Mangaia on my Mind

I was fortunate enough to spend three days in Mangaia on a whistle stop tour for business recently.  Mangaia is the southern most island in the Cook Islands and the second largest after Rarotonga.  It is estimated to be 18 million years old and the oldest island in the Pacific.  There are three villages on the island, Oneroa, Tamarua, and Ivirua, housing approximately 500 people in total.

 

It is rugged, rocky, and quite spectacular.  I circumnavigated the island on the customary scooter, which at times became quite testing due to the inclines and gravel.  A four-wheel drive would've been a better option but my trusty steed and I made it without incident.

 

The Prime Minister, Henry Puna, and Minister of Education, Teina Bishop accompanied me on the flight over and I was invited to join them at the welcoming kaikai 'feast', which was nice!  There were the customary speeches, all of which I couldn't understand, but the food and coconut milk were delicious!

 

I eventually made my way to the school late in the afternoon, which is spectacularly set on the hillside cliffs above Oneroa Village.  I asked if they were concerned for their youngsters falling over the edge and was scoffed at.  "They're used to it" I was told.  The island has two distinct layers, the ring road layer which is encircles the island and a top level which is reached on steep roads cut into the mountain.

 

On the Thursday evening I had a few quiet beers with the Minister of Education and we discussed IT in the Cook Islands.  It's not every day you get to socialise with an MP so that was memorable.

 

Our flight was due to leave Mangaia at 10.00am but due to the Prime Minister needing to get back to Rarotonga for a meeting the flight was rescheduled to leave at 9.00am.  The previous night I had clarified with the women picking me up that the time had been moved forward, yet at 8.15am I was still anxiously waiting at my motel room.  Another local was hurriedly called and I just managed to make my flight.  I don't think the PM would've waited for me!  Turns out the women who was meant to pick me up has a reputation for drinking and it was assumed she hadn't yet risen from last nights activities!

 

 The Airport

 

 

 

Arrival.  Minister of Education on Left of picture, PM on right.

 

 

 

Oneroa Village 

 

 



Kids on their way to school.

 

 

The view from the school.

 

 

Two classrooms at Mangaia School.

 

 

Not a bad place to work!

 

 

The cutting which joins the bottom ring road with the top.

 

 

This was actually a good part of the road!

 

 

"You take the high road, and I'll take the low..."

 

 

The rugged coastline.

 

 

The rugged coastline

 

 

access to the beach.

 

The landscape

 

 

Ivirua Village

 

 

Ivirua Village

 

 

My trusty steed parked on the runway. 

Who needs a dirt bike?

 

 

Traffic jam Mangaia style.

 

 

 

 

 

Spellcheck fails!

The following incidents bring to mind the movie 'Anchorman' and the line "Who the hell put a question mark on the telly-prompter after Burgundy's name?"  "...and I'm Ron Burgundy?"  Classic.

Anyway, the following are snapshots of the tv from last Wednesday night.  I think the spellchick, opps, spellcheck facility was on the blink or the producer was having a particularly bad day!

Process for settling into a good nights viewing on television

Step 1: Find the Tivaevae Shop, which is located near the weather satation...



 

 Step 2: Purchase some wonderfully comfortable chushions...





Step 3: book in 'Melin season 1' at 8:20pm (which I assume is about the medieval Chinese wizard?)

Step 4: Followed by 'Serlock Homes' at 9:50pm, which I'm thinking may be either a 'Go Local' adaption of Grand Designs, or about an old English Private Eye (which seeing as it's PG13 would probably be the case!)

 

 

 The programmes themselves are the least entertaining thing on TV!

Also heard on CITV news during an interview with a police officer regarding a series of scooter accidents:
"There is ONE common factor in all of these accidents, and that's SPEED and ALCOHOL!"

