Oct. 29th: Hot stewing creatures

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21 03.74 S
175 17.88 W

Crew: Just anchored off of Toketoke Island after Village market. Cyrus, Colby & Brett are searching for surf around nearby point of land. Mac & Brooke just returned from snorkel. Peter reading.

Comments:

As we dinghied up to the cement crumbling pier, we see 3 large Tongan women wrapped in woven palm mats, climb out of a boat and open umbrellas to shield them from the sun. Fishermen are unloading baskets of scallops from their baby blue panga. We have come to town to see if there are any fruits and veggies for our upcoming weekend and Monday as we expect very high winds and rain that will confine us to this island for now. We are waiting for a weather window to New Zealand. We pile out onto the dusty lot where booth after booth have been raised overnight. Woven palm baskets cascade with large crabs, sea urchins, scallops and various shells I had no idea were edible. I also had no idea that people eat the various reef fishes I see lying on the warm tables. The dark men and women swing long willowy sticks with plastic bags tied to their end... sweeping away attracted flies. Octopus lie on the wooden tables and baggies of giant clams sit like stewing bubbles. Parrotfish, grouper, unicorn fish, surgeon fish and various other reef fishes I have never even thought of eating are all lying in bundles on the warm tables. I see ice chests and maybe they have some nice cold creatures you can buy, but all I see are warm stewing creatures on the tables... dusted by the cars rumbling through the lot. Mmmmmm. (yes, we had to take video)

A line of fruit and veggie stands sell palm baskets of taro, lu, oranges and stalks of bananas. Smoke stings our eyes as chickens rotate slowly on flat bed trailers that have been modified as 'uber rotesseries' as Brett states it. This looks like a giant truck bed made into a fooseball table, but instead of little players, there is rotating meat. quite clever. Brett stops to take photo. The swap is on (Saturdays only).. booths sell about anything and in no particular order that I can see... toilet bowls, ovens and cowboy boots. Clothes, toothpaste and canned beef. Bundles of seaweed and kids shoes. Music is blasted by the local cell phone company, Digicel. People are munching on piles of stewed something wrapped in giant leaves and kids run and laugh, running up and down the dusty lanes of the stalls.

I found corn.

We didn't need much else, so I was happy. Oh, and Peter found fresh baked bread. Yes.. 2 loaves of bread and a bag of corn. It was an experience. We will go to the downtown market early next week once we figure out our departure date and get serious about some fruits, veggies and other staples. I can't help but think of my dad... oh how he would love these markets. Talk about interesting foods and people watching. He would be in heaven as I am.

We have now moved away from the dusty main town and to a small sculpted island & bird sanctuary. Reef reaches to the surface here, creating a comfortable place to ride out strong winds. We sit and wait... hoping for a nice weather window to appear for us to head South.

~Brooke

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