Short of telling you a ghost story, I’m going to tell you the story of this shell.

The third of our stops in the Ha’api Group of Islands was Uonukuhahaki. It’s about 500 metres long and 200 metres wide and has two resident cows and many, many mad crabs that fly across the sand. I saw this beautiful shell and took it back to the boat, wondering if I’d have enough guts to take it home. It felt wrong to do so but it was so stunning and I imagined it back in New Zealand and how it would evoke our holiday in a flash.

That night we had Adventure Couple over for drinkes. Peter told us the story of how his mother had found a shell in Rarotonga and bought it back to Palmerston North with her. Spooky things started to happen. The cat would eat in a hurry then run out of the house; there was a smell of smoke and a feeling of someone in their bedroom at night. It wasn’t a happy house.

They weren’t spiritual people at all but after a year of unease they called in a kind of exorcist. To cut a long story short, the exorcist (on his second visit) said they had to send the shell back. They did. Or rather, they put it in a box and posted it to ‘Rarotonga’. Did it get there?

So the next day I took my lovely shell back to the same spot, amongst the fishing boat and tourist rubbish. I spoke some ceremonial words and walked away. My head doesn’t believe in stuff like that but my imagination does.

We then went to a sad little island called Ha’afeva. The dogs weren’t just skinny, they were starving and dying. I had a hard time feeling warmth towards the locals. I know it’s judgemental but no one can give me a worthwhile explanation. Got one?

Us Palangi walk around pronouncing ‘Malo e  lei lei’ badly; we take soccer balls and teach dumb songs to the village schools and we always look out of place.  This is of course is tourist-Palangi. We’ve met some others, aid workers mainly, who do some amazing stuff.  I met this awesome young woman who was born in Lifuka and educated in Auckland. She now goes round all the Tongan islands up skilling local nurses on women’s health – cervical smears, breast checks etc. Most Pacific women go the doctor too late when it comes to cancer.

I’m looking forward to spending more time in a village and changing my bad attitude instead of looking for the only shop (always run by Chinese) and feeling uncomfortable. Dean and I did sort of did it in Vietnam and Laos but still felt challenged. We can do better here. We’re cousins really.

Back to Pangai, the main town. I love it when there’s no wind. The clouds hang in 3D with nowhere to go. We’re starting to hang too, getting into the spirit of cruising. We’re trying to have no plans – very hard to do when all we’ve been doing for the past year is plan for this.

Internet is precious and hard to come by. But sometimes OK when we’re in a ‘town’ and Dean sends his phone up the mast!

I asked Dad to send us the Tino Rangatiratanga flag. Our good old NZ flag is flapping at us all the time and part of me is slightly uncomfortable with it. So we now flying the Maori flag as well. That feel’s right to me – Dean has no opinion on the matter and is doing it to make me happy. Aw.

The woman in the Post Office where we picked up the flag was wearing black and said she was in mourning because her husband had died. She had a big gap in her teeth and kept whistling when she spoke.  Thanks to her we now know how to say ‘Malo e lei lei’ properly. She was lovely and I wanted to hug her. Little steps, little steps.

Back on the boat, Dean’s been getting very annoyed with me leaving my hairclips everywhere. But now the headlines are screaming, “Boat Repaired by Hairclip”. He used one to attach the safety line on the stern. Woop woop.

Next stop is Blue Lagoon in Vava’u Group – not where Brook Sheilds shot that movie.

Love Janie and Dean on Pebbles

PS… if I did take that shell home, I’d have good material to write a novel!
PPS…still no fish. Except for a three-metre barracuda who we got to the back of the boat but couldn’t land it. It ate another lure of ours.