See how they run

Renovations have started on both the main block and the satellite kitchen, yes I said kitchen the knock-on effect of which is (pause for fanfare) Hurrah & huzzah, we get Our own kitchen. No longer will we have to share with the Reef Seen staff and their funny habits.
Phase 1 is gutting the main building. Unfortunately this results in all the wildlife (Tikus) being homeless and looking for a new place to squat. Spencer/McInnes defences on Bikini Black Alert (shame Amanda's is turquoise). Phase 2 is to erect a summer house as a temporary equipment room and Phase 3 is the extension to the bar to create the kitchen. Now, no-one here has a clue what is needed so the Boss and the builder (using some form of telepathy) come up with a cunning plan on the back of a fag packet. As soon as Amanda gets wind of this she goes ballistic and starts ordering people about and making scale models. As she calms down I find her deep in thought no doubt designing our own kitchen and the occasional wry smile tells me she can think of nothing else other than when can we go shopping for a fridge, cooker, Oven !*#@?.
Phase 2 goes off without a hitch but Amanda, only recently healthy after her fever fell down its steps and is now sitting ankle akimbo with an ice bandage. But just try and stop her diving - compression's good for sprains isn't it? she asks.
Phase 3 Construction stops for 10 minutes as a girl in a bikini walks along the beach carrying 2 coconuts at about chest height. I can't quite work out what the workmen are saying but it's probably along the lines of 'look at the coconuts on that'.


Now it's 3 months old Erva's baby's feet can touch the floor. We were invited and duly donned our most respectful dress but were almost beaten when it came to riding the bike. Its step-through design means the rider can mount normally even in a tight skirt which he is not used to. The Pillion on the other hand risks a long prison sentence unless she adopts the Bali method - sidesaddle. Once there I'm disappointed to see the child being carried everywhere and not being allowed to enjoy his first day rolling around in the dirt eating worms (as is the norm in England - well, in our house anyway). We have tea and cake and say hi to the few people we know then leave - respect paid.

On my last Open Water course I had a lovely English couple (so I got to tell jokes and use long words) and snorkelling out from shore we could see lots of detritus in the water. Two tiny black things floated in front of my mask which on closer inspection turned out to be baby Sea horses. Wow! In all my years of diving I have never seen them - how do I tell my students that they will probably never see anything like it again?

The detritus was a precursor to another shedload of rubbish that was washed up which requires the whole team to clear up. The 2 diveguides, myself and 2 of the girls don wetsuits and snorkelling gear for the in-water attack while the other girls (who don't like the sun because it makes their skin dark!) and boys roll up trouserlegs and stay close to shore. The in-water girls make a nice pair, Masiti has removed her glasses to use a mask and therefore can't see anything smaller than say another person. She stays close to Dewi who acts as spotter/rest-station. The next day more rubbish is washed in so we go again. Most of the plastic is on the surface so we arm ourselves with whatever we can to net it: Other plastic bags, purpose made dive bags and Amanda uses a plastic crate. Today's influx has brought many unusual creatures in with it such as Sargassum frogfish (remember we had those last year too) and tiny flying fish together with a host of weird critters that live on the flotsam and jetsam that usually stays out in the open-ocean. No more sea-horses though.