5 May 2009

Some text to bring you up to date and to go with the boat pictures. .

Last week was nicely busy with a trip to St Michael's School [just a few pictures to add to the BLOG!] Excellent Inservice session attended by all the teachers, the Headteacher also came [now is that why all the staff came?] and we also invited the new school chaplain as community working is very important here. Because telling your "story"[explaining your individual background] is very much part of the culture I have been telling them our story. This session was part 2, how we met, married and so far we've got to living in Zambia, Ethiopia and having the children. Seems strange to us but they love it. We also take the laptop and show the photos around the school and in the classroom. Like everyone they like to see the ones of themselves in the Inservice sessions!

Journey both ways was very good and even some how managed to stop three times and get home earlier than other trips! One stop was to buy some orchids on the road side. They have been grown in lovely basket containers and because I'm cheeky, I got a free one! They are now nicely displayed on the verandah along with one the gardener brought me which is growing on the local tree bark and is a trailing white flower. When we were on the beach on Saturday we also found some more coral on the sand which are also on the verandah steps.

So what is this about buying a boat? Well everywhere you look here is the sea and I just casually said that I'd rather have a boat and see the town and surrounding areas from the sea. We were with the Murrays at the time and on the mission station there is a small boat he is to try and sell for the owners who are at home waiting for child to be born. So we arranged to see it and being me cheekily knocked the price down to a sum that was too good a bargain to miss! We checked the boat over, well Andrew did and took it to launch her. The make is called Tikatibu!! First Ken, Andrew and I went out and I mentioned that a lot of water seemed to be coming in and we discovered that there were two outlets to drain the rain water out not one and so we hastely bunged up the second hole!! The outboard is a whopping 50 horse power job and so Andrew had to test it's speed out!!! Anyway as you can see from the pictures she looks cute!! Sound basis for buying a boat!

We went back and picked up Ruth and sailed to the island nearby which they have permission to use and as you can see from the pictures it's beautiful.

So we have a boat, now where to moor her? We're planning on joining the boat club anyway so hopefully she'll be ok there.