Raivavae

Raivavae is in the Australes archipelago and our last stop on this trip. Getting off the ship was an adventure as the ship could not get in close to the island. There was a swell running so the barge was moving up down approximately a metre at a time. No worries, the crew grabs you and whips you across as the barge comes up. Another crew member slows your momentum until you can grab a seat.

As on the other islands we have visited, the local people welcomed us with music ,singing and a flower lei. This Island is visited by  tourists and they are prepared as you can hire a car or bike , go snorkeling on a tour, or even stay in a local guest house. The ladies had set up portable gazebos with their crafts from the villages on the island. We were to go on a bus tour around the island . There are four villages, an airport ,general store,post office , 2 primary schools and bank.

Our bus tour took us through each village. We were impressed with how well each houses and land  are tended. All the land is owned by the different families. It is passed on to family members to build and grow food. Our guide told us he was ‘adopted’ by his grandparents. This ensures that the oldest grandchild stays on the island. As on the other islands, the people are self sustaining.Money comes from selling excess fish, jobs for the island council or services.  Sewn canoes are also unique to the island.

When the missionaries came to the islands, they insisted on more modest clothing, no tattoos and the destruction of the local gods or tikis. Only one remains on the island and it was recovered from the lagoon. It is a smiling Tiki believed to have helped navigation.

We visited a Morae. These are places of burial, prayer or ceremonies. The Morales here are not platforms built up of stones but are spaces marked out by standing stones. Each guide seemed to have a slightly different story for the morae. Ours was that it was the place women went when they were grieving because their men were going to war. Another was , it was the burial place of a female leader and her daughter. She became leader when her brothers were killed by her step brothers. Her daughter became leader when she died. 

Our guide showed us how to make fire using the local  Purae tree and coconut fibre. He said women were quicker than women so did the cooking. We did query this but he had a fire within a minute.

Lunch was again local food gain local food but did include more cooked items that our tourist stomachs were more accustomed . They were served in plates made from bamboo or coconut s as were the cups.They had certainly gone to a lot of trouble to make us welcomed.