Mitiaro Trip

Mitiaro is a small, low lying coral atoll 224 kilometres North East of Rarotonga.  Its current population is about 190 with 52 of those being school children aged between 5 and 16.  It is 22.3 square kilometres in size and takes about 30 minutes to circumnavigate, or longer if your brand new scooter breaks down!  Which mine did - twice, in the pitch black!  but more on that later!  Mitiaro has two fresh water lakes - Rotonui (big lake) and Rotoiti (small lake), which are the only fresh water lakes of note in the Cook Islands.  Together they make up two thirds of the area of Mitiaro and dominate the interior of the island.  The locals catch and eat the eels that live in them and consider them a delicacy!  Fortunately they weren't on the menu during my visit! 

Mitiaro Airport.  Certainly not the worst I've seen.



Unloading the plane.

The welcoming party.  Nane my host, and Tira the school principal

I was lucky enough to spend three days there this week conducting some research into their IT capabilities and infrastructure.  Which is suprisingly good.  The six year 9 students participate in an online learning programme in the mornings with a tutor in Rarotonga, using Skype, IDroo, email, and other forms of online communication.  They are one of four islands in the Cooks that do the same.

The IT suite at Mitiaro School.
These kids are doing online learning with a tutor in Rarotonga.

 I arrived at Mitiaro around 5:00pm so there wasn't alot to do except get settled in and take a quick walk down to the wharf, where a lot of old machinery was rapidly rusting away.  They are improving the wharf's accesability to enable ships and barge to get closer to shore, but with the wind blowing and seas crashing it still looked a very tricky proposition! 

The main street

The high street (same as the main street!)

My room reminded me of a nunnery, not that I've ever been in one, but this is how I'd picture one!  Obviously a large double bed is an open invitation to debauchery, and tossing and turning is the devils work so I just had to hope I didn't.  The fan above the bed was a welcome relief, but alas, the islands diesel fueled power generator was turned off at midnight Monday through Thursday to conserve fuel so the fan shut down at midnight, which served to wake me up! 

My lodgings

My room:  Get thee to a nunnery!

 Having been provided with a scooter for the duration of my stay I decided to make full use of it by going for a trip around the island.  The scooter was a brand new one, with only 20 kms on the clock, and still with the plastic on the seat, to which was cellotaped the Bill of Lading and address for delivery.  I headed out late afternoon and by midway the sun had set and the going got quite dark and I was struggling to stay within the rutted tyre tracks on the road (I use the term loosely!).  Only a very small portion of Mitiaro is inhabited, consisting of the village, so I was for intents and purposes 'in the sticks'.  The waves were crashing against the coral shore on one side of the road and the flat, rocky, and wild landscape was on the other.  It reminded me of the Desert Road in New Zealand's Central Plateau.  And it was around midway, in the dark, when my brand new scooter began making a strange noise, and then died on me!  I panicked...a little...on the inside for I had no idea how far I had gotten around the island and was wondering whether to walk back the way I came or continue.  And of course there is no cell phone coverage on Mitiaro! 

My ride
Brand, spanking new and it broke down twice in the space of an hour!
Note the plastic still on the seat with the Bill of Lading and address.

Thankfully I got the bike going again and headed off, even more cautiously than before.  Until I came to a fork in the road!  I had visions of riding straight into one of the lakes in the centre of the island as I choose the left hand road.  I assumed the right took me out onto the runway.  It turned out I guessed correctly and was soon riding beside a bright, white strip to my right.  I was relieved to eventually pass the 'airport' where I was earlier in the day and began the trip for home. 

It wasn't too long before my scooter started playing up again and died on me.  While I was on a familiar road I was still some way from home and didn't fancy walking home in the pitch black.  But again I got it going and eventually arrived home, to find my colleagues not in the slightest bit worried as to why I was so late!

I think they were meant to be potatoes...?

Mitiaro does have Sky TV though, beamed in from Fiji.  As with Manihiki and Rakahanga, that I've mentioned before, the feed comes into the Telecom office and then cabled out to each home for the princely sum of $5 a month!  But of course the guy with the remote has all the power, as I experienced during my stay.  I was happily watching Taranaki playing Tasman for the Ranfurly Shield and it was a scoring fest, about 150 all after 30 minutes, when the menu suddenly came up and started flicking through the channels, as if controlled by some invisible hand.  Now I'm not sure how or why American politics is in such favour on Mitiaro but the remote guy decided to watch Piers Morgan at the Democratic Convention.  It was at this time that I retired to my room to watch 'Easy A' on my laptop - great movie!  

