Tom Neale's Hut
Tom Neale Plaque
Suwarrow Shorline
Suwarrow Shark Feeding Beach
Suwarrow
Niuatoputapu Temporary Hut
Niuatoputapu Sunset
Niutoputapu Kids
Niuatoputapu Destroyed Trees
Mistress at Suwarrow
John and Rob on Suwarrow
Like the stars in the Southern night sky, the South Pacific Ocean is dotted with a myriad of islands, some seemingly forming constellations while others stand-alone and shine bright. On first impression most of these islands appear so similar, lush tropical vegetation, brilliantly clear coral waters, jagged rocks and blazing white sand. Closer inspection however, reveals that these islands can be extremely different, no more so than two islands that Mistress explored whilst sailing from Bora Bora to Vava’u.
With trade winds pushing us hard we found the first of these islands barely rising above the horizon after a four-day sail from Bora Bora. The island of Suwarrow is indeed one of these stand-alone islands, no immediate neighbor, just a lone island surrounded by hundreds of miles of empty ocean.
Part of the Cook Islands, Suwarrow is today a Cook Island Park Reserve which is an uninhabited island atoll except for two Park Wardens that reside here from May to September. Being an atoll, the island has a protected lagoon, ringed by coral reefs and small island motus. The largest of these motus, is Anchorage Island that lies inside the eastern side of the reef and forms part of the single pass that allows yachts to navigate into the safety of the lagoon.
Despite having now navigated Mistress into many coral reefed lagoons, the responsibility of safety for boat and crew always looms large in my mind when approaching such islands. After days at sea and the constant motion and fatigue that is part of ocean sailing, the lure of a tranquil, still anchorage is sometimes overwhelming. All one wants to do is get the anchor down and relax, yet the toughest part is navigating the pass into the lagoon. Is there enough water beneath our keel? Is the sunlight correct to see the coral heads? Is the current flowing in or out of the lagoon manageable? And if we get in are we going to be able to get out? Like the mountaineer that turns back painstakingly close to the summit, sometimes for the skipper and crew it is safest to sail past the enticement of a still lagoon and set a course for the next island lying over the horizon.
Fortunately for us, the conditions allowed for a safe navigation into Suwarrow and Mistress and crew were all happy to have the anchor down and resting in the lee of Anchorage Island in the company of a staggering twenty other yachts. Twenty-seven years earlier when I had visited this island, we were the only yacht on arrival and during our week-long visit only two other yachts showed up. Cruising to such beautiful parts of the world is clearly getting more popular!
So what is it that makes Suwarrow so appealing? The fact that it allows the westward bound sailor an opportunity to break up a long passage with a beautiful rest stop is high on the list. Added to this is the attraction of a fundamentally uninhabited island. It is rare to be able to visit such a beautiful island / lagoon and not find a village of local islanders forging a living from the land and the sea. Suwarrow has spectacular coral and fish life for snorkeling and diving, fish and crayfish begging to be caught, a sky filled with sea birds that nest on the outer motus and of course a lagoon filled with reef sharks…..always fascinating always unnerving…..
The history of Suwarrow also adds a special dimension to the visit. New Zealander Tom Neale lived on this island as a hermit from 1952 to 1977. The island serves as a museum to his fortitude and resourcefulness as he carved out an existence, living purely off the land and sea. His original hut still stands with all his tools, books and furnishings intact, seemingly waiting his return one-day….
Park Wardens John and James are perhaps the last reason why a visit to this remote island is so special. New Zealand born Cook Islanders, these two are true hosts to this sailor’s haven. Their knowledge of the island and its history is fascinating, their humor infectious and their willingness to lead expeditions to the remote corners of the island unique.
Our visit to Suwarow was wonderful but incredibly brief….Mistress’s schedule playing devils’ advocate once more…..Mistress wouldn’t be here without help from family and friends , but the beauty and peacefulness of the place tempted us to ignore our crew’s connecting flights at the next landfall and to simply enjoy the island for a few more days…..
A fascinating geological formation that lies running north-east / south-west in the South West Pacific is the famed Tongan Trench. This deep canyon in the ocean floor drops to a depth of over 10,000 meters. Immediately west of this trench rising out of these incredible depths is the Tongan Ridge, a long chain of shallow water and islands made up of largely volcanic activity that is still active in places. At the northern end of this ridge lies a remote Tongan island called Niuatoputapu….it is this island that Mistress arrived to explore and it is this island that proved to be so very different than that of Suwarrow.
Niuatoputapu is a volcanic formed island that today has a coral ringed reef extending around much of its western side. Once again there was a tricky pass to navigate before entering the calm protected waters of the lagoon. We had experienced a tough, wet 24 hour sail south from Western Samoa and Mistress and her crew were extremely glad to have the anchor set and the boat still with dry decks.
I had visited Niuatoputapu on my previous sail across the Pacific and memories of a beautiful lush tropical island with wonderful friendly Tongan islanders remained. The island that beckoned us this time looked from the decks of Mistress to be all of this…..but as we discovered things were very different.
Almost 600 hundred Tongans call Niuatoputapu their home. Three villages are spread along the eastern side of the island, all occupying the foreshore land adjacent to the lagoon. Rising up behind the villages is dense tropical vegetation that climbs the side of the hill that peaks at some 500 feet above sea level. These islanders live very much a subsistence lifestyle, growing taro, and other limited vegetables, harvesting fruit, raising pigs, and netting fish. Life for these people had probably changed little since I last visited until a fateful day in late August 2009…..
A Tsunami that was formed by an ocean floor earthquake off of Samoa roared across the ocean towards Niuatoputapu. The initial sign of retreating waters in the lagoon was all the warning that the islanders had prior to an 8 meter high wall of water smashing into their island and their homes…..destroying virtually everything that they valued and more tragically taking the lives of eight of their community.
Two years later as we ventured ashore the destruction was still startling. Rubbish and crushed vegetation and trees littered the foreshore. Almost no single house was standing. Instead the villagers were living in 3.6 x 2.4 meter prefab plywood boxes that had a single door and two top hung plywood hatches for windows. Constructed largely by New Zealanders and International aid agencies that had arrived after the Tsunami to help these destitute islanders, these huts were only intended to be temporary accommodation, yet two years later they were still their homes. Financial assistance was on offer to the villagers for the construction of new houses, but the proviso was that the houses had be constructed up the hillside well above the possible threat of a repeat Tsunami. Conversation with the villagers suggested that most did not want to move up the hill….hence they are still living in the temporary huts.
We spent five days anchored in the Niuatoputapu lagoon riding out strong SE winds that buffeted the island. Each day we went ashore and each day our exploration bore witness to more devastation. There were some positives, the gardens were slowly recovering, the vegetation taking a firm hold again and there was some new buildings planned and a few under construction. What was so very noticeable was the spirit of the people. While they were friendly and obliging to our questions and exploration…..they showed all signs of having had their joy of life stolen from them with no real prospect that anyone was ever going to give it back ……..
The island of Niuatoputapu was a sad situation. The contrast of our visit here as compared to Suwarro was dramatic. It was a combination of a heavy heart and mild relief when we upped anchor and pointed our bow south for Vava’u…..the jewel in the crown of the Tongan Kingdom for cruising sailors.
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