I waited for the fireworks last night, but when they came, you could barely see them through the trees. There was a lot of honking horns down in the city. I gave up and went in. I wrote Happy New Year on a photograph and posted it to my Facebook page.
I went to bed, but had a hard time falling asleep due to the noise. But eventually I did. I woke up when Reveille was played over the loudspeaker at 8, no matter that it was New Years Day and a Sunday. Chris gave me an oil massage and we stayed in bed late. I got up shower and wash my hair. My hair was really gunky due to the shampoo I brought. It had been in my travel case too long and was lumpy. So I used the hotel shampoo. Then I got dressed, drank lemon water and read e-mail. Chris had breakfast and later I made my own. I watched a short video on making hand warmers.
Our initial goal was to just visit Gab Gab beach again and have a slow day. So, we put our bathing suits on under our clothes. I wore my white shoes so I could easily take them off to walk on the sandy beach. I also brought a book to read at one of the covered picnic tables there. So, we headed out and on the way to the base, Chris suggested looking at the museum next to post to see if it was anything interesting, and to check on the Spanish Steps. He thought both would be closed today. The museum was, but the Spanish Steps was not. So we decided to look for the trail. It was not marked, but using directions we found on the internet, we located it. There was an ample parking lot, and just inside the forest was a display of fish and audio to go with it. It definitely looked touristy. But, a few yards later, we came to a cliff. Ropes were hanging down so we grabbed one and found footholds to climb down to a ladder. This situation happened more than once, and there were other times that the ropes came in very useful. If they had not been there, I would not have gone down. Then we came to the Spanish well. The path split and we went left. Winding our way through the forest, we passed lots of fallen coconuts. I had been wondering where my next coconut would come from, so I eyed them as we passed. Later, off to one side, we spied a cave. It was plenty large enough to go through but difficult to make way. The light at the other end wasn't far.
I was tempted to go in, but did not want to scrape a leg since I was wearing shorts. A few yards later, we came to a grotto. It was almost as beautiful as the one yesterday. But rockier. The beach was all rocks and I did not have my Xero shoes. It was a popular beach for snorkeling. We spread our towels and took off our shoes and clothes. Gingerly I picked my way to the water in bare feet. I stayed close to the shady side. Chris followed me. The water was so clear you could see the bottom. And it was uneven. It was easy to strike a rock with a foot or hand while swimming. Floating worked well, very relaxing. But the currents would move me out into the sun or in some other direction. We swam between the two big rocks at one point. It was fun to swim against the current, but I did not want to chance tiring out before getting back inside the circle of protection the big rocks offered. We spent plenty of time there, floating and swimming. Eventually we went back to the beach and sat on our towels to dry off. Chris spoke with another family there. Chris put his clothes back on and we walked back to the Spanish Well, then chose the other path. It went to a very windy but sandy beach. And no one was there. I found a coconut and Chris tried to open it. When he finally cracked it, black liquid splashed on my shoes. He suggested I walk into the water to wash them off. The water was a good temp. The waves were strong, which was ok, but there was no shade at all. I worried about getting burnt, so we retired to a grassy place under the trees.
While my shoes set out to dry, I pulled a book from Chris' backpack. He took a nap. I read for awhile, surprised that I could without my glasses (I had left them in the car). But I knew that I could get windburned as well as sunburned. So I put the book away and wandered in search of another coconut. I picked one that was slightly sprouted, figuring it would not be spoiled. I brought it back and sat on my towel with a rock. I smashed the end and pulled away some huck. Smash and pull. Chris woke up and offered me his multi-tool. That helped and I got half of the husk off. Then he took off the remaining husk and the sprout. I peeled the sprout and ate the inside. It was good but not as flavorful as coconut meat. He thumped the coconut around the middle but it would not crack. So he used the mini-saw on the tool to saw around the 'equator'. Then he thumped it again and it split. There was no water inside, but a lovely sponge filled the interior. I was so pleased because I had just found out there was such a thing as a coconut sponge. And now I had one! How does it get any better than that? Chris had a bite, but I ate most of it. It was amazing in texture and the taste was light. Then he dug out the meat of the other half of the coconut. I did the best I could with mine. Then he dug out mine for me. When we had finished the coconut, we shook out our towels and packed up. I put my wet, squishy shoes back on. We followed the path as best we could, getting lost only once.
When we got to the well, we knew where we were. We had to grab the ropes and climb up, then over trees and rocks and more steep climbs. Twice I had to stop and rest. But I made it to the top. We saw a sign that said not to remove any plants, animals, shells, rocks, etc from the terrain. Well, we left all the coconut parts there so I guess it was ok. Chris drove us back to the hotel. I looked up videos on Coconut sponges while Chris made supper. Then we ate supper and I went back to coconut videos. Seems lots of people know about coconut sponges. However, I was unable to find any for sale, like by Amazon. A few people talked about sprouting a coconut from the store, though the germination rate is really low and it takes months. I gave up and cleared e-mail. I wrote up my blog post so far. I went to the kitchen to get a chocolate and noticed the unwashed dishes. So I filled the sink with water and washed them. When I finished, Chris was ready to watch TV. We saw three episodes of The Finder, pausing to look up familiar actors and actresses. I e-mailed pics from my phone and Chris downloaded pics from his camera. I posted to my blog and may have gone to bed.
* Coconut sponge *
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