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| The Suwarrow Atoll was named by the Russian ship “Suvorov” in 1814 and was later change to Suwarrow after the Cook Islands gained its independence. This beautiful Island is a very popular spot for cruisers who are searching for unique places to visit. The lagoon has unspoiled coral, plenty of fish and black tip sharks who won't bother you if you swim. |
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New Zealander Tom Neale, who lived here by himself from 1952 until 1977, built some of the existing buildings which boost the famous Suwarrow Yacht Club and is occupied by the present Park Warden John his wife Veronica and their four boys. Its interesting to read the reminders which many cruisers have left in the Yacht Club. |
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A few years back when we began planning this adventure, I kept articles on the places we thought we might visit. I came across one called "Suwarrow" which had a large picture of the Yacht Club sign. It was a thrill to arrive on the Island and see that the sign was still in the same spot. |
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| With the introduction & formalities over we were offered a coconut drink and some fresh fish caught earlier in the day. We watch John as he opened coconuts very easily on a very sharp object stuck in the ground. We chatted a while and I mentioned it was our 13th wedding anniversary and John and Veronica immediately planned a party on the beach 5:00 pm. Veronica made us some neat crowns and two chairs were set up for our enjoyment. Talk about feeling special. |
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All the boaters in the anchorage brought a dish and Veronica made us her famous coconut pancakes, curry, baked and deep fried fish. What a feast and there was plenty of coconut juice for the rum. As the evening progressed John took his guitar and proceeded to sing us a beautiful love song which we danced to. We were overwhelmed with the immediate hospitality we received. |
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Our next day on the island John and his family took us to Turtle Island where we saw an enormous amount of birds, their eggs, nests, baby birds and lots of coconut crabs. A few days later we got to taste some coconut crab which the boys caught, they taste like king crab. |
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We organized a spaghetti dinner on the beach and celebrated Joanne's birthday our new arrival on Miss Jody. A couple of days later it was fish taco night with Ian & Jeramiha catching all the fish and Kip & I provided the rest giving John and Veronica a break. |
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After a week of entertaining, exploring and being entertained the big day arrived. Our last night on the island we celebrated Johnathan's 9th birthday. Again all the boaters showed up with gifts and food. Veronica prepared another fish feast with coconut pancakes and coconut crabs. We sang songs and there was a constant flow of coconut juice. As the sun went down some of the boys took the flag down while one blew the horn (a conch shell). The next day we went to shore and everyone was very sad as we said our goodbyes. We had a wonderful time and this time leaving was very hard. We will never forget our sendoff as we heard the sound of the conch shell biding us a sad farewell. |
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