Rikitea Bimble
Beez Neez now Chy Whella
Big Bear and Pepe Millard
Wed 12 Jun 2013 21:37
Our First Bimble Ashore - Rikitea, Mangareva Island in the
Gambiers
We ventured off on Baby Beez and
parked next to the red patrol boat. A visit from Adam (Gallivanter – first met in La Playita,
who presented us with a hand of bananas) had given us valuable information as to
what was where. So wonderful to hear that nothing has to be locked and if we
were to put Baby Beez in anyone’s way, she would just be moved by the very
friendly locals.
We pull in next to the little ferry. A very smart
emblem on her side.
We find a hedge of closed hibiscus, a bright poinsettia
and a smart main road.
The Health
Centre.
Many flowers and
shrubs along the road.
Neat
gardens in front of the dramatic
backdrop.
After visiting the cathedral (own
blog) Bear loved what he called a half
caste. Then a new friend shyly wagged
himself to a totter before the skipper said hello and made a friend for life. Everyone we met
greeted us warmly with a big smile, car drivers waved, scooters and push bikes
alike.
We gathered more
friends who accompanied us, passing more neat gardens.
First to the post
office where Bear changed dollars into...........
.....local money. This 10,000 Franc is worth
seventy one pounds and twenty pence.
The 1,000 note.
Past the travel
agent, the plane leaves every Thursday for Tahiti. Behind this building
was a fast food take-away, open at three selling allsorts, but the thing we
recognised was a burger for about five pounds. We are REALLY struggling with
French and keep saying Ola instead of Bonjour and Gracias instead of Merci. I
can think of all the words I need in Spanish but am utterly blank in
Francais.
Next was a visit to the Gendarmerie to log in, a single form, all done in five
minutes. The very attractive gendarme who spoke pretty good English said we were
to stop by and say farewell as we left. We are to say hello on any island with a
gendarmerie, not bother if there wasn’t one (we can follow that logic) and
officially log out on Tahiti as we leave French Polynesia – simple. No palaver
and no-one poking around on Beez. “Have a wonderful stay, diesel buy from the
ferry next week and see Alice to pay F1000 (about a tenner) to throw our rubbish
per week”. Sitting waiting for the skipper to fill in his form I was bitten by a
mossie, no swelling and only a little itch, not bad at all. Our friendly
policeman told us to use a little spray in the afternoon as its winter. Back to
the post office to send our Immigration Form to Tahiti. I asked the man behind
the counter how to pronounce Gambier, he told us “Gom-Bee-Air”.
Time to find the bakery. A little way
down the road we stopped under a tree to wait for the slight downpour to move.
The left of this picture is dry, the right it’s
raining. Five minutes and we were on our way.
This cute little
church was closed to preserve it.
An unusual picture of Beez through a garden.
We found the
supermarket where we found just about everything. Bear bought me a one
and a half litre bottle of Diet Coke for three pounds and sixty pence, no more
of that then, powdered juice is me.
The baker had told us the bread would
be ready in half an hour and outside the supermarket there was the real deal
ice cream machine – would have been rude not to.
Our strawberry and vanilla mixes were one pound and
eighty pence, next time I will ask for half size as this one seemed ever ending.
We would never have thought to be so far from anywhere eating a Mr. Whippy
lookalike.........
The massive but friendly wasp had to rest after I gave him a little
dollop...... Fresh bread and ice cream could be a downfall for the hips, must
watch it and ration.
Home with our hot
bread, so good just with butter, a dollop
showing on the skipper.
ALL IN ALL VERY
SMART
QUAINT BUT NOT
POOR |