Frankly, I was not prepared to see this place in the daylight. I woke up, walked outside, and just stood there. Is this real??? The Gump station is literally right on the water in Cook's Bay, which is surrounded by these insanely jagged, and strangely beautiful mountains on three sides, and opens up to absolutely perfect waves that peel over the fringe reef. After catching my breath, Maggie and I headed up to a view point of both bays in Moorea called the Belvedere. The drive was an adventure, as Maggie is a beginner at driving standard, and I haven't got much more knowledge aside from one very brief lesson with my oh-so-patient brother (not to mention the gas gage is broken). I was trying to be encouraging, but was so distracted by the trees and mountains and flowers and rocks... I'm afraid poor Maggie did most of the worrying on her own. I just had a good feeling about it, what can I say? It always works out somehow right? Well, it did. We made it, and it was unreal!!!That afternoon, we embarked on our first of three attempts to collect some of the coral species we are after. The first two endeavors were by boat, and let's just say that it was really obvious how undeveloped my sea legs are because the second we anchored, I stood up, attempted to put on my mask, and fell backwards into the water. Good thing I was planning on getting in anyway! The water is insanely clear here! Seriously, I thought the water was blue in Hawaii!! The first site was sadly mostly dead, most likely because of a cyclone they were hit by a few years ago. The second site was much more promising, with lots of coral, weird fish, and giant clams with neon feet! However, the current was really strong because of the swell, and there wasn't much of our target coral species. The abundance of cool things to see in the water did not make it any less difficult to focus on our mission either.
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