Everything's coming up Milhouse!

My apologies for being a little quite on the blog front of late, I’ve been working on organising something which took a little longer to confirm than I originally thought it would and I didn’t want to write about it until it was confirmed. I think I’m now safe to discuss it without jinxing myself!

First a little backstory: My main aim with moving to Palau was to find a job or way to keep busy where I could be more active. While I enjoyed my Project Management role back home I would have much preferred being outside and doing something fun. So how do I combine living in Palau and being more active? Yep, you guessed it: Diving!

So I’m very happy to announce that I’ve been able to organise a Dive Master internship with the largest and oldest tour operator in Palau. I’ll be hitting the books & watching videos today to get up to speed on the theory and tomorrow morning I’ll be playing the panicked victim to help a couple of guys complete their Rescue Diver course. 

Over the coming 2 months I’ll complete the following certs: Advance Open Water, Rescue Diver, Nitrox & finally Dive Master. I know it’s going to be quite challenging at times but I’m looking forward to it and can’t wait to get in the water tomorrow morning. It must be a flood pants kind of day because everything is coming up Milhouse!

(Somewhat ironically you pretty much need flood pants here at the moment as the wet season has well & truly hit) 

The typical view of Palau over the last two weeks (and where i'll be diving tomorrow)

Pretty much the only moment of sunshine in the last two weeks.  (and the view from the KSG gym - such a stunning location)

Pics from Palau & Guam

Hey all, just a quick post to put up some pics I've taken around Palau & Guam. 

 

Guam

TGI Friday's in Guam. We had to do it.

Belau Games Tree Climbing comp

Dehusking using a stake wedged in the ground

Belau Games Coconut Husking/Grating comp

Champion!

Coconut grating

This is Henrietta & her chicks. They got stuck in our apartment area for days as the chicks couldn't jump back up the stairs. Don't worry, we were feeding them and Amanda helped them out today.

Mini Update Part III: The Racist

Last Tuesday after picking Amanda up from work we were driving back along the main road. The traffic was heavy and moving very slow. As we sluggishly moved through one of the “bigger” intersections the traffic that was joining from the side road was merging 1 for 1 with us. As I let a car in front of me, the guy in car following that one floored it, trying to jam his way in front of me. Somehow we’ve both ended up braking and now both cars were side by side. We’ve looked at each other through open windows, I didn’t say or do anything but I probably had a cranky look on my face. I’ve then pulled ahead of him, he’s pulled in behind and decided to let fly with a string of racist comments like “f%ck you, white motherf$cker!” etc etc etc. He spent the next good few minutes and couple of kilometres with both hands off the wheel giving me ‘the finger’ and carrying on like an idiot. He calmed down a bit when we drove past a cop car and soon after he decided to use the middle ‘turning lane’ to speed past us and eventually turned off down a side road. Amanda noticed that when he sped past us he’d now wound up his window. Sounds like a gutless prick if you ask me. 

It’s not the first time I’ve copped some form of racial abuse, I’ve heard the odd comment muttered before in my travels overseas (nothing too serious) and I’ve also copped the odd comment when walking to or from work through Brisbane’s Fortitude Valley. This time seemed a bit different though, maybe it was the length of this guy’s rant that did it but this one didn’t roll off the shoulders like the others have. It was a very strange incident to happen in Palau seeing how nice everyone has been to us here. I’m not sure what the guys deal was but by the way he acted and carried on he’s got a screw loose and/or is on something.

For anyone living in Palau: The number plate was Koror state, numbered 12140 (I believe) and the car was a light coloured, right hand drive, recent model station wagon or one of those short vans. (maybe a Volvo or Honda). The guy was young, probably early 20s, he turned onto the main road at the court heading towards Airai and turned left down towards the bakery just before WCTC. I would love if it someone knew who this was. Maybe you can ask him why he has an issue with skin colour.

Mini Update Part II: Rock Islands & Jellyfish lake

Last Friday we had our best day so far in Palau. Unexpectedly we were invited along on a trip out to the rock islands & jellyfish lake (two of the major tourist attractions in Palau). We knew about half the people on the boat and quickly became friends with the others. The ride out from Koror to the islands was in overcast conditions with frequent showers and stayed that way until mid-afternoon. Despite the weather the water was calm and it was truly incredible to finally get to see just how many islands there are. They are seriously everywhere, from small little mushroom shaped islands to massive long ridge lines. I honestly don’t know how the guys navigate through then without a map or GPS, I had no idea which was we were going for most of the day. We saw all sorts of cool stuff like birds diving down into the water for fish to flying fish who seem to defy gravity for an unfeasible period of time. 

Our first stop was Jellyfish lake, an inland lake populated by thousands of sting-less jellyfish. After a short but steep walk up and down the ridge line we arrived at the lake. After a short swim out into the lake we started coming across jellyfish, after pushing out a little further we were completely surrounded by them. They are all over the place, they slowly move in every direction and are constantly bumping into you. And no they definitely don’t sting.

It was an extraordinary experience to be floating around with thousands of these creatures all around. I can’t wait to return with a waterproof camera and on a sunny day. One thing I quickly adjusted was my method of swimming around. Once getting in the middle of the jellys I noticed I accidentally kicked a few, so I ended up using a modified front-paw only, slow doggy paddle. Even then occasionally I’d send one spiralling away, at least I wasn’t wearing fins! I’ve heard people can actually kill them when belting them with fins. For some reason that I don’t understand the use of fins aren’t banned in the lake however they are quite particular about you wiping off sunscreen and washing your feet in a bucket (before walking up & down to the lake)…

Our next stop was having some lunch on a small beach in the middle of the thousands of rock islands. It was a great little spot but due to overcast conditions the couple of pics I took really don’t do the location justice.  

After lunch it was time for some snorkelling. We headed to an area called German Channel, I’m not sure when but at some point in Palau’s history (most likely prior to WWI) the German Navy bombed a long channel in the corral between various rock islands. The spot is now favoured by divers hoping to swim with Manta Rays. In my limited snorkelling experience this is by far the best spot I’ve ever been to. The corral was incredible and there were lots of varied aquatic life. The highlight was following a 1 metre+ white tip reef shark around for a good few minutes. Apparently Amanda had a turtle come within about a metre of her as well. 

All too soon it was time to head elsewhere, we checked out a significant sized cave that formed in one of the rock islands when a section fell in and another marine lake with only a small channel running out to the sea. Our second and last snorkelling spot was a place called the cemetery. There appears to be a lot of dead corral at this little corner off the end of a rock island. For some reason that doesn’t stop a huge amount of fish hanging around. Again I was lucky enough to follow around a very large Napoleon Wrasse for around 5 minutes or so. 

The day was amazing and I’m very thankful we were able to tag along on the trip. It’s reminded me that whatever I end up doing over here has to involve the water in some way.

Stay tuned for the next mini update about how I got racially abused (yep, really).