Charlie, two trips to Australia and you don't know that a chook is a chicken?

Yesterday I took my camera for a drive around the southern part of the island. I started out with my first big decision being which way to go. This may not seem like a big deal for those of you who do not live on an island but it is here (at least for me). Previous trips have been south along the west side of the island. This time I chose to go south along the east side of the island. It was a good decision. By doing that I saw sights that were previously behind me when they became visible along the coast.

I headed east along the Cross Island Road and then, on a whim, took 4A south to Talafofo. I made a few miles that way before I casually check my dashboard. I was almost out of gas… on Christmas Day… many miles from a gas station. I had some important decisions to make.

I turned around to head for Agat. Then I decided there must be a gas station in Talafofo. There wasn't. I headed for Yona. Mile followed mile with the gas gauge showing no fuel. I took comfort when going up hill that the needle moved up a bit. There was still something in there. I drove through Yona, my heart sinking, as I saw no station anywhere. I had just decided to keep on for Hagatna when a Mobil station hove in view and I pulled in. Saved! At $2.07 per gallon!

I finally turned south and drove back through Yona, Talafofo, Inarajan, Merizo, Umatak, and back up into Agat. I took pictures along the way. It was a bright, partly cloudy day. We've had rain and clouds for the last three days or so. The sun was welcome. The temperature was in the low 80s but the humidity was high so it felt hotter. Nonetheless I drove with my windows open and the A/C off.

It was a beautiful day. I stopped to inspect the archaeological dig at Ylig Bay and checked out the surf farther south where the reef lies in close to the shore. I almost stopped at Jeff's Pirates Cove for lunch but the presence of a tourist bus kept me away. I saw the Guam shaped hole in the rock out in a bay next to Bear Rock, a bear shaped rock about fifty feet high. I stopped at Merizo's boat ramp and talked to a guy, a hoalie, sitting next to his camper van. He'd been tossed out by his wife and was already three sheets to the wind. He offered me a beer but I refused by lying that I did not drink.

As I passed into Umatak the clouds gathered and then the Rain Gods blessed Umatak and Agat. My trip was at an end. The scenic overlooks for the southern mountains were lovely, damp and austere, but I was out of film and they had to be observed without recording them. My last picture was of a wild rooster and his hen.

I headed north to the Micronesia Mall to go see LOTR:ROTK. The movie was sold out for the next two shows so I headed to the GPO and got into the 4:00 show. What a movie! The scale is staggering. Fine work and the end of four or five years of waiting. It was a little sad to see it end because the anticipation has been a part of my life for a long time. But it has been only a tiny part of my life and I was also glad to finally see the end.

After the movie I realized I had not eaten since breakfast and I went to King's for supper. Kings is similar to Friendly's in the States, Friendly's without ice cream. I had steak and tempura shrimp. Then I was off for home listening to Ken Nordeen's Christmas Wordjazz broadcast.

And that was my Christmas day. I hope yours are as fine or finer.