Last week we arranged for a boat to take us and our buddy Fuanes out to the Rock Islands for a bit of paddling. Shauna and I hadn't ever been to the Western Lagoon so that's where we headed first.

We paddled around Soft Coral Arch and Natural Arch. The winds weren't as kind as we had hoped. They were kicking up the water a bit.

We're still in the middle of a bunch of less than perfect paddling weather, but we just couldn't take it anymore. We took our chances and headed out to explore the far end of Nikko Bay on a couple of cloudy, wet days.

The first day, Christmas Eve, was all about  . . .

exploring caves - some so small we had to paddle on our bellies,

It's been just over a week and I think we have done pretty well adjusting to life in Palau. We are trying to let go a lot of our American ways of doing things and take on a more Palauan style. Let me play a bit of show and tell to describe some of the new parts of our lives.

We have running water (some Palauans don't, by the way). We live a concrete house with plumbing, but we also have a water tank out back (along with another home that is just feet away).

 

Anyway that tank collects rainwater. We can come around the back of our house, turn the spigot and get water from here, when the running water is cutoff, limited, or delayed by the government for various reasons. We get a ton of rain so this collecting and using rainwater makes total sense.

 We began making our new (temporary) home in Palau right away. We arranged a long-term rental at Tree-D Hotel for a very decent rate - $600 a month. We had a simple two-bedroom apartment, complete with a full kitchen, some basic cooking tools, air conditioners in every room, and cable tv. The staff picked us up from the airport and made sure we were all set. They have been nothing but helpful. It's a 10-15 walk minute to downtown.  We would recommend that anyone staying in Koror for an extended period of time might want to consider making this your home away from home.

We got a lot done in our first few days here. We got a cell phone, found a house to rent (cutting our time short at Tree-D), and gotten a loud message from the voice of reality. We went to the post office to see if the packages we mailed from the states had arrived. Back in the US, they told us that if we shipped our stuff parcel post that it would arrive in Palau in 10 days.  When we told the Palauan Post Office that, we got that look - the "you must be crazy" look. They informed us that it's more like 2-3 months! Uh-oh. We shipped five, 18 gallon containers filled with things we actually thought we would need, thinking they would get here just after we arrived. Time to adjust. Luckily we sent 3 more containers priority mail. Now back in the US, they told us these would take  3-5 days. Let's make that a week to 10 days. We should have known.  The folks in our local post office didn't even know where Palau was, and very little about how to ship stuff here. Oh well. This will just make the adventure that much more exciting.

Today, we officially purchased the boards we'll have available in Palau.  Thanks to the hardwork of Wardog of Surfingsports.com, these boards are now on their way to Koror.  We're looking forward to getting them out on the water.  Here's a pic of what we've got for you.