Beach Trip!

Thursday, August 25, 2016:

Thursday morning we all met in front of the school excited and ready to go to the beach!  It took quite a while for all the luggage and equipment to be loaded onto a small dump truck, and for everybody to find a seat in the taxis.   Even though the taxi have seats for 9 people, it’s really just a suggestion here in Papua.  So we cram into the taxis and zip into the traffic. 

Before I continue, let me paint a picture of what the inside of the taxis look like.  The seats are covered in plastic (so when it’s 95 degrees you can’t help but stick to the seats). All the windows are tinted so dark it is hard to see out.  And yes, that includes the windshield.  How the drivers here see the road is beyond me. Then on the dash they have some decorations.  Not just the fluffy dice that hang from the rear view window, but big stuffed animals, tissue boxes, and mirrors that serve no purpose but for looks.   Once I was in the taxi there wasn’t much I could do except laugh.  Which is what Paige and I did a lot of the way, because everything about the taxi ride was so out of our control we could either cry the entire way, or laugh at how crazy the situation became.

Anyways, as we weaved through the traffic in Sentani, the driver played with the radio.  I thought, “Oh good some music, that will be nice”… Wrong. I’m sure the music would have been nice to listen to but the bass in all of the taxis is turned up as loud as it will go. All you can hear (or feel rather) is the deep thud of the bass.  After a while I’m pretty sure my heart was beating to the irregular rhythm of the bass drum.  Another taxi began to race mine over the mountainous gravel, dirt, and sometimes concrete road. Let’s just say that ride put some of Six-Flags’ rides to shame.  Not to brag but my taxi eventually won (it may have something to do with the fact that we had the lady who knew where we were going, but still).

The taxis quite literally dropped us off at an almost empty harbor.  As soon as we were out of the taxis, they were gone again.  It was not in their job description to make sure the boats arrived, or help unload the truck.  The only 2 boats in the harbor was a fairly large barge, and a small wooden canoe with stabilizers on either side and a motor in the back.  In years past, Hillcrest has used such sea worthy vesicles, but I wasn’t so sure it would hold up in the choppy water.  I couldn’t tell if I was starting to sweat from being slightly nervous, or because there was no shade in the bay.  We all stood there looking around and lathering on the sunscreen. Finally, slightly bigger boats arrived.  Instead of traveling in a 4-person canoe, we were going to take an 8-person dinghy.  But again, the 8 person limit was really just a suggestion and so we crammed 11 people and as much luggage on the boats as possible.   The students were required to wear life jackets, but us teachers were not (partially because they ran out).  So I clung onto my camera for dear life as we pushed off the rickety dock and headed out of the mouth of the bay. 

Not 5 minutes away from the dock we ran into a large pod of dolphins.  They were fishing in a circular pattern and jumping beautifully out of the water.  One got so close to our boat I was worried that we would hit it.

As soon as we were out of the bay the water dramatically changed. We began hitting large swells.  Some so big we were airborne for a second and then would crash back onto the next wave. After about 30 minutes of bouncing and skimming over the waves we came around a point and entered a small cove.  The water only became clearer as we got closer to the shore.  The reef was so close to the surface that the boats could only enter the beach using a deeper channel.  As soon as we hit the sand it was mass chaos.  We had to quickly unload the boats of people and equipment to allow the other boats to enter.  And just like the taxis the boats were gone faster then you could blink.

The senior class had left Wednesday afternoon to set up camp, so when we arrived the kitchen, meeting areas, and bathrooms were already set up.  Ashley, Paige, and I found a tree that hung out near the water.  We quickly hung our hammocks, mosquito nets, and tarps so we could relax.  Out of my hammock I could watch the crystal clear waves, and the many crabs scurry by. 

We didn’t rest long though; we grabbed our snorkels and jumped into the water.  This was my first time snorkeling, and I’m hooked now.  It was breathtaking!  We would swim along with the coral just a few feet under us and then, almost with out warning, you would swim out over a drop off and be floating in limbo looking 50 feet down to the ocean floor.   I wish I could name all the fish we saw. We mostly saw small reef fish, some about the size of my fingernail. Others were maybe a foot or so long.  There was tangerine colored starfish, iridescent blue reef fish, lime green coral, dozens of sea cucumbers, angelfish, some small parrotfish, and trumpet fish.  But my absolute favorite find was when I was swimming around the edge of the reef and saw, probably 15 feet down, a pink anemone with 4 or 5 clown fish swimming in and out.  We were told that if you held your hand close to the anemone the clown fish would sometimes come up to your hand.  But none of us could stay still enough under the water or stay down long enough to see if this was true.

Needless to say, by Thursday evening we were all so exhausted it was hard to stay awake for their evening worship talk.   Maybe it was wrong of me, but when I heard that the school goes on a beach trip I assumed it would not be a very spiritual camp out.  I was so very wrong.  The talks that Uncle Dan had (the Bible teacher at Hillcrest) reminded me a lot of my Senior Survival week.  Every morning we had a quite devotional time, worship time, and a small group time.  Then every evening we had another worship talk.  I was immensely blessed by the sermonettes, and by the atmosphere.

We were also blessed to have bathrooms, and a fresh water shower out on the beach but it was not in the ways I was expecting.  The girl’s bathroom consisted of a 3-foot hole in the ground, with flat pieces of wood on either side. They were kind enough to put a tarp around it for privacy.  Even if the tarp made it a little steamy inside, and when the wind blew the tarp would blow up so you would get a nice view of the ocean (and everyone on the beach).  BUT it was a privacy tarp nonetheless. Our shower was just as beautifully rustic.  The beach naturally has a fresh water stream that feeds into the ocean.  So after walking back into the jungle a ways you would come to this small stream of water.  Someone had also created a showerhead by putting a long pipe from a higher up pool to create a nice flow of water. 

Our lovely bathroom

Saturday, August 27, 2016:

Shower!

            We had the same morning schedule with the worships, but we soon had to tear down everything.   With 70-ish people it was surprisingly calm.  Our boats arrived earlier than expected and again we piled as much as we could in each boat.  Basically, reversed the process of getting out to the beach.  The taxi ride back was nowhere near as eventful as going to the beach, but the music was still as loud as ever.

Once we got back to the school, I was so thankful to get in the car with Pastor Darron and get home for a less rustic shower (and to get the never-ending sand out of my hair).