Fish!
Kokamo's Pacifc Meanderings
Tom and Rachel
Wed 2 Jun 2010 08:08
|
Kokamo is at 19:48.0S 174:21.4W
anchored off the Ha'apai metropolis of Pangai. This is the capital of the
area and from what we can see so far, looking ashore from the boat this evening,
it is comparatively bustling - there is a generator running constantly so
many more lights and we've even spotted a couple of cars! Apparently there is a
good lunch spot, 'Mariners cafe' so I'm looking forward to
tomorrow. We are here on a bit of an admin
stop because we need to clear in and out of internal customs, and pick up some
water and supplies.
Anyway, great excitement - we
caught our first fish!! After the huge disappointment of losing our most
expensive piece of fishing tackle on the first ever bite we had, we were
despondent about our chances, but then the other day, whilst sailing past a mean
looking piece of reef, a fish caught us! yes, that is about how it
happened. He was sadly only of the mackerel variety (although much larger
than the poor UK cousin) but we are prefering to refer to him as a small
tuna. We couldn't believe our luck as we had by this point almost entriely
exhausted our fresh supplies so BBQed fish tasted delicious.
This evening we are back to a more Tongan style dinner consisting mainly of
starch. We've eaten crisps made from Breadfruit as an appetiser, to be followed
shortly by baked sweet potatoes with sweetcorn and if we're still
hungry we'll be moving onto boiled yam. It has not been easy
to get fresh vegetables in the Ha'apai. Although there are a
few small stores in the villages we've been to these only stock dry goods - easy
to purchase cans of corned beef or condensed milk if you want them - but to
have vegetables you have to grow them yourself and so they are only available if
you're lucky enough to meet someone who is happy to trade them - mainly for
tins of corned beef and the occasional flashlight.
However, we have also been
treated to some fantastic food. We visited the Island of 'Uiha at the
weekend where we met a delightful gentleman, Tevita (David) Lutui, who invited
us to attend the church service the following day and come to lunch
afterwards. Church over here is a big deal and so we were really keen
to join in. Even in 'Uiha, a tiny village on a very
small island, there are six churches. The most fantastic thing is
the singing. Everyone sings at the top of their voices in four part
harmony, without any music, for both the hymns and all the sung reponses.
In the service we went to, the members of the congregation who
belonged to the choir (nearly
everyone) crowded around us to sing the anthem which was
spectacular. After the service, we visited David's to join him and
his family for lunch. A huge feast had been prepared (someone had been working
very hard that morning) including lamb coooked in coconut milk
and wrapped in taro leaves, fish cooked in a similar way, a whole
chicken - a real treat which was reserved especially for us, and lots of
yam and tapioca. It was great to be part of a big family lunch - it could just
as well have been roast lamb and parsnips on the sideboard.
|