An extraordinary place.
13 June 2007 | Toau
Steve and Susan
The chart and Goggle Earth will show that we are tucked into a small bay from the outside of the Toau atoll; it is quite small and entry into the lagoon is impossible because of the coral reef with a depth of about 3'. There are currently 9 boats here and some have been here since their arrival in the Tuamotos two weeks ago. The diving is OK but not special, there are no archaeological sites, no village, no bakery, and no stores; so why is everyone here? The people in the photograph.
Gaston, Valentine, and their nephew have turned this little cove into cruisers paradise. When we approached the pass Gaston and his nephew came out in their motorboat to greet us and guide us into the cove. Would we like a mooring? They led us to the mooring, described how they had recently installed it (chain around a large coral head) and handed us the line. They have 10-12 moorings in this little cove that would accommodate 5 boats if all were at anchor. Some of the boats that have lingered have become part of the family. The men from two Austrian boats spent yesterday constructing a new grafting table for Valentine, who has a small pearl farm. One of their wives was helping Valentine in the kitchen.
We joined them last night with several of the other boats for dinner. Fresh tuna that had been caught the night before appeared as shashimi, and grilled, local lobster was done on the BBQ, parrot fish was breaded with coconut and fried, and also served as poisson cru, and dessert was coconut cream pie. All served family style with 16 people at the table. It was wonderful.
It is very tempting to linger, but we'd like to see a few more atolls so we're off today to Apataki to the north.