Kelefesia was an ancient gift island from the King to the ancestors of its current owners.

 

It’s the finest gift island we’ve ever seen. There appears to be every requisite feature for island life here: excellent reefs, groves of coconuts, fruit trees, pigs, chickens, and even a self-managing island dog (read: skinny coyote).  Onesi, the current patriarch of the island, was quick to point out a shortage of cigarettes and whisky and sadly made his way back into the trees when we could not assist with his pursuit of vice. S was quick to point out that he should not forget to feed the dog.

While Onesi spent the day alone on his island pining for a drink and a smoke, his family was offshore in a small boat looking for seafood.

The heavy surf that plagued us in Nokuma Iki was still in play, crashing into the reef directly behind us.

The anchorage was a bit choppy but fine for a short stay.  A stern anchor holding our tail into the swell helped make things more comfortable.

K ignored the pitching deck and arranged his cowry collection to gloat over them properly.

 

(He can’t help it.  Lining things up in an orderly manner is a family trait that first manifests itself in early childhood)

The Australian surfing doctors on the catamaran Morning of the Earth were excited by all the action and couldn’t imagine why we mono-hull folk were rolling so much.

But we loved the unusual combination of layercake sandstone cliffs with the standard motu arrangement.   Sloshy anchorage aside, it was an island not to be missed.