26 Jan Australia Day

Australia Day in Pohnpei. The boys didn't get to take Australia Day off this year. But when they came home it was down to the pool for a swim and a couple of relaxing beers.

Going to miss the pool when we eventually make it back to Aust.

Hot days without rain means that we have to top up the pool. This doesn't happen that often here.

In the pool Indianna; keep the hose in the pool.

It was always going the happen wasn't it?

The kid's call them 'blast-offs' when Daddy takes them both under the water and kicks off from the side.

Indi's Playgroup

Mother of the year Nic decided that Indi needed to spend some time with kids her own age. So after a little bit of research Nic approached a few ladies that we know and now every Wednesday Indi has a few little friends come over in the mornings while big brother Jaxon is at school.

Now listen here dollys: No getting jealous when my friends come over.

Heather (next door) is a school teacher in the real world and has been a great help with providing ideas to keep the little tackers interested. Todays main event was 'stamping'.

Yeah Yeah, I like this painting stuff.

Not on your clothes Indi, not on your clothes.

I'm a boy and I will make as much mess in the least amount of time as possible.

Climing Sokez Rock

Something that I wanted to do since flying past it on the way into Pohnpei is climb Sokez Rock. Every Sunday the Pohnpei hiking club gets together and does hikes ranging from a gentle stroll to something like climbing Sokez. Nic has gone for a few of the gentler hikes but was more than happy to let me out of the house to tackle this one.

Sokez Rock is the big one on the right of this picture.

After meeting at the Rusty Anchor pub we drove to a base of the mountain and walked about a kilometre before starting the climb. That's Sokez Rock right in front of us. It was a great way to warm up for what was ahead.

Some of the local kids laughed it up and followed us for some of the way.

This climb can only be attempted when it hasn't rained for a couple of days; which doesn't happen that often here. The mossy covered rocks get pretty slippery even with the slightest amount of moisture.

It doesn't take too long to get to the 'I need a break' stage. The fact that I had been on a four day drinking binge probably didn't help either.

Elliot is a youngster and made easy work of it. I was wishing that I had been doing yoga for the five years to have a little of that 'youthly flexibility' back.

Once we broke free of the trees we got our first view of the rock. You have got to be bloody kidding me........ I was starting to release why Nic send me on this one.

A view of the neighbouring rock; you can get a better perspective from the first photo. This is for the hardcore rock climbers and rappellers.

Finally at the top with Pohnpei Harbour in the background.

Time for a couple of 'Postcard Pictures'.

One more.....

There is a light tower that comes on at night to warn any aircraft about the rock. Of course if I climbed all the way up the rock I might as well get as high as I could.

Believe it or not the top of the rock is a pineapple plantation farmed by the Sokez villagers at the base of the mountain. I don't think they have too many concerns about pineapples getting stolen.

Climbing up or down you have the option of what to hold on to so that you don't fall to your death. A rusty pipe that carries the electrical wires for the light or a nylon rope with heaps of little plastic splinters.

My 'Mountaineering World' pose.

Yep; it's pretty bloody steep.

It takes a little while longer to come down. Especially once the rain started.

Like any good sporting event it must be celebrated with a victory beer. We stopped at a newly opened bar on Sokez Island and relaxed and celebrated not dieing.

Nothing like a feed of yellowfin sashimi and chips to build the energy levels back up.

It was a great experience, one that has taken me a year to achieve but well worth the wait and the effort. I just have to convince my hamstrings of that and all will be good.

The Dando Fishing Trip

The Dando family fishing trip. Nic and I have become great friends with Lori and Stephen. Lori is the 2 I/C of the US Embassy here and Stephen is the house husband; man I want his job. They have their two sons over here for a short while so I offered to take them out for a trip on our boat.

It was pretty windy and a little lumpy but that didn't stop us getting on to some fish. None of them are fishermen (or fisherwomen) so I pretty set up the rods with the right lures and once we got a strike I made sure the fish was properly hooked and then handed the rod over for them to have some fun. This photo is from a double hook-up with Lori holding on for dear life. It was a great experience for sure.

On the way back from fishing we stopped in at P-Pass to watch the surfers for a little while. Not a bad 8-9 foot right-hander.

A little messy because of the wind but great fun I'm sure.

A nice pic of the surfers waiting for a wave with Sokez Mountain in the back ground.

Surfing is the major tourist industry here.

A fantastic vantage point from the moorings at P-Pass.

And away we go on another great P-Pass righthander.

One each, job done. Now where did I put my beer......

Maritime Wing and Book Club

Sticking with tradition at the National Police Maritime Wing it was cause to have a send off for the old boss.

Cooking is pretty basic; nothing like a 44 gallon drum to provide the perfect bbq meal.

When we said we'll have a 'smokey' they must have taken that literally.

Well would you look at that, there was food under all that smoke.

Some of Pohnpei's finest bbq chicken.

With the boats being right next to the island rubbish tip there is always plenty of these guys around when food is put out.

Coconut husk powered bbq. You got to love it.

Nothing like local food.

Not a bad view from the office Scott works in.

After the bbq it was done to the best pub on the island for the first of many 'Mens Book Club' meetings. Fortnightly is the plan.

Oh yeah.

Scott and Bill discussing life on Pohnpei.

KC Boat Trip

The first Sunday that Geoff and Jackie were on island we took out the compound boat for a celebratory snorkel followed by wine and cheese.

We anchored on one of the inshore reefs and with the water a comfortable 27-28 degrees; it was a refreshing start to the afternoon.

The reef is only about three feet underwater at low tide making access very easy.

Straight from a Nemo's garden to you.

The coral appears to be very stressed, maybe the water is gradually heating up to a point that won't sustain coral life. Either way some of it is still very nice to look out with loads of fish life.