Weather: Hot and Sunny
We got up at 5:30 this morning to watch the sunrise. It was beautiful, but we were really tired! We walked the length of the island, occasionally getting pissed on by more cicadas.
At the end, there was a little bench where we sat down and stared at the ocean. It’s so peaceful in the morning. There’s no one on the beach (except for the one family that looked like they camped out there overnight). At around 7:00 we headed back for our buffet breakfast, which was amazing!
They had sausage, eggs benedict (with Salmon instead of taylor ham, pancakes, waffles, tropical fruit, cereal, and mango juice 
(Hilary’s favorite!). At around 9:30, we took a glass-bottom boat ride around the reef! We saw a lot of fish and coral. There were so many Japanese tourists on the boat that we couldn’t hear the pilot explaining everything. We did see clams that weighed 2 tons! Imagine how much chowder you could make with that!
After the boat dropped us back off at the dock, we wanted to see more, so we went out further with our snorkel gear. They took us out on the boat! We saw everything in a new dimension! 
We didn’t see many fish, but we did see coral that must have been 20 meters tall! (I have to use the metric system here) :) We had our picture taken by the guy who took us out on the boat, and we were able to get the digital pictures on CD-ROM! Hilary is like a snorkeling junkie now! She wanted to go to the “drop-off” but I told her that’s where the dangerous fish could be and she wanted to keep going, anyway! She’s come a long way from the last time we went snorkeling in Hawaii.
We still couldn’t get enough underwater viewing, so we went to the underwater observatory on the pier. We saw pretty much the same things as before, except there were some sea urchins and anemones.
Inside the anemones were two clown fish! (Like Nemo) It was hard to take pictures, but I did my best. The underwater observatory itself was interesting. It’s the oldest of its kind in the world. The walls are seven inches thick and the portholes are from World War II army vessels. I also kept butting my head on the low ceiling.
After climbing back up to the dock, it was time for the crocodile show at the maritime museum. We saw really big turtles! They were feeding them salad and dog food. As part of the show, everyone got to have their picture taken holding a baby crocodile, quite possibly the most evil-looking creature that is still alive. So I held it! Anything for a good photo op!
The crocodiles themselves were really freaky. They would hide in the mud under some green plants, and move around with only their eyes and nose out of the water. You could barely see them!
They really did blend in with their surroundings out of the water, too. But once feeding time started, they made themselves quite visible. Sometimes, the crocs would miss the food, and their jaws would slam shut so fast that it would make a giant 
thumping sound. The largest croc we saw was twelve feet, but the absolute largest one there (and the largest captured crocodile) was Cassius (at 18 feet!!) That’s almost two stories tall (nose to tail).
They had a few more clown fish in the museum, as well. After the show was over, a bird had flown into a croc’s cage. The croc saw it and slowly stalked its prey. We waited for 10 minutes, but the bird never made it close enough to the croc for him to make his move.
After the croc feeding frenzy, I was feeling a bit peckish myself, so I ordered a genuine Australian Super dog!After that we lounged on the beach for the rest of the day! It was a little more crowded until 4:00, when the “day-trippers” left. And even then, it wasn’t that crowded by New Jersey shore standards.
Hilary wanted to get cleaned up, so she headed back to the room, while I watched the sun dip below the water. I just sat there, read my book and listened to the ocean. It was another “ Corona” moment. Except this time, I tried aSterling light beer (Australian).
While showering, I did verify that water drains clockwise here! It looks so strange! We went to dinner (our last on the island), 
and had fairly traditional meals (fish and chicken). On the way back from dinner, we were strolling along and we heard a slight rustling, then a palm frond fell right where we were just standing five seconds earlier! I think it was the Island’s way of saying, “Get the hell out!”We caught up with the nature walk with our guide, Erin, who was born and raised in the area. She was very energetic and could speak fluent Japanese! We went into the underwater observatory, along with about 80 other people (mostly Japanese). It got very cramped and hot very quickly, so we didn’t spend a lot of time there.
Afterwards, we all stood in a circle and made rain sounds with our hands. It was like camp! It also reminded me of “Cloudburst ” in college. [clap] MAHOOOOOOOOH!!!
Anywho, we were really tired after that, so we called it a night.
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