Saturday 2nd
March 2019
I persuaded
John to have another look at the three kayaks in the garden. We had been told
we could use them so I was interested to find out if we might be able to manage
them on our own and get them into the sea!
Things move very slowly here….. a bit like a malaise… the heat is really
something else though. Even I who far prefers heat am finding it challenging –
it kind of turns us into slothful slugs!!
So days really do tend to be spent lolling under a fan, reading, writing,
playing cards, watching tennis or playing bridge or patience on my laptop!!
Breakthrough
today – after we separated the smallest kayak from the other two, I hosed it
down sending daddylong legs and ants skittering… I enjoyed the exercise of removing bits of
snail shells, webs and dead noonoos from the webbing and seat, every so often giving
myself a cooling squirt. John then came and inspected the kayak – happily called
‘feel free’. He tested if we could move it
on our own, which we can although it’s pretty heavy. He pointed out that
getting to the beach we would have gravity on our side but not getting it back
again!! I wondered if we mightn’t be able to coincide the use of the kayak with
the time that the gardener Zodic was here so we could enlist his help!! Such
are the important issues we face in this new life of ours!!! John then declared he needed to get a screw
driver to tighten a few things – he was now happily busy with a prodge
(project). A kitchen knife was carried out to the kayak and the next thing he
had dragged the kayak to the edge of the pool and voila … the next thing it was
in the water and this is where it is now!! All remaining creatures removed saved
by John by being scooped up in an ice cream container and tossed onto the lawn.
He announced that he had saved at least 20 ants and 6 flies from drowning!! So who
is the buddhist in the family!!! As I
write, John is in the pool with the kayak, giving it a good clean – much better
than his original comment to me of “leave it to Zodic to do”….. will colonialism
ever die…!
I have just
climbed into or is it, onto the kayak in the pool. John has many concerns – how
will I get back into the kayak if I fall out – my answer – it will be shallow
enough for me to walk along side the kayak to bring it back to the beach – the water
is so shallow here and I certainly do not plan on venturing far from in front
of the house; next question – and if it drifts away from you, you will let it
go won’t you…. Answer - can’t we tie something to my arm, thinking of something
like the cord that is attached to my boogie board, no reply but doubtful look
speaks volumes!!!
Anyway I got
into the pool and realized that I would not be able to get into the kayak while
in the water as we couldn’t get the seating spot close enough to the shallow
end. Then decided that we should position the kayak parallel to the side of the
pool, I sat on the edge of the pool and lifted myself into the kayak seat – ha –
no ungainly splash – I was in the seat!! John then adjusted the foot rests and
showed me how to steer using them to guide the rudder. Yay I was afloat and felt really stable – when
I said I was quite excited and encouraged by all of this, John admitted he had
hoped that I would be discouraged. He expressed that he thought the reason I
wanted to kayak was so that I could put a tick in the “Ï kayaked in Mauritius box”-
wow – anyway disavowed him of that saying actually I was hoping for some fun….
I do think it might make sense though to wait until Johnny and Susie are here
or maybe Dylan can help me once we get the kayak to the water, even Richard my
nephew whom I hope will be here next weekend. I guess the obvious truth is that John does
not want anything to happen and particularly does not want to be in a situation
in which he is not in control??
Anyway
whatever the next step is, I have enjoyed the exercise and activity. There is
no doubt that I have been feeling the effects of not doing something other than
the tasks / options listed earlier. I did go out yesterday – decided to catch
the bus to the Charity Centre to get some more books. I walked a couple of
stops – it was after 3 pm so a little cooler, I did take my big black umbrella which
I didn’t need all the way as the pavement is in shade of the beautiful tropical
trees that grow along the walls of the private homes that line the main road in
this area. When a bus did come along, I
hopped on and was glad I had as the Centre was further than the one or two
stops I had thought it was. There were a
couple of women sitting outside, sorting clothing, who informed me they had
closed at 3, but that if I wanted to browse for books that was fine and they
would record the money as received next week.
What a pleasure to get inside into the airconditioned space. I took my
time, finding 5 books for the princely sum of Rs 165 (R 67!!) I love when it
all works out like this – I set off with Rs 225 and a card – the first bus fare
was Rs 10 so I had exactly what I needed in correct change for the Charity
Centre and then Rs 50 for my bus fare back – which in fact was Rs 26 – Natasha reckons
the conductor ripped me off but it was a different bus – more upmarket with two
doors. Anyway all good as I then popped into the Food Lovers Market for a
couple of things, before walking home – gave me a fulfilled feeling – like I’d
done something with my day!! The need for purposeful activity dies hard…!!
So back to
the kayak – in the meantime, my darling husband has being giving this a lot of
thought whilst I have been scribbling and has just announced that on
reflection, he thinks it should be fine for us to take the kayak into the sea!!
A long discussion followed about the best time of day to do this – high or low
tide – my thought is high tide which is hardly high, with waves etc, it just
means that there is more or deeper water near the shore which will mean we do
not have to go too far from the shore to kayak.
So add that to the time of the day – we do not want to be mad dogs and
Englishmen and come out at midday – it really is so hot and I do not want to be
burnt or uncomfortable, we are looking at venturing out at about 3 ish!! So
watch this space.
Last time I
said watch this space was about catching the bus to the north of the island to
see Richard – well that has not happened yet.
A couple of reasons – I am still trying to get clarity about the times
of the busses but have now decided that I’ll just take my chances – have my
destination clearly written on a piece of paper to show the conductor. The
other concern was arriving in Pereybere while Richard and Lisa, both teachers,
are still in school. They finish most
days at about 4 pm depending on what extra mural activities the twins are
involved in. They leave in the morning for
school at about 7.30 so I will be on my own from then so I need to establish
that I can get to a bus stop on my own or maybe leave with them – an interesting
thought being up that early again – feels like another life tine that I got up
at that time!!! There is a Hindu holiday
on Monday – I had thought that would be a good day to go as they would be free
then but Natasha says there will be no busses at all and that the roads will be
blocked with marches – sounds as if we would not even be able to get to see the
marches and celebrations!!
We are off
to Dylan and Nadia’s tomorrow which will be fun as Dylan’s parents arrived
yesterday and he is planning on taking us all out on his speed boat – now you
can indeed watch this space!!!
I wish
there was a quick way to post photos up as I took a bunch of John getting the
kayak into the water – lets hope we can figure this out very soon….. off now for some lunch – salami and salad. Incidentally
our seared tuna was delicious the other day.
Once again
will post this while I is current and hopefully add pics later.
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