Wednesday, February 07, 2007
Aitutaki (correct spelling) Day 1 continued....
We landed on a motu (small island) called Maine, which is one of the few nesting places of Red Tailed Tropic Birds as there are no rats on the island. We walked around on the sandy beaches spotting parent birds on nests and fat fluffy chicks and watched colourful fish come near to the shore in the clear waters. Mathias cooked lunch - fish, taro, sort of spinage, and a sort of jelly which is a combination of banana and something (can't remember what, but I do remember some local guy is now making a fortune marketing the stuff).
Q We also ate something purple, what was it?
We sailed back, stopping on route for another snorkel and arrived back at the dock about 5pm ish. A big game fishing boat had just arrived back in port and a forklift truck had gone to meet it. After a few attempts they managed to lift a 9ft Marlin out of the fishing boat with approximate weight of 200kg - a nice little profit for the captain and the guys who paid to go out on the trip didn't even get to keep some of the tuna. We decided not to bother going the next day but in all honesty I don't think the boat was going out as they had made a nice little profit and there wasn't much fuel on the island. In fact we had passed 2 petrol stations with no petrol. The locals seem quite cool about it and just accept it. Talking to a Aussie girl who'd temperoraily worked at the hospital she said sometimes it gets quiet as the ambulance can't get to people and the people can't get to the hospital so you end up with only really really urgent cases that have found a way!
We watched a nice sunset from the beach by our hut, lots of reds etc, and then cooked dinner and went to bed. The toilet was in the garden and although it wasn't far you definitely needed a torch as there were large hermit crabs about, one we saw had claws the size of childs fingers.
Q We also ate something purple, what was it?
We sailed back, stopping on route for another snorkel and arrived back at the dock about 5pm ish. A big game fishing boat had just arrived back in port and a forklift truck had gone to meet it. After a few attempts they managed to lift a 9ft Marlin out of the fishing boat with approximate weight of 200kg - a nice little profit for the captain and the guys who paid to go out on the trip didn't even get to keep some of the tuna. We decided not to bother going the next day but in all honesty I don't think the boat was going out as they had made a nice little profit and there wasn't much fuel on the island. In fact we had passed 2 petrol stations with no petrol. The locals seem quite cool about it and just accept it. Talking to a Aussie girl who'd temperoraily worked at the hospital she said sometimes it gets quiet as the ambulance can't get to people and the people can't get to the hospital so you end up with only really really urgent cases that have found a way!
We watched a nice sunset from the beach by our hut, lots of reds etc, and then cooked dinner and went to bed. The toilet was in the garden and although it wasn't far you definitely needed a torch as there were large hermit crabs about, one we saw had claws the size of childs fingers.
# posted by D&M Travels @ 1:43 AM 
