Paddle Date 5/30/2011

Ive been having trouble finding empty bottles, and been kind of lazy so I haven't release many bottles, and only done a little bit of kayaking.

This picture of these little kids was taken on 5/22/2011 while Kate was out of town. I kayaked over to Nusa and then went out in a friend's motor boat to go snorkeling. I got cooked by the sun, so I was glad it was just a short paddle home. I actually paddled to my office, probably the only time I will ever do that, to pick up the power cord for my laptop.

This picture of Stinky and Maity is during an incredibly low tide out front of our house. The dogs and I could walk right out to the edge of the reef.

I have been paddling a few times since then, and I have to carry my kayak down to the West to a small cut just to get in the water where I can paddle.

I had the most amazing email today from a woman who found the January 2nd, 2006 bottle out in the Hamptons. Check it out:

January 2006 blog entry.

This weekend Kate and I are going on a romantic get-a-way....

We fly to Lae, a city renowned for crime, dirt, disease, and industry. It has rascals, cholera, and a lot of containerized shipping. I think its the worst spot in Papua New Guinea, so its good to check that off our list.

We call a security service called "Guard Dog Security". The Guard Dog dudes give us a ride to town. The ride itself should be worth the 100Kina each we have to pay. Because of the crime it is in an armored car, and the drivers are armed. They drive really really fast because according to the guide book: "Its difficult to hold-up a car when it is traveling at 150 KMH."

We go to a place called "The Eye Grease Market".

If we get there at Tea time we can have light lunch there of cucumber sandwiches, otherwise it is a smoked fish on a dirty leaf, or a leftover cookie from the Executive Club at the Rabaul Airport.

At the market we hopefully meet-up with a guy name Hann from the research station Kate needs to go to. We give him 1,000 Kina about $400 for fuel for the boat and he drives us to the research station.

One slight wrinkle is that there is no way to call the research station, and they may think we are arriving on Monday, so we might get to spend the night in Lae. We sent him a text message to say we were coming a day earlier, but he has to walk for a few hours from the research station, and climb up a tree to get his messages, and of course Digicel is renowned for delivering messages days late if the receiver isn't connected when it comes in. I am hoping for the Lae International Hotel, rather than a pile of Banana leaves at the Eye Grease.