Edward, the local 'public relations officer', came out to visit us and gave us the run down on the weekends activities. The next day he came back with a 3 crayfish for us and invited the girls to come and play in the village. They had a good time and Liz started preparing our own little feast. First-up crayfish around lunchtime then roast pork and vegetables for afternoon tea and apple crumble with cream for dinner. The only way to have a big meal in the tropics - spread it out over seven or eight hours!We went ashore at 7pm and went to a church service to mark the start of the weekend. After that we had some food with the visitors that had come from Noro and the priest.
A few songs on the drums and panpipes were played and then we settled down and watched three dramas. These were staged in a large square marked out by newly constructed fences and gateways, decorated with flags. Each play or drama had a biblical theme and was excellent in the effort by the players, good humour and expression. Even without a knowledge of Pidgin we could get the general gist of the stories and enjoyed them immensely. After this there were several dances, then pan-pipes and drums were played and a general 'dance' ensued. We all got up and had a dance - except for Courtney & Anna who were fast asleep on a mat. A short rain shower sent us scurrying to the nearest house and then we decided it was time to go. We got back to the boat at 2:30am.
We slept in the next day and missed the morning service. Edward came out to chase us up for the feast that was to start at Noon. We got in there and found several long rows of ferns laid criss-cross to form a raised table with large fronds laid on top as a tablecloth. Everyone was busy either spreading the food out or fanning to keep the flies away. We sat down to a lovely meal of pig, tuna, rice and sweet potatoes.
After this we chatted away with the villagers, and then the area was cleared with the drums and pan-pipes set up. What followed reminded us of a Christmas concert of a dance academy (with a tropical flavour). The dances were obviously the choice of each group. There were Polynesian dances style, done by women we assume of Gilbertese descent, children doing traditional and church dances and teenage boys doing rap-style dances. Once again the celebrations finished with drums, panpipes and dancing.
The visitors left with a huge cheery farewell. We then retired to the boat for a good rest. A truly memorable weekend!
During the week we went for a snorkel on the outer reef with Dennis & Barbara on a lovely coral patch. On another day we went for a walk to the nearby river where the villagers wash and clean. It was a long walk along a road formed recently by a logging bulldozer and then along a path into their gardens which looked excellent and the soil very rich. The river was more of a fast flowing creek but the water was deep and cool and very enjoyable to swim in. On the way back we stopped to visit the women who were downstream washing the vegetable collected from the gardens.
On Saturday we were organised by Edward to take a group of boys to an island in the harbour, clean the hull of the boat, and and have a picnic. I was unsure about this because the number of people was unclear, how safe the anchorage was and generally felt as if we were being manipulated. We came alongside the jetty used for copra loading and there they stood, pretty well the whole village. With a decision that once the cabin top was full of people we would take no more we loaded up. Only the boys from the village came aboard and with just over 30 aboard we moved away. The island was a lovely little sand island and we found a sand patch close to the shore and deep enough. We ferried everyone ashore and the youngest ones played, while the older ones set off either spear fishing or setting up the picnic. Courtney and Anna swam with the boys while some of the older ones set to with brushes and sponges and cleaned the waterline and top sides of the boat. The little ones 'attacked' the little boat and in a fashion it ended up cleaner than before with kids having a ball.
The spear fisherman had caught about forty little reef fish. These were placed on a pile of stones that had been laid on a hot fire. The fish were cooked whole this way. Another fire had sweet potato and cassava on the boil. Once it all was ready we had a meal laid out the same way as the feast last weekend. After this we loaded everyone back on and made our way to the village and then re-anchored in the bay.
Sunday started with Liz and I going to the church service and then in the midday sun we went for a snorkel to find the WWII plane that was in the entrance bay that we were anchored in. We couldn't see the plane from the surface, but once guided to the spot and duck diving down a few metres we could see it. It was a two seat Dauntless bomber (apparently) and was intact. It was in 12 metres of water and so it was too deep to free-dive to. Liz and I were able to dive down just above it and see it very clearly.
On Monday Liz went to the village to show the ladies how to make shorts. Hand driven sewing machines are common but patterns are not available. They just use the machines make very basic items. She copied a pattern on to heavy paper and then took this in. The ladies were shy at first but thanks to the enthusiasm of an older lady, Georgina, all had turns at copying the pattern onto newspaper, pinned it onto the material and cut it out. They then sewed up two pairs and hopefully they have been left with enough knowledge to continue on.
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