Raroia, Tuamotus Archepelago, French Polynesia – A visit to the village of Ngarumoava

THE RIGHT WEATHER FOR A VISIT TO NGARUMOAVA

There is only one village in the atoll of Raroia. It is nestled among coral heads just south of the entrance pass on the west side of the lagoon. The winds usually come out of the east. We had to wait for them to calm down a bit so we could visit. Although the reef and islands of the atoll block the large ocean waves from entering, the lagoon is still large enough that strong winds can make a rough chop develop across it’s surface. Waiting for the winds to ease means that anchoring at the village would be more ‘comfortable’ and landing ashore safer.

Visibility is also a factor. We had to wait for the unsettled weather, that had brought rain and clouds, to blow off. There are no charts for these lagoons, so it is eyeball navigation. Getting across the lagoon is fairly simple, as the big coral heads are ‘city blocks, apart. But you do need the light to reflect off them to see where they are. Once back to the atoll entrance the route to the village is well buoyed and pretty straight forward.

ARRIVING AT THE HEIGHT OF ACTIVITY

We were not sure where to anchor. My humans thought just off the town docks looked good. 16 02.526S 142 28.308W
There are reefs either side to protect this mini harbour, but the sand below is just littered in coral heads. To keep out of the way of any boating traffic we were off to the south side. Not quite out of the way, as we were to learn.

THE ARRIVAL OF A SUPPLY SHIP

The village of Ngarumoava gets a supply ship from Tahiti once a month. Our arrival just happened to coincide with it’s arrival. The humans were just about to head ashore when a big ship appeared making its way through the buoyed channel. This made the humans feel silly about being nervous bringing our little boat through the same channel just a moment ago.

Did my silly humans lift anchor and get out of it’s way? No. They hung back and monitored the VHF radio to see if they would get a call. Cranes on the supply ship dropped tenders. ‘They must be happy with where we are’ said the humans, as the radio was silent and tenders did not approach. But what did approach was the big supply ship. Instead of heading for the dock, it headed straight at us so the captain himself could shout something in French at them, with accompanying hand gestures, and the meaning was clear.

The tenders held the immense metal walls of the ship about a boat length away as the humans lifted anchor and moved to the other side of the north reef. 16 02.363S 142 28.292W.

HURRY UP AND WAIT

Everything shuts in the village to accommodate the supply ship. Queues of people waiting to get stuff on or off. All the stores (both) close to receive goods and do inventory. So the humans returned to the village the following day to do a good stock up. A brisk business as everyone is excited to see carrots, cabbage, apples, pears and beer. Despite the anchoring issues the humans had timed there visit well. The shelves were empty only the day before. We were out of a few things, and so were they until the ship had come in. With only a monthly supply run the people here have to be much more self sufficient. They make ingenious raised gardens on stilts hosting fresh herbs, lettuce, tomatoes and cabbage. The ground is obviously reasonable as they also have breadfruit, papaya and bananas growing in their flower filled gardens.

REALLY FRIENDLY VILLAGERS

The people here are very friendly. Children and adults shout out greetings from every shady meeting area. Lucky for the humans, quite a few can speak a bit of English, especially the shop owners. Unlucky for the humans, this was a very busy time for everyone. Not only had the monthly supply ship come in, but the bi-weekly plane to Tahiti was expected.

The humans were hoping one of the locals, Regis, would show them how to catch coconut crabs and lobster. But his Mum was booked on the Tahiti flight that day to see the doctors. He was rushing around getting everything set up for her, as his wife was stuck minding the store they owned. He did take the time to give the humans a verbal run through though. The coconut crab thing they may have difficulty with, because it starts with opening a coconut. Opening coconuts is a skill my humans have struggled to master.

MASTERS OF SELF SUFFICIENCY – MY HUMANS ARE NOT

Before we headed off to the Caribbean the first thing my humans thought they should learn was how to open a coconut. Since they are a source of food and water they thought that this would be the first step towards self sufficiency. But alas, you need a machete to open a coconut and ‘big ass’ knives are illegal in the UK. Probably still easier to get a black market knife than a whole coconut to practice on! Other cruisers told them not to worry. They would find machetes and someone to teach us how to open coconuts when they got to warmer climates.

When we arrived at our first Caribbean island the humans were very excited to see machetes for sale in the local hardware shop. Ironically they all proudly displayed ‘Made in the UK’ stickers. But we were on a French island, and my humans do not speak French, so they would have to wait until the next island to find someone to teach them how to use it.

Next island. ‘Hold it like this’ WACK! ‘Than hold it like this’ WACK! ‘Take the nut out and find the eyes. Tap it here’ TAP, TAP. ‘And here is your perfect coconut. ‘Wow’, the humans said. ‘ That looks so easy. Can we try it?’ ‘No.’ He responded ‘You should wait until you get to an island with a hospital before you try.’

On to the next island, which just happened to be French again, as they have the best hospitals. The humans finally got to get their new machete out and try and open some coconuts. WACK, WACK, WACK, WACK, WACK, WACK……… Needless to say, the right technique to slice through the spongy fibers of the outer coconut eluded them. By the time both their hands were covered in water blisters they had managed to open only two coconuts. This is why the human’s ‘coveted’ machete is rusting away in the back of a cabinet, they get excited when we see cans of coconut milk on sale and they will never manage to catch a coconut crab.

Broken dreams.

END