10/04/11 Curieuse Island Week 1

On any average Friday morning at 6am, you may not expect to encounter 12 enthusiastic volunteers, but as we climbed aboard the ferry to Praslin it was the only way to describe us. We were meeting people from all around the globe – our mates for our time here. After being introduced to the infamous Dexter – our beautiful boat - we all got the chance to ride her over to our island home for the next five or ten weeks. Finally we had arrived! We were greeted by the rest of the lovely Curieuse staff who began to educate us in the ways of island living.

We were thrown head first into the madness of Curieuse Island, no time for napping in the beach front hammocks or love seat, as we embarked on our marine training. We got stuck into diving by Saturday and now we are well on the way to becoming Advanced Open Water divers! Our dives were off to a flying start – we had our first introductions to the coral we would be focused on, and even managed to spot oursleves some megafauna! (Megafauna being the posh marine way of saying Squirt, Crush, Bruce and gang of Finding Nemo fame)

Mothers Day was off to a bang with machete orientation, giving us all an insight into who’s good side we’ll be staying on... Who knew petite Scottish girls were so fierce with large blades?! With Monday came the removal of our training wheels and we became responsible for the base. After the great food cooked by the staff, our last meal being pizza and the newly discovered delight of fried breadfruit, we were wondering how we would ever compare. Turns out all those hours watching Nigella and Australian Masterchef paid off... lentils have never tasted so good!

10/04/11 Curieuse Island Week 1