Time for play

CuriousOyster
Steve & Trish Brown
Tue 29 Jun 2010 03:05
It's not often that "Curious" finds herself the smallest boat in an anchorage but in company with Bill, Johanna and Gram of "Visions of Johanna" and Stewart and Trish of "Rhianne Marie" this proved to be the case. The anchorage behind Motu Murimahora was georgous and we anchored in shallow, crystal clear water over white sand.
There are 15 families living on this Motu and we went ashore to say hello and to see if we could buy any fresh produce or the Canteloupe melons that were described in the cruising guides, and as you can see, they do. They also grow herbs and vegetables to supplement their diet and although they were coming to the end of their growing period (there are no distinct seasons) they were happy to share what they had and would take no payment from us.
 
Bill and Pascale got along famously and Pascale was happy to explain their methods and their life on the Motu. the kids all got along with each other and the older ones made sure that any treats that we handed out were shared equally. The little girls brought flowers for Johanna and Trish and a garland for Bill.
To say thanks for their generosity we went back to take the kids some of the stuff that we had brought for just such occassions and although at first they were very reluctant to take the gifts, we handed out sunglasses, a frisbee, pens and crayons,hair clips for the girls and sweets for everyone.
The following day we went back and invited all the kids onto Curious for soft drinks and biscuits and Bill got out his big inflatable donut to take the kids for rides around the anchorage. We all had a great time, the kids exploring every nook and cranny on the boat were polite and well behaved and loved diving off the pushpit and took their turns to be dragged around behind Bill's dinghy. A memorable day!
The older boy had fallen off his bike that morning and had injured his arm quite badly so after he had finished in the water we dressed his arm with antibiotic cream to try to stop the infections that are so easily developed in these hot humid conditions.