We had an ok sail to Gambier. 15 hours of motoring and a few squalls, but we got here. We went straight to Taravai and anchored in the south
where
Eduard lives. I was quiet surprised that we could pick up the cell phone signal from Aukena island. It was often so good that I could even
open a web
page. To top it, I managed to look at my Giga hungry banking pages. Things must have changed in this island, forgotten at the end of
Polynesia. So our
stay went on and on as we got busy fixing things and Daniela was helping Eduard to get his garden back in shape. He in return gave us tons of
bananas,
avocados, papaya, lime and sweet potatoes. He went fishing and brought us a nice reef fish and a bonito the next day. 2 weeks went by easily
with
visiting yachts and social dinners etc. It was pleasant. Then a nasty tropical wave came over us and we had squalls with 50 knots and too
much wind for the wind generators. Oh well, if we would have downloaded France Meteo, we would have seen their "vigilance jaune" a yellow weather warning.
The grib
files showed nothing.
Before the big wind came, the Aukena antenna went dead. So we had zero web and no weather info.
The same thing happened last year. They couldn't fix it for many weeks. Not because they don't have a technician to hit the re-set button or
change
some parts ...no. It was dead because they couldn't find a taxi boat to bring the repair man to this island that's 5 minutes away from town.
With almost
everybody on boats here, this was hard to believe.
So Monday I went to the La Poste, the local post office that does everything from banking to mail and telecom. They knew all ready that the
Aukena
station was dead and said that it would be fixed "soon" . "Tomorrow? " I asked . "No, there is a problem. We can't find a boat!" I tried to
hide my white
mans displeasure of such Polynesian attitude but I guess I cant hide it .They all know that we white ones are not used to island speed and
that we WANT
THINGS DONE ...NOW !!

The next day I went back to the post office and told them that I would volunteer to bring the man across to fix it ." Oh no Monsieur" "This
has to be a
licensed boat, with a French captain, proper papers and insurance and and and " . Not just some foreign yacht, no no no !!

They seem complicated and laid back here. Nothing gets done. Plus they picked up a lot of red tape from Paris. They have been trained to
make it as
complicated as most things in France and then added some more Polynesian paperwork on top of it .
As a result, the eastern part of Mangareva and all islands within view of Aukena are now dead. They wont fix it, because there are no boats
in this lagoon.
But I can see hundreds of boats.
Sometimes its tuff to digest this attitude. It would have been so nice to sail to the outer islands and get a weather report everyday....

Back at Jojos where you get free wifi , I saw the yachties. They sit on some concrete steps and wait for the page to open. We are all happy
they let us use
this for free. And when you are all alone it gets quiet fast sometimes. But cuts often and then its dead for days . Oh well...but its free
and you can stay for
a whole day and nobody asks you to consume anything.

I was happy to see Davatea again, the owner of the place, his family and employees. He wasn't too happy with the web speed. They need it to
order food
in Papeete and to use credit cards and cottage reservations etc etc . Like every business, I guess. They made endless demands in Tahiti for
better
service but nothing happened .The fast under sea cable from the Marquesas goes to Hao but not any further. No protest and no begging helps.
They are
often 3-4 days without anything and also no power, but that's an other story.

The politicians just forgot about Gambier.

BUT : last year Rikitea organized this conference of all Polynesian Majors. The Polynesians don't think much of this expensive get together
of Chiefs or
Tavanas as they call them. But it must have been known to all the Majors that the Rikitea web is less then 2G or maybe half a G at best and
often
nothing at all. The chiefs organized a few sophisticated technicians with some fancy hardware and BINGO : all of Rikitea had 4G. FOUR
GEEE...!!! The
locals were exited. Finally they could open a Facebook page and talk on whatsapp etc .
But when the chiefs went back to their islands, they took the 4G equipment with them. And all that was left, was a dream, how it could be...

Then I met the guy that makes Brioche for 500 Francs or 300 when its soggy and old :-) We never bought one because he always has the dirtiest
fingernails in town. They are black and I guess a lot of it makes it into the dough yuacckkhh
Now he has internet for the yachties. He gave me the rules right away: From 8-10 am and 2-4 pm NOT A MINUTE MORE!! Its 200 Francs (2US$) for
2h and
you get a coffee or sompen. "But no brioche" he barked at me.
I didn't feel too welcome , so I haven't been at his place yet.
Next to the handicraft shop is another small restaurant with wifi. But you must buy a whole meal to get wifi. I wasn't hungry and she closed
as I was
coming at 3pm...
As a last resort you can buy a wifi card from La Poste. It works only there and cost 495Francs for 1hour.(5US$) The moment you open the
connection the
hour starts and you cant stop it. But most important: you don't get your money back if it fails to get you connected for this hour. I asked
in French, if this
was true and they shrugged ...."yes I guess". Tuff tits is not a French expression, but its everywhere in Frogpoly : -)

But we are not here for the web. For banking I have a friend in Switzerland that calls me and she clicks on the $$$ for me. You cannot call
from here
because their 5$ calling card is finished in 25 seconds...
We are here to ...hm hm the people, the scenery and the rest... i am not allowed to say