Going to Tufi

Day 4. Set our alarms early this morning as we had to catch an early flight to our next destination – Tufi Dive Resort. The plane was the smallest plane we’ve ever been on (a twin engine prop plane that seated 22 people, including pilot and copilot). But the ride was amazingly beautiful, as we seemed to barely skim over rainforest covered mountains for the hour long journey. We landed on a dirt runway and were greeted by locals and their kids who were running around barefoot. We had a short drive in the back of the resort owner’s cruiser and were brought to the beautiful Tufi resort. There we met Muchi, a cute white Pomeranian, whose friends include a horned-billed bird named Coco and a wallaby named ??. It’s weird watching a bird jump around like a kangaroo play with the dog, who in turn likes to herd the wallaby around. Did we mention that our room was awesome with a beautiful net around the bed and the view from the balcony is the most incredible view we’ve ever seen?? Checked in, got breakfast, and headed down to the water. Down along the water’s edge, dozens of canoes came and went – these are very primitive looking dugout canoes that we would definitely flip if one of us tried it. But everyone has one and makes it look really easy…even the kids handled them just fine. We were so ready to get in the water so we jumped in and went for a long snorkel. The coral even by the pier is beautiful with tons of life…we can’t wait to actually dive tomorrow! Came back to the resort, ate a great lunch, and started with a few island beers – South Pacific, or SP for short, is the favorite of the girls, while the boys liked the one called Export. Played joker – the boys are really sore winners and like to table talk.