We all had a relaxing morning at the adult pool before our big night out later! We relaxed, swam, read our books, and gazed at the impossibly beautiful views of the South Pacific. I took part in the Aqua aerobics again, and floated about in the pool. Mid afternoon we were picked up for our trip to Likuri Island, aka Robinson Crusoe island. An hour long bus journey took us to a jetty on Tuva River, where two boats were waiting to take us another half hour to the island. The river was thickly bordered by mangrove trees with their roots hanging down into the water; we were reminded of the film Apocalypse Now! It was nearly dark when we stepped on to the sandy beach and were ushered to tables around a central area, with a handy bar nearby. The evening began with a Kava ceremony followed by a hearty dinner which had been baked in an earth oven for several hours. I was gratified by the variety of tasty vegetables which accompanied the meat and fish.
I’m usually a bit ambivalent about cultural displays for tourists, I sometimes feel awkward as if I’m intruding on other people’s traditions. However in this case the dancers were so excellent, and the host so friendly and humorous, that it was a really great experience. It was interesting to see the older experienced dancers compared to the young extremely energetic ones! There was a display of fire walking, a bonfire on the beach which had us all dancing, and finally a display of fire dancing which was very skilled and entertaining. Back in the boats we went on our journey back to our hotel, this time in complete darkness apart from the small lights of the boat; we could see wee bugs flying past briefly illuminated in the light, and silvery fish leaping out of the water.
I suppose I should mention that by the time we arrived on the island the polls had closed in the American Election (they are nearly a day behind NZ because of the international date line so it was still the 5th November in the USA) and Trump was leading in the results. When we checked our phones again later back at the hotel it was all over - Donald Trump has beaten Kamala Harris and will now be the American President for a second term, four years after he was voted out of office. Oh well, it’s hard to understand how he won, both politically and personally, but as I said eight years ago, the people of America have voted so there’s no use grousing about it.
I’m usually a bit ambivalent about cultural displays for tourists, I sometimes feel awkward as if I’m intruding on other people’s traditions. However in this case the dancers were so excellent, and the host so friendly and humorous, that it was a really great experience. It was interesting to see the older experienced dancers compared to the young extremely energetic ones! There was a display of fire walking, a bonfire on the beach which had us all dancing, and finally a display of fire dancing which was very skilled and entertaining. Back in the boats we went on our journey back to our hotel, this time in complete darkness apart from the small lights of the boat; we could see wee bugs flying past briefly illuminated in the light, and silvery fish leaping out of the water.
I suppose I should mention that by the time we arrived on the island the polls had closed in the American Election (they are nearly a day behind NZ because of the international date line so it was still the 5th November in the USA) and Trump was leading in the results. When we checked our phones again later back at the hotel it was all over - Donald Trump has beaten Kamala Harris and will now be the American President for a second term, four years after he was voted out of office. Oh well, it’s hard to understand how he won, both politically and personally, but as I said eight years ago, the people of America have voted so there’s no use grousing about it.
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