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Day 6 – Friday 2 November
After another early breakfast we caught a tender to Kiriwina Island, reputed to be one of the most intact island cultures.
As we left the wharf, we were surrounded by locals either offering tours or selling objects, mainly wood carvings.
Most of the carvings were bowls with shell inlay, but there were some very nice ones of octopus, squid, manta rays and sharks.
We engaged Ruth (her Christian name) Morewaya, an accredited guide, who took us on a tour of her village.
Along the way we passed a number of children dressed in traditional clothes, posing or singing for donations.
Frances also donated some clothes to the school that she had brought from Australia which were very welcome.
Apparently bout 1 ship per month visits the island and they very grateful for the boost it brings to the local economy.
Betel nut chewing seems endemic and Ruth's 13 year old daughter Wendy was already chewing regularly (Ruth also has four sons).
The village included a yam house (empty), for which we had to make a donation to the "big man" who owns it to take a photograph.
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| Political poster |
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| Ruth Morewaya |
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| Yam house |
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| Yam house and owner |
Wendy took us down to the snorkelling area, not far from the wharf where we went in for a refreshing swim – it was over 30C and humidity around 90%. We had intended to visit the Sacred Cave which promised a swim in fresh water but after walking a considerable distance in the blazing sun and heat, we decided to return to the beach. From there is was only a short walk to where we could pay and see the "Skull Cave" (taking photos cost extra), but without a proper context and description was pretty meaningless.
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| You see the sign... |
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| You pay your money... |
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| You see the Skull Cave. |
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| The queue to return to the ship at its peak |
We managed to arrange our return to the ship about 1:30pm. at a time when demand was low so we only had a short wait for a return tender.
After washing all of our swim gear and day clothes the cabin was full of hanging wet clothes, but we still managed to lie down for a rest, the heat and humidity taking its toll.
We had a quiet evening, walking out of the incredibly uninteresting evening show of "Broadway Tunes" and having dinner in the Waterfront restaurant. We are getting to know the staff, and them, us, so the dinners are becoming more interactive and entertaining.
Day 7 – Saturday 3 November
Today we were to visit the island of Kitava, only a short distance from Kiriwina, however there was a medical emergency overnight. The ship spent the night standing off the island and in the morning had to re-anchor off the island and a passenger had to be evacuated.
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| Kitava from a distance |
This meant lowering a tender, getting them aboard, transferring them to a vehicle onshore, and transporting them for 30 minutes to the airstrip where a plane was to transport them to hospital. Of course the medical and ship staff then had to return to the ship. This all took about 3 hours, and then we had to sail to Kitava, about 1.5 hours away.
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| Dinner with Natalie, Jane and David |
By the time we arrived at Kitava swell had come up and the captain was unwilling to launch the tenders and so we had to raise anchor and leave for the next destination, Panasesa in the Conflict Islands. This left most of a day to kill on board, fortunately we had scheduled a Tai Chi class for 3:30 which was well attended with about 20 people and assisted by Paul, another guest who has practiced Tai Chi for some time. The rest of the time was mostly spent reading and preparing for dinner.
As we again had a late sitting, we killed time in the Oasis Bar, listening to the pretty woeful duet murdering some well-known and not so well-known songs. Only the application of some alcohol eased the pain. We had another pleasant dinner in the Waterfront restaurant, and again ran into David and Jane from Merimbula.
As we left the wharf, we were surrounded by locals either offering tours or selling objects, mainly wood carvings.
We engaged Ruth (her Christian name) Morewaya, an accredited guide, who took us on a tour of her village.
