Too long, I know…..

It has been too long since I last wrote. It is amazing me how little time I have to sit down a write a blog, but I must keep trying!!! Please forgive the lack of underwater photos or video, they will come later…

 

So critter list….always one of the more important thing to know..so yes, we have seen Rhinopias (though they have been moving around recently), Wonderpus, Mimics (on our secret muck site on Baguala Bay), Ambon Scorpionfish, Algae Octopus, Mototi Octopus, Pygmy Seahorses, Seahorses, Pipefish, Flamboyant  Cuttlefish, Bobtail Squid, Madonna’s Bra, many Frogfish, Harlequin Shrimp, Hairy Squat Lobster, White Tip Sharks, Eagle Rays, Bumpheads, Maori Wrasse, Barracuda, Turtles, many beautiful Reef fish, Blue Spotted Rays, Bumblebee Shrimp, Scorpionfish, Tozeuma Shrimp, Long Arm Octopus, many nudis, Flatworms, many Morays (including many giant Green and Blackspotted), Ghost Pipefish (Ornate, Robust, Rough Snout, Halimeda and Velvet), Phantom Velvetfish, Giant Cuttlefish, Pygmy Cuttlefish, Broadclub Cuttlefish, Donald Duck Shrimp, Candy Crabs, Xeno Crabs, Maldivian Shrimp, Idiomysis and much much more.

It has been really great to find a muck site really close to the Dive Centre. It’s a light sand area and so far we’ve found Mimics, Long Arms, Flamboyants, Seahorses, nudis, Madonna’s Bra and a lot more. We are still exploring our local area and hope to find more great sites.

The Aston Hotel and now changed to the Natsepa Hotel. The owner has taken on the management in-house, rather than using the Aston Management Group and now there are rapid improvements being made to make your experience here even better.

And the other really exciting bit of news is that the jetty in front of the hotel is being constructed and will be completed in a few weeks. This will make life much easier for everyone.

 

And we finally received our furniture, which has pleased Barb immensely, especially as the cushions are red, her favourite colour..

 

And last, but certainly not least, even though it’s around 30C every day, Christmas is just two weeks away! Even Barb and I are not immune to the siren call of the festive season and we (Barb) have put up our first Christmas tree at the Dive Centre. The Ambonese people are all very lovely and friendly, and really want to help. When Barb bought the tree she couldn’t understand why they kept stopping her from leaving with the tree. They were talking, we thought, about delivering it later that day. OK, maybe they were out of stock. But after paying for it, and as Barb started to leave without the tree, then rushed over and insisted she took it. After a bit more time we finally realized that we could take the tree and they were just trying to organize a time for the Christmas Tree Installation Technician to come to the Dive Centre! As the tree is obviously not real it needs putting together and they wanted it done properly, not by me! And sure enough, a few hours later, a lovely lady came, put the tree together, added all the ornaments and we now have a wonderful tree…..and I must admit it looks a lot better than anything I could have done.

 

 

And thank you to all our great guests. without you none of this is possible. Already we’ve had guests from Canada, Indonesia, the States, the UK, Thailand, Holland and Singapore.