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An easy overnight sail took us to
Raroia.
On this way we ate tis fruit, that Heather must have found
in Hao, although we are not quite sure what they were.
We got
thorough the pass quite easily, after waiting a little for the tide. |
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Raroia is only one of many
classic coral atolls in the South Pacific, but is of particular interest
because Kon-Tiki landed on it in 1947.
Kon-Tiki's lading was really a
slow shipwreck, since they were unable to steer the raft around to the
sheltered side of the island as they had hoped. (I doubt that such control
was possible at all, having read the details of how she was steered.)
We are standing at the edge of the reef at low tide. The deep
water is only a few meters behind us. The reef rises so rapidly from
the bottom that the raft would surely have been destroyed by the impact. |
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Reading Heyerdahl's description of the landing, I suspect they landed around
high tide when the water would have been about half a metre feet higher,
allowing the raft to bounce over the reef. It actually stopped part way, and
was slowly washed over in the ensuing few days.
This shot take from edge
of the reef showed how far Heyerdahl's crew carried their gear to the motu
(islet) that they camped on.
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Thor Heyerdahl's grandson
installed a memorial plaque from the Kon-Tiki museum in Oslo on the motu.
with a little difficulty we found it in the jungle. I guess they put
is well inland in case of a hurricane. |
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The only village is on the opposite side of the lagoon from the Kon-Tiki
landing. We spent only a few ours there, because the anchorage was not
secure in the conditions that day. The local were interesting, having
earned about the landing from tier grandparents. Memories in these
communities are much better than in our modern life style. |
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 Snorkelling
was good, as everywhere in the Tuamotus
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Snorkelling
was good, as everywhere in the Tuamotus