We have been back from our November trip for a couple of weeks now. While we were there we spent a lot of time at the block. We spent time getting to know our 2 sets of neighbours and went snorkelling every day. The front block has a fantastic natural seascape through the trees and out to the aqua water, there is a natural ocean pool just a few metres in and it is deep enough for a dip even at low tide. The back block is very dense with tall trees and jungle climbers over everything.
The coral and fish are so pretty to look at, the water is warm and there are no currents. We were told by our neighbours that there are lion fish and sea snakes around, but they will swim off quicker than you can. The colour of the water is incredible, so blue and crystal clear. I love the little blue fish, they dart around everywhere, hard to catch with my camera though. We found one gully that was just teaming with fish, there must have been 200 fish in there, at least 20 different kinds. I’ll try and get some photos and video up for you to see what I am babbling about. I love the place… can you tell?
As you can see, our block is fairly densely covered in trees and undergrowth. We spent a couple of hours cutting down saplings and piling them up as well as old bits of trees and branches that had possibly come down during TC Pam in March.
There are tons of coconuts hidden under the long grass in various states of decay and growth. Once we could see the pegs marking out the block we got the industrial sized tape measure out and worked out where our bungalow and the tapas bar will go. It is like the block was meant for us… the 2 primary buildings fit in the places we had drawn up. There are some sizable rocks on the block and both the buildings fit neatly around them!
There is a group of big old trees right in between our bungalow and the tapas bar, they will be staying… we really don’t want to cut down any more trees than we have to. There are quite a few coconut trees on the front block, they will have to come down unfortunately… they are a big hazard in the islands, clocking unsuspecting walkers on the head with their ripening fruit. We wandered around the block many times envisioning our dream once built. We are so excited, and cannot wait to share it all with family and friends and eventually those who wish to join us for a few hours or a few days in paradise.
Our next trip is in early February 2016, lots to do before then as we start to firm up our costs and talk to a couple of architects, very overwhelming for this little chick right now… but I’m excited about learning about a lot of new things.
Darleen & Scott
Creating a divergent life.