Manihiki and Rakahanga Trip, 2011, Part 1

The 6 facilitators of the 2011 Northern Group Life Skills Expo, and Principals Workshop gathered at Rarotonga airport at 4.00am as instructed, for a 5.00am flight.  We were all nervously wondering if we would make the 10 kilo weight restriction, especially given the fact that we were asked to bring fresh veges with us as our host on Manihiki was yet to get bounty from her garden.  As I was too soon discover on my arrival, being a coral atoll it was hard to get a bounty from anything other than the sea!  The tomatoes I carried weren’t the issue, but the half pumpkin was another matter and I was wondering what clothing items I’d have to sacrifice to get the pumpkin on board.  Thankfully I squeezed in a touch under 10 kilos but there was definitely going to have to be laundry done mid stay!  Despite our prompt arrival at the airport, in typical Raro fashion no airline staff actually turned up until 4.30am.  We eventually boarded the plane at 5.15am, still pitch black, and took off for a 50 minute flight to Aitutaki, where we stopped for fuel and a chance to stretch our legs, and be given a snack, consisting of a chicken sandwich, an apple, and a carton of Fresh Up, in preparation for the 2 hour 50 minute flight to Manihiki.  The Raro – Aitutaki leg was cold!  I was inadequately dressed as I didn’t have a sweatshirt of any description.  I did have a pareu to wrap around me and try to keep warm.  Strangely though I felt warmer with it simply wrapped around my legs than my whole body.



Stopping for fuel at Aitutaki en route to Manihiki



I didn’t find the trip from Aitutaki to Manihiki as cold as the first leg, although, again, I did have the Pareu wrapped around my legs.   This was no doubt due to the sun having risen and now beaming in through the windows.  The sun looked spectacular as it rose above the cotton wool clouds to the East as we headed north.  Mid flight Strickland had had enough of sitting and decided to stretch out on the floor in the aisle.  He squeezed down between the seats on his back and assumed the “funeral pose”.  Being a solidly built man there was no chance of him being able to turn and he took up a sizeable length of the plane!  As there  was no door for the pilots cockpit I was able to peer straight in and I had a chuckle to myself mid-flight when I noticed the co-pilot reading the newspaper.  Such casualness was encouraging I guess...?   

"Bro, 2 down, 5 letters, another word for accident...?"

And so after nearly three hours, out of the distant clouds appeared an oasis amongst the mass of deep blue.   From what I could gather from the plane windows the atoll was roughly triangular shaped with a thin strip of land encircling the lagoon.  As we flew over head we noticed the houses built atop small coral mounds in the middle of the lagoon.  These, I was told, were the oyster farms.  An extraordinary sight!  At its highest point Manihiki only raises about 3 or 4 metres above sea level, if that, and at any point is only 100 – 200 metres wide.  The airstrip we were heading towards was hard pressed soil.  As we approached Strickland said that “there isn’t any margin for error”.

To be continued...

Sun rise over the Pacific.

Pearl farms in Manihiki Lagoon

Tukao Village, Manihiki