Instantly at Home After Our
Kioa Bimble
At a quarter past nine we
set off from Buca Bay in high hopes of visiting Kioa
Island, if not we would move on to Rabi Island. Six miles later we found
calm conditions, so different from the hoolie blowing yesterday. We anchored in
the middle but were clunking on coral, after Scott-Free settled we
moved over behind them to the east of the bay and found an area of sand, all set
and ready to go ashore to present the village chief with a bundle of kava. Mmmm.
Ashore we met Ben who led us
to Loto, the elected Chairman of the Council and one of three village chiefs. He
was very grand, welcoming and grateful we offered kava. He bade us sit and a
young buck, wearing shades set to rolling a pile of ground root in a piece of
cotton. Each of us in turn took a drink – straight down. I have to say whilst it
didn’t taste of gritty puddle water, it was just watery with a peppery after
hint, I can’t see it becoming the thirst-quencher of choice aboard Beez
Neez. After Loto had taken his bowl and clapped three times, we chatted for
a while and then he bade us a happy visit, to enjoy wandering and make ourselves
at home. Our next stop was to laugh with the assembled
children enjoying their weekend, playing under the school
sign.
We walked west along the beach and Marina came out of her
house for a chat.
Kioa Island was bought for
fifteen thousand dollars in 1946 by the people of Vaitupu, an island in the
nation of Tuvalu, with money earned from American Armed Forces during WWII and
was settled on the 26th of October 1947 by thirty seven original
settlers. The Tuvaluans brought with
them only their culture, religion and lifestyle. Kioa Island
is a Polynesian community in the midst of a Melanesian country. Visiting Kioa
felt like we had left Fiji and travelled five hundred miles north to the islands
of Tuvalu. We left Bula behind and said Talofa.
Tavita Taulia:- "In the year 1947 at 2pm on a Sunday afternoon in
October, a ship by its maiden name the Avahou anchored on the beautiful
sheltered waters of Salia bay. A great silence befell all those on board as the
tired and weary Polynesian islanders scrambled into life boats to complete the
last leg of the journey. As they set foot on solid ground, there was no one to
welcome them - only the strange sounds uttered by birds on this uninhabited
island as the only greetings offered for these lone
travellers.
As the ship heaved its anchor and sailed away, the
settlers finally realised they are now left alone in a foreign country far away
from their homeland. The constant memories of their home country are the only
realities that linked them to the past. What awaited them were difficulties
encountered in the early years of relocation and yet a hope for a better
future."
Middle School.
Tom showed us how the
children were summoned to class by the traditional
drum. He is at senior school on the “big island” and hopes to become a
vet and work in Australia. We wished him well in his studies and then went to
look in the classrooms.
More fun with the little
ones.
