Wednesday 14th December – Outdoor pursuits day

Our campsite here at Alexander Spring is very basic – we have a vaguely level piece of gravel next to a picnic bench and a fire ring.  By chance we have a tap within reach but no electricity which we’ve been used to having every night lately.  This brings with it new challenges – not least the fact that this morning we realised that the freezer isn’t working.  We had the generator on last night whilst we were cooking etc but the electricity levels must have been too low to keep the fridge freezer going all night and the food we bought yesterday hasn’t frozen.  In a panic I had a speed-read of the RV instructions and we crossed our fingers as the instructions appeared to say that by switching the ‘auto’ button on the freezer off it would run from our propane supply.  Hopefully it would work or we would have to spend the night cooking all the thawed produce to try and save some!?

We were hoping not to have to move the RV at all today after a couple of lengthy drives.  However, we also planned to get the kayak out and so to avoid a very long trek to the water we drove down to the visitor’s car park next to the spring.  As we pulled in a group of scuba divers also arrived.  We started chatting and took a card explaining that we would like to book to scuba dive the springs, but for today we intended to start with a gentle snorkel. 

FYI - those are Simon's legs in the distance!

Down in the spring, the water may have been cold but it was crystal clear.  We went out for a swim and found the deep section where you can see the bubbles as the spring water comes up from the ground underneath.  You could pretty much see all the way across the spring.  There were small fish everywhere and lots of river grass…. Where the turtles were hiding!  I was snorkelling over only a couple of feet of water but as I neared the grasses you could see the turtles diving in for cover.  We took it in turns to use our one set of snorkel gear and the Go-pro underwater camera to try and get some good shots. 

Even swimming without the mask you could see well into the water.  I even had a baby turtle float past me and managed to temporarily catch it (right). Here are some videos to give you a real taste of the springs:

Bird's eye view of the scuba divers

We questioned what more we would experience by scuba diving the spring and swiftly decided to save some money by not bothering, as the snorkelling was so great and we could both reach the deepest areas of the spring anyway.

After lunch on the RV it was time for our second water-based activity of the day – kayaking!  Now there definitely was a risk of alligators at Alexander springs, as there were signs out warning not to swim between dusk and sunrise.  Still, out we went from the canoe launch in our trusty inflatable boat, every piece of floating grass or debris making us panic slightly!  We saw birds and many more turtles basking in the sun.  For some reason we had not tightened up the air caps as effectively as we’d managed before and it was clear that the sides of the boat were deflating gradually.  Suddenly I wasn’t enjoying our paddle as much and we cut the trip short, heading swiftly back to shore.  Not a single 'gator seen.

Simon going solo in the rather deflated kayak - I'd jumped ship by this time....

It was whilst carrying Steven Sea-Eagle back to the RV that we noticed a section at the top right of the ladder which gives us access to the roof was missing.  How on Earth had that happened?  And when?  Neither of us could recall hitting a tree at the campsite since last night.  By reviewing the photographs of Harvey taken from the boat at Sebastian Inlet we realised that the damage had been done before then; we just hadn’t noticed it until today!  The entire metal bar from the top right rung to the roof had been sheared off and was nowhere to be seen!  We only hoped that there was no lasting damage to the roof or it’s water-tightness.  Add ‘new roof ladder’ to the growing list of things we will need to get fixed before selling the RV at the end of this trip!

The proof - if you look closely you'll note the wonky bit of ladder with a missing section above it on the right!

Although our campsite was basic, we were relieved to find the bug situation was much better than in Sebastian.  Yes, some mosquitoes were around, but we had repellent spray and candles to fend them off and they couldn’t get into the RV unless we let them.  This was a massive relief and we celebrated by having a fire and sitting outside late into the evening.