When I got out to the dock this morning, I really wasn't sure what to expect for what I was going to be doing for the day. On my way out Keith told me to just do the Gump survey right then and not to wait for Russ and Sally to come down from their bungalow. As we were getting ready, Russ and Sally came down to tell us to pack up one of the boats to take out to the fore reef instead. We needed to deploy cage bottoms for the coral experiment at the site outside Cook's Bay and they wanted to get it done while the conditions were still good. On our way out I understood their sentiment. It was absolutely gorgeous out on the fore reef with no wind or significant swell. We got the cage bottoms all done in two dives with pastries and bastogne cookies aplenty in between the dives. We came back in to get some more tanks to go back one more time to do some maintenance. After that Russ and Sally told Steph and I that we were done for the day after we did the Gump survey. We decided to get it out of the way and skip lunch so we could get off earlier. I was glad that we did that because that gave me the chance to go out and explore. I took one of the bikes over to Opunahu Bay to explore and of course take some pictures. The ride was gorgeous. I stopped a few times along the way to where I wanted to go in Opunahu to take some pictures which turned out really well. I stopped my ride at the French CREOBE station that is the farthest inland part of the bay. From there I was able to take some spectacular pictures of the bay and the surrounding mountains. I was happy to get in some practice on using full manual to take landscape shots. I have made it a mission for myself to try to wean off of the program mode of my camera and to more consistently do everything manually. There were many bad pictures taken as a result but they all gave rise to a set of really nice ones. On my ride back I saw that a fisherman had just hung his catch alongside the road. As I approached, I saw this huge fish and as I passed by I noticed that it was a huge yellow fin tuna hanging there. I stopped on the other side of the road and took out my camera and zoom lens to try to take a picture. I was trying my hardest not to look like I was taking pictures of the fish as to not upset the fisherman in any way. This fish had to have been at least 5 feet long and over 150 pounds. That thing could feed a family for a couple of weeks straight. Once I got some good ones of the fish, I continued on back to Gump. When I got back I started the process of moving my stuff across the hall into the bigger open bedroom. My roommate Brett wanted to move across the hall to get rid of the sounds of cars in the mornings. The room is a lot bigger and I can say that I like it a lot more than the other room. For dinner tonight we had some delicious tacos which were spicy and delicious. We had all the toppings and spices that you could want. After dinner, I started to work on my Fulbright application some more and then got a chance to talk to my contact in Kiel about my potential work there. He mentioned that I should try to come earlier in the year sometime around the beginning of July when diving can be done in the Baltic. We talked a bit about that and my stay here in French Polynesia and then left with the understanding that I needed to find out for sure if I could shift my dates. Otherwise I would be able to do other projects but they would be mostly indoor projects where the frigid Northern Europe weather wouldn't have an effect. Now after emailing three different people to try to find out about whether I can change the dates, I am in bed and ready to go to sleep. Until later.
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