Week 4

The new kids arrived at about 11:00 am on Monday. As this group was large (70 kids plus 7 teachers) we split them into 4 groups, at the head of each was a team leader, these were Aaron, Laura/Peony, Wade and Vivian (a new arrival - Chinese). Myself and Kay were given the responsibility of carrying out activities; I was to take the kids "Coasteering" and on a "Coral Walk and Talk" whilst Kay was to take them paddling in kayaks. After we had finished introducing ourselves at the airport we took the kids to their hotel and checked them in, we then promptly headed to the beach where we had a picnic and played a myriad of team building games. Once the kids were better acquainted with one another and ourselves we headed to a local restaurant of a posh Chinese dinner.

Tuesday morning began with a slap up dinner at Pirates! restaurant after which I headed to Hou Hai with Wade and Vivian (groups 3 & 4). On arrival the kids in group 3 went coasteering with myself whilst group 4 learnt to surf with Brendan. Coasteering is simply a ramble over rocks. My version is slightly different however as I flavoured it with marine science! As the kids navigate their way around the rocky headland to the left of Hou Hai beach I lecture them on tides, intertidal ecology, corals and the impact of man on marine habitats. I also hold a shell parade and give the student with the best shell a prize (stickers). The walk around the rocks took about 1 ½ hours. I really enjoyed this activity as I took full control of the kids and had the chance to teach them about the subject I am most passionate about. We saw quite a lot of cool animals including several species of barnacles, small beds of oysters, a species of crab that seems adapted to living on top of the rocks, sea urchins, anemones, limpets, and top shell snails. Sadly there was also, like all the other sites around the coast, an abundance of washed up coral skeletons… Upon returning to base we had lunch and chilled for a bit. I then took group 4 around the rocks whilst group 3 went surfing. Once these activities were finished we gave the kids free time to swim in the sea and to relax on the beach until 6:30 when we had dinner. After dinner the kids set up their tents for the night and we played some more team building games. Bedtime was around 9:30!

On Wednesday the kids were up nice and early and ready for breakfast for 8:00 am. Once satiated the kids were introduced to our raft building exercise! This is a great activity and good for some healthy competition. Each group is given 12 bamboo poles, rope and 4 barrels plus 1 flag! Their objectives are two build a seaworthy raft, which they must name, and to use it in a relay type race. A marker is placed in the shallows around which the completed raft must pass 4 times, each time is passes it must have a fresh compliment of “sailors”. My group built a fairly decent raft and managed to beat Kays team – huzzah! After this exciting event groups 3 and 4 left for the Yanoda experience. Groups 1 and 2 were late in arriving at Hou Hai but we managed to fit their raft building into the day plus more team building games.

Thursday mirrored that of Tuesday with more coasteering and surfing tuition. During the second time coasteering we encountered some fishermen upon the rocks. Being interested I looked closely at their net – the mesh size was very small, approximately 1 inch in length. This is a really bad sign. If the local fisherman use nets with such tiny mesh times must be hard. What measures are in place to protect juvenile fish – I’m guessing few or none. I also noticed a free-diver by the rocks who was collecting oysters from around the rocks, he was descending with a simple knife and plying the molluscs from the rocks and depositing them in a floating container which was secured to himself via a length of rope. These signs show that these rocky environments are important to the local fisherman, I just hope that their activities are monitored to ensure sustainable exploitation of the animals…

Friday morning started with another slap up meal at Pirates! restaurant, after this the kids were transported to Luhuitou (where we live!) – half were taken on a “Coral Walk and Talk” whilst the other half were taken kayaking. The coral talk was great! It was another opportunity for myself to try and get the kids interested in the marine environment. I introduced corals to the students and spoke about their simple ecology as well as the detrimental affects that man has on these sensitive creatures. I tried to impress upon the kids the fact that they were here on Hainan to not only have fun but to make observations with regards to how we impact upon the environment. Sadly it’s all too easy to achieve this here… After the first walk the groups swapped over and we did the activities again. Now that we had worked up an appetite it was time for a BBQ! This was fantastic with tasty dishes like spiced/garlic flavoured egg plant, shrimps, egg fried rice and spicy chicken wings (my personal favourite). After eating we took the kids back to the airport and waved them goodbye.

Once back at our place we all chilled with a beer. That evening we headed out for drinks… I crawled back.

On Saturday we all waved goodbye to Ben - a very sound guy who had been living with us. I spent the best part of the day nursing my hangover… In the evening the girls (Laura and Kay) headed out to the local noodle stall for 2 portions of noodles. Unfortunately there must have been a misunderstanding as the noodle man presented the girls with 5 portions of noodles. The girls got frustrated and tried to tell him that they were only going to pay for 2 portions. Being foreigners (a rare thing here in our small village) we soon attracted a crowd. The girls relinquished and we payed the guy the 30 yuan (£3).

Sunday was another lazy day. I scouted the local beach for shells and found some interesting specimens to add to my now respectable collection. I spent the evening doing some paperwork and then had an awesome dinner cooked by the girls.