Island Projects & Time With Friends
10 September 2012
Linda
We try and make our trips into town short and sweet. Even though Neiafu is small, it's the cruising social hub and we much prefer being out at anchorages with just a few other boats.
We celebrated Brad's birthday on board with our friends Paul and Mary from 'Bella Via'. Banana cake with sliced bananas and coconut custard between the layers topped off the evening. Paul introduced us to the villagers at Lape when we first arrived. They've spent a lot of time at the island over the last 3 years and have been instrumental in helping them move forward with a number of projects.
At the family feast we were invited to several weeks ago I noticed how difficult it was for the older villagers to make their way up the hill from the beach to the village. I offered to design some steps that they could build in the next year or so and the offer was gratefully accepted by Kolio and Tala.
At the b'day dinner I had an inkling what Brad and Paul were thinking. By the next morning arrangements were being made for tools and construction materials. Friday morning the work was underway.
The ace construction crew consisted of Brad, Paul, Vaiola, Fakahoko and Keti. I did the pointing and waving. Tools and supplies at hand: the village chainsaw and ax, Brad's battery powered drill, a coconut palm trunk and some scavenged rebar. Brad and I had done some sketching and measuring ahead of time so all went smoothly and we were finished in time for the Saturday feast.
I was invited to help prepare food for the feast and spent a number of hours Saturday morning sitting on the floor at Keti's house chopping vegetables. The buffet generally includes roasted pig (cooked to perfection), fresh fish dipped in a batter and fried, 'ota ika (raw fish marinated in lime juice and coconut cream, cole slaw, sweet and sour vegetables, potato salad (funny huh?), taro root, breadfruit, chicken and faikakai (little dough dumplings in a browned butter and sugar sauce.