Five Years On - by Nina

 Me riding an elephant in Sri Lanka with our friend Anne.

“I have been on an epic voyage and I live an adventurous life”

I said this when I was 8 for a school project about what we did on holidays. My teacher was duly impressed and she even told my parents on parents day.

We started sailing when I was seven and now I'm 12 and it has taken us all that time to sail around the world. We are now in Fiji and we have completed our circumnavigation.

This is our track of us going around the world.

I have also seen 40 countries in the process. It has been great and I'd like to continue sailing. But sadly we now have to go back so my brother can go to high school. We will be back in Australia in two months and back in Tasmania for the start of the school year.

Here are some of my favourite photos.

Zeke and me on the foredeck of Kallisto sailing into Sydney Harbour.

Swallow Cave in Tonga was an amazing site.

This is a close up of some lava shooting out of the mouth of an active volcano in Vanuatu. We were standing on the rim. 

We did some pretty amazing snorkelling around Fiji and Vanuatu. I assure you this picture has not been photo shopped.

We had such fun eating in New Caledonia.

I think lle de Pine in New Caledonia is very aptly named. We motor scooted around the island with our friends Marilyn and Russ.

Every year in Indonesia when the wet season comes a few more houses wash of the cliff.

I got to shake hands with an elephant in Thailand.

In Madagascar I got to feed Lemurs and Zeke found a wig.

In South Africa we went to a lion rehab centre and saw a bunch of lions up really close. At another big cat rehab centre, with all sorts of big cats, we got to pat a cheetah. 

Namibia was awesome. We went on a quad bike tour and got to see some cool (actually VERY hot) landscapes.

We heard, felt and saw a rocket blast off in French Guiana. The rocket was so powerful it made the ground shake. 

Some amazing French Guianan wildlife.

This is Neuschwanstein, Germany, the inspiration for the Disney castle. The landscape coupled with the enormity and delicacy of it all was just magnificent.

Rome's majestic Roman ruins included the Colosseum. 

In Cartagena we pigged-out on the street food, Yum.

Night was upon us as we went through the Panama Canal. It was kind of scary but it was also kinda exciting.

In Galapagos the finches are so tame they will land on your hand (that is, if you have something tasty on it).

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Nuitoputapu and the 2009 tsunami – by Gary

In the early morning of September 30, 2009 residents of the tiny, low island of Nuitoputapu, were rocked by an earthquake.  Just minutes later this most northern outpost of the Kingdom of Tonga was inundated by three major tsunami waves, with the highest being estimated at 6m.  Inhabitants fled to higher ground as best they could while most of their houses were swept away, along with schools, churches, cars, water tanks and crucial infrastructure.  Miraculously of the island's eight hundred odd people only nine were killed, including two children.

To their credit the Tongan Government responded rapidly to the crisis, landing a plane the same afternoon, and a vessel soon after.  Assessing the situation international aid was requested. Just days later,operating under under a Pacific disaster coordination arrangement between France, New Zealand and Australia, emergency supplies and personnel were landed.  First priorities included temporary shelters (tents and marquees), food, water, sanitation and medical services.  These were all located within a temporary encampment established high on the islands central ridge.  Then the clean-up commenced, followed more slowly by reconstruction.

Many islanders stayed living in the safety of the temporary encampment for months, afraid of aftershocks and more waves.  Indeed considerable external pressure was applied to relocate the islands three main villages to higher ground; however land tenure issues provided significant roadblocks.  Slowly the majority of islanders returned to their traditional village sites around the lagoon edge, first to temporary housing, then to new houses as they were built.  Reconstruction funding and materials came from a wide variety of sources including the World Bank, the UN, the governments of Australia, New Zealand and Japan, the Red Cross, churches and private donors.

In our visit to the island 5 years after the tsunami, physical recovery was pretty much complete, although the memories of the dreadful day linger fresh when people start talking.  One woman recalled to us the terrible panic in her family when they realised their small boy was missing following the first wave, their frantic searching, and their relief when they found him alive and clinging to the roof of an almost entirely engulfed truck.  We are told that many now live in great fear of a recurrence and think of running for higher ground every time there is an earthquake or tremor (a common occurrence in Tonga).  They take little comfort from the knowledge that this has been the only tsunami in living memory.

Damage still manifests itself; wrecked cars in the bush, occasional derelict damaged houses – but there is surprisingly little.  The most obvious physical evidence of the event is the uniform age of almost everything relating to human occupation, the housing, offices, schools, churches, cars and even the bicycles.  There is little that is old.

Our visit to Nuitoputapu has been great – our impression is the island possesses a tight knit, cohesive community, much more like the Tonga I knew of 30 odd years ago.  Residents have a largely subsistence based economy supplemented by repatriated payments from extended family overseas and sales of copra.  Young people are still continuing to live here in the villages – which is wonderful to see.  The island's isolation from the rest of the nation ensures visitors are rare, there is no tourism apart from the occasional yachtee.  We were made to feel most welcome.

