My workload continued to decrease and I was able to explore more of the island with my friend Jeff, a Canadian who started working in our company. We explored more of the nature trails in Somerset and a few more forts and abandoned bases. The beaches are still beautiful and very picturesque. I also started volunteering at the Aquarium by helping with critter collecting and cleaning/feeding the fish in the various tanks. The Aquarium is at Flatts Village also.

The Aquarium is really neat in a way that most of the water in the tanks are pumped in from Harrington Sound, which is right next to the Aquarium. The water is therefore constantly cycled with fresh seawater and all the nutrients and microorganisms necessary for a successful healthy tank are all present in the seawater. Changing water is a breeze because they have two salt water taps for filling up new water and a gutter that returns dirty water back into the sound.

Christmas season started early here in Bermuda because they do not celebrate American Thanksgiving. The streets of Hamilton lined with lights sparkled at night and Christmas trees adorned with fake snow and trimmings filled the shop windows. It's hard to get into the Christmas mood when the temperature is in the mid to upper 70's and I'm still wearing shorts and short sleeve shirt to work.

I attended the Christmas Boat Parade this year, which usually happens about a week before Christmas. This event started last year and it was very successful. A parade of boats, about 70 of them decorated with Christmas and New Year themes and lights slowly cruised around the harbour. Christmas music blasting from some of the boats and the cool temperature, which dropped to the low 60's just added to the festiveness of the holiday season.

This entry brings me a full year being here in Bermuda. Even with these new places being explored and new evens witnessed, I'm beginning to get that "Wanderlust" feeling where I get this urge to go out into the world and explore. However, that will probably not happen until beginning of 2001 when I'm planning on taking a few years off to travel the world.