Galloping ponies and Thanksgiving

The seafood is very good here in Gili Air. Yesterday we had excellent fish tacos, and the night before Catheleen had Mahi Mahi in a garlic sauce which she said was good. Today before the sun had set we went out to get some gelato ice cream. Along the way we saw today's catch on display for dinner at one of the restaurants. The seafood included multi-coloured parrot fish and bright red grouper fish. We've done some snorkelling off the beach over the last couple of days and I'm pretty sure we saw similar fish while they were alive. Catheleen said she wasn't interested in eating the fish after seeing them swim among the coral, but don't think I mind.

This afternoon we witnessed how some of the fish are caught as we sat on the beach enjoying lunch. About six men, each with 25 foot poles, waded out about 100 meters through the shoals up to their waists and cast their lines into the deeper blue water. This is the same place we were snorkelling earlier and the fishermen were sharing the space with other snorkelers.

Today's activities were pretty low key after we slept in. The kids could barely make it for breakfast at the hotel before breakfast ended at 10:00 a.m. I could barely return the bikes we rented yesterday before they were due at 9:30 a.m. I think this place makes it hard to get going. I mean, I could go running, but ... meh. We tried to go snorkelling today on a glass bottom boat but we were too late for today's outing, so we scheduled this activity for tomorrow. We'll somehow need to make it to the rendezvous tomorrow morning before 9:30 a.m. I'm not sure we're going to make it.

Today we saw one of the horse drawn carts galloping along with a couple of tourists in the back. Where were they hurrying too? The gelato place? They're not running out of ice cream. I saw a sign today that sums up the feeling of this little island for me, "Beer is not the answer, it's the question. The answer is yes". It might be tough to get back into that whole work thing after this trip is over.

We ended up at my favourite spot from two days before, where we again staked our claim to a bamboo platform under a tree next to the beach. We rented our snorkelling gear from the guy next door and enjoyed the day snorkelling and relaxing. Elizabeth spent most of the day on the beach catching crabs the size of her thumb nail. They blended in with the sand, but she would walk around to get them to move, and then she would catch one inside an overturned shell before releasing it.

We stocked up on cash before we arrived at this island, which turned out to be wise move since the few ATMs here don't want to dispense us anything. While at the ATM today trying all our cards we saw a posted note from some dispirited traveller saying that the machine didn't return her VISA, and asked the operator to return it to her. Next to this note was another note from a different traveler that said she had the lady's VISA and provided her an address to pick it up. There were no other notes but I hope it all worked out. I can imagine it must be very tough to lose your card, especially if it is your only source of cash. That's a cautionary tale for all travellers - always have a backup plan if your card is swallowed.

So this weekend is Thanksgiving in Canada and it makes us think of home. While I understand the weather is a little cold and wet in Ottawa this weekend, it still would be nice to spend time with family and friends. Catheleen and I reminisced today about past Thanksgivings at the farm in Mayo, Quebec, where we enjoyed the hospitality and company of family, enjoyed the farm and surroundings, and experienced the fall coloured leaves. We'll need to have something for dinner tomorrow night in celebration. No turkey here though so we'll need to stick to Nasi Goreng (fried rice with chicken), and perhaps pretend it's turkey with stuffing. Or maybe we'll just have the fish.

Here's a foot selfie.