Hiking a Volcano

Since I have been here I have wanted to hike up a dormant volcano that
overshadows the surrounding areas that we dive at. It is about 1800
meters tall, and the hike takes two to three days. I set off with a
friend August from Indonesia and two Australian medical students that
were here.

So at 6am on Monday we all set off in a boat with one tent, water,
tuna, rice, and noodles. That is about all you need to survive when
you have some locals with you. We arrived at the Iriri Village about
7am. We then met the chief and some of the council members, and paid
a custom fee to visit the mountain. Then we found a guide and hired
him to take us to the top.

We set off from the village at 7:30 and started the hike through muddy
trails, we had about a 5 hour walk to the base of the Volcano. This
hike was filled with mud, then vines that covered every inch of the
trail. At about noon we reached the river that runs along the base of
the Volcano and stopped and had a lunch of canned tuna and crackers.
We washed off in the river and filled our water bottles back up before
starting the climb.

Going up was defiantly hard. It took us two and a half hours to reach
the base camp that was about half way up, but had a spectacular view.
It was actually cold there too! It was raining, but had rained all
day. We were already so tired and so wet that we all just laid down
in the wet grass and rested our legs before setting up camp. I think
few people ever get that tired, that lying down in pouring rain
soaking wet is relaxing. We set up camp and August built a fire and
cooked some delicious rice with chili tuna and cheesy baked beans all
mixed in. It was one of the best meals I have eaten!

That night everyone slept cozy in our small tent and bundled up in
jackets and towels, because lets be honest no one here has warm
clothes. We got a good ten hours of sleep and woke up to a beautiful
view of Gizo, and all the surrounding islands. We then ate a quick
breakfast of crackers and nuts and started a two hour trek towards the
top. It was the toughest part but we didn't have our packs so that
made it easier. Just below the top we had a gorgeous view for miles
around. At the top it was like being in an enchanted forest. The top
is almost always in a cloud and is dripping wet even when no rain is
there. There is a constant mist that seems as if it is rising from
the moss covered landscape. I halfway expected little hobbits to run
around.

Then we started our trek down. The trip down involved lots of falling
and cuts and scraps. The way up was hard on the knees, the way down
was hard on our backs. On the climb you are constantly climbing up
and down 10 feet ledges by grabbing roots and digging your feet into
the side. There are also huge trees, maybe 5 feet in diameter that
you constantly have to climb over. It took us about 8 hours to go up,
and only 4 to come back down. On the way down I radioed my boss who
was coming over to pick us up and asked that some candy bars and cokes
be put on the boat. It was a nice reward walking down to the sea and
jumping in with a snickers and a coke. That was a nice way to end the
trip. It was fun and challenging and full of beautiful views.

McDonalds

So today I was working on fixing up some office computers all day. I
had a day out of the water, but still wore a swim suit. That paid off
because working in an office with no A/C when it is about 100 degrees
gets hot, so some swim breaks were needed. Sitting at the computer
all day made me remember going to school and doing that almost
everyday, then I thought of the quick McDonalds breaks I would have
and missed it severly!

I then tried to explain to the staff what McDonalds was and why I
missed it, but no one understood... My comfort is that in 2 months I
will be in Sydney and get a chance to eat some deliciously deadly and
fattening fast food. I will also enjoy a hot shower for an hour or
two. Even though it is hot here, when you spend all day in the water,
especially if it rains, you enjoy some hot water. I look forward to
not boiling water before I drink it, sometimes I'm safe and have
become immune to it, but it is not happy when you find out the water
was not safe, EW.

Another thing I noticed, is that no matter who I call in town I just
have to say "hello" and the other caller says "Oh, Hi Luke". It is
now very evident that everyone on the island knows me, and since I am
one of three Americans, they have a 1 in 3 chance of getting my name
right by the way I talk. Definatly a small world, phone numbers are 3
digits generally, because everyone starts off 60_ _ _. Sometimes you
ask someone for their phone number and they respond "9" which would
mean it is 60009. Very different from the world of cities have 3 area
codes for themselves.

Enjoy your McDonalds,

Luke

Hooray For Mail

I have gotten some mail, and wanted to give a big thanks to my parents
and sister Theresa. It seems they actually broke some records in how
fast it got here! One package came in 3 weeks, the other in 4 weeks.
The mail from Australia can take that long sometimes and Oz is only a
3 hour plane flight away. It was very nice to get, and had some nice
Christmas cards in it also.

Lately I have been diving everyday, except for Christmas Day, and New
Years Day. I have taught quite a few students lately, 6 Open water
students, 3 Advanced open water students, and 1 Divemaster. They are
all finished now, so I am turning my attention to fixing up some
computers around the shop, and for Fatboys. I don't get paid for it,
but get free meals in drinks, and for western food that is quite a
nice commodity.

I have recently gotten a cold, and I hate being sick, it is the guest
that bring in sicknesses and then all the staff/island gets it in a
mater of days. People don't understand why, but when you look at the
fact that we are in a hot humid environment, and no dishes are washed
in hot water. So don't send any sicknesses here because they don't
sell cold medicine. I do have some but don't share it since it is a
rare commodity.

All is well...

Luke

Fatboys and Hair Cuts

As many people have commented I needed a hair cut.  I don't know why but I put getting a hair cut up there with going to the dentist, I just don't enjoy it. It is not that I am overly attached to my hair, just I never feel like I look good with a hair cut, and I hate the business of making an appointment and the useless small talk.  Since I have been here there is no place to get your hair cut, unless you want it just shaved off, and even then you have to find one of the few people that have trimmers.

I started asking guests and the medical students that come if they can cut hair, I finally found one!  So yesterday I got my hair cut, and I must say at a rather relaxing salon.  The Sunday tradition here is to go to a resort called Fatboys for lunch.  If we don't have to work everyone goes out in the mornings and relaxes on the dock, swims, and eats a big lunch.  Fatboys is a large grass roof pavilion built over the water, right next to a reef and has "Gin Clear Water". 

So we set out yesterday wish scissors and shampoo.  I went for a swim then grabbed a bar stool, and a bikini clad hair stylist and got my hair cut!  Afterwards everyone enjoyed lunch and headed back to Gizo.  I didn't drink, because I was driving the boat, but enjoyed quite a few cokes, which is a rare thing here.  I didn't even hit a reef on the way home, which is always a positive, I have a 100% safe driving record here so far (knock on wood) and have avoided the many unmarked reefs.

Luke

New Years

Well it has been a busy time the past few weeks.  I have been diving everyday, and teaching lots of classes.  There have been a number of students come through that have been keeping me busy.  For New Years Eve, we all went to an Island and grilled out celebrating the birthday of our bosses daughter.  Then that evening everyone went to the two discos in town and partied until about 6 am.  It was fun seeing how much people were celebrating, after midnight groups of families would march down the street with homemade fireworks, and dragging roofing iron around making it a loud festive time.  Then the next day everyone slept in for the most part.  Somehow a few people saved their fireworks and noise makers until about 10 am and woke everyone up!

As we look back on the past year I think of all we have done.  I finished university, thank goodness, and now live in a third world country.  I can catch fish without a pole, fillet and cook the fish.  I know how to shop without grocery stores, and even know a bit of pidgen (the language here).  The US has gone through tremendous strains financially and also managed to elect a president that 50 years ago would not have had a chance in government.  At this time from what I see of the news not much is positive, but I hope in this next year we all overcome our hurdles, and focus on improving ourselves and our countries.

Happy New Year,

Luke