Strong tropical winds

Posted on 28 August 2009

It is Friday lunchtime. I have just placed the butter on the kitchen counter to soften a bit – which should not take long in this tropical heat.

Outside the wind is really gusty and even the door mat has been uprooted form its welcoming place. Frequent gusts over 25 knots at the airport with one reaching 30. That is of course my cue not to fly. It has been a long and trying week. My flu seems to be slackening off though I seem to have been left with a staggering cough (Yes, staggering!) The plane is ready and all our instruments have been sorted. I still need to go over the workings of our little dictaphone (These little gizmos do come with a manual – thankfully! Operating it in flight while tracking a whale shark needs to be second nature). At this stage we await permission from CAA to fly. Our applications has been in since Monday and it is actually taking longer than usual. I spoke to Frankie (my contact at CAA) this morning and he believes it is just the usual bureaucracy.

At least the weather is no good so it is not like we are missing out on anything. The prediction is for it to be strong throughout the whole weekend too. Our intern team consists of six. All newbies to the island and its associated peculiarities, they have been in awe for the most part to say the least. This week has been spend on training them in the various tasks that would be expected – all of which has been met with keen enthusiasm. They seem to be getting along fine in their house and from my point also seem to be an interesting bunch with no odd balls that could cause friction. We have two men and four ladies – Abby, Dominique, Torri, Kierra, Garrith and John. They are heading out to sea this afternoon for some plankton tow practice – motion sickness tabs taken – it is pretty rough out there! As for me – I am sitting pretty in a great home. It is quite lux. I have a huge widescreen TV with full cable channels to choose from. It is ironic actually since I have only flicked through the channels so far and find I don’t have the time to watch anything. Who would want to while on a beautiful tropical island! The place has two large bedrooms with air con, modern kitchen and large open plane dining and lounge area. Unfortunately I will be moving out in a month to the more middle class flats used by the rest of the crew. Luke and I will be sharing a two bed-roomed flat by then. Why not move in here you say? Easy. This place is three times the price! Wish you were here!






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