I’m in the galley starting a special dinner (more on that below) and Ann’s in the cockpit reading and we’re surprised by a very special delivery. Four, what my uncle used to call “ankle biters” in an outrigger canoe pulled up to Charisma. Mind you we’re a good 100 yards from the village here at Albert Cove, but this outrigger had two older boys (10 and 8 years old) paddling with their younger siblings (3 year old and 18 month old) in it. I heard Ann gasp when she saw the canoe and call out to them. Turned out they had been sent out on a mission by their grandfather, Samuel. We had been with him earlier in the day and he promised limes. We said we would come in early in the morning before leaving tomorrow to pick them up. But being a proactive guy, he sent his grandkids out with a burlap sack full of limes and a guananaba. Very much appreciated. Now we won’t get scurvy. 😉 We returned the favor. Ann gave the kids a beach ball and they headed back to the beach with smiles looking forward to playing with their new toy.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Earlier in the day we went on a tour of the area with Samuel who is the patriarch here. He took us on a hike down the beach to his “plantation”. The plantation consisted of batches of taro and yagona (kava). The old plantation was wiped out by Cyclone Evan last year, so this is rebuilding for them and they are proud of the effort. On our way back down the beach, Samuel told us to keep going as he ducked into the bush. He would meet us back at the huts. So we continued down the beach and spent some time back in the village (it’s not technically a village, but a series of huts that this group of people use as a fishing base. Since the kids were on holiday from school, there were four families here which are more than usually reside here). Anyway, we got to know some of the family while we waited for Samuel. And waited. And waited. We watched Samuel’s wife weaving roof sections for the new house out of palm leaves and another of the women cooking coconut oil that they sell in the larger village down island. Finally we decided it was getting late-the sun was setting-and we needed to get back to Charisma. We were just wading out to the dinghy which was anchored in shallow water off the beach, when we heard a shout from down the beach. It was Samuel. He was smiling and waved us toward him. Off we went and as we got close we realized he had gathered a treasure for us. Real heart of palm. Normally an expensive delicacy in the U.S., here you just chop down a young palm tree. Normally we would be concerned about chopping down a tree, but there are so many young palm trees and so few people living here there was no loss. With great gratitude, we accepted his wonderful gift (not knowing that he was yet to send out the kids with the limes as well). Turns out our gift of a whole bag of rice (among a bunch of other stuff) yesterday was really well received as they have none and won’t have any until they go back to the village in a week or so. Once again, we already regret leaving a place where the people are just so wonderful and kind.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Oh, and dinner. We have been intending to prepare an authentic Fijian dish of fish cooked in a pumpkin, but when we checked our fish supply we realized we had run out. Well, yesterday when we brought some supplies ashore one of the things the folks here gave us was a bag full of salted, smoked fish. OK, we’re in business, so here’s the menu: you take a Fijian pumpkin (actually more like a large butternut kind of squash), you cut a hole (keep the “lid” that you cut) and hollow it out, then fill with onions, garlic, fish, coconut milk and whatever else you want. I added slices of our new heart of palm. Put the “lid” back on with the whole thing in a pyrex dish and put in the oven on 375 degrees for an hour more or less. Oh, my! There’s a whole new set of future recipes coming from this basic treatment. The Fijians of course put the pumpkin in a lovo and bury it in the ground. We don’t have a lovo or ground for the matter, so the oven is it. Anyway, an amazing dish. At Ann’s suggestion, I cut the two ends and turned them up then filled them with the fillings. This left the center of the pumpkin to use in a curry tomorrow night. Yum. Yum. And yum!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So there you are. We’re (reluctantly as always) leaving here tomorrow. Probably for Katherine Bay a ways down the coast of Rabi, but we may go over the top of the island and sail back down to Taveuni. We need to resupply on our way south to Nairai to meet the folks who found our bottle that we threw over at the equator back near Mexico. As I might have mentioned in previous posts, we’re now desperately short of wine, nearly out of beer and almost out of rum. We’re down to our last bottle of Kiwi rum. Thank goodness Ann has developed a new rain catcher that involves a funnel attached at the corner of the solar panel so at least we have fresh water and can make tea. (Quick get me to a real store!)