Siga Bibi Mataka (Update 32)
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Date: Thursday 20th May
Time: 2000 hours Tahiti Time (GMT – 10 hours)
Position: 17*02.4’ South/151*02.6’ West

Bula Viti kei Rotuma

A few hours after departing Papeete, we could hear the sounds of dolphins breaking the surface on a calm clear night. Our torches soon found the dolphins swimming parallel to us on our starboard side.

This was a good omen as we headed towards sacred Raiatea. We continued under sail over night beginning with 10 knots of wind that slowly decreased over night until there was no wind at first light.

At first light we saw Faafaite was just behind us and we were alarmed to hear some cheering from their direction. We looked over to see two of their crew on the lowest section of the stern using the Zodiac Inflatable paddles to propel them forward.

Not to be outdone, the Uto crew sprung into action. Johnathan tied a rope to the cross beam on the bow and Kelekele and Steven dived into the ocean holding a loop at the other end of the rope and started swimming and towing us forward.

Soon the two canoes were side by side and both crews were cheering loudly with neither canoe breaking the deadlock. After running out of steam more crew were diving in for a swim.

Then a scream from on deck, “fin, fin fin!”. The swimmers leapt out of the water to take a look but were happy to see that more dolphins had decided to visit us.

Titaua, a crew member of the Faafaite and the only sailor from Raivavae on the voyage swam over for breakfast. Titaua which means ‘unstoppable’ (according to him) has been renamed ‘Tevita’ by the Uto crew and basically lives with us.

Because he was the only crew from Faafaite sleeping on board when we were in Papeete (other crew members went home each evening), he slept on deck on the Uto ni Yalo and ate breakfast, lunch and dinner with us.

Moala was always chasing him away but he cheekily said “you go, this my home”. Since we first met Titaua in Raivavae, his English has improved out of sight and his Fijian is getting better by the day.

He proudly showed us his new passport on Monday and said he can now come to Fiji with us. Because the Faafaite will return from Rarotonga, Titaua wants to continue on with us.

Duncan the skipper of Marumaru Atua also swam over for a cup of coffee.

At 11am the five canoes stopped to conduct a small ceremony to open the sacred keys given to us on Tuesday night by descendents of King Tamatoa from Raiatea.

A Tahitian woman on the Hine Moana performed a chant over the VHF following which each Voyaging Society leader opened the small bamboo shoot wrapped in niu leaves.

Inside I found a tooth necklace and put it around my neck, then the crew gathered around and we sang a ‘vucu’ chant that Sailasa Tora had taught the crew in Suva before departure.

Once all the canoes had performed their own ceremonies, we continued on in very light winds but we could see a wind line approaching which eventually bought us 10 – 12 knots of wind.

As soon as we started sailing again, a marlin struck the hand line and did a tail dance before spitting the lure out. We were doing 7 – 8 knots at the time and it would have taken a while for us to slow down so we were fortunate to save the line, lure and all our fingers in the process.

We are currently abeam of Huahine (on our starboard) and will arrive outside the Teavamoa Passage at 1.30am. This is the scared pass which gives access to the grand marae, TAPUTAPUATEA.

This evening after dinner, Ratu Manoa called a meeting of the crew to explain the protocol for the ‘Curu kin a mata ni naga’ ceremony we will perform tomorrow during our welcome.

This was last performed in Fiji in the 1940’s and we are very privileged to have this opportunity to re-enact this ceremony. A full report on the ceremony will be provided in my next update.

On Raiatea we will perform a Traditional Kava Ceremony followed by the presentation of a Kuro (clay cooking pot). Tulituli (clay cooking pots) and Kula (parrot feathers) were sought after barter items that Fijian voyagers carried across Vei Moana.

Kula are used by the Tahitians in their head dress and traded by sailors who visited French Polynesia. Islands that are particularly prominent in the Fijian history are Moorea, Raiatea and Nuku Hiva (Marqueses).

Ratu Manoa explained to me tonight that ‘Vei Moana’ is the old way of describing the Pacific Ocean. The words ‘Wasa Pasifika’ is a modern adaption of the word ‘Pacific’.

Stand by for reports on our visit to Raiatea.

Vinaka

Colin/Uto ni Yalo

 

Papeno’o Valley Tour

It was on a beautiful Sunday morning and we were on our way up to an ancient village called Fare Hape located in Papeno’o valley for a one night camp. Before reaching the village we had to take part in a few traditional ceremonies at some special places before reaching our destination.


Firstly we stopped at the shore and each vaka was given a gourd made from a fruit to fill with sea water before going up the valley. Each bottle was to be presented at each marae we visited. On our way up we stopped at one of the marae located at the river mouth where the ancient days, vaka’s would come up the river from the ocean and moor directly in front of these maraes. Now the river is almost dry because of four dams upstream.


After the ceremony at this first marae, the crew from Faafaite presented their gourd of sea water to the high priestess who then poured it over an alter of stones while a traditional song was sung by the other priest. We carried on up into Papeno’o valley. When we were almost at Fare Hape we had another ceremony where everybody had to cross a waterfall and either immerse their whole body or wash their head in the river (which was crystal clear and cold) to cleanse the body of any evil or wrong doing before entering Fare Hape. Fare Hape is 18kms from the coast.


After being cleansed and entering the village, we had lunch and were then given 20 minutes to sort our stuff out in our small camp house before another ceremony at the next marae. We were welcomed into the marae by the clan and after the ceremony we did a ‘Hongi’ traditional way of greeting people, just like the maori do, face to face and touching nose to nose. It took us almost 1 hour doing the ‘Hongi’ because there were hundreds of us present.


After the ceremony we came back to the camp and helped out in preparing dinner. At 4:30 pm our last ceremony of the day took place at the last marae. This was one of the more habitated sites, surrounded in the past by horticultural gardens.


Representatives from the five vakas were invited to a kava ceremony conducted by the clan of the village. Their kava was premixed in a ‘dabi’ fruit or gourd and served in bilo’s. After they did their kava ceremony, the Uto ni Yalo crew were invited to do our traditional kava ceremony or “cabe vakavanua” , asking permission to be accepted by the land. This marae was the biggest and the holiest of all the sights and we were very honoured as this was also where the Uto Ni Yalo gourd or dabi of saltwater was presented to the high priestess by Moala dressed in traditional Fijian ceremonial attire. This was poured on the ancient stone alter or main headstone of the marae.

We then returned to the camp site and gathered together for dinner which consisted of kokoda, chicken, lovo and all kinds of deserts which was graciously devoured by everyone, while Kaiafa, Johnathan and Paul entertained the hungry crowd with a few tunes from the guitar. Following dinner, the floor was open for anyone to share jokes. The Faafaite crew entertained us with songs the whole night. The next morning at 6:30am we were taken for a tour up to a waterfall which was a 45 minute walk up and down hills and mountains through bush before reaching a beautiful waterfall which was icy cold and worth every bit of sweat. After spending an hour in the falls, we made our way back to the camp site to pack our bags and had breakfast. After breakfast, all the crew members gathered around one last time and all the vakas were presented gifts from the clans before departing the village. We made it back to camp by 0800 hrs and were whisked back to the Uto Ni Yalo at 0900 hrs. The very tired crew made it back onboard at the marina by 1400 hrs.

Report by Unaisi/Johnathan
Report by Satellite Phone courtesy of DIGICEL