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Paw Paw - Log Day 226: Imagine Life Without...



With so much that happened yesterday, we forgot to mention that we found the problem with our port engine. After Roy ruled out the water pump by by-passing the raw water strainer and saildrive leg, we knew we definitely had a blockage. The culprit - a baby octopus that had decided to make a home in the cooling water intake. It certainly received a bigger adventure than it could've imagined, but we hope it likes its new home in Nuiatoputapu, Tonga.

As for those living on land here, imagine life without any electricity, running water, natural gas, shops or stores, with the exception of a small convenience store without electricity. No restaurants or bars. In fact, no alcohol at all. This translates to no electrical appliances including a fridge, freezer, TV, or laptop just to mention a few modern day conveniences. Then no stove (electricity or gas), no heating or cooling and your only source of water is the run off rain water captured in large tanks. If you happen to have a car or generator their is no petrol station and limited quantities of fuel are delivered by the supply ship once every other month.

They do, however, have an unlimited supply of fresh pork, fruit, vegetables, fish and we did see a few chickens, sheep, goats and horses. Their basic lifestyle is subsistence farming and they exchange produce between families as needed. In essence, no one will starve, but don't crave anything like a pain au chocolat, chaisson pomme or even a simply item like a loaf of bread, since they've run out of flour.

While out exploring on foot today, numerous folks stopped and asked us if we wanted a ride. We eventually accepted one that returned us to the anchorage in the back of a pickup truck filled with coconuts. We also met one of the two policemen on the island who was very helpful and informative as well as ladies weaving all sorts of goods like mats, baskets, handbags and jewellery for export to N ew Zealand and Australia. We met men fishing, men working in their plantations who gave us the most delicious and juiciest watermelon we have ever tasted and we met a lady who picked paw paws for us when we happened to walk past her house. We stopped in at the "bank" to exchange money and found a single bank clerk behind a single desk with only a cash book and cash box to perform the transaction. Our wanderings took us along one of the beautiful sandy beaches where we spoke to an elderly couple enjoying the outdoors as she weaved under a tree and he swam.

The highlight of the day though was the joy on the faces of two teenage boys. They had asked Roy yesterday for a "looking glass". Since Roy had no idea what they were asking for, they explained by way of various hand gestures. With no promises made, he arranged to meet them after school this evening. The delight on their faces when they realised they were each getting a full snorkeling set of mask, snorkel and fin s was priceless!

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