1/8/10 - 12.00 UTC - 17.19.4S 177.07.9E - Our first Sevu Sevu

Flying Cloud
Julian Nichols
Sun 1 Aug 2010 22:21
As luck would have it, it was Sunday. The day the guidebooks say you shouldn't bother the locals..... but we wanted to explore this fantastic looking Island. So off we went at 9am, to try and get the permission of the local Chief.
The villagers were delighted to see us and we were quickly introduced to Jerry, spokesman of the Chief, so that the locals could run off to church.
Jerry asked if we had bought Kava for Sevu Sevu, and I explained that I had a bag of ground root - but not the genuine root article. No problem, he wanted to show us the Island - I also promised him some of the spare rope I have (mistake number 1).

Within a few minutes we were walking through his house and garden, and up the track to the top of the peak.
Jerry stopped and explained that we needed some coconut juice for the trip - so I offered to climb my first coconut tree. As I got to the top, my heart must have been racing at 1000 bpms! I only managed to take 1 of the 2 coconuts I had planned to get before beating my retreat.

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So Jerry showed me how to do it for next time (go barefoot, don't use crocs!)

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The view from the peak was as usual well worth the trip!

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After the decent we were invited into Jerry's house for lunch with his wife and 2 kids.
And so I returned the favour and offered everyone a visit to the Cloud (mistake no.2).
We were quickly overrun, and a sugar high could be seen somewhere near the Cloud!

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Eventually it was time to leave and return to the village for Sevu Sevu (the Kava ceremony).
Fortunately another yacht from Holland had turned up, with the real root!
We had another good dinner and great hospitality - but by the end of it it was definitely time to leave!

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