Originally called the Hervey
Islands, in 1835 they were renamed by a Russian cartographer, in honour of
the greatest navigator!
Rarotonga
19th August
After much hesitation because of the weather, finally we left Bora Bora
to Rarotonga. This time the weather was becalmed, but it was time to leave
before the next big depression came through. Resolve left the day before and we left with Kyrie.
20th August
Noticeably we are leaving the tropics, the sky is overcastted, it is
drizzly and much colder. The winds are variable ranging from no wind
at all to too much wind. We lost radio contact with Kyrie, they are taking
a more Southern route and 20 miles away.
22nd August
It has been raining the whole day, the clouds dissipated for a short
while, that is when we first saw land, just before sunset. Again we were in radio
range with Kyrie, who were 6 miles behind. Early evening we managed to speak to Terry,
already in the harbour. He assured us that it is an easy entrance during
night, with leading lights. We entered the harbour at almost
midnight, guided by Terry and his spotlights. Kyrie came in one hour after
us and we helped them in. Once the hook was firmly in the ground and
everybody safe we felt exhausted.
23rd August
As we arrived during night we just anchored in the middle of the
harbour, now we had to tie Nomad Life "Tahitian style" to the
wall. First time for us. That consisted of dropping an anchor and
reversing the boat to the wall where mooring lines secured each side. What
a stress, despite the fact that we had 2 dinghies helping with lines and
Terry on the wall. Madi, Rory and their two children welcomed us to Rarotonga
with lots of smiles.
Even exhausted we managed to go out on one of the island
nights. We couldn't miss the best dancers in the whole
Polynesia, that is the reputation of the Cook islanders. The drum
dances, the costumes and the chants were spectacular. After the dance
presentation, it was Natalie's time to entertain. She got all those bored
looking tourist on the dance floor!
24th August
Saturday is market day, Punanga market starts at 6 am, far to early for
us. The market is a blaze of colours, with pareu (sarongs), hand
crafts, local food, fresh vegetables, tattoo studios. We cured our hangovers with delicious
chicken curry. The rain has been torrential since we arrived, giving us
not much to do other then socialize with yachties. This time we went
over to Resolve, for a chicken curry for dinner.
25th August
Religion plays a strong part on the peoples lives in this island.
Majority of the places close on Sunday, which is a traditional family and
church day, we are not allowed to work on the boat that day either. Most
of the services are in Maori, with beautiful singing. That alone did not attract
the boys to the church, but us girls received a very warm welcome.
After the service they presented us with a big buffet. It was about 20
visitors, including students from an American university who came to
experience a different culture.
28th August
Finally the sun came out giving us the chance to go around the island.
We rented a van big enough to fit Linn, Terry, Noel, Nat, Graham and
I. The island is bordered by a reef and cobalt coloured lagoons, and
ringed by white beaches. The Wigmore's fall is a cascade dropping into a
fresh swimming pool. Natalie was brave enough to get into the pool, too
cold and mosquito infested for the rest of us. Apparently it can dry to a
treacle in hot weather. Linn fancied getting a tattoo done so we paid
a visit to "T's" studio. His name is Tetini Pekepo and the sign
outside his studio describes tattoos as: "Visible Marks of
Life's Journey". A tattoo that tells your individual story. He only
does huge tattoos, not quite what Linn wanted. As we circumnavigated the island
we were amazed by the number of churches in excess of 70.
29th August
Madi and Rory came to the harbour to wish us farewell. They were so
pleased that we came to visit Rarotonga, that they bought some leaving
gifts! Black pearls and bags of fruits. We couldn't believe the generosity
and friendliness of the Rarotongans, it certainly made us feel sad
to leave!
Aitutaki
30th August
The weather is settled so we left mid morning to Aitutaki. This island
is 140 miles north of Rarotonga, we only decided the day before in going
there, lured by the nice sandy beaches and crystal clear water. Resolve
left few hours before and we left just before Kyrie. Good winds of 18-22
knots followed us all day making it a fast passage. After their third
mahi-mahi, Resolve stopped fishing, a beach barbecue was on for the
following day.
31st August
The wind kept constant all the way, we made land fall at midday. The
artificial pass into the lagoon is only suitable at high water for yachts
drawing two metres. We arrived at the right time, but the pass looked very
narrow and there was a lot of current at the mouth, in doubt we
anchored outside. Kyrie arrived shortly after us and Resolve took another
couple of hours. Watching the entrance during the afternoon, we realized
that Nomad Life could have got in, outside was a rolly anchorage, it would
be a lot nicer and protected inside. Dinner was mahi-mahi on a BBQ at
Kyrie's, followed by an early night.
1st September
On a spur of the moment Kyrie decided to leave to Tonga, they couldn't
get into the lagoon and would not leave the boat outside unattended
either. While Resolve and us were preparing our nerves to go through the
pass. We got through the mouth with no problems, but as we went deeper in
the channel the depth disappeared and we scrapped the keel in sand, that
cleaned off some barnacles. It was rising tide so not much of a
problem. Then we weaved our way through some reefs and finally got
into the anchorage. That was so narrow, full of boats and with very
limited depth. After couple of attempts, with help of other yachties we
were anchored on a suitable place. The first time we went aground, the
second time we were to close to another boat! What a job! That deserved a
celebration with beer, Christian and Ricky who helped us to anchor also
deserved a beer.
4th September
It rained constantly during the last couple of days. We managed to go
ashore only once, partly due to the weather but also our dinghy has a
puncture. Listening to Southern Cross net on SSB, Terry told us that Kyrie
was 200 miles on route, seeing 50 knots of wind and running bare poles,
yet doing 7 knots.
5th September
Finally the skies cleared and the sun came out. But it wasn't our
chance to go island exploring. Early morning Terry spoke to us on VHF.
There was a good weather pattern ahead and it was a good time to leave.
The seas still big due to the front that passed but the wind had decreased.
Reluctantly we got ready to leave in the afternoon at 4 pm. At high tide
we lifted the anchor and headed to the pass. The sky was clouded
over, without the sun it was difficult to see the reefs. Unfortunately we
dug ourselves on a sand bank. Graham reversed but there was no movement on
the boat. Meantime the current was sweeping us closer to the reef. Graham
reversed again, slowly we got movement and found the deeper part of the
channel. By the time we reached open water, both were shaken. Our next
main concern was that the weather held on for the next 5 days, until we
get to Niue.
