[ 22:25 thursday 27 september – mv laurana, stromboli to napoli ]

i’m huddled in the ship’s bar with irene and her friends, an hour out from stromboli. this journey has so many memories for me. today i’m sharing a cabin with maurizio, on his way back to melbourne to rejoin his girlfriend.

yesterday evening i had dinner with gustl and valerie then walked up the mule trail to punta la bronza. the moon was full and the sky was completely clear. the volcano was unusually quiet, expelling a glowing fan of lava every half hour or so.

i sat on the helipad for a couple of hours watching a cloud front slowly drift in from the north-western horizon. by the time the wispy outrunner clouds passed across the moon orange flickers of lightning were starting to flash in the distance and it was clear a storm was coming. i did a few sets of yoga sequences, bid farewell to the mountain and started my descent. a few minutes after i got back home an hour later the heavens opened.

: c :