Predators I Have Known - Alan Dean Foster [39]
Turning from me, the proprietor began to assemble the necessary ingredients to combine in a tall, steel mixing container. Looking on, I struggled to control my flow of saliva. Those of us on the Nordon had not had ice cream or anything like it for two weeks.
I soon noticed something that gave me pause.
“You’re using vanilla ice cream.”
He looked back at me. “That’s right.”
“But I asked for a coffee milk shake.”
The man nodded. “All our double-thick milk shakes are made with vanilla ice cream, and then we add the appropriate flavoring.”
I checked the overhead menu again, just to make sure. “But it says you have coffee ice cream. Couldn’t you make mine with coffee ice cream?”
He shook his head. “We make all our double-thick milk shakes with vanilla ice cream and the chosen flavoring.”
I implored. “I’ll pay you double. Triple.”
A sorrowful shake of the head. “Sorry, mate. That’s not how we do it here.”
I pondered this solemnly. “Well then, can I get a sundae made with coffee ice cream?”
The owner smiled back. “Sure thing.”
“Good. This is what I’d like to do. I want to order a sundae made with coffee ice cream and a double-thick vanilla milk shake. Take the whipped cream, the nuts, the cherry for the sundae, and throw them away. Take the vanilla ice cream and throw it away. Then take the coffee ice cream for the sundae and put it in the milk-shake container with some milk and chocolate syrup, and mix it.”
A steely-eyed Outback stare met mine. Surely, even Ned Kelly himself never lasered a more unswerving gaze upon an intended victim. The owner’s tone firmed a little but otherwise did not change. “Sorry, mate—that’s not how we do it here.”
I caved. The milk shake made with vanilla ice cream and coffee syrup was refreshing enough—but somehow something had been lost, and not just in translation.
Two days later, fully equipped and laden with fuel, we headed out toward Rowley Shoals. These three perfect isolated atolls lie approximately 170 miles off the northwest coast of Australia. There is no vegetation on the sand cays that lie at the center of two of them. The water that separates Imperieuse, Clerke, and Mermaid Reefs from the mainland is deep and the currents between them strong, so no pollution or river runoff of any kind comes anywhere near the coral trio. Together, the three atolls comprise a marine park under government supervision. Regular patrols by aircraft are vital to ensure the protection of the sea life at the shoals from depredations by fishermen who attempt to sneak down from Indonesia in their sporadic efforts to poach the reefs’ pristine stocks of giant clams (Tridacna gigas) and bêche-de-mer (Isostichopus badionotus) and to fish.
Rowley boasts the clearest water I have ever seen. Hovering just off the sandy bottom at a depth of more than sixty feet, I could easily count the number of fingers someone in a boat stuck over the side and into the water. I’ve experienced “unlimited” visibility in places like the Bismarck Sea, the eastern Tuamotus, and Micronesia, but for perfect visibility nothing compares to Rowley Shoals. Diving there was like swimming in air.
After several days of exploring and photographing, including a couple of amazing drift dives in the six-knot currents that periodically swept into the lagoons, it was decided to try and get some tiger shark footage featuring Rodney. Reports insisted that tigers were frequently seen at the shoals, and this would make an excellent coda to the film Brent was doubtless already editing together in his mind. Rodney, as always, was agreeable to the idea, though I think his wife, Kay, was less enthusiastic.
Nothing was left to chance. The perfectly transparent water minimized the likelihood of a surprise shark appearance. Descending to the sandy bottom at about seventy feet, both cameramen took up positions alongside shielding coral bommies. Situated more than ten yards apart from one another, these setups allowed for two completely different camera angles