It seems hard to believe that it is 2 weeks today since we arrived in Palau and one thing I forgot to add in my last blog that when we arrived and did our Customs, Immigration entry etc. Dave had his finger prints taken as well as a photo of him and of our boat!! They did not want my finger prints! A little about Palau: Palau is the western most territory in Micronesia with the islands in Micronesia stretching from the Philippines to Hawaii and has 340 islands with a population of just under 21,000 with over 6000 of these being foreign workers, mostly from the Philippines with most of the population living in Koror. The country is divided into 16 states with an American style, three branch government. Scientists believe that Palau was inhabited as early as 1000BC. Spain eventually claimed the islands in 1686 but at the end of the Spanish/American war Spain sold Palau to Germany who began a colonial administration in Palau. In 1914 the Japanese declared war on Germany and took control of Palau, attaching it to the Japanese naval base in Chuuk. Under the Treaty of Versailles the islands were formally passed to the Japanese in 1919 with Germany's defeat in WW1. By 1922 the Japanese had established a modern government centre in Koror. Thirty thousand people were living on Palau by this time, only 6,000 being Palauan. Japanese culture dominated, replacing many local traditions as Palauans worked for the Japanese, attended Japanese schools and observed Japanese religious practices. In 1935 Japan withdrew from the League of Nations and began military build-up in Palau and by the time WW11 broke out Japan had seaplane bases and heavy gun emplacement throughout Palau. In July 1944 the Americans attacked and one of the bloodiest battles of the Pacific war was fought on Peleliu. Angaur was also taken and the islands to the north were bombed, clearing the way for MacArthur to return to the Philippines. Following Japan's defeat in WW11, the Carolines, Marianas and Marshall Islands, including Palau became United Nations Trust Territories under US administration. As part of its mandate the US was to improve Palau's infrastructure and educational system in order for it to become a self sufficient nation. This finally came about on 1st October, 1994, when Palau gained its independence upon the signing of the compact of Free Association with the United States. Tourism is the biggest business and it is a growing industry with Palau being famous for its diving and scuba forms the backbone of the tourism market. We have been having quite a social time since arriving here and have been out to dinner several times with our friends, Pauline & Mark on Sari Timur plus an Australian couple, Ralph & Penny from Hanskip. Have done Chinese, a pasta night and today at lunchtime we went with Pauline and Mark and had a great Indian lunch - a special they do on a Friday. Wednesday week ago we hired a car with Jim and Jenny from Almathea and toured Babeldoab Island. We went to a little place called Airai to see the oldest Bai in Palau which is said to be over 200 years old. It was traditionally used by the village chiefs of Airai and the building is sacred. The new capital of Palau is at Melekeok with the capitol, legislature and court buildings which have been built as a smaller replica of the White House. The place is deserted except for these buildings. However a few miles from there was a small village where we went into a small cafe and had a nice lunch while there was a bit of a storm, as we were driving along we thought there looked to be a water spout but it did not eventuate into anything serious although we had some strong winds and heavy rain for awhile. Still standing from the Second World War is the Japanese Communications centre which the Japanese used during the war and was bombed in 1944 by the Americans. Apparently the Japanese had a cross painted on the roof so that it looked as though it was a hospital but of course did not fool the Americans! We also visited the Etpison Museum here in Koror on our way back which was most interesting. They have the only display on Palau of the real Palauan money beads (Udoud). These ancient glass money beads are still used today during important events such as child birth, marriage, house building and funerals, when they are exchanged between local clans. The museum also had a gift shop and had a selection of storyboards. They are a popular craft in Palau and were first introduced by a Japanese artist, Hisakatsu Hijikata in 1929. He saw the erosion of local culture and architecture during the Japanese era as a threat to the survival of many stories and myths previously preserved in the rafters of the Bai. He suggested Storyboards as a way to preserve the mythology and history of Palau while producing additional tourist revenue. Also went to see a mother and child stone monolith here in Koror. We bade farewell to Jim and Jenny from Almathea on Thursday night as they headed off towards New Guinea on Friday morning on their way back either to New Zealand (depending on weather) or to Australia. We have been catching up on quite a few maintenance jobs, they seem to be never ending and the Watermaker is now all up and ready to go but we have been having so much rain that we have not had to use it. We spent a whole morning fixing the washing machine, the belt had come off and a part of the belt had gone to shreds, however there was enough remaining and strong enough to put it back on, which in a cramped space and not much room to move in the washing machine was quite difficult. However am pleased to say that it is going fine so hopefully it will last awhile, although I have contacted Samsung NZ and they are going to post us up a new belt. We have had a local Indian guy here make up our kit set sunshade cover and we picked it up this morning. When I asked him how much we owed him he said “$US120” and when I said, “Oh”, he quickly replied, “I spent 2 whole days on it”. I was expecting it to cost a lot more so I gave him an extra $20 which he very much appreciated. However, we are unable to put it up yet as it is too windy and will be for the next couple of days. All the tourist boats are being put on moorings, rather than being tied up at the jetty which is where they have been since we arrived. While in the Philippines I found on the internet the cheapest place to get a computer for our main autohelm but it has been very difficult for us to communicate with the guy at the Yacht Supply Depot in the US. He said they would only send by courier, rather than US Post but because at that time I could only give a P.O. Box number the courier company would not take it. So then I emailed back saying just send it C/- Sam's Tours here as they are very well known. A reply then came back, sorry we cannot do it with no explanation at all. Talk about frustrating. So this morning I re registered on their website in my name and reordered it and are having it sent to our friends, Don & Linda Jenkins, just out of San Francisco and hey presto it has all gone through, payment approved. So we will get them to post it out to us here by the US Postal system with insurance and a fraction of the cost of couriers, which is how they sent out our water pumps for the Watermaker. By purchasing from the US rather than NZ we have saved over $NZ2000. Our wheel steering autohelm has been working fine since the main one broke down but we would not be able to use it in a following sea or very rough weather and while our NZ dollar is reasonably high we might as well buy it now rather than when we get home and pay a lot more for it in NZ. When the weather improves a group of us are going to go out on one of Sam's Tours next week to the Blue Hole for a dive, although I will only be snorkelling. It is on the outer reef and there is nowhere for us to anchor if we took our boat out and too far from an anchorage for the dinghy. We are anchored in beautiful clear water here and most days go for a swim off the end of the boat and only 200 metres from the dinghy dock outside the Palau Yacht Club & Sam's Tours.