living with intention

It was this time last week that I was leaving Muskoka, but it feels like ages ago. It’s crazy how much can happen in the span of a week. There haven’t been many guests these last few days, so what I suppose would be a normal routine hasn’t really set in. I’ve been trying to go snorkeling everyday, and yesterday, Ed showed me a nice spot. To get there, we kayaked out over the crystal blue water where you can see all the way down to the bottom. It was unbelievably calm. While kayaking, I saw the shadow of a small reef shark go zooming by underneath me. I was hoping to see some on my snorkel, but didn’t. The coral on the reef itself is not in the best condition, however, it is teeming with life. I had a weight belt on as well, which made it much easier to stay down to get some photographs. The previous day it must have been hysterical to watch me attempting to stay underneath the water as my fins were sticking straight out, flailing around. Turns out, I’m very buoyant in this water!

I’ve been into town twice now, which is about a 30-35 minute boat ride. The first time into town was to go run errands and get supplies, including food and gas. There was a funeral going on in the village, so everyone who was attending was wearing black with a woven mat around their waist. The mat is worn as a sign of respect, whether it is for a funeral, or at school. Due to this funeral, a number of the stores didn’t have certain items that we needed, including rice. So, to do the shopping, we went to four different stores, and the local market. The second time I went into town was last night with Kirsty, Ed, and Chris to go watch the Australia vs. South Africa rugby match (where Australia creamed the South Africans much to Ed’s delight!). We went to the local dive bar and they had the game projected onto a large wall. It was a great time. We met up with three New Zealanders who we had met when they kite-boarded over to the island the previous day. On the way home we saw some people who we had met at the bar on their fishing yacht playing the guitar, so we stopped and hopped on. We hung out with them for a few hours. Over the side of the boat, you could see these amazing jellyfish coming in and out of the boat lights. It was very cool. The boat ride home reminded me of coming back from being out at night in Canada, although there was an almost full moon to guide the journey.

The food here is fantastic. We’ve had the freshest sashimi on many occasions from fish that were either caught by spear, deep-sea trolling, or by a local fisherman. We’ve had seared tuna, and what they like to call here, “one-pot wonders” which is a meal that is prepared only using one dish for (and by) the staff. We’ve had an incredible chicken, veggies, and rice in a fresh-squeezed coconut broth dish, and spicy onion, garlic, mince, veggies in a tomato-based sauce over rice to name a couple. So, I’m definitely not starving that’s for sure!

I’m hoping to do some more snorkeling today, might go out for a kayak as well. It’s another calm, hot day – I love Tonga winters!