Dear Family and Friends,

 

8th August 2015

 

If you have ever wondered what life would be like on a desert island in the middle of the Pacific, then here it is! Palmerstone in all its glory.

 

Palm and mahogany lined ‘avenues have been laid on the 1.5 mile long island, leading to the homes and workshops of the residents. Despite its small size there are a couple of motor bikes and a quad bike. Living is very much inside out with covered but open sided enclosures for cooking and washing. The homes are modest with little beyond the essential. The solar power plant provides some power to run the freezers, lighting and power tools. There are also generators and batteries for things like the water pump to the cooking house. Water catchment is a priority as there is no fresh water on the island, houses have large storage tanks although I am not sure how they keep it fresh. Recycling is natural here, although there are piles of things awaiting a new lease of life, the recycled yacht amused us.

 

The only employment on the island appears to be the official Arthur, who deals with formalities for visiting yachtsmen and the fumigation lady who sprays your boat with a can of flyspray for $20! Oh and the teacher who has a class of 23 of all ages. There is a church but I am not sure whether there is a clergy there. Apart from that it is a subsistence living fishing and exchanging visitors gifts for hospitality. The men folk travel to other islands for work and must be away for months at a time. But for all their differences the islanders are wonderfully welcoming and keen to talk to their visitors.

 

Our host Edward has a very cute piglet called Bacon, (not sure whether this describes its future), who will roll over and let you rub its tummy. It trots around just like a dog. And of course there are countless chickens roaming the trees.

 

Now I think of it we left them the video of the Wolf of wall Street, to be honest we didn’t like the film, goodness knows what the islanders would make of that it is so far removed from their lives! We did warn them about its content but that only seemed to make them more eager to watch it!

 

All our best,

 

Lynne and Alan