Saturday 7 August The Coast Guard cometh

A day of great excitement on Palmerstone because the coast guard cutter was coming with supplies from Rarotonga and a medical team. The supplies were basics like flour, rice, sugar and extras such as eggs, oranges, onions and tomatoes. The medical team were on a tour to visit all the islands in the Cooks to inoculate everyone for swine flu. It seems there have been recent cases in NZ and one person has died on Rarotonga.
Our host Bob, collected us at 11am and took us ashore for lunch with the family. Today we had the trevally we helped catch yesterday and curried chicken. The accompanying starch was taro root which tasted and looked like wet compressed cardboard – grey and chewy. Not yum. The Coast Guard cutter was spotted coming around the south of the atoll in early afternoon. With that the call went out on VHF and everyone ran to their dinghies. Wheelbarrows and the one small tractor and trailer were brought down to the beach in readiness for the goodies. Four dinghies went out to meet the boat with David in Bob's boat. I stayed under the shade of a coconut palm and chatted with Mama Inano, at 80 years the oldest lady on the island. Mama Inano is the great granddaughter of the original William Marsters and she looks more European than the later generations. She lives with her son William who runs the yacht club.

First ashore from the Coast Guard boat were the 8 strong medical team and then came the food to be loaded into the wheelbarrows and whisked away with jubilation. Not surprising as these were the first fresh supplies, apart from what visiting yachties bring, in six months. There is a rumour that the regular cargo ship will be calling in two weeks.