Palmerston to Niue: Day 1

Wednesday, June 18, 2013

We had a weather window today and therefore had to sadly leave Palmerston behind. I have been sad to leave every port so far, but I think Palmerston was the most difficult.

I had a friend ask me not long ago which island has been my favourite so far, and I could not give an answer. But I think I have found the answer in Palmerston. It is an island with truly unmatched hospitality and friendliness. 

We dropped off some gifts for various people on the island that touched our hearts, including some photos that we took during our short time there (Jan has a photo printer onboard that prints some great photo-quality prints that don't smudge or anything). They were really happy to receive this as other cruisers give them pictures printed just on regular paper. They are going to have some of the family photos we took framed in Raratonga.

We stopped by Bill's place again to drop off our photos for him and we saw our gift from yesterday was flying high among his collection. He collects flags from around the world and we gave him the flag of St. Thomas, US Virgin Islands, the home port of our boat. It wasn't enough for him that he gave us a carton of eggs for our journey forward, he kept pressing that we take some ham or bacon that he had in his freezer. After denying five thousand times, as we already feel bad for the hospitality they have all given us, we started walking back to Bob's for our final shuttle back to our boat. We got maybe 100 feet from Bill's before we heard our names being yelled and Bill came running out with a bag of frozen parrot fish fillets that were caught the other day and insisted we take them. 

It almost brings a tear to my eye, the limitless, perpetual kindness that these people have on Palmerston. You get to experience firsthand what a society is like without currency. They have no stores or anything and no need for currency, so no one is battling for profit to try to one-up the next person. Currency is important in a bigger society like ours, it creates necessary efficiencies that make our markets work. But, it can also be abused by those who control it and can be used as a source of slavery for those dependent on it.

They have had a few cruisers who have requested their ashes to be sent back to Palmerston to be buried there, and I can completely understand why. 

Whether you sail here, or fly to Tahiti and hop on one of their supply ships, put this island on your bucket list and make it happen. You'll find remnants of my time there in the little white flag at Bill's house and a piece of my heart in the sand.

Always look forward. 350 miles/3 days until Niue.