It was a pleasant and quiet week in Aukena. The rather negative reception we got is now resolved . It seems standard here that Bernard and his wife chase away all yachts that anchor in front of his house. That's just the way he does it here�....if you like it or not! We stayed on board for 5 days, cleaning the salty forward compartments and fixing a few leaks. One evening Bernard came for a visit and I gave him a beer. That seems to be the trick. He warmed up quickly and told us his life story. A day later we went ashore and he took us along to the windward side thru a beautiful stone arch. All along the trail we picked fruits and chatted. I sat with him for a few hours as Daniela took a walk to the church. Many interesting stories about him and the island. He had a job finding water with his pendulum all over Polynesia. He has been to Pitcairn many times. He takes care of the Pitcairn islanders when they come here for medical reasons. Then we took my dingy to his garden and loaded up a bag with 20 kilos of Papayas and gave them to the yachts in the anchorage�...many happy faces. And again as I talked and translated for the yachts, I felt it was strange for them to be here. All they get is a view and nothing at all from the locals. Or very little because the English the locals speak is very poor. You can't really have a conversation, and you can't get into an argument like I did first with Bernard. I often think of the English speaking boats, See Germans, Scandinavians or Asians that don't speak a word of French. WTF are they doing here?? I would be so lost�...Or I would be like I was in Japan�...terribly lost�...but learning slowly to say: �"Wakaranei�" (I don't understand). J

I miss Japan....the people..the culture and the FOOD�...ill be there again before I kick the bucket