Location: Mt. Qua Qua and Seven Sisters Waterfalls
After 20 days, it seems that we’ve all settled into our new way of life. Things are easier as we know the regular routine and have done a full circle around the job wheel, experiencing all the duties needed to keep our vessel running and clean from day to day. I’ll go ahead and get the mentioning of the meals out of the way since we all put such an emphasis on food. Chef Ellie and Sou Chef Ryan prepared a breakfast of filling eggs and toast. We packed lunches of PB and J and finished our day with delicious chicken tacos and cinnamon apple walnut fruit salad. Yummy! As for the events for today, they were of epic proportions. Right after breakfast, we got ourselves together to head out on a hike up Mt. Qua Qua. It was full of luscious vegetation, including razor grass, that proved to cut nearly everyone without realizing it. The hike was absolutely amazing!!! Long and very muddy, it offered amazing views of all sides of the island and brought us to the top of the mountain, where we sat upon a giant boulder. The wind whipped up and over the peak so quickly, and the clouds that seemed to be right overhead zoomed past. It was such a rewarding moment and truly a perfect way to spend our morning hours. We finished up the trail just before lunch and branched off another way on our way down. Here, we came to a small lake, with gazebos and tables to facilitate our ability to take a load off and refuel with our sandwiches and goldfishies. It was such a peaceful setting to do so, and once we were done, we were off to walk down in the opposite direction from which we came. The road winded through the reserve and down the mountainside until we reached our next destination…a short hike to seven sister’s waterfalls! With the help of our very well-informed guide, Super Butterfly, we were taken down yet another muddy trail to see nothing but a 40ft waterfall, with another jump below it. Once we hiked up around the back, there were a series of seven waterfalls to jump from. Starting at the top, with smaller sizes, we sprung from rocks into refreshing pools. It was absolutely exhilarating…especially once we accomplished five and came to the big one. Everyone jumped from the falls, some with only moments of hesitation, some with flips, some with screams, and some with fear of heights. Regardless, all of us shared an amazing, once-in-a-lifetime experience together. It was an incredible day…another one to add to the list! Such a tiresome day but absolutely worth it. Now it’s time for a Student Leadership Development class, and then it’s time to study for both an oceanography quiz and a marine bio test tomorrow. I’ve never loved class and tests so much, especially with how we get to spend our days. This is truly an amazing experience and a gift to be onboard. There isn’t a day we don’t appreciate and nothing we’re not ready to explore or learn about. Interests and spirits are high, and I only see the group progressing as the days wear on. As many of us have said…we’re living out our dreams. Things are getting crossed off bucket lists left and right…and we couldn’t be happier about it…it’s reality!