I had been sick for a week, I should mention. Like, I went to bed as soon as I got home from work sick. Death on a stick. I felt better the Friday before and that morning, so thought it would be all right. It was not all right. Trekking uphill with a cough and a sinus headache on top of allergies = deathwish. Seriously. This was me:
Down was all right. We got totally lost and ended up on an animal trail on the other side of the island, and followed that back to the ferry. It was an adventure, and I felt better at that point because we'd stopped for lunch and medicine. You can kind of see the path here:
The view was gorgeous, don't get me wrong. And the "wildlife" was very accommodating to tourists.
I can appreciate the beauty of nature. I think almost anyone can appreciate the beauty of nature. I'm just one of those people who prefer to appreciate it from inside an air conditioned glass walled room where said nature can't touch me. I don't like bugs, I don't like sun, I don't like heat or cold, and I don't like hiking, camping, or climbing. Still. Sometimes it's good to break out of your comfort zone to remind yourself of why you were in it in the first place. After this hike I was ready to flee in terror back to my cave. Except we were going to the beach next, and I can forgo, temporarily, the comfort of my cave for the beach.
The beach! First day at the beach this summer. Was awesome. Really FREAKING cold, but awesome. I had to swim in shorts and a t-shirt because I'd forgotten my swimsuit, but it wouldn't be the first time (I've stripped and swum in my underwear before, because not even lack of a suit and naked shame can keep me out of the ocean), and probably not the last.
We went to a semi deserted beach a little farther up the peninsula, and the waves were nice enough that we were sharing them with surfers. The surfers moved over a bit for us though, once they realized that we were insane enough to attempt swimming even though it was cold and dangerous. It was a mostly enclosed beach, with rocks on either side, maybe about the size of a football field, or not quite that big. The rocks on one side had a huge opening that narrowed off into a small cave, which was really neat.
The rocks on the other side were pretty sharp and high, and covered in this sharp shells of some kind of crustacean. On the other side of these rocks I noticed another mini beach with what looked like a totally awesome cave, and I tried to go there. Note, I forgot to tell my friends, who at this point were drying off and preparing to leave, where I was going.
I tried to walk around the rocks, the water was about hip level, but it suddenly dropped off sharply and I couldn't tell how deep it went. Deep ocean water scares me stupid, so I tried to go around that by going over the rocks. Not such a great idea, considering they were covered with the sharp barnacle things. I realized this as soon as I attempted it, and tried to get back down to find another way. And then the tide came in. I ended up being repeatedly smashed into the rocks, and had to struggle to get down and off in between waves. I did manage, though I shredded my hands and legs and feet.
By the time I managed to get off the rocks and out of the waves, my friends had noticed I'd gone missing. The water where we were was completely clear, totally gorgeous, and they were yelling my name and searching frantically for my drowned body. They have much faith in my swimming abilities. This faith in my natural delicate grace was not helped when I finally got back dripping wet and bleeding.
I'm still annoyed I didn't make it to the other small beach. I feel thwarted, but plan to return. Probably a bit earlier in the day, when the waves aren't so rough.
All in all it was exhausting, and more nature than strictly necessary was involved, but I had a really good time.
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