You can see the central high ridge where the temporary encampment was established.  The island's three villages are all located on the low, flat ground on the edge of the lagoon.

Wreckage of cars swept in the path of the tsunami are
 possibly the most evident physical reminders.

Physical damage and silting of the surrounding reef was severe but less obvious.  Folks here are bringing in pandanus that have been soaking in the lagoon (it makes the fibres more flexible and durable prior to being woven into mats).

An example of the type of temporary housing
that people moved into post tsunami.

The ubiquitous prefab kit houses that most Nuitoputapuns now live in.

A new school, communication infrastructure and church.

Signs, lots of them, now warn of the tsunami danger and the appropriate response.

While visiting we were treated to some extraordinary hospitality by residents' of the island and really enjoyed our visit.

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Robert Louis Stevenson, writer, rich man, political activist – by Gary

 

Most people my age know of the author Robert Louis Stevenson (1850 - 1894); creator of romantic adventure books for young people such as his famous Treasure Island. Perhaps less well known; Stevenson spent considerable time living in the South Pacific, dying here in Samoa. His house and grave are on that island's tourist trail. But I'm guessing most know little of his active role in the politics of his day, taking on the might of large nations in defense of the rights of indigenous Samoans.  Of this latter I knew nothing until I saw a presentation by a high school student in US Samoa, it was a wonderful, startling eye opener.

Stevenson traveled the Pacific extensively, as he wrote in a letter to a friend:

“I have already visited upwards of forty islands in the South Seas; I have resided for a considerable time in no less than four different groups....”

Combined with his breadth of reading and liberal education, it gave him a keen appreciation of traditional Polynesian cultures, as well as the damage being wrought by European avarice.  As he wrote in his book A Footnote To History:

“More than a hundred years ago, and following closely on the heels of Cook, an irregular invasion of adventurers began to swarm about the islands of the Pacific.”

Arriving in Samoa he found greater cultural 'intactness' than in other parts of Polynesia.  Writing to another friend he says:

“[I]f you could live, the only white folk, in a [traditional] Polynesian village; and drink that warm, light [wine] of human affection and enjoy that simple dignity of all about you.....”

So falling in love with the islands and peoples of Samoa he decided it was a good place to settle and write novels.  Together with his wealthy wife Stevenson purchased land above the town of Apia, built a beautiful house, named it Vailima and moved in with assorted members of his extended family .  But he quickly discovered all was not well in his corner of paradise.  The three big powers with keen interest in that part of the Pacific, England, United States and Germany, were all circling, looking to take advantage of the island's high agricultural potential with good rainfall and high soil fertility.

In his warnings to the local Polynesians of the dangers they faced Stevenson spelt out four key practical ideas. In putting forward these ideas Stevenson was aware of the paradox.  If the Samoan way of life, the Samoan people were to survive, then the very definition of that way of life – fa'a Samoa – must itself adapt to new conditions.  His ideas are as follows:

1. First that Samoans must recognise the present day for what it was – a time of crisis – a turning point, a time for determined, practical action.
2. That Samoa, till then a clan/village based society with a long history of inter-clan fighting, must quickly develop a sense of national identity and unity to meet this crisis
3. That Samoans must adopt white man ways, work harder and develop a national economy based on their own land resource, either that or others would do it for them – stealing their land resource in the process.  
4. That Samoans must recognise the genocidal threats posed by European diseases and do what they can to protect themselves from it.

Stevenson was also very publicly scathingly of what he called the 'horrid white mismanagement' of Samoa's highest European officials and they in turn reciprocated, heaping scorn upon his meddling ways.  Her Majesty's High Commissioner of the Western Pacific (for Britain) became sufficiently concerned to issue the Sedition (Samoa) Regulation in an attempt to silence Stevenson.

Never a healthy person, Stevenson died suddenly at the young age of 44.  His advice to Samoans was at the time mostly un-taken.

Stevenson, his family, staff and friends at 'Vailima'.  Stevenson had previously written of an experience on a Hawaiian island:

“I have ridden there the whole day along the coast... and I saw the face of no living man... the villages had disappeared, the people were dead and gone; only [deserted church buildings stood] like tombstones over a grave, in the midst of white men's sugar fields."

Stevenson's house stood in a 300 acre estate.  Paradox upon paradox.

The beautifully restored Vailima of today, with Mt Vaea atop which he is buried behind.  Most of his estate has been returned to public ownership.

A rare copy of a Samoan translation of the novel Treasure Island.  Stevenson wrote it, Kidnapped and Black Arrow while living in Vailima as well as non-fiction works including A Footnote To History: Eight Years of Trouble in Samoa.

The interior of his house is quite beautiful and features Californian Redwood paneling.  His wife Fanny was a native of California.

The elegant bed chamber occupied by Fanny.

We were chuffed to make the connection with the framed picture on left, found displayed on a wall at Vailima. Stevenson's great grandfather was a famous Scottish engineer who designed the mighty Bell Rock Lighthouse (pictured under construction).  The book on the right, observed as a 'prop' in Stevenson's study, apparently proclaims another member of his clan a more contemporary writer.

