A couple of weeks ago I had my first friend from home come and visit. We had a great time and some very memorable moments.
Friday I took the day off work and we went up to Tobacco Bay to do some snorkeling. As we swam into an alcove (only word I can think of), I noticed thousands of these little fish coming with us. They are tiny minnow type fish, only smaller and they reflect different colours in the sun. By the time we'd swam all the way in, we were surrounded by hundreds of thousands of them. I'm not even exaggerating. We just kind of hovered over them in awe. There were so many, you could not see through them. If only I had a water proof camera (we all know what happens to me, cameras and water).
We went from swimming with fish to eating them, as our next stop was to the Black Horse Tavern in St. David's which specializes in local fish dishes. We both had Wahoo fish with peas and rice (very traditional).
But the best day was definitely Saturday because 3 of us rented a boat for the first time. The rental company's website assured me that you didn't have to have any experience driving one before, and that they'd provide us with maps and everything we needed (including a cooler filled with ice, of course). Although we'd had quite the late night, or rather 'early morning' from Friday night happy hour, we managed to drag our asses to the dock in time for our brief driving instructions.
Each of us had a turn during the day, and on my first go I had to get across the open water towards a large bridge. Unfortunately I realized at one point that I was headed straight for what looked like a sailing lesson. The boats looked like they were going in a big circle, and I tried to see if I should go to the left or right of them. However each way didn't look like a good idea. So the solution? Go right through the middle of them!
We anchored a few times at the 'sights' indicated on the rather poor map. One of these stops was at a ship wreck that sticks right out of the water called "The Vixen". I put the snorkel gear on to investigate. As expected, I saw a lot of fish as under the water, the wreck was covered in coral.
When I returned to the boat, I saw the other 2 girls throwing bread into the water and then watching these big fish swarm the area. I had a very bright idea that it would be fun for them to throw the bread around me and then take my picture with the fish. Unfortunately I got a little spooked because although you could see the fish from the boat, I couldn't from where I was, and so was not sure if/when I'd feel them against my legs. The following pictures are the result of this photo op.
Final stop was paradise lakes where I was trying to co-ordinate a raft-up with a couple of other friends on boats. Although it was brief, it was a nice way to end the day before getting the boat back to the boat on time and in one piece.
For more photos: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=155527&l=4150e&id=658425205
