28 July 2011 - Kioa Island to Eritabeta, Rabi Island, Fiji

Talofa.

A new greeting for a new island. We sailed yesterday from Taveuni to the neighboring island of Kioa. The people at the only village on Kioa are originally from the atolls in Tuvalu. They came to Fiji around the same time as the people of Rabi, but for different reasons. They were struggling to survive on their atolls which, at the highest, are 15' above sea level. Their crops were continually flooded by salt water and there was little soil to begin with. So, many of them chose to move to Fiji where they have flourished.

We were the only boat anchored in the bay on the west side of Kioa -- opposite where the village is located. We would've preferred to anchor in front of the village, but couldn't because of high winds. When JT & I went exploring by kayak, we discovered a couple living in a lean-to ashore. Falu Papa is the chief of the village. His wife Suzanne was very talkative, interesting, & interested in us. It's easy to get to know people here in Fiji since nearly everyone speaks English. The lean-to is their "vacation home", Suzanne joked. She told us we could walk over the hill to the village of Salia, so today Ella, JT & I did just that. BB is nursing a cold, so he stayed aboard to heal.

It was a lovely walk, if a bit muddy due to the rains over the last two days. When we reached the crest of the hill, we could see Migration snugged into the cove below us. Suzanne had joked about the trail not being cleared recently & that she took no responsibility for us if we got lost, but in fact the trail was just fine.

Suzanne wrote a note to her daughter-in-law to introduce us, so when we arrived, we were ushered to their house & given Tang (!) to drink. Suzanne had made a comment about their granddaughter having the same name as me (it was Aileen); she was a cutie, about 3 years old, but didn't want to have her photo taken with me. Too scary being close to a foreigner. I took one of her with her friend instead.

Other cruisers had told us that the ladies of this village make nice handicrafts, so we asked if we could see them. This turned out to be a more formal affair than expected. While we were given a tour of the village by Lanesi, the chief's son, all the ladies who make crafts assembled in the chief's house with their crafts laid out for us. We bought as much as we could fit into our packs (at ridiculously low prices).

When we returned to Suzanne & Falu Papa's vacation house, they had picked bananas for us. Suzanne couldn't say enough times that she hopes we will come back to visit, or send our friends to visit, or our children...

People are so warm & welcoming here. They seem genuinely interested in spending time with us, asking us questions, & answering our many questions for them. We learned 3 Tuvalu words (the essentials): talofa = hello, tofa = goodbye, & fakafetai = thank you. They seem to appreciate our effort to use these words whenever possible.

Our sail to Rabi was rather rambunctious & wet until we got behind the island, then it was wonderful. We were surprised to find Equanimity anchored in the cove when we arrived there. They've had the same cold BB now has.

It was surprisingly windy at Rabi, but Katherine Bay offered good protection. Sure glad we got okay weather & the opportunity to visit Kioa.

says ADR