Fa-ilolo & Airport

Last Saturday we woke up to rain and rain and rain. The rain clouds looked like they covered the whole island. Luckily they didn't. Just a little way past Leone, the storm clouds stopped. The rest of the island looked like it was being rained upon while we were treated to a beautiful day of sun and a nice sandy beach at Failolo.

Sunday we hiked out to Airport Beach. It was a beautiful hike through the bush and past the blow holes.

The first time we went there, we had to leave quickly because Simon fell and cut himself on the coral. This time we were able to spend all day there and the snorkeling was incredible! It was the first time that I found myself in the middle of at least a thousand fish -twice! I was surrounded by schools of several different kinds of fish. They were all fish I'd seen before -six barred wrasse, clematis, moorish idols, and in such huge numbers all at once. I was impressed. And I saw a long-nose filefish. I love the colors and unusual shape of its nose. I hope we can get a digital water camera soon because I'd love to get some of my own photos of all these fish!

When we got home, we went through the usual routine of fighting over the fish identification books to mark which fish we saw. Simon, frustrated that he couldn't find the fish he had seen and really liked, sat down and drew this picture of a small blue and yelow fish with black vertical stripes. Even after trying to match his drawing with the fish identification book, we still haven't figured out which fish he saw.