Well… eventually you have to get off the boat and go explore the area around you. Brother Mic goes hiking several times a week, usually to a beach across the hills while I go to Yoga. I generally love hiking and love the outdoors but I am still not adapted to the heat here. I am not sure I could handle hiking in the afternoon heat here.
So Mic and I decided that once a week, in the early morning, before it gets too hot, we will go for a hike together. We found out from other cruisers that there are some cool trails to hike across the other bay. I guess someone tried to develop like a retirement community here a few years ago but something happened and the money fell out. So there is a partly completed subdivision out there. There are wide dirt roads with lots subdivided off it and cool little paths out to the blow holes in the rocks along the shore.
We hiked there last week just Mic and I but this week we went back again with our friend Bryan from Texas. We took my dinghy over to Bryan’s boat and then took Bryan’s dinghy across the bay to land it on the little sand beach there because Bryan’s dinghy is the fast big one. The bays are always calm in the mornings and get pretty windy in the afternoons… so we wanted to get back home before it got too windy in the Bay.
I have been trapped in the prison of the boat for such a long time I had almost forgotten how much I enjoy hiking in the outdoors. This place is suffering thru a severe drought this year and the forest was pretty dry, trees dying and shedding their leaves, but maybe that was also why there were no bugs, no mosquitoes. It has been almost 2 years since I have been able to enjoy a nice hike and this place was great.
As we hiked along the wide clear roads you could see the vision of the developer, this place would have probably been pretty cool if they had been able to finish it. You still have to watch out though for small fallen branches off some of the thorny trees because they have these 2-3 inch sharp spikey thorns on them. Mic was wearing foam Crocks (type of sandal/water shoe) and several times he got spikes right thru to pierce his foot. I was sure to wear my sneakers as I knew the rocks along the cliffs are volcanic and very sharp.
At the back of many of the estates there is often a small walking path leading to the blow holes along the waters edge. At the corner of the channel entrance there is this great viewing platform with a spectacular view over the ocean. We see it all the time when we park out there to make water and it was nice to get to explore the area from land.
The shoreline here is made up of sharp volcanic rock which has many fissures and water worn caves that have formed from the action of the ocean wearing away at the rock for millions of years. These stairs, part of the recent development, (maybe 10 years ago) used to be attached to the cliff face and in such a short time have fractured and separated from the cliff relatively recently. It is a pretty cool place to explore though.
Although we were hiking there in the morning, therefore the winds and waves were pretty calm, and without much wave action the blow holes were pretty calm, we still got some video of the cool phenomena. It is interesting how you can hear the water rushing thru the caves and cracks below your feet then suddenly it bursts up from these hidden holes. The rocks around the blow holes are white with salt and most of them are lined with little crabs.
While we were exploring the cliffs yesterday (Saturday) we saw some of the sailboats from the Cambiasso sailing club thingy here going out for a lovely afternoon sail. What is cool about the cruiser community here is that some of the ex-pats formed a sailing group and on Saturdays they get permission from the local Navy commandant to go out as a group for a day sail. Usually those so motivated talk with each other and form crews together and share the experience. They are very welcoming to new sailors and it is a cool chance to enjoy an easy day sail for those that have been here a long time. It was nice to see sailboats with full sails out on the Ocean again, pretty rare sight around here.
After exploring the coast we found an abandoned half built estate home to explore. You can see from the basic structure that the home would have been beautiful had they been able to finish developing it, 4 car garage, great room, and large open spaces. As we explored around some of the rooms we eventually came to a few small dark rooms/ closets without windows. I screamed and ran off like a girl when bats started swarming out of the darkness, Mic was laughing and recording my flight to safety.
The running joke with us for the rest of the day was that we found BatMan’s secret vacation lair but Robin was not home either. Actually further down the coast there are a few cool caves in the cliffs to explore. There is one awesome cave like 30 feet deep and big enough for probably 6 people to camp in if they wanted to. Very cool place to explore.
I am still mostly made of chicken meat so I sent the brave Knights into the cave first to make it safe for the princess. Mostly I was worried about spiders or snakes but the place was clear. You can see someone tried to make a campfire inside the cave but I am sure that worked out poorly as there would be no place for the smoke to go so it would have smoked out the cave. The air in there was still a tiny bit cooler than the air outside in the sunshine.
Eventually by around 11am it was beginning to get too hot outside to continue the hike. We were all soaked with sweat and it was a long hike back in the hot sun to get back to the dinghy. I started getting heat stroke again and passed out and had to rest in the shade to continue the hike.
I have learned that people like me from colder climates actually literally have thicker blood than people from hotter climates. People born and raised in hot places have thinner blood. They are literally biologically more able to cope with the heat. I have seen locals wearing pants and long sleeve shirts on days when I am about to keel over from the heat wearing as little clothing as possible. I am beginning to wonder how long it will take my blood / body to adapt to living in a hot climate?
I actually dearly miss Canada… I miss snow…Â I miss winter…Â I miss being cold…Â I miss being “not hot” every single day… I miss sleeping in bed at night in a room cool enough to actually wear a blanket… I miss wearing jammies to bed… I miss room temperature…
But I guess sweating in the heat everyday is my new normal…
Cheers