The fringing coral reef which surrounds Pohnpei and forms the lagoon. The surfing here is apparently excellent, but deadly to the inexperienced. Some breaks have only a few centimetres of water above the razor sharp coral. I had hoped to learn to surf here, but everyone I have met, including the guy who runs the local surf club, tell me it is not a particularly good idea. I will have to experience it vicariously when the professional tour visits later in the year. The guys who are posted here with the Navy are keen spectators and I hope to tag along with them.
Sokehs rock dominates the skyline above Kolonia, the largest town in the FSM.
Welcome! Kaselehlie! Etc… Everything here is Kaselehlie this and that, it is the equivalent of the Hawaiian ‘aloha’ and happens to make a good tag for the state number plates, the name of the main street, and the name of the local Phillipino karaoke café which serves quite a reasonable Pad Thai..
We are very easy to please, especially after 18 hours travel overnight with no sleep…Glad to have made it through rather unfriendly US officialdom. (no rubber gloves but if you looked at them the wrong way…)We are very, very lucky to avoid the majority of US neuroticism in Australia regarding air travel. Our travel from Cairns to Guam, Chuuk and Pohnpei involved multiple x-rays of carry on luggage, disposal of all liquids (we even had to discard water purchased inside the sterile area of the airport!), searching of the plane at the 20 minute stopover in Chuuk, and Guam requiring us to go through immigration after leaving the plane (with digital photos and finger print scans), then immediately re-enter immigration after walking 50 metres in a sterile area to go back into the airport! Various metal detectors, shoe removals and liquid confiscations later, and I get the feeling they are just causing more angst than they are preventing.
Ben
No comments:
Post a Comment