April 11
We spent several hours yesterday afternoon on a pearl farm tour. The owner took us into the lagoon where his oysters were on lines strung along between buoys. We pulled a number of lines with 10 or so oysters each and took them to the hut on the beach where we proceeded to open the oysters looking for pearls. Someone commented that it was a lot like a casino - the "will we" or "won't we" be winners and find a pearl? We all came away with several pearls. Then the owner gave us a demonstration of how the grafting takes place. It's really interesting. I didn't know that they could implant the same oyster several times, going bigger until the 4th time then the oyster was finished. The oysters are quite different from the ones in the Chesapeake Bay - they look more like scallops to us.
After the tour we went to the island of the man who runs the sailmail station in Manihi. His island is so wonderful. He has solar, wind, water turbine to generate electricity (and 36 or so gel cell batteries to store the power). He uses a cistern to catch rainwater from the roof and has a separate building for a bathhouse. The kitchen is connected to the bedroom/living room with a large deck. The grounds are planted with fruit trees and flowers. I loved it. It's kind of like Swiss Family Robinson on steroids. He's only 1/2 hour or less by boat from the village and the airport (a small airport with flights to Tahiti). I think I could get used to a life like that.
So this morning we are supposed to go snorkelling - can't wait!
Pauline