Suwarrow, An Island to Share
Bamboozle
Jamie and Lucy Telfer
Sat 4 Sep 2010 01:13
Leaving Bora Bora we poled out our twin headsails and had four wonderful
days of perfect downwind sailing westwards into the Cook Islands, 15 tiny
pinpricks of land scattered across half a million square miles of ocean. We
made our landfall at the truly remote atoll of Suwarrow (or Suvarov
depending on who you ask), a uninhabited ring of coral and sand more than
200 miles from the nearest other scrap of land. Although no one lives here,
Suwarrow is a National Park and has two wardens who spend the six
non-cyclone-season months up here to keep an eye on the place and the
visiting yachts. James and Appi, our two wonderful (and huge) Cook Island
hosts do an outstanding job as the caretakers (and customs officials) of
this special spot, not only protecting the fragile reef from the danger of
the occasional insensitive visitor, but also sharing their knowledge and
love of the place and the outstanding wildlife it is home to. We have been
spending most of our days exploring, snorkelling, diving, fishing, and reef
walking. Sometimes in the evening we meet up on the beach for a "pot-luck"
barbeque and general social shindig with the crews of the other yachts. Last
night there were 16 yachts and 10 different nationalities who got together,
so despite its isolation we are not exactly lonely out here. The only way to
get here is by yacht (a total of sixty-three so far this year) and the atoll
is not really on route to anywhere. By the start of the cyclone season in
November all yachts will have cleared out of this part of the world and
James and Appi will be waiting for the ship that is supposed to divert from
its normal route to collect them and take them home to Rarotonga. They call
this the "Maybe Ship" because......."maybe it will come, and maybe it
won't!"
Between the 1950s and the 1970s the island was home to the kiwi Tom Neale
who spent almost 17 years living on the atoll and wrote the perennially
popular beachcomber classic "An Island to Oneself" describing his struggle
to live here on his own with no contact with the outside world save the
occasional passing boat. James is also recording his time here and
threatening to write a new version...."An Island to Share" describing his
rather more social time here with the yachts!
It is hard to provide any description of the place without losing oneself in
a mire of superlatives. The whole atoll is basically one giant aquarium 10
miles across and you only need to stick your head underwater to be reminded
of what a healthy coral reef should look like. It is very noticeable that
out here where there is very little human activity or impact, the reefs look
completely different from the more populated islands we have been visiting
over the last few months. The colours underwater are breathtaking with
millions of fish swarming around the vibrant coral. On land the undisturbed
islands provide nesting sites for hundreds of thousands of seabirds
including terns, tropic birds, boobies and the "pirates of the oceans" the
spectacular frigate birds. There are also whales in the lagoon and as our
cruising guide notes "a profusion of sharks infamous for their
aggressiveness". Should you need a reminder of why one needs to be sensibly
aware of the sharks, James and Appi create a daily feeding frenzy by
throwing the heads, guts and general detritus of the days catch into the
ocean, well away from the usual swimming and snorkelling areas. Forty or
fifty (no I am not exaggerating) sharks hurl themselves into the shallows to
compete for the scraps, turning the water into a thrashing, heaving,
bubbling maelstrom of desperate diners. Unsurprisingly they have knocked up
a "No Swimming" sign on this beach!