Yours truly is back in town and missing the cat terribly, but at least I
can talk about them to you guys. Over 800 messages to read, so purrs and
good vibes all around first. If you just want to go straight to the pics
without reading my long-winded commentary, they're at
http://uk.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/frankiennikki/album?.dir=7752&.src=ph

The trip was... very trying. ;o) First, getting Caliban into a carrier
is a whole nuther wrestling match. Luckily, he doesn't scratch or bite,
he just wrestles very very hard. He is so incredibly strong! Miranda on
the other hand went in without a peep and hunkered down for the ride.

On the bus, Caliban kept up a running commentary on the poor service I
was providing. I guess he is used to travelling first class. He
complained All. The. Way. Over four hours. Miranda was an angel as
usual. She never said a peep. The only sign of life from her was that,
once, a little paw came snaking out between the bars in the door of the
carrier.

On the boat, Caliban was shocked into silence. Poor baby, it was a
little choppy, so the boat made some interesting moves. Caliban bunched
up in the back of the carrier and stared with big round eyes. When we
got to the island, I carried the cats inside my shed where I sleep and
let them out of the carriers. A while later, I opened the door and
Miranda slunk out. She obviously remembered where we were and was
perfectly comfortable with it. The first thing she did, like Frank and
Nikki used to, was go eat grass:

http://tinyurl.com/q4uj2
http://tinyurl.com/r8d5s

Caliban on the other hand hid under the pillows on my bed. Poor baby, I
don't know if it was the shock of the boat ride or just that everything
was so unfamiliar, but he stayed hidden until I lay down with him on the
bed. Then he soon came out and started exploring the inside of the shed,
carefully avoiding the open door. Miranda ran in and out all the time,
and I think she was calling for him to come outside when she meowed and
meowed each time she went outside. I decided to join her outside and
call Caliban to see if he would like to take a peek. Soon curiosity got
the better of him:

http://tinyurl.com/lpsbs
http://tinyurl.com/mx52k
http://tinyurl.com/m5kke

He was cautious but very interested. It didn't take him long to be at
ease in the Out. Here he is, just marvelling at it all on the cliff
behind the shed:

http://tinyurl.com/sxunx
http://tinyurl.com/quf37

The weather was nice, with a light breeze so it didn't get too hot:

http://tinyurl.com/mv54j

The brave little flowers on the cliff keep coming up in spite of the
hard weather. Our boat in the background.

http://tinyurl.com/ln42v

After Caliban finally ventured out on the cliffs, he and Miranda could
start playing tag and hide-and-seek. As you can see, Miranda has the
perfect camouflage on the cliffs:

http://tinyurl.com/nmpzp

While Caliban's is better in the brush:

http://tinyurl.com/mflk3

There is a long path leading past my shed and up to Mum's house. When
Caliban had finally ventured all the way up to the top of the path,
there was no stopping him. He would go zooming past -
OHBOYOHBOYOHBOYOHBOYOHBOYOHBOYOHBOYOHBOYOHBOYOHBOYOHBOYOHBOYOHBOY!!!!
And a moment later, he would gallop past in the other direction -
YOBHOYOBHOYOBHOYOBHOYOBHOYOBHOYOBHOYOBHOYOBHOYOBHOYOBHOYOBHOYOBHO!!!!
Here he is coming down the path in a more leisurely manner:

http://tinyurl.com/q5rmy

Miranda on the same path:

http://tinyurl.com/ob6mz

Of course the best thing was to chase each other up and down the path. I
would be inside my shed and hear four pairs of paws thundering by and
smile to myself when I thought of how scared Caliban was at first. He'd
overcame his fear very soon. I could wish he'd have kept some little bit
of fear, though. Like a fear of climbing trees. But no, he would go
scaling up a tree, very high up in no time, and then he would stop to
wonder how he would get down. He did get down on his own every time, but
I suspect someone will have to climb after him at least once this summer:

http://tinyurl.com/rp8rq
http://tinyurl.com/n5ttr