Funafuti, airport code FUN

And so we headed from Fiji to Tuvalu, a rough night of high wind and ‘confused’ seas, i.e. waves that seemed to come from three directions, then 4 days of such hot, calm and windless weather that we had to motor.

After sailing around Fiji, approaching a country made up of such low-lying atolls and islands was quite a surprise. I used to think ‘lagoon’ meant almost completely enclosed by land but the Funafuti Lagoon is a wide expanse of luscious colored water absolutely ALIVE with fish with a few small islands dotted around the perimeter.

Tired after the passage we needed to loll around and the fish were our entertainment; sophisticated cities may have elaborate fountains that spout forth water to amuse and amaze, Funafuti has schools of fish that perform a similar task. Below the surface vast schools form and reform into squads, twisting like iridescent coils of gymnasts’ ribbons, reflecting the sunlight and entrancing the viewer.

Every 10 minutes there is an eruption, sometimes a gently upward shower of glittering bodies idly escaping some low-level danger, more often an explosion of bodies leaping and leaping again in a frantic ‘not me, not me’ rush away from the thrashing tuna who were doing turbo-charged ‘u’ turns as they scoffed another mouthful. Or two. But the show never stops, there are always extras waiting in the wings, although really, we thought, the output of energy can hardly be balanced by intake of such tiny snacks!!

Land based activities are taken at a much slower pace, preferably early or late in the day when it is lovely to wander. People still wear the foe (or fau if you come from the northern islands), the head garland of flowers and/or leaves that grant an extra layer of beauty to these lovely people with names we find easy to say but hard to remember.

The road leads along the land, so narrow in places you could throw a stone from sea to lagoon. Early morning and people bathe in the lagoon, kids get ready for school, toddlers decide to sit in the middle of the road, probably quite safe from the main traffic of slow moving scooters but even so we shoo them to the side.

The houses are crowded together, many around small ponds, actually pits from where soil was gathered to make the runway during WW2). These have become rubbish-filled and unsightly; perhaps the new rubbish collection service will help.

The main problem is, of course, global warming and while there are plans to deal with the effects if/when they happen, there is an active policy of local development. Although the limited area of land available for housing presents its own problems, the local government seems to be doing a fine job – road newly hard-topped, runway resurfaced, big water de-salination plant.

Biggest surprise is that an overseas venture has started a nursery to prove it is possible to grow vegetables locally. Saturday morning was a bit of a bun fight as people grabbed from the selection available at the tiny market beside the runway (everything seems to be ‘beside the runway’ in Funafuti!). Who would imagine fresh okra out here???

Hoping to make the most of our time before the cyclone season moves us further north, we seek permission to visit some of the other islands. The local people are great island-hoppers and we always ask ‘Are you from here’? and notice how emphatically they say ‘No’ and how glowingly they describe their home, hmmmm only 9 in all – which to visit?

Actually, distance dictates where we can sensibly travel because we must check out of Funafuti and not stop en route to Kiribati, thus the islands to the north are too far to warrant a return journey against the wind and we have chosen to visit Nukufetau Atoll (50 miles WNW of Funafuti) and Nukulaelae (68 miles SE).

So next report will be on Nukufetau…….