The Other side

A quiet night , but showers prevented me from going ashore as early as intended and when I finally got there it was about 11am and no sign of the guys from yesterday. In fact Avera seemed closed, it was so quiet, there was nobody on the streets and no sounds of church music or any sort of human activity, truly a day of rest. So I walked over to the other side of the island, to the main centre, Moerai., about 4 or 5 km away. The road was concrete with striations marked across to give traction to vehicles as it was very steep, up to the backbone of the island and down the other side, and went through tropical forest that was very quiet and beautifully lush but hardly any bird noises. It was sweaty work. The wind was strong on that side of the island and the sea on the western side, at Moerai was really rough. The tiny harbor, a space blasted out of the reef about the size of two footy fields with a narrow entrance between thick concrete barricades, was in turmoil as waves broke right across the entrance to it. There were no vessels in there and it would have been a nightmare even being in there, let alone trying to get in. The town was quite a lot larger than Avera, but not dissimilar.

I chanced across the Bank, and to my amazement there was an ATM, and even more amazing, it gave me money! And next I came across a tiny very simple restaurant, a sort of covered in verandah on a house close to the street facing the sea, and had a meal of raw fish with salad and rice - I think that was all that was on offer but it was the hugest meal Ive eaten in weeks. There were 3 other diners, and I took my time. It all cost 2300 XPF (special Pacific French Francs - about $25)

I then set off for Avera but was offered a lift by a man his wife and 3 kids in 4WD heading that way. They were Mormons. I got back to the boat at 4 and all was well.

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