Saturday, 25th September …..

After a surprisingly good sleep (without an air-conditioner!) we had a cold shower, a long walk on the beach and a good Filipino breakfast. I did without the rice, the baked fish, the dried fish and the spicy sausages but enjoyed the fried eggs and chicken in sweet sauce. The coffee was excellent and there were plenty of bananas, water melon and pineapple.

Sany, PP of RC Naga East, who was driving, had suggested we might leave at about 10 but, once a decision is made that we won’t be staying, there is no point in hanging around so we were on the road by 8.45.

Not far from the resort, there was a large van leaning over into the ditch. It seems it had broken an axle or lost a wheel. Another truck was backed up to it and three or four men were in the process of off-loading thousands of melons, one by one, from the disabled truck to the new one. Labour is cheap in the Philippines and they don’t often bother with crates and forklifts which are expensive.

A bit further out of town we came to a steep, winding, downhill stretch and discovered the regional longboarding championships were being held. In this context, longboards are a type of skateboard modified for this sport, held on a public highway with some degree of difficulty.

We couldn’t resist stopping for photographs and set ourselves up near the Finish line to watch. The first pair came screaming down the hill, misjudged the final bend and plowed into the crash barriers. These were the only useful crash barriers on the whole course; elsewhere they had randomly thrown around what looked like sandbags. One of the pair picked himself up quickly, got back on his board and looked like winning, until the last second when he was overtaken by someone who had maintained his speed right to the line. We watched a few more and were suitably impressed.

The competitors wore padded jackets and crash helmets so they are aware of the risks but we still saw one fellow with a badly grazed shoulder. As I said to the monsignor, young men will always look for new ways to hurt themselves.

OK, the monsignor is a member of RC Naga East and was traveling with us. Ever since I heard the line, ‘as the actress said to the bishop’ in the first series of The Saint with Roger Moore, I’ve always wanted to drop those words into a conversation.

We met up with Hoover again in Naga and set off for Legaspi. He suggested we stop for lunch at Biggs Diner (I think) where they had a cardboard cutout of an Australian surfer called Reuben Buchanan (I think). Apparently he set up their water sport complex and became something of a hero in the area.

Also on the way, we passed a pig riding in a sidecar. Small farmers might only have one pig and a motorcycle and sidecar is an economical way of transporting them to market (or, more likely, to the slaughterhouse). If another human has to be transported as well, he sits on the roof.

We had been booked into a very nice hotel in Legaspi with good views of the Mayon Volcano from our window. The hotel has a great coffee shop so we’re happy campers. A group of 6 or 7 Rotarians, including Assistant Governor Vic Vic Dugan and representatives of two of the local clubs, arrived to welcome us on their way from a RYLA camp. It was too late to do anything so we were left to have a quick meal, a shower and an early bed. The TV seems to be on the blink so this will make 25 consecutive nights when we haven’t watched TV. We’re going for a record!

Tomorrow, we will be collected by members of the city’s other two clubs for visits to SPEd Centers and, we hope, the Mayon volcano.