|
 For
many visitors to "Raro" the Saturday morning market is a main
attraction. There are many reasons for this: Even tourists staying in
the many B&B's on the island are backpacking while they're exploring the
area. The best produce is found at the Saturday market and it's also the
best produce you'll see anywhere in the Cook Islands (because there's
much less fertile land in the other islands).
 For
the non cruiser this is just a neat scene of the water crashing on the
reef outside the lagoon. The main island of Aitutaki is in the
background, fairly lush and appealing. HOWEVER, for the cruiser this is
a scene of the reef just off our stern. We're anchored less than a boat
length off of this death wish. So, one MUST have an absolute trust in
their anchor and and ground tackle. However, I must say, that one does
NOT really sleep well at night knowing that if the winds come around to
the north or west you will need to leave immediately! These were the
waves that were crashing across the entire anchorage in 2005 - obviously
we could NOT anchor in those circumstances.
 Welcome
to the Palmerston Island Yacht Club. We did leave our DRYC burgee with
the folks here, so club members may know that they are well represented
across the Pacific. This is a very interesting island. This is the only
English speaking island in the Cooks as it was founded by an Englishman
and his three wives. One of the wives was from Penrhyn, so we found that
people are related and inter connected throughout the country.
Basically, everyone's related! What we did find was a much greater
sophistication on Palmerston. People regularly move back and forth to "Raro"
as well as New Zealand and Australia.
 I
think one of the images cruisers have of their lifestyle is coming
ashore at far off places and sharing stories and friendship with fellow
cruisers and locals alike. Here (right) Suwarrow's cretaker, John, is
getting the fire going for cooking the fish and one of the yachties is
passing her treats to all those assembled. The lagoon in the background
is where we're all anchored. When we arrived in Suwarrow there was one
other boat. When we left there were twelve boats from all over the
world.
Penrhyn is the northernmost island of the Cook Islands.
Making these beautiful hats is one of the major industries for the
locals. We were told that ALL the ladies make hats. They are a prized
commodity for visitors as well as Cook Islanders - especially since it
is MANDATORY that women wear a hat to Church (and Church attendance is more or less
mandatory as well)! A lot of work goes into these hats with shell crowns
and woven floral bands. Our friend, Christine told us that she used her
hat money to pay for things like a washing machine, a bread mixer and a
separate building for baking bread - although the oven itself was an
outdoor, underground oven fueled by coconut husks. |
