Off On A Lark!

Iki means small in Tongan and the two islands are directly across a channel from one another. We anchored on the Iki side after a 5 hour sail from Kelefesia. I was immediately ready to go ashore (and look for shells) so Brad inflated our red kayak and off we went. The kayak is so easy to pick up and carry up the beach that we use it if we're not crossing any large area of water. It also provides great entertainment for the locals when we come in, a wave put us sideways to the beach and oh, oh, oh with the next wave we're in the water!!! Thank goodness we haven't done that since the Marquesas.

Anyhow, we carry the kayak to well above the tide line and we're off for some beachcombing at low tide. Since it's late in the afternoon we decided not to stay ashore too long. As we return to our transport we start to follow some fairly large animal tracks, deep in the sand. They go to the kayak, circle it very closely then disappear into the bush. Grateful that whatever it is didn't either climb in or take a bite we return to 'Lark'. Shortly we see 4 cows further down the beach staring at the boat. A 'Far Side' cartoon immediately comes to mind!

Two days later we venture across in the dinghy to visit our first village, Nomuka. As we come ashore, out of the bushes come a group of young children. Shy but wide eyed and curious. As we approached the road one of their fathers spoke with us then sent 3 of the boys to show us where the falekoloa (store is). We felt like pied pipers as more and more kids joined in to show us the village. We bought a package of cookies and gave out 1 each to be sure we'd have enough. Boy does that draw a crowd and since they were on school holiday oh boy! As we walked, they picked flowers for me. No stems of course but the looked lovely floating in a bowl back on board.

The village has a few dirt roads, only one that would be passable in a vehicle. Many of the homes sit several feet above the roads and the others are elevated on posts. I assume that when it rains, it pours. One little girl invited us to climb the ladder from the road to her yard so she could show us a wheelbarrow of tiny puppies under their house. The welfare of the dogs that we have seen so far is beyond sad. I won't dwell on that subject. We saw a community project underway to provide clean water from a small lake in the village and when it started to rain the kids insisted that we go. Be sure and look at our photos.