Not Quite The Novatel...

So impressed with Big Mama’s mothers day feast that Pete, or as he is now called after a little spelling error on the darts score board, Petal and Leachy decided they too would like to try out this island living and host a few little piggies on the spit and learn how do it for themselves. Through Earl they organized the wary beasts, live in a bag on the back of the ferry! And negotiated with the girls to make up some salads. We invited what boats had arrived from the crossing to help turn the pig, have a beer and a chat and join in the experience. It was a great day for them and they really got involved in the preparation, learning from the experts how to husk a coconut, grate the meat and squeeze it through a section of the husk to produce the milk for the raw fish dish, the way the fire is laid for best cooking of the pig and just generally behaving like islanders enjoying the hunter, gatherer lifestyle. That night the number of boats in the bay swelled from about 3 to 7 with boats arriving from Minerva with similar tales of bad weather and rough seas. Those that had cleared joined us and enjoyed the feast the boys had prepared. It became a celebration of Darren’s past birthday, my impending birthday and Pete’s farewell party before he flew home to Sydney. The boys ate like Kings. Or was that savages? Gnawing meat off the bones and enjoying every last bit. Simone off Larooba even baked us a beautiful chocolate cake! It was a fun evening and Darren & Pete were so at home in their little island paradise that all memories of the Novatel they were once looking for seemed pale in comparison to what they were actually experiencing…