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Serendipity - The Far Side of the World II




Monday 11th June: South Pacific Ocean 17 52.0S  178 02.1W  

Today’s second Blog by David (Time zone UTC +13.00;  BST+12.00)


One thing that cruising does is to get you more closely attuned with your environment.  We are now much more aware of the world and wild life around us – e.g.  keen to be able to put a name to each bird and fish we see and we want to make sure that we  experience natural phenomena and events - doing things one would hardly have  conceived of while on the garden terrace at home in Hawkley.


Some of this is to be expected – for example our lives are so closely intertwined with  Latitude and Longitude that navigation, the stars and things astronomical feature prominently in our lives  - not a constant topic of conversation, but  one needs to be constantly aware of what is happening around you. On the other hand, we get interested in and do things “because they are there”.  For example, caves have had an sudden attraction while in Tonga that we would not have predicted from our respective UK firesides.


On things astronomical, we watched a partial eclipse of the moon the other day, just  because it was there – I am guessing you didn’t. However,  I am sure you will have been conscious of Venus’s transit of the Sun last Tuesday/Wednesday (there goes that International date line again).   Peter being something  of an Astrorak* was keen that we saw it but it coincided with and needed to be accommodated within the Botanical Garden visit (See “Toodloo to Vava'u”).


We boarded the coach promptly with the rest of the party but carrying at 25 cm square wooden box with a handle. People apparently assumed that it contained some kind of camera. After the garden tour but before lunch was served  we opened the box and took out the instrument within.  Pointing it towards the heavens we observed the transit of Venus through the smoked glass shades of our sextant – and very pleased we were with ourselves too.
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A large proportion of the tour group also developed a hitherto unkindled interest in astronomy perhaps 15 of them “asking for a look” and each being successful in seeing an event that will not recur for over 100 years. (Let’s face it seeing it this time was their only chance!)


The attraction of caves  has affected us each differently.  We were all interested in seeing Swallows’ Cave, a deep cave worn away by the sea in the limestone rock face. Inside there is a dry area on which there have been  feasts given, the guests arriving by boat and the food being let down on ropes through a hole in the roof of the cave. For the casual visitor such as us, one drives the boat’s tender into the cave. 
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While the rock formations are quite something to behold, the place is marred by the graffiti that has accumulated over the centuries.  It is however a place for interesting photographs:
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The draw of caves affects us each differently. Bob – ever the party animal -  heard that there was a rave ‘going  down’ in Mariners Cave to celebrate Gita’s birthday. The only problem was that the entrance to the cave – and thus the party - was two metres below the surface of the water and through a four metre tunnel. Impediments as they might seem to you and me, such trifles were never going to deter Bob if  there was a party involved:
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*Astrorak n. Abbrev Astronomical Anorak


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