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Published: August 20th 2011
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Diving
Laura trying to replicate my expertise. Dear Blog Readers,
Welcome to Part 7 of the Philippine Blogs! You can read the other parts by clicking the links below:
Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 We decided to make the most of the day after our sloth-like experiences the day before but the early morning start was difficult. We groggily made our way down for some pancakes for breakfast and grabbed our keys to the motorbike. We quickly scanned the map for the route to Magapunko. Our journey from the Boardwalk would take just over an hour and take us through the heart of Siargao island. We crept through small villages where the children screamed, waved and chased after the bike. The roads were constantly being renovated, and like England, nobody seemed to be working on them. The odd workmen that we saw were idly chatting in groups and smiling and waving as we went past. It was typical of the atmosphere and vibe of the island and we loved it.
The terrain changed frequently from rocky roads, tarmac and gravel. For a ridiculously novice driver, this meant my skills were truly being put to the test. Our destination, Magapunko, was 2km north
Motorbike
Revving the Hondo Xtreme! of Pilar. Here, off a beaten track, lay an abundance of lagoon type rock pools. The rock formations were impressive and we timed it perfectly so that the tide was low and we had the place to ourselves. The pools were crystal clear and deep. We took some snorkels to check out the coral lining the pools.
The huge rocks surrounding the pools were sharp but high enough to do some cool dives from. Some Americans turned up after about an hour and complained about how high it was. Laura was having none of it and scampered up before flourishing a perfectly executed somersault dive. The Americans fell silent in awe of what had just happened. I precariously clambered up to the top and executed an inch-perfect ‘running bomb’ followed by a 10 from the judges for my ‘belly-flop’.
After a couple of hours fun, we headed back to General Luna and made it back just in time to refuel. We passed a hotel called ‘Shat’s Guesthouse’ before getting to Siargao Inn for some lunch. The food wasn’t great but they had a really adorable dog called Bruno which I wanted to take back with us. In the
Shat's Guesthouse
Probably not a great place to stay! afternoon we went out for a surf and Kyron videoed me surfing. Kyron was premiering his new surf movie, ‘Three Days In July’ the night we were leaving Siargao. Luckily he’d finished making the DVDs so we could take one home with us. He also films and makes surf videos so I decided to get one done. The waves were really good for a beginner and he’s made me look a million times better than the two lessons experience that I had! You can check out the video by clicking
here.
There was a fancy restaurant near our hotel which was owned by a Frenchman. Laura and I had been planning to go there for our final dinner on the island and the food was exceptional. Laura got to speak French with the owner and behind us was a table full of French people. I felt like I was in a weird dream/nightmare film noir!
We settled down for the evening in front of the TV watching a movie called Post Grad which is about a girl who finishes university and struggles to find a job. It was painfully familiar. The weather report that followed informed us of
Ruined
Laura, "This would have been my favourite photo of the holiday but you're in it." an approaching typhoon off the coast of the Philippines. We went to sleep thinking we might be left on the island!
Tink and Laura
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Roxi
non-member comment
erm..
I can safely say that is the ugliest dog I have ever seen and I am probably not the only one who is glad you couldn't bring it home :)