Craig and Amy in the South Seas: Voyage to Pitcairn and Beyond, Part 8. Visit to Aukena (Gambier Archipelago), Day 8

The next morning, we arrived back in the Gambiers. But this time we were to visit the small and mostly uninhabited island of Aukena. The only people here work on a pearl farm. There is a beautiful beach with lots of shade and the crew set up tables and chairs and a big buffet lunch.

But first, many of us took a hike up to the 350 foot peak of the island, where there were amazing views all around of the azure waters of the Gambier lagoon. We found a side trail, along with a couple other people, that took us to the other side of the island (not far, less than a kilometer). The blue waters were some of the most beautiful I’ve ever seen. However, on the beach nearby was all sorts of plastic debris that had floated in from the ocean. This was quite remarkable, seeing that the trash had to come in through the narrow pass to get to this secluded beach. It shows, unfortunately, just how much garbage is in our oceans.

Back on the beach, music and dance was happening and Amy danced Hanalei Moon, which every Tahitian dancer and musician knows. One of the passengers, John from Tahiti, was a great guitarist and singer and played along, too. As always, the food was amazing and we all had a great time. But it was soon time to go, as we had a day and a half trip to our next island, Rapa, in the Austral archipelago.

That evening, decided to do something different than the normal three course dinner in the dining room. On the pool there is a small grill, where chef Remy normally serves hamburgers, fish burgers and grilled fish. It’s a place we’d discovered can be a hangout for the crew, especially the officers from the bridge. A few days before we arrived to Pitcairn, one of the mates had confided to us there that “Remy’s lobsters were amazing.” But they’d been all out and they told us to wait for Pitcairn. Now tonight was our chance, as the Aranui had procured five Pitcairn lobsters! (and no, before you ask, they are not endangered). So we dined with our friends Charles and Heather and had a lovely evening. We were even treated to one of the most spectacular rainbows we’ve ever seen. Since it was right at sunset, the rainbow, actually a double rainbow, was gigantic. The lobster itself, flambeed by Remy with brandy, was delicious!

Our beach on Aukena...