blue lagoon
I found myself atop a small put-put of a boat, dangerously overloaded with people and goods. It was in Fiji, and we'd just entered the indescribably blue waters of the famous blue lagoon.
I'd swung myself up onto the roof of the boat, where maybe a dozen people were taking in the sights and saying "ooh" and "aah" in many languages. Some were, like me, tourists. Some were locals, who'd had the idea to come up here for a visit. It was we foreigners who'd footed the bill, naturally, but the pittance charged had gone towards petrol and lunch, and the once-in-a-lifetime chance to see the blue lagoon!
What a photographic opportunity! Chortling in my joy, I swung my camera bag around and reached in for a new roll of film. I'd been doing some cleaning the night before after the previous roll had ended, and knew I'd need a fresh roll. Reaching around the two lenses in the bag, I found .. nothing. Just the bottom of the bag.
With a feeling like I'd been punched in the stomach, I realized that in cleaning the camera the night before I'd left the thing in the bure (our shoreline thatched hut), and in fact had brought everything but the camera body.
I put everything away and enjoyed the sights. But I have no pics to remind me, just the fading memories.
Maybe I'll go back, some day. Maybe.
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