From Monsoon to Typhoon

What started out as continuous rain has turned into something of a typhoon.  Even the locals are blown away by the weather.  The rain hasn't stopped in four days and the whole place is getting flooded.  Streams that were just a trickle a week ago are now raging torrents.  Boats to and from the island have been cancelled which means that food  isn't making it to the island right now.  The shelves of 7-11 are getting pretty bare.

Our trio stocked up on munchies to help us weather the storm.  So far, the rain hasn't been much more than an inconvenience for us and, as long as we don't get hit by a falling coconut, we should be pretty safe.  Our main challenge is staying entertained.  Flooding has made travel outside of our village difficult and the electricity to our area has been down for two days.  Basically, we've been playing cards and eating three meals a day at 'Good Time Restaurant'.  Fortunately, the kitchen uses gas to cook so they can still serve most of their menu.  There is one light which is attached by a long cable to the owner's motorbike battery.  Apart from that, every meal is candlelit.

To send this message, we had to rent a scooter and drive to the main town.  It doesn't seem like the outage has affected this area too badly as people are merrily eating, drinking, and internetting in every shop.

Today, the navy has begun to service the island with their robust boats, bringing supplies and ferrying travelers  who are sick or have planes to catch.  Robyn and I are going to avoid boat travel until the wind subsides.  We had enough issues with sea sickness on the way here and the water at that time was incredibly calm compared to how it is now.  We've heard that there have been 4 to 5 meter waves out on the sea.

I'm very sorry to all of the momma's and poppa's out there who are reading this and feeling nervous about our travels.  We do feel pretty safe and are going to wait until it's absolutely safe to head out on the sea.  This island is quite sheltered and is not prone to hurricanes, tsunamis, or any other storms that can make it unsafe to be on land.

That being said, here are some pictures of the flooding and a little video showing one of our favorite restaurants.

Mama Pooh's Restaurant... or what's left of it 

The owners are living here and can often be seen sitting on the tables as the water runs by their feet.

This is the beach in front of our bungalow.  It is incredibly well-drained sand so the fact that water is pooling is testament to the intensity of the rainfall.

Another view from our balcony.

The main road down from out of our village heading north.

Robyn getting cholera

We've been stuck in our little area for days but haven't succumbed to cabin fever yet.  We'll see how it goes though.  We might not get off the island for another five days or so.

So that's that.  Like I said, we have to electricity so I might not be able to update this for a little while.  We'll see how things go.

David J Parker