink it was off to show Peter and Chris was Ant looks like under the water.

Within five metres of the beach, in only two foot of water, you come across the first pieces of coral and beautiful fish.

Peter enjoying the peace and quiet of the ocean.

We saw heaps of these critters. Looks kind of like a flower until you get close to it and then it suddenly shoots back into a tube wedged into the coral.

Heaps of these trigger fish as well. Fantastic colours.

These guys always seem to be in pairs.

There are loads of beautifully coloured clams on Ant.

These guys seem to be fighting over the same bit of turf. It would be interesting to see this spot in ten years time.

Pink coral and blue clams make for a great photo.

This is about as murky as the water gets. Because there is quite a bit of sand on the atoll the visability is cut down to a measily 20 metres or so.

Yet another pair of these guys.

Not sure what sort of coral this is but when the sunlight hits it, it is quite beautiful under the water.

Scott took about half an hour chasing this fish (and others that looked like it) to get a decent photo. Lucky we have a 4gb memory card.

We didn't manage the perfect photo but these two started to get close.

A massive anemone with clown fish everywhere.

Trying to get a little arty with the pictures.

Nemo is it?

Back on dry land for a coffee before heading home.

22nd Oct - Wedding Anniversary

Well we can't forget this date (it's the first date that written on each year's new calender). Luckily we have Peter and Chris (Granddad and Nana) with us in Pohnpei so that provided the babysitters. Scott worked in the morning and then we took the boat out to a spot inside Palikir Pass for a snorkel and a bottle of wine. Not a bad way to kill three hours.

Nic enjoyed the opportunity to read a magazine without having two kids climbing all over her.

Safety first; so we got the snorkeling out of the way before cracking open the wine.

Most of you remember how unhappy Scott was on the wedding day that we hired a boat for the wedding party at a ridiculous fee for such a short time and he wasn't even allowed to take a fishing rod. He swore never again would he be denied. So wedding anniversary or not the rods always go on the boat. Nothing was caught and he didn't fish for that long, but the point was made.

High tide allowed us to anchor right on top of the reef with about two feet of water under the boat.

As soon as you put your head under the water the fish were everywhere. It was probably our best snorkel so far on the island and we didn't even leave the harbour.

Fish everywhere I tell you.

We even found a beautiful blue clam on our little peice of paradise.

Unfortunately we did see about 20 or so crown of thorns starfish. These are very toxic and eventually this reef will die because of them.

After the snorkel it was home to check on the kids and then after a quick shower out to dinner up at 'Cupids'. Luckily Ecky was home (she lives right near Cupids) and she came down to take our picture as our camera had been left at home. Cheers Ecky. We had a great meal, some of our good friends on the island sent us over a bottle of wine and then we headed off to another bar to make the most of the babysitting. We were still home about ten though, must be getting old.

Nana and Granddad are here

Nana and Granddad are here in Pohnei, experiencing all that the island has to offer and spending time with the grandkids. After taking a day or three to recover from the trip all the way from WA (with a few days in Cairns) it was time to relax. Relaxing is really only possible 8-12 Mon-Fri as this is while Jaxon is at school. Then the noise level in the house increases dramatically. It's all good fun, well kind of......

Indi shows Granddad here painting skills inbetween eating whatever paint she can get her hands on.

We took some time out to go to Nicho Marine Park. There is a little sand beach and some close in reef that you can snorkle on. Nic went out first with Granddad and then Scott took Nana out for a look.

Nana was quite releaved to have survived the experience and celebrated with Indi and Jaxon once she was back on dry land.

Here's Nana and Granddad enjoying Nicho Beach.

Hooray, more people to read stories first thing in the morning. The Indi alarm clock normally goes off about 0615 and doesn't stop until it has a bottle of milk to shut it up. Then it is story time, lucky Granddad is an early riser.