May 14 - The Picnic

We had arranged a picnic visit to the Blue Lagoon with Fernando, one of the village chiefs of Manihi, of the northwest Tuamotus group. There were four boats, whose eleven people were picked up by two private pangas shortly after 0830. We traveled high speed the 15 nm with several brief stops along the way for Fernando to point out local places of interest. The "Blue Lagoon" is an area in the most northern and eastern part of the lagoon, and has lovely beaches and reefs around it. The yachties were joined by Fernando's sister Eugenia, her husband John, their son Jean, nephew (sorry, can't recall his name) and their cousin Kelani English, the Hawaiian senator from Maui. We stopped at a small beach where the fun and action began. First off, palm fronds were gathered and a small fire started. Coconut bread was made: water, flour and and freshly ground, grated coconut. Then several of us went along fishing in one of the pangas. While the locals spear fished, we used hand lines aboard with bait of octopus and hermit crab. The sharks were circling as the guys put their catch in a floating basin they trailed behind them. We didn't get anything with the hand lines, but the spearguns found their targets often, and we returned to the beach to find the meal in full preparation. Jean had cut down a small palm tree for the heart of palm salad. Several fish dishes were prepared - poisson cru and grilled fish, as well as coconut bread, breadfruit, salad made with hearts of palm and local plants, and ice cold coconut milk. What a feast! Everything was natural - our dishes were made of palm fronds, and we used coconut shells as well. There were no utensils; we used our hands to serve ourselves and eat. As the fish were prepared, the smaller ones were set aside and our son, Matt, got to "shark wrestle." The object was to bait a piece of line, get the shark to chase and finally grab it, with the intent to sweep him up onto the beach where someone else would grab his tail. There were a few close ones, but the final tally showed the sharks won by a landslide; no shark was captured! Ukeleles, guitar, and local percussion were then taken out and to our delight, all our hosts sang and performed for our group. It was finally time to go back to our boats, and we split into our two groups and left the beach the way we had found it - no debris or evidence of our having been there - just our footprints. As we rode home, Fernando again stopped at a few places, one a small islet in the middle of the lagoon where we took pictures and tasted one of the small oysters that abound here. Eugenia and her husband serenaded us on ukulele and guitar all the way back, with the sun setting in the background. It was a wonderful day, and a chance to experience for a brief time the way the ancient Polynesians lived - the gathering of natural resources and the preparation of meals in a totally natural environment. It was a picnic we'll remember for a long time.