an Amazing day

The days activities were less frantic than previous ones. This is partially due to having done it all already as well as recognising that being on holidays doesn’t necessarily mean being on the go all the time. Unless of course one is in (say) Europe where the opportunities to experience unique and interesting things is boundless and can only be curtailed by one’s ability and energy to do so. Here on H.I. one finds oneself realising that one can actually sleep-in for hours and no one will notice or indeed care. Ahh... to drift awake in the wee small hours to the sweat sounds of the distance waves, wind through the palm trees, to slowly open the eye’s to suss out the view to if see if the dawn is worth getting up for, decide it isn’t and to roll over back into blissful slumber…..and then to later realise the sounds of tearing aluminium foil is the result of a thieving Currawong trying to steal the scraps from last nights BBQ, from under the grill. Well may you try to sleep in, but the wildlife never does.

There are of course different wildlife in different circumstances, those that are caged and on show for the early morning coffee consumers at our now local cafe’ haunt were this morning very much under the influence of intoxicating slumber. So whilst Non Blogger got an extra shot in lieu of an extra hot late’ the dude crashed out in the tree could have done with one himself. This is showing how to sleep-in regardless of the noises around you. A very impressive lesson in slumberness.

We decided that as we are now skilled yatchers in the craft of yatchmanship (see – we even know the lingo!) we mounted the buggy (ne: cart) and went down the beach to jump back on a cat for some water fun. Alas … the staff on the sand told us that it was too windy to sail. Really? This was an old advertising joke by the Bundy Bear and here these paid workers are reliving the ad without actually realising the poignancy of the situation. It worked, they didn’t even need to get up from the sand they were sitting on. We thought about a swim, didn’t, and instead went for a drive to suss out next years accommodation. Took a while to find it, discovering a few new vistas along the way.

Found a very picturesque church on the hill (which is probably where all the aforementioned weddings take place) which is open to "all" faiths (Worship is on 7:00pm Sundays - "all" welcome ).. Isn’t that nice. Suspect the intent has never been fully tested…after all...it's still standing.

Concurring that we needed exercise in lieu of icecreams we stretched our aerobic outputs by walking along Front Street and back again – collecting lunch from Bob’s on the way. And thus the calorie count increases regardless. Back up the hill to the abode via Buggy (ne. cart) – we splashed around in the pool for a bit before the inevitable afternoon siesta. It was then back down to the harbor for the pre-planned, pre-paid event for the day (it is somewhat handy having your own travel guide as a companion). This was a great idea and well delivered.

The boat had 54 paying guests, 4 staff, 2 big pontoons, a really tall mast, 2 sails stretching up to the heavens, lots of luxurious spaces for the guests to be wined and dined in. It was interesting seeing the crowd at the beginning – all quiet and demure compared to at the end - all talk and laughter. Suspect it had something to do with the ambiance, the nibbles, the spectacular scenery, the setting sun, calm waters with the warm breezes blowing through people’s hair and thus their social inhibitions away. Or it was the booze? Whatever – it worked. We actually had actual conversations with other people for the first time in a week. Pre-Covid the easy convo opener was “What’s your next holiday?”, now it’s “what did you do during lockdown?” – everyone has a story to tell on that subject.

Didn’t want to broach the subject of buggies (ne: carts) as whilst they appear to be a common object on the island we do still see some unfortunate souls walking or (even more demeaning) caching the green or blue bus. Hmmm Buggies… do we go there for a spiel or finish of the day first ? tough choice for a blogger in a conundrum and so we’ll do the day to finale first....

Walking off the salubrious sunset cruise cat we went straight across the road and upstairs to the Mexican cantina. This was amazing in so many ways. The amount of people that they pass through, the views of the harbor, the drinks, the food, the staff, the way they have customers prop in the middle bar area whilst waiting for a table to become available, all with no stress, well organized chaos that (like everything here) would be extremely profitable to those raking it in. I believe they are called HIE (a thread for future investigation). Being told that our menu choice was “amazing” by our friendly waiter was very comforting. Given the limited options on the menu, one suspects that the use of the term could use some refinement – however who are we (as up and becoming elders) dare impose our interpretation the nuances of the greatest language in the history of the race upon the next generation.

It was a very enjoyable follow-up to a very enjoyable jaunt on the water, which was a wonderful follow-up to a very relaxing day hanging around the locale. The wrap up for the evening was spent preparing for the few days shoots. Who’d a thunckd the camera has a night capture capability. Woo hoo!.