Lightbulb moment

You know, I'm living in the Torres Strait - one of the most beautiful places on this planet - and up until now, I haven't done much about it. Yes - I go for walks, especially along the foreshore, and I do appreciate the scenery - in fact I love the scenery. The water that surrounds T.I. is a sparkling aquamarine and the neighbouring islands are within touching distance. It truly nurtures your soul to sit and take in this amazing vista.

Today, for only the second time since I've been up here, I went out in one of the pilot boats. We picked up a pilot from a small cargo ship from the Goodes Island pilot boarding ground. What that means is that we came up alongside the ship, both vessels slowed down to 8 knots, and the pilot came on board. Usually the pilot has to come down a rope ladder, but as the ship was low in the water, he simply stepped from ship to boat.  The while trip took us just over an hour.

Coming back to T.I.

Goodes Island - the pick up was off shore from here

Goodes Island - taken from the boarding ground

As you can see the water was calm and the day was perfect. The pilot boat, the Bindy, is very comfortable - it has a galley, bunks, an upper deck and a lower deck from where I took these photos. Rob and I shared a wine on the way back while he threw a line overboard and half-heartedly tried to catch a fish.

After our boat trip, Rob and I went for a quick dip in the water along the foreshore. It's a very pretty and popular spot and together with other families we enjoyed the warm weather and even warmer water. Crocs? - well, you don't go swimming early morning or evening and there are certain spots where they tend to hang out. Am I a local or what? When I first arrived up here I wouldn't even go near the water, let alone go in it. (Luckily my Mum doesn't have a computer - she would freak out reading this)

OK - so what's my light bulb moment? I'm going to do this more often. I'm going to take advantage of where I'm living and the fact that my partner works in an area where going out on the water is as common as going out in a car. I'm going to visit the foreshore every day, if I can, and either just sit and take in the scenery or go that one step further and actually become part of the scenery - sort of like becoming at one with nature.

After the stresses and down times of the past few weeks, this is exactly what I needed to nurture myself and my spirit. I had fallen into a rut whereby I could have been anywhere and not here on this beautiful tropical island. But today, I remembered where I am ...... and I don't intend to forget.

 I am living on T.I. - and life is good!