Talofa everyone,
We
are speeding away at 10knots today, lovely and sunny outside :) The crew is
with high spirits and are looking forward to our daily rehearsal of our skit
and songs for the Arts Festival.
Now
to paint you a rough picture - we have sailed in the past 3 shifts (9 hours)
the same amount of miles that we have done in the last 30 hours. Top speed
recorded was close to 20knots which Koleni, Taleni, Kalolo and Kim are quite
happy to boast about. Gaualofa is truly slicing through the water like melted
butter and positioning herself quite well towards the front of the fleet
together with Hine Moana and Marumaru Atua. We are very thankful for the sudden
change in weather, the whole day today felt like the doldrums with no wind and
scorching sun. But now it’s a totally different scenario that we are more than happy
to adapt to. These are the winds we were praying for the get us to Honiara on
time for the Opening of the Pacific Arts Festival 2012.
It
only seems like yesterday that we departed from the shores of Espiritu Santo
Island, our last stop in Vanuatu and already we are only 371Nm away from
Honiara. Luganville was a lovely little town located on a
very big island. It was very sad to have spent only one day as the island had
so much to offer in terms of beaches, pristine blue water holes, world class
diving, delicious food and most importantly, the people were top class lovely
if there is such a description. It is part of the voyage, to be flexible with
schedules and to make the most of whatever time you are given. Jayde, Kim, Fani
and I did just that when we heard news that we had until 5pm. We immediately
hopped in a taxi for a ride to see the land, to visit the world famous blue
holes then to explore the town and taste the local cuisine. One site we didn’t
have enough time for was the Coolidge wreck but that will be done many times when
we return to Santo one day.
On
our last night in town the SBS news was reporting on Lonesome George, the last
remaining Tortoise species from the island of Pintu in the Galapagos Island
group. I should mention that Lonesome George had a special place in all our
hearts here on Gaualofa. We first heard of George on our way from Cocos Island
to Galapagos when James gave us the run down. George was an extra special giant
tortoise because he was over 100 years old and the last one of his kind left in
the world. Most of the fleet together with the Gaualofa crew got to see and
meet George when we were in Santa Cruz a few months ago. We must all commend
the great work of the passionate people at the Galapagos National Park and
Research Centre. For many years there have been many attempts to cross breed
George with other tortoise species in the hope that his blood line will
survive. You can imagine our shock when we heard that he passed away. It’s even
sadder to think that there will be no more Georges in this world. Tuesday 26th
June 2012 another species has been wiped away, never to be seen again by
anyone.
Our
message is simple from Gaualofa, what you do out of love will live forever “E
leai se gaumata’u, na’o le Gaualofa” It is more important now that our actions
reflect our love for our fellow living creatures, our ocean, our lands, our culture,
our children.
Rest
in Peace Lonesome George, you might not have been able to pass down your blood
line but you have made us want to better ambassadors of the environment and
living creatures.
Tofa
Soifua
Tasha and Gaualofa Crew
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