Havelock

After being so chilled out on Neil Island, I was sort of ambivalent about going to Havelock Island -- it's a bigger island with more people, more restaurants, more everything, but I just wanted to keep my lazy hedonistic lifestyle going for a bit longer. not only did I become so lazy on Havelock that I opted to skip my dive course and instead lay around on the beach or on a hammock all day long, but Havelock blew my mind with its beauty. it's still hard for me to describe, so I'll just share what I wrote in my journal at the time:

We [my friend Alex and I] drove past farms and rice paddies and swaying palm trees and happy children as the sun was setting. The clearing through the trees opened up to the widest, most beautiful beach I've ever seen. White sand carefully groomed by the waves pushing back to sea. The water is flawless, arresting and so still. It actually glimmers. A stunning hill of trees fringing the south end. An array of green -- shocking, heart-starting greens where we were, faded lonely color toward the sun. We missed the actual sunset but it still radiated in the sky. Delicate watercolor canvas. An empty sky striped with softness. I wonder how many people start believing in God after seeing something like this.

The ride back is poetry. Really. Alex reminds me that I should look at the stars while he drives the moped, so I look up. A flashing Venus. Mars burns. Orion's belt has turned into a knife. A thousand flecks of cold white against a cloudless sky. It is bigger than my life. The thickness of the air lapped at my skin.

The milky sand is a waterfall at my feet and the water is lighter than light. A child's blue. The sun is disappearing behind a mountain of clouds when I finally get back to the beach. A molten pink fireball kissing the water, a veil of violet hiding their sin.