---

Krauss goes to Atiu

So as I was groggily getting up this morning Dave was mentioning to me that he wouldn’t be back for lunch because he was going to Atiu for a day trip. I mumbled something to the effect of that’s ok because I probably won’t need a ride into town, I’ll be working on my NSF application all day. As he was about to leave, and as I was finally actually getting out of bed, he asked if I might be interested in coming along. All of a sudden I’m awake. I ask him to clarify and he explains that another pilot and he (grammar check demands this to be ‘he’ but ‘him’ seems more right. Would someone good at English care to comment? Maybe my sisters or Becky Chawner? Back to the story…) are going out to Atiu to move some Telecom engineers around; it’s actually mostly so the pilot can finish off his training flight hours. There might be some extra space so I’m invited to tag along. Problem is I have to make the decision right now. I’m supposed to be working on my NSF apps, due on Wednesday, and I’ve got paddling at 4:30. But not every day I get a free offer to go to a tropical island (not that I’m not on one in the first place). So I do the obvious thing and say yes.

An instant shower later and a quick gathering of things puts me in Dave’s car heading towards the airport. I get reintroduced to the pilot, Willie, whom I’ve met at Dave’s before, and our craft, which is a little 4-seater. I help pump some of the extra fuel we’re going to need into jury cans, secure them directly behind the seat I’m sitting in, locate the fire extinguisher, and we’re off.

The flight took about 90 minutes, mostly because we’re in a slow plane. Since this wasn’t a commercial flight we got to buzz the islands a few times which was quite nice, got some good pictures. As we prepare to land at Atiu we find that there’s actually a cruise ship visiting (I’ll later learn about 4-5 come yearly) so we buzz them for a bit as we wait for some people to man the airport.

When we land at Atiu I am promptly introduced to all the Air Raro employees on the island and I then promptly forget the names of all the Air Raro employees on the island. I hop into the bed of Timu’s truck (I know this name because I asked Dave as I’m writing this) along with some deliveries and we’re off to explore Atiu as Willie takes the plane to Mauke to bring the Telecom engineers to Atiu.

Our first stop is at the harbor that the cruise ship is docked off of. As you see in the picture it is quite small so no ship of any size can make it in, only launches. They had a ceremony going on for the cruise ship people but we had business to attend to so we didn’t stay and watch.

Driving around Atiu was on of the highlights of the trip. It has risen out of the sea significantly so you can drive through these coral jungles that are awesome. It’s all the old coral that used to be underwater and now is covered in jungle, really fun to see. There’s also just some amazing scenery in general, from their planes to craggy shores.

Anyways, after driving around for a bit we went to the Air Raro headquarters, so Dave could do some of the work he was sent over to do. Kinda boring for me but whatever. When we finish it’s back to the airport though, so we can catch up with Willie and the Telecom people.

By the time we make it to the airport Telecom has already gone off to fix their problem so we’re pretty much here just to hang out with Willie and have some fruit as a snack. We also take the opportunity to refill the plane with the jury cans of gas that were behind my seat. This hanging out wound up taking quiet a bit of time actually, which was disappointing. It didn’t help that, as usual, the engineers were running on island time and, when they said they were on their way back already, they actually weren’t and we had to keep waiting. I think the frustrating part was we could have used this time to get lunch! (By now it was getting to be afternoon and I’d only had a few slices of coconut and papaya all day).

The engineers eventually showed up, Willie took them back to Mauke, and Dave and I headed back inland. We went to Timu’s house for lunch, which was relieving. We had the very typical island lunch of bread and corned beef. The bread, I will comment, was quite nice. They have a bakery that has a huge rock oven that they cook the bread in with a wood fire. A simple white bread is produced but it has a little more texture and flavor; I highly recommend tracking some down if you can.

Sadly, lunch was pretty much the end of our trip. By the time we got done we had to head to the airport to catch up with Willie and head back to Raro. On our way off we did get to buzz the island a bit more, checking out the town and such. We also got to fly around Raro a bit which was really cool; Willie wanted a picture of his house. Also turns out that he was one minute of flying time short of his licensing requirement. So that’s my adventure to Atiu. It was pretty short and I didn’t really do much. But the good part is I’m now pretty convinced this is where I want to go with my dad when he comes to visit in a few weeks.

PS, we didn’t get back until 5:30 (island time, go figure). So I missed paddling. And I haven’t worked on my NSF application. Tomorrow’s going to be fun!

---