trip To Aore

written 22-May-2010
Today took us to Aore Adventist Secondary School. It was an adventure, a very damp adventure. The weather has changed and rain, rain, and more rain has descended on us.


First thing this morning, Brandon's cousin who drives a pickup for public transport, came by to pick us up.  Supposedly, he knew where we could catch a boat to take us across the channel to Malo island and then on to Aore island.  Karl has wanted to go see the SDA school at Aore and has been talking about it since before arrival.  We get out to what looks like the middle of nowhere and our driver, Glifford, pulls off his t-shirt and starts waving it at a boat that is already well on its way across the channel.  After a bit, they apparently see the flagging and turn around to come back to pick up another fare.  Around the point, a second boat hoves into view and the two boatmen reach some kind of understanding... and the second one comes closer while the first turns and heads out again.  When close enough, the boatman shouts to us to go farther along the coast to another spot where he will pick us up.  So, we jump back into the pickup and change venue.

When he boatman gets in at the new site, guess what... he is low on fuel and we will need to wait while he runs up to his place and gets a bit of a refill.  Of course all this will be faster if our driver takes him.

They eventually return and surprise, he doesn't have enough fuel to take us all the way around the island to the school, but if we are willing to walk on a foot trail that leads from a beach on the closest side, we will come into the school property through the farm (cattle and coconut groves).  In the mean time it has started to rain.  Glifford pulls out a blue tarp from the back of the pickup and we grab a couple umbrellas we brought from the transit flat.  We slosh on board and are off.

Within just minutes we are pretty much wet all over.  But hey, it is an adventure.  We reach the beach and our "captain" makes arrangements to come back over to the school's jetty to pick us up in the late afternnon.  And then, surprise, surprise... he finds someone on the shore that he can bum a little fuel off of so he'll have enough to get back to Santo.

When the time comes for us to head back that afternoon... no boat and driver.  We call his cell and he says he is about half way there.  When he arrives... surprise, he needs extra fuel, because it is getting dark and he will need to travel faster and therefore use more fuel.   Brandon manages to pull out another "hat trick" with one of his many relatives that we keep running into since arriving in Santo, and more fuel appears. 

With the day heading into late afternoon and rain continuing to fall, our captain (name of Fudie) gets into some shallow water and the engine gets yanked up to save the prop.  Now we need to move the boat out of the shallow area, but how do we do that?  Easy.  The floor boards are not bolted down next to the edges, you simple lift up the 2 x 6 plank and voila, you now have a divise to push you along.  Finally, we are out of the shallows and the motor is down and pushing us on our way.  Then Captain Fudie says that he will need to go back to where he left us off earlier in the day and return the fuel he borrowed from them.  Okay.  We go back toward the Aore shore after about 15 minutes and he hollers to a kid on the bank.  Then tosses a gas can (plastic) into the shallows for the kid to pickup and pulls back out.  Then the man has second thoughts.  He turns around and heads back into shore, takes a quick run down the beach, disappears into the bushes for a minute then comes running back up the beach, jumps in and we are off. 

Of course we get soaked again on the way back.  Via cell phone, we know that Glifford is on his way, but not there when we reach Santo.  Captain Fudie insists that we really must go up to his house an not stand out in the rain.  About that time, Glifford's lights shine through the lush growth above the beach.  All's well that ends well.