Our first impression of Tamaro Island is from the vantage of the boat yard and looks like this:
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| Turquoise water and many coral heads |
The family homestead is far from even a village. The three generations that live here have many subsistence activities in addition to running a boat yard.
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| Activities like beekeeping |
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| Beekeeping close up |
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They dry coconuts and sell the copra as a cash crop and
fresh shredded coconut is found in most evening meals. |
Fishing provides a major food source but commercial fishing is not part of the operation. On a day when most of the family that runs Apataki Careenage is off in the skiff delivering passengers to the airport and picking up supplies at the village Jean, a spear fisher visiting from Corsica begins to worry about supper, so he grabs a cooler, loads it on a tiny kayak and paddles off into the sunset. We see the kayak bobbing 300 m offshore for an hour, then he returns with a mess of small-to-medium fish. While he cleans them, the launch returns from the airport resulting in a bustle of activity on the dock. Jean greets the newcomers and helps unload the boat. The dogs join the celebration and take advantage of the confusion to raid Jean's stack of fish fillets on the dock. Tony notices the problem and chases the dogs away. Jean resumes his labors and salvages the fish for a dinner that now needs to feed about ten souls.
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| Jean filets fish before the hulabaloo |
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A small Ford tractor moves coconuts, barrels of fuel, boats,
etc. and makes good walking trails to the islands attractions. |
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| Pets include villain dogs |
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| and a reef shark named Tamaro. (The child is safe.) |
