Palmerston Atoll, The Cook Islands
Today we entered our fourth country on this voyage through the South Pacific. The Cook Islands are a widely scattered group of islands in a region where few islands can be described as close to each other. It takes a little time to adjust to scale in the South Pacific. The 15 Cook Islands (land area 241 square kilometres) are scattered in about 2 million square kilometres of ocean – an area about one third the size of the continental United States.
Before we departed the Kingdom of Tonga we were joined by Cook Islands officials, so today we were able to clear customs and immigration into the Cook Islands without first having to visit Rarotonga to complete formalities. This allowed us to visit an out-of-the-way place such as Palmerston Island in the eponymous Atoll. The island has an unusual history, with the current population of about 60 people almost entirely descended from one man, William Marsters, who settled the island in 1863 with his three wives who bore him 19 children. It is one of those unusual places in this modern world were life moves at a different pace. Lacking an airport, the only way to approach Palmerston is by sea, and there are few vessels that make regular visits. However, as we were arriving a small vessel was also approaching the atoll. We later learned that this was the ‘election boat’. The Cook Islands will be holding elections on 26 September, and this vessel arrived to deliver ballot papers and an election observer to the islands.
There is no way to bring the ship into the lagoon so we disembarked into our now familiar Zodiacs and made our way with local pilots through the narrow cut in the reef and into the lagoon. After a wet landing on the sandy beach we were formally welcomed to the village. In turn, we thanked our hosts for their welcome and gave a donation to the village school. The school children then led us in small groups on a tour of the settlement before we returned to the beach, from where we could snorkel in the lagoon, while the divers ventured beneath the waves on the outside of the reef.
Today we entered our fourth country on this voyage through the South Pacific. The Cook Islands are a widely scattered group of islands in a region where few islands can be described as close to each other. It takes a little time to adjust to scale in the South Pacific. The 15 Cook Islands (land area 241 square kilometres) are scattered in about 2 million square kilometres of ocean – an area about one third the size of the continental United States.
Before we departed the Kingdom of Tonga we were joined by Cook Islands officials, so today we were able to clear customs and immigration into the Cook Islands without first having to visit Rarotonga to complete formalities. This allowed us to visit an out-of-the-way place such as Palmerston Island in the eponymous Atoll. The island has an unusual history, with the current population of about 60 people almost entirely descended from one man, William Marsters, who settled the island in 1863 with his three wives who bore him 19 children. It is one of those unusual places in this modern world were life moves at a different pace. Lacking an airport, the only way to approach Palmerston is by sea, and there are few vessels that make regular visits. However, as we were arriving a small vessel was also approaching the atoll. We later learned that this was the ‘election boat’. The Cook Islands will be holding elections on 26 September, and this vessel arrived to deliver ballot papers and an election observer to the islands.
There is no way to bring the ship into the lagoon so we disembarked into our now familiar Zodiacs and made our way with local pilots through the narrow cut in the reef and into the lagoon. After a wet landing on the sandy beach we were formally welcomed to the village. In turn, we thanked our hosts for their welcome and gave a donation to the village school. The school children then led us in small groups on a tour of the settlement before we returned to the beach, from where we could snorkel in the lagoon, while the divers ventured beneath the waves on the outside of the reef.