Seeking shade from under the tree.
A good place for climbing bars.

Mitiaro School

"Shouldn't you be in class?"
Reminds me of our Kunikuni in Gisborne, Humphrey Boar-gart, who
always used to come into my office.

The school receives a regular visitor. 

Did someone call for a plumber...?

Why?  This works perfectly!

Leaving Mitiaro.
I was the only passenger on the flight home: "Sit anywhere" said the captain.

Trip to New Zealand

I was recently back in New Zealand for, originally a conference, but what also turned out to be two visits to the dentist.  I got a tooth ache in my front tooth and went to the Tupapa Clinic.  They advised that a root canal that I had many years ago, at least twenty, had 'failed' and become infected and the redressing had to be done in NZ.  Or they could rip it out and give me a falsey for about $130.  As tempting as that was financially I felt I was too young to be getting plates and so on.  I could see it dropping out mid conversation with some important dignatory!  As I wasn't able to sleep with it in Janine wasn't a fan either!  She politely said that I may well whistle when I snore, not that I do snore!  I think what she meant to say was "I wouldn't be seen dead with you with a plate in!"  So I went for a second opinion to another private dentist here and whilst he advised he could "probably do the work" he didn't guarantee the work and that if I was going back to NZ I best get it done there, which I was, and so I did!  It did mean extending my stay for another week and thus changing my tickets, which was a whole other story!  Anyway $1505.00 later and I have a new root canal in tooth 11.

Whilst I unfortunately don't have photos of the procedure, that Janine would no doubt post on Tubeface, I do have photos of the beautiful, although cold Auckland weather.  You can't beat Auckland on a good day!

Sun rise over the Waitemata Harbour. 
Catching the ferry to Devonport on arrival. 

Sunrise over the Waitemata Harbour.

Walking into Devonport Village from Calliope Road

Takapuna Beach

Sunrise over Rangitoto Island from Narrow Neck Beach.

Rangitoto sunrise, having just dropped the Carl Fiebig clan
at the airport.

A reserve in Devonport, near Narrow Neck Beach.

Devonport morning.

A Pictorial Tour of a selection of Rarotongan Churches

Phew!

I'm not sure the per capita numbers but I would say that Rarotonga must be up there is relation to the number of churches per population.  And there are is a smorgasbord of choice too - a veritable buffet of holy houses to suit all your spiritual needs.  Out on a Sunday drive yesterday Joshua mentioned that Father Freddy, a Catholic priest, rode around on a Ducatti motorcycle and enjoyed a 50 inch flat screen TV, complete with SKY TV!  Not quite sure how Josh got to know these things, and I must remember to question him further on that... but anyway, that still doesn't sit right with me...the apparent lap of luxury that Father Freddy is enjoying I mean.  I hope he isn't expecting to ride his Ducatti through the eye of a needle anytime soon...?

Regardless, the churches do make for some fine scenery, a selection of which I have included here.

The Holy Spirit Revival Church

One of the many SDA churches on Rarotonga

Not all the churches are big lavish affairs - nor should they be in my mind...

"One of these things is not like the other..." 
The Bahaii Faith Church, I like what I hear...

Oozes street appeal!

The Cook Islands Christian Church

St Pauls: Catholic

Seventh Day Adventists (SDA). 
They would never do me as Saturday is their Sabbath so no sport!

Jehovah's Witnesses.
How they stay so pristine riding their bikes around the island
I'll never know!  You almost want to invite them in out of
sympathy...almost!

Cook Islands Christian Church.
This was near to where we lived in Arorangiand we could hear the
rally call of the bells and subsequent choir singing - beautiful.

St Mary's Catholic Church. 
We've frequented this one several times before deciding it
was just too hard taking the kids.

St Josephs Catholic church in town. 
We started off going to this one but decided on the one
closer to home.