Sunday 4th November.

37 days to go.

Our Duplex, we are in the right hand side as we view the photo.

After a couple of fruit plates for breakfast, (1 each!) this consists of 3 slices of toast with butter and choice of vegemite, marmalade and honey along with pineapple, bananas, watermelon, star-fruit and others, we return to our room and pack. We still do not know if we will be staying the extra night. Grant, the owner and his wife tell us to stay until late and use the facilities. They are expecting a guest to arrive at 1800, but they are not listed as arriving on the passenger list. If they do not arrive we can stay.

We settle down for a swim and then some lunch. We are joined by some people from Gizo, a couple of Policemen, and a party from the Gizo Hotel. Some local friends of the owners also turn up for lunch. Just as we thought we were as busy as we could get, the surfers who were picked up by the dive boat, also have decided to pop in. We meet them and have a chat about surfing and what they lost when the boat capsized. They arrived towing the boat, complete with its wrecked outboard. A couple of the guys managed to pick up some belongings like a camera and a wallet.

After lunch we go snorkelling. This is the first time I have ever done this. I am to water sports what Donald Trump is to good hairdressing. The range of marine life just around the resort is amazing. There is coral, both dead and living, sea cucumbers, anemone, urchins, starfish and heaps of fish, small, medium and large. All sorts of shapes and colours abound, all this within 50 feet of the bar too. The young couple paddled over to Kennedy Island today, when they set off the sea was flat. After they had departed, maybe an hour later the waves came from nowhere, it was choppy and some white tops. We watched them as they returned and the boat was on standby in case they had some trouble. They made it safely and I helped drag them onto the jetty.

We hatch a plan to travel with our things in the boat. If the guest arrives, we will be dropped off in Gizo, if the guest does not arrive we will return in the boat. The enigma is solved by Grant calling the terminal at Gizo just after the flight arrives. We finally find out that the person who had booked is not coming so we can stay another night. We go back to the room and get ready for dinner. We are having an all you can eat buffet, mixed seafood dishes and some chicken dishes along with vegetables and rice. We have a chat to one of the visitors who tells me he is related to half of the bosses as work! The night starts to deteriorate into a karaoke session and some of the singing is not good.

We take the easy way out and head for bed. Similar to last night, a storm comes in, but not as bad.