Skip to main content

Suwarrow National Park, the North Cook Islands...and Intrepid Travellers with Marvellous Manners...

The intrepid travellers. May 2011. (Photo courtesy our crew member)

I have reposted this post (initially written in June 2011)  as I was contacted yesterday by a concerned previous client of the cruise operator who advised that my TripAdvisor comment on Suwarrow National Park and the cruise operator had been removed...

It is a good story...reminding us all to be aware of internet descriptions...and deceptions.

Our "cruiser"  sitting low in the water May 2011 (photo the author)

The minute we saw the boat at the dock in Rarotonga, Cook Islands,  we knew that things were not as we had envisaged by reading about and booking our voyage  at the ship's owners website.

When I introduced myself to the person I had been told was the captain he acknowledged me, didn’t give his name and pointed towards a young woman who was inventoring freight at it was put abroad the boat. She advised us that the departure date was more likely to be before sunset than 12 noon…”it’s island time, and the freight is late”…”you can look around town for a while”…she suggested as we left our passports with the as yet unnamed captain to be processed through the Cook Islands immigration office.

After 7 hours of wandering the two main streets of Rarotonga, enjoying a beer at Trader Jack’s and some internet time at the Telecom office we staggered under the heat back to the boat.  At 5 we were allowed to view our cabin.  What a shock!  The same cabin, or double berth, displayed on the website was ours… reached from the main deck by a greasy, engine oil covered ladder down a depth of about 2 metres.  The heavily enclosed atmosphere, with four bunks, which would be occupied,  outside our non-private entrance, was complemented by the rancid air from the nearby engine room . I hung a sarong over the entrance to our cabin for a semblance of privacy...for us all.

A "nest"?  (Photo the author) 

The cabin bore no resemblance to the glossy photo on the site detailing the standards on board the  vessel. My companion was horrified but I assured him we could manage and I would try to make a little “nest”for us to call home for 14 nights.  My optimism would be sorely tested.

Shortly after we were joined on the main deck by our fellow passengers.  We were a mixed bunch, representing Australia,  New Zealand, England, Canada, Japan , America and Switzerland. Our ages,we would learn, ranged from almost 70 to 29.  We were to  bond together as intrepid travellers, united in our anger and disappointment at the condition of the boat and the arrogant and non-communicative approach of our captain. Later we would also be united in the fear of danger presented by a vessel which was at the very least hazardous, if not obviously unseaworthy.

We all knew something was amiss when the captain “addressed”us on the main deck, advising us, randomly, of the safety equipment on board the vessel.  He then told us of the water shortages which could occur and informed us of the ritual of a “naval shower”and the preferred option for the male passengers to pee over the side of the boat.  The one toilet/shower room, about the size of an aircraft toilet, was for the use of the 12 people on board.

Under a beautiful sunset we departed Rarotonga for the isolation of two and a half days at sea before we would reach the island of Palmerston.  The sea initially seemed quite calm but the vessel, being a badly weighted catamaran,  tossed up and down and side to side.  Seasickness was shortly an unwelcome cloud of darkness for most of us.

Eating that evening was out of the question for most of us.  Fortunately as it turned out.  The “rations”that the captain had supplied were meagre we were to learn.  In the fresh food department there were two cabbages, 6 or so tomatoes, 6 carrots, about 5 papaya, some bananas, potatoes, oranges and onions.  Otherwise, it was 6 packets of  frozen vegetables, 2 kgs of frozen minced beef (the expiration date was June 2010), 6 kgs of frozen chicken pieces, some frozen loaves of bread, some soft drink, cans of vegetables, numerous cans of tinned meat and some Asian dried noodles, rice and pasta.  For 12 people for 14 days.
 http://mannersandothermatters.blogspot.com/2011/06/palmerston-atoll-beautiful-island.html

The wonderful people of Palmerston giving us a beach seafood "barbecue" (Photo the author)

