Our Palauan Home

Nathan & I moved into our apartment on Thursday. We were both keen to move from the hotel to our dwellings so we could have some space, cook our own food & get out of the air conditioned rooms & get used to the environment- seriously my skin & hair had been so dry from moving in & out of so many air conditioned spaces!!

The area we have moved to is called Ngermid. The apartments are called Sechedui (pronounced se-e-dui, the ch is a gap in the word). The locals believe this area to be very far out of town & keep offering to find us closer accommodation.  Quite frankly, I'm happy to be a little out of town, plus I'm only a 15min drive to work. We live a 3 min drive from a beautiful snorkelling sight called Nikko Bay. The water is so warm & calm that we have been snorkelling almost everyday.

Nikko Bay

View from our bedroom balcony

There is also a basketball & volleyball court down there as well. I can see us spending some time down there. The water is so clear & it drops off really fast so I've been reinforcing my confidence in open water swimming. Speaking of which, each year they have an open water swimming competition & I have decided to add this to my goal list. With the confidence I feel now I think I'd be able to easily do the 500 m comp. 

We have had a number of invites to diving & other activities but need to wait for our social security numbers so that we can get the local rate. So that will come eventually. For the meantime snorkelling is pretty good. Yesterday I actually saw a sea turtle & some school of large fish (I need to swot up on their names). That was very cool!

The rental places here come mostly furnished but we have had to provide linen, kitchen stuff, tv & stereo, so we kind of feel like really poor uni students at the moment. Nathan & I have assessed everything we need & are currently living on what we consider the bare minimum. As a nutritionist who works around food security space this has been an interesting exercise. So far we have 4 plastic dinner plates, cutlery set, 1 mug, 2x glasses, 4 bowls, wok, med pot, 2 chopping boards plus a couple of different cooking utensils. So we have to be creative with how we cook.  The can opener broke first use, so it was lucky I packed my pocket knife. 

Food here is hit & miss. With the US & Japanese influence you can get plenty of package & jarred foods- at a cost. Fresh fruit is pretty much non-existent & the tinned stuff is expensive. Veggies are ok & I've been opting for the local varieties as they are more reliable. We did go to the fish market today & bought a whole red snapper for $6.75- caught fresh today! So we will have an entree of sashimi & then fish & veggies for dinner. 

We don't have the Internet, tv or a stereo so I think Nathan is feeling a little sensory deprivation. I've been trying to fill my time with different things & am thinking about teaching myself the guitar (tips anyone??). But I've discovered that I'm a potterer! Who knew?!? I think living here it's essential that one has a hammock as well. It's so warm & chilled out that read & napping the afternoon away whilst laying in a hammock is the only sensible thing to do! 

So in Palau there seems to be loads of chickens, dogs & roosters all living in harmony. The roosters generally start calling from 4am, although last night one started at 12.30! After a very rough first night in our new place I have taken to wearing earplugs. I think I am getting a little used to them now. The locals tie the roosters to trees in their yards & we had one situated under our window on the first night. Apparently it's got something to do with cock fighting. Roosters are territorial & will fight each other. I've seen a few size each other up but nothing more than you would see on a wildlife special on them.