Itchy Foot and her crew spent a lovely short week in Bora Bora as we tearfully bid French Polynesia a fond farewell. We spent exactly a year in this amazing place and could easily have stayed a few more. I don’t think we saw nearly enough and yet would have liked to spend longer in the places we were the longest. So, we feel very lucky that we had such a treat in store for us. Our passage to the Cook Islands was smooth and we arrived in Penrhyn with good light to maneuver through the bommies to get to the main town of Omoka to check in to the country. The sea conditions were bouncy and we had six visitors before the anchor was properly set. The officials from customs and immigration are pretty standard as we move from place to place, but this time we also had a nurse join them as they are very concerned about keeping their country free of diseases. For example, at the moment there is no Dengue Fever on the island and they work hard to keep it that way. At regular intervals there is a day when everyone goes out together and dumps out any standing water that could breed mosquitos. It made visiting this island an extra nice treat. The paperwork was completed quite quickly and we were free to go ashore. And we checked in on a Saturday and were cordially invited to church on Sunday.
We were a collection of kids boats in Penrhyn including Alondra, Calle II, Caramba, Liza Lou, Luminesce and Panacea. Both Alondra and Liza Lou had been in contact with the schools and we came equipped with school supplies and sports equipment to gift them. There is one school in the main town of Omoka and another smaller one in Tautua on the other side of the lagoon. It was an emotional experience to visit the schools and to introduce ourselves and spend time with them and hand over the treats. They were all very welcoming and friendly and we were encouraged to stay as long as we liked. Each school invited us to an amazing kai kai feast and there were yummy things to eat, coconuts to drink and we were all given a lovely cowry shell necklace. We felt like royalty and there was SUCH AMAZING singing and drumming which of course caused us all to dance. The boat kids easily made friends with the local kids and everyone was giggling and playing. Everywhere in the school you saw traces of how much the teachers care about the kids learning. Spending time at the schools was a huge treat for us. And because we cannot boast enough about our son, I have to add this little story. At the kai kai at the TeTautua school we all held a short speech thanking them for the lovely evening and visit to their island home. Jon and I were very proud that Teo wanted to speak for Itchy Foot and did a wonderful job, telling everyone what a special place Penrhyn is and how nicely we had been treated. He was complimented by many of the adults.
We loved walking around the villages and soaking up the atmosphere and just chatting with people. This is so much easier in the Cook Islands who learn English as a second language. We heard that the last crime in Omoka was in 2005, long before Teo was born and it was something as innocent as stealing something from a government building. Jon made friends with one man called Lu and he was working with the shells and has lots of power tools to do the hard job of polishing them up.
We were invited and encouraged, probably expected to come to church. They are very religious here and have their own Cook Islands religion. There are churches in places with large Cook Islands populations like Auckland and Papeete and the reverends come and stay for three year terms. The church in Omoka is stunning with gorgeous stained glass and has painted highlights to match. It also has a unique architecture with the congregation sitting facing the main doors which are closed during prayers. Ladies must wear hats and dresses that cover knees and shoulders. Men wear their best shirts and slacks or suits and everyone attends. They attend three services on Sunday and additional ones during the week. It is important not to do any work on Sundays, in fact swimming and snorkeling are also forbidden. One day after church in Omoka we were invited to have lunch with Noa and her family. It was spur of the moment and still this was a feast of a lunch. We know Noa from the school and her wonderful, giant smile and friendly outlook are electric. It was a wonderful afternoon and we were touched to be invited to her lovely home. There were bright colors everywhere and it was wonderful to see all the family photos on the wall in pride of place. We had a lovely chat over our yummy meal and they were telling us about Omoka (there is an Old Town and a New Town). The New Town is more like the burbs with everything more spaced out. We assumed that moving to the burbs with more garden and space would be a good thing. But they were telling us that they preferred the Old Town where you can hear your neighbors laughing. They told us how much happier they are that they decided to leave New Zealand and return to Penrhyn, but they are looking forward to their trip at Christmas when they will visit all their family members.
We were in Tautua for three Sundays as well and the reverend came to each boat to personally invite everyone to church. in Tautua also invited us to a kai kai feast at the church hall when we joined them for church. His wife cooked for all the guests and what a spread she put on the table! We were a lot of boats visiting and everyone was made to feel very welcome.
We did some snorkeling during our visit and one day in very clear weather, a few dinghies even went outside the reef to visit a bommie for the afternoon. We enjoyed a trip to the bird island where there are nesting boobies, noddies and terns. They were loud but stayed on their nests. The kids were collecting feathers that were left behind.
We were there a full month, and it just zoomed by and we were envious of a boat called Euphoria who were there for six months. We organized a couple of events. Panacea hosted Penrhyn MasterChef, a cooking competition between the boats and judged by the local teachers. Another day the kids at the school and the kids on the boats has a bake off and the judging was done at the school. Teo was ecstatic to be on the winning team! We had a bonfire on the beach to forge knives and another on the 4th of July. The boat men went local and collected and husked coconuts for very exotic rum cocktails, YUM! The Tiki Tuesday tradition continues!
Art, a teach at the school invited us to learn to do some weaving and I was later invited to visit her at home. We exchanged earrings and I am so excited to say that I was trusted to help weave a fan. They make the most amazing fans using mother of pearl clam shells as the handles. I was excited to try my hand at the handicrafts you see all the ladies doing around the villages. And then she gifted me two of them, one was for Teo because her daughter admires him. We spent lots of time together.
Everyone was friendly and welcoming and generous and felt that this community really spoiled us rotten with their time and cooking and gifts. They all knew us by name. They have guest books in each village and every boat writes in them and it feels like they are proud of their visitors and how well they treat us. This visit is definitely a special one for us and we will hold it dear in our hearts.