Dugongs spotted! As we enjoyed our morning coffee on the bow, I spotted a dugong twice as it surfaced for a breath. A bit far to swim to it so just a spotting. But they are around.
Late morning we piled into the dinghy with our snorkeling gear. Families were enjoying the Sunday day on the beach as we laced up our shoes and headed down the road. Just a jungle road for the first 2/3 of the way before a few homes, a homestay, and then we were in a village with a church and number of schools and some traffic. It was about a 5km walk from the bay to Million Dollar Point.
We walked down the entrance way and over to where we could see rusting parts of military hardware. I was grabbing a snack before our snorkel when someone walked up to us. Andrew explained it was private property and there was a 1,000 vatu charge per person. While Carl and I dove, Roxy chose to sit this one out and had an enjoyable conversation with Andrew.
The beach was littered with tons of glass making it a risky walk to the water. No cut feet, we slid into the murky water with low expectations. As we got further from shore the visibility improved and soon we were spotting huge sunken ships and other heavy equipment. Lots of free diving down to check out the rusting hulls and the schools of fish they attracted. We moved parallel to shore from pile to pile of trucks, tractors, tires, all kinds of abandoned equipment. As it started to thin out we swam towards shore and took in the smaller parts, including railroad rails, building trusses and more trucks. It exceeded my expectations, as I assumed most would be completely rusted into small pieces. Coming out of the water, I was super glad we made the hike.
One last climb to the top of the lighthouse while Carl and Roxy began the hike back. It had gotten hot and it was decided we would hitchhike or get a taxi back. It wasn’t too long before a car pulled over. A nice couple were willing to give a ride to a bunch of gringos. We learned they are both teachers and had been visiting grandparents before returning home. Super nice people, dropping us off at the intersection of the road make our return just a short walk. Awesome!
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