But we survived.  On arrival on 30 May in Apia, Western Samoa our vessel was boarded by the customs, immigration and health authorities.  After initial inquiries, the vessel was declared unfit for passengers and senior authorities were called by the various officers to the wharf.  After giving our various statements, we were able to go ashore, many of us wishing to kiss the ground.  We were safe, but exhausted and some of us wounded by gashes, grazes and bruises from the never ending swell as our boat was tossed like a cork in the vastness of the Pacific Ocean for 14 days.

http://mannersandothermatters.blogspot.com/2011/06/suwarrowisolation-manta-rays-sharks-and.html

As a group we were indeed intrepid travellers and we became great friends, bonded in our resolve to stop the cruise operator ever operating another passenger voyage. And my 14 days with these wonderful people was a testament to the Confucian saying…”All people are the same; it is their habits which are different…”

The beauty of Suwarrow 

Not only did I have the opportunity to see selfless consideration and manners among my fellow passengers and our one crew member each day, but the generosity of the island people  I met was a joy I will never forget.




Comments

  1. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

      Delete
  2. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

    ReplyDelete
  3. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  4. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. This comment has been removed by the author.

      Delete
    2. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

      Delete
  5. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

    ReplyDelete
  6. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

    ReplyDelete
  7. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

    ReplyDelete
  8. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Boyfriend, Manfriend, Partner, Companion…a new word required….

Dance "partners" (microsoft) I read a really interesting article the other day written by a Generation Y male lamenting that his girlfriend no longer referred to him as her “boyfriend”, but in an overheard conversation as her “partner”.  He took exception to this expression writing: “I must have missed the memo on my sexless new categorisation – I would certainly not have approved it.  A ‘partner’ is someone you twirl around at a barn dance”. (Andy Jones, Grazia magazine) I have had a business partner;  there are partners in law, stockbroking and accounting firms. And so to refer to my personal life-sharer as a partner was not comfortable for me. But despite the fact that the English language is alive and evolving, there is not a word or an expression to reflect the status of one’s “life companion” whether in a gay or straight relationship if not committed to, or already married. The word “companion” actually applies in both French and Italian. Although in Engl

Bali…Bogans, Tattoos and the Ugly Australian…

Balinese temple (photo LP 2010) I have returned in the past few days from a holiday in Bali, Indonesia, with my sister.  Unlike my trip in 2010 when I stayed more remotely in the north west at Pemuteran  and  the north east at Amed, this visit was to a five star resort in Legian. What a difference!  The streets of Legian were very busy, the locals almost outnumbered by the Australian tourists.  I heard very few languages other than “Aussie” spoken and it reminded me that when I travelled with my French boyfriend to the northern part of Bali, I was told by the Europeans I met that they tended to avoid the tourist hubs of Kuta, Legian and Seminyak because of the loud, rude and crude Australians…yes a generalisation about the Aussies, but unfortunately, as I was to learn, a correct one. A friendly local trying to sell us a toy (photo LP 2012) It is difficult to write this post without appearing a “snob”.  But having canvassed my ideas with friends, acquaintances, col

Friendships...gold and silver...real and virtual...priceless!

My 21st birthday dinner...Oh so formal then! I was talking with a friend the other day about friendship.  About how it impacts on our lives, from childhood and teenage friends, to becoming friends with boyfriends’s friends, husband’s friends and their wives, parents of other school children, social club friends,  friends after divorce or death of a partner, passing friendships, acquaintances…and now virtual friends. It’s complicated. And I am finding in my “middle” years that my need for friends has reduced…not that I don’t value and cherish my friends, but my actual need has lessened.  Why, I wonder?  I used always be a “People who need People” (with apologies to whoever wrote the song made famous in  Funny Girl ) sort of a person.  I was always out and about, making sure that I saw my friends, knew all that was going on with them and theirs.  Afternoon tea for the girls...with bubbles! However, as the years have moved on, my children have become independent