Pitufa.at

We’re still in the Baie Angui on the little island of Taravai. It’s windy again, but at least we’re partly protected here (some gusts make it over the hills) and it’s been sunny for two days. We’ve learned that the weather changes so quickly here that one really has to take advantage of good weather to go snorkeling/hiking – if you try to finish a project first, it might be rainy again when you’re ready to leave We’re the only boat in ‘our’ bay, this side of Taravai is unpopulated (a few families live on the other side), no tracks lead here, but the grassy hills behind the bay looked so tempting that we decided this morning to put on hiking boots, long trousers and to give it a try. Maybe it’s a typical Austrian obsession that we always want to get up mountains, just because they’re there We beached the dinghy on a tiny white beach and looked doubtfully up at the dense vegetation: the curtain of palm trees, dragontrees, pine trees, ferns and reed seemed impenetrable. What looked like grass from afar, turned out to be about 2.5 m high weed, dotted with spiky shrubs and dense patches of fern. We slowly made our way uphill and were soon covered in scratches. We changed tactics and tried to walk mainly under the pine trees, where the vegetation is less spiky, but the needle-covered ground’s quite slippery. After about an hour we were standing on the ridge of the hill, sweating and itchy from all the scratches, but feeling like genuine explorers. The view of the neighbouring bay to the south and of our bay with Pitufa in the azure water in between fringe reefs and and coral patches glittering in different shades under the deep blue sky was more than enough reward for a little discomfort.