Alex was the one who gave us a warm welcome at the fund raising event when we arrived and where looking what’s goin on and where we possibly could sit.

On the way from the shop to the northern end of the village we saw him sitting in front of a house about 150 m away from MaRe. Shigeo and I talked several times about this house and it’s design while sitting in the cockpit.

Now we see Alex is the owner and builder of this nice house.

He is not only building it, but he is also teaching his grandsons how to do various works. He trains them to get the necessary skills for their future life. On this very day, they built a 3-step concrete outside stair.

Alex showed us around in his house and explained not only what he did already but also what he plans to do in next steps.

Somewhere at a suitable point Shigeo asked where we possibly could get eggs, fruits, and vegetables. Typical for Alex, he said “Go to my wife and asked her for papaya, onions etc.”

We went to his home, and his wife and the daughter, who is their 11th child, gave us a warm welcome. They knew us from the event. It was actually his daughter who sold me the delicious lunchbox meal I bought at the event. It contained an excellent breadfruit salad, which tasted very much like a potato salad.

We were immediately invited to sit down and the daughter brought us 2 cool drinking coconuts. Gosh, these coconuts are so delicious. She also showed me how to remove the thick husk of the coconut quickly. One only needs the right tool and technique.

We talked about the event on Wednesday and that I forgot to buy bread, thus I had to bake this morning. It turned out that Kristine baked the bread sold at the event. This was interesting for me and we started talking about baking bread. It started with baking bread for her big family and now she is baking for the village. I wondered about the size of the oven she has. Alestine was asked to show me the oven. I was surprised on one side, but understood it immediately on the other side.

The oven is based on Polynesian cooking tradition where food is wrapped in banana leafs and put in a hole in the ground where there was fire before. Then all is covered and after a certain time the food is ready to eat and delicious. I hope that during stays in other Polynesian islands I can see and taste this cooking style.

Back to Kristine’s oven. It is a about 40 – 50 cm deep maybe 120 cm wide and 160 cm long, rectangular hole in the ground but built of concrete. The floor is covered with stones. Fire is made on the stones and they accumulate and store the heat. Once the fire had burned down, only ashes are left, and the stones have enough heat, a plate with bread in forms are placed on a grid just above the hot stones. The hole is then closed with corrugated sheet iron. To preserve the heat inside, old blankets are put over the corrugated sheet iron. That’s all. It functions well. Fire wood is plenty around from palm leaves and coconuts husks. Recycling a natural product. CO2 neutral.

We got a big slice of her bread with butter to taste. It was simply very delicious!

Kristine then told us the story of her life. How she felt in love with Alex and has with him 11 children. The youngest, Alestine sitting with us. All the others are gone to Australia and New Zealand. They all have good positions and if I’m not wrong, all are married and have children in these countries. Accidentally the daughter, who is nurse in NZ, was on the island on this very day because she had to accompany a patient on an emergency flight.

When one listens to Kristine’s stories and looks at Alestine one gets a feeling for the family harmony she and Alex created. Simply admirable!

We talked about many more things, which I don’t recall anymore but it was a very interesting time talking to Kristine and Alestine.

Alestine wants to go to Rarotonga to find work their. Although I understood that Kristine supports Alestine in her decision to go to Rarotonga and being not around every day at home, I felt a kind of sadness when the talk is about Alestine’s understandable plans. It’s quiet an emotional thing raising a “football team” and seeing the “last player” leaving the island as well.

Then Alex and the 3 grandsons came back from work. It’s seems he talked about the papaya and onions. At the end we left with very delicious and valuable presents. A big pumpkin, a papaya, a salad, and a few onions. At that moment we were with empty hands but I remembered that I have freshly baked bread on board. Thus, I promised I’ll come back again in about half an hour and bring one of my breads. We did so and had also some chocolates from Japan for the little boy, Alexander, a grandson, who also lives with them.

Today, in the morning of our departure, I had again freshly baked bread and Shigeo also made some cookies, so we decided to bring them a bread and the cookies as a farewell present. While we talked, Alestine bright some cinnamon rolls made by Kristine. The recipe is a secret. They taste so good that I works love too have the recipe.

At the end we got the best possible farewell present from Kristine: A big and warm farewell hug.