RAPA
A dramatic jewel in the Austral Islands
Link to –RAPA Photo Gallery– Austral Islands 2017
Link to – Unique RAPA MUSIC
November 4, 2017 – 27-36.64S / 144-19.80W
SV Raynad -Enjoying dramatic Rapa in the Austral Islands
John and I arrived in the dramatically beautiful bay of Rapa Island yesterday morning at 7am following an uneventful 3 nt passage from Raivavae. Within an hour, both the mayor, his 4 yr old son, and a policeman arrived to check our documents, kind of them, but also I think that they were just curious to see the boat. We’re really glad that we decided to visit this island as the people are incredibly friendly, and being only the 9th boat this entire year to visit here, we are rather special. Already we have at least two groups of teenagers scheduled for visits on board Raynad, one groups this morning at 10am and another on Monday at 10am. John is of course a bit worried that this may get out of control as word spreads and we have many more groups requesting to come out and see the boat. Nice though to actually have the kids stop and try to speak with us and persist with communications despite our very poor skills with French.
There is one other boat here, a French couple on a catamaran. The history of this island is interesting and there are several archaeological ruins of hilltop fortresses we’ll hike to. Rapa is a volcanic island and the bay we entered and are anchored within is actually a collapsed crater. Hence, it’s a very uneven bottom that rises and falls by 3-15 meters making it a challenge for the anchoring gear!
We both were awakened by the sounds of winds gusts and grinding chain, although John got up a good hour before me, the lazy bones:) Half the sky is sunny, the other rather gray and ominous, we’ll see which weather we get today!?! This anchorage is notorious for having very significant wind gusts shooting down through the mountains.
This wind is more SE, so we’ll likely have strong winds from the sea rather than over the mountains, a the forecast over the next few days is for strong SE winds (the predominant winds down at this latitude tend to be from the W or SW.
We took a hike up one of the mountains yesterday to view an ancient fortress. Not much left of the fortress to see, but the views were magnificent and we took lots of photos. This too was a steep hike, but they have hacked steps in the the hillside on the steeper parts which was really wonderful and much more secure than the last hike. Today we have been invited to attend church and a community dinner afterwards, so that will be our Sunday. On Monday we are planning to take the bike ashore and take turns riding it around the bay where there seems to be a road that connects the two villages (we could see it from the hike yesterday) even though all of the literature says there isn’t one.
We have had an incredible day here in Rapa. The island population is 95% protestant (unusual in French Polynesia where the catholic denomination is usually dominant) and they are welcoming a new preacher!
The last preacher is retiring, so the entire island came together to welcome the new man today. Even the Seventh Day Adventist preacher and Catholic priest and their congregations attended this service which started at 10am and did not conclude until 1:00pm! Prior to the service, we befriended a local school teacher who then sat next to me and translated as much as she could. She was so proud of their unique Rapa culture, music, language and the special events that we were sharing. It was the longest service that I’ve ever attended, made worthwhile by the amazing music raised acapela by the entire congregation. This special music was reported on All Things Considered and they have released a CD- Link: NPR Tahitian Choir Story
Women filled several rows and the men filled the rows behind them, which seemed odd at first until I realized that they were basically sitting like a choir. Rapa has its own language and music to match – much more emotionally rich with rhythm, dense harmony, mostly call and response form and repeated modulations into new keys…seriously one song went on for at least 10-15 minutes and modulated down several chromatic steps, lead by the bass section, multiple times. Being fairly repetitive, John and I joined in on many of the songs which was fun. We were sitting just behind the men with a few next to us and behind us, so I guess we were sort of in the middle, we both thoroughly enjoyed watching these men not only sing at the top of their lungs, but also sway and bounce with the music – they could hardly contain themselves in their enthusiasm to sing. Following the long sermons (yes plural) and speeches of appreciation, the community hosted a meal.
While waiting for the hall to open for dinner, the crowds milled about and we were able to get a few pictures of the women’s hats which are a very creative assortment of wild weaving and design (John joked that a few just needed blinkers to look like spaceships waiting to launch:) When we entered the dining hall, rows of tables were absolutely heaped with platters and plastic covered trays of food. We’d seen this same arrangement in Tonga at the King’s Church banquet. An amazing mass of food! The VIP were seated in the middle of the hall, and there was a special band of guitars, drums and singers who made music while everyone ate.
All of the VIP were bedecked in huge flower leis and/or head pieces. John and I ate many forms of taro, raw fish, various salads, chicken, pork, stir fry unknowns….and then our fellow diners insisted that we bring back four trays of food to our boat! Still digesting the assortment, not sure what dinner will, or will not be.
Tomorrow we are scheduled to have a group of teenage girls onboard Raynad, an appointment they were eager to confirm this afternoon. Otherwise, we have plans to ride the bike around the island road system and see where it goes. It’s been a very special day in a very unique island. Rapa is absolutely visibly spectacular. This is probably the most colorful, geographic, social experience that we’ve had to date, created by just 850 people isolated in a volcanic crater visited only once a month by a ship, and we are only the 9th cruising boat to visit this year. We feel incredibly lucky and fortunate to have made our way here.