Samoans turned out in large numbers to observe and participate in the burial of their beloved Robert Louis Stevenson. He was buried atop Mt Vaea above Vailima looking out across Apia.

A bronze plaque on the memorial includes his epitaph, self written:

Under the wide and starry sky

dig the grave and let me lie

glad did I live and gladly die

and I laid me down with a will

this be the verse you gave for me

here he lies where he longed to be

home is the sailor home from the sea

and the hunter home from the hill.

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Samoan Fales - by Zeke

Hey every body, as some of you might know I like architecture so I have written this blog piece about the houses which are lived in today by Samoan’s.  So as I hope you know it is hot, very hot in the tropics and the traditional houses that people live in are often open with very little walls to restrict air flow to try and keep them cool and airy. 

This big internal court yard of this house in Cartagena Columbia allows hot air to rise up out of the building

The houses or fales which the local Samoans live in are based on traditional houses which look like a Polynesian bandstand, raised off the ground and with open sides – i.e. no flipping walls!. One finds it kind of surprising when walking down the street, you pass a fale and suddenly see mum and dad lying in bed having a nap and kids on the floor watching TV! You can just see other peoples lives going on around you.

The traditional fales serve as both living and meeting places.

Modern fales are not too much different from the traditional ones. They do however have floors and columns made of cement and tin roofs. But they still serve the same purpose. Within the fales you see beds, TV's, stoves and couches. When it rains, so that your belongings are not ruined there are wide eaves and curtains that drop down between the supporting pillars to stop driving rain.

A mosquito net can be seen covering a bed in this modern version of a fale

A low fence surrounds this fale which I suspect is to keep out pigs which sometimes run free.

The flags decorating the front yard were put up in celebration of the Small Island Development States (SIDS) conference which was held here by the United Nations

Mum really liked the use of colour in this one.

Thanks a heap for reading this blog piece and I hope you enjoyed it. The house and churches here reflect so much about the culture, which the locals are very proud of. The pros about the fales are they are cheap and easy to build, cool and airy and reflect the traditional culture. The cons are that there is very little privacy and in strong winds the fales would feel quite open. These traditional type homes are still being lived in however there does seem to be a lot of new more modern and enclosed houses as well. Oh well, how destructive our wonderful western culture can be!

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Miss Samoa Parade – by Gary

We arrived in Apia, Samoa just in time for the Teuila Festival 2014.  This annual festival is similar to the one we saw in 'Tahiti; i.e. a celebration of Samoan culture, traditional and contemporary, with dancing, singing, comedy, fashion, tattooing, canoe races and much more.  Samoan culture, as depicted in the festival,  is conservative and devoutly Christian.  Yet notwithstanding, the performers and audiences often delighted in not taking life or themselves too seriously; their earthy, raucous sense of humour was a joy to experience and join in with.

We saw lots of great performances too, including Fire Knife Dancing!  It's apparently of genuine Samoan origin, but now spread across the globe.  A 'knife' with burning ends is twirled and juggled at high speed.  It's a revival of an ancient celebratory dance performed by victorious warriors.  The Samoan war blade has a hook on the end and a chap we were sitting next to told us the grizzly tale of victors wielding the severed heads of the vanquished upon these hooks, setting the hair alight and twirling.  Oooh!

Performing the Fire Knife Dance – it's spectacular.

Another great traditional dance form, the Samoan Slap Dance, where blokes rhythmically slap various parts of their bodies at great speed.  Allegedly the dance owes its origin to the introduction of mosquitoes!  Check out those tats.

Naturally I take the broader Western view that that dances and scanty costumes such as seen in the Slap Dance are somewhat offensive, reenforcing the idea that young men should be valued primarily because of their their physical attributes. We men have no wish to be objectified... do we!!????

But moving right along, one rather unique and special event of the Teuila Festival is the Miss Samoa Parade.  I thought it was a blast.

This is the parade marshaling area.  Its early morning and contestants and their entourages are milling about anxiously.  Each contestant is to be born upon a suitable chariot – a suped up, turbocharged, exhaust modified gas guzzler.

The police band is there as well.  Their job is to lead the parade – scheduled to arrive at the main stage venue a couple of kilometres away at 8:45am.  It is past 9am at this stage, and well, they still haven't left.  Island time!

The poor girls are wilting under the equatorial sun!  A considerate organizer brings some chairs in.

But the cops seem fairly relaxed about the delay.

Eventually word mysteriously filters down that its time to form up – and off they go!

Down past the old Protestant church, the bandmaster struts his stuff.

Trailing behind is a little warrior protection...

….along with the Police Chief and a gang of Harley riding thugs...

… and of course those girls on their chariots, still closely guarded by their village entourages!

 ... who finally make it to the venue for the first round of judging (I 'm pretty sure its all based on IQ now).

.  

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