Motorbiking in Aitutaki - Sept. 30, 2014

We had the motorcycle onshore, so Cassidy and Courage went out this morning on a tour of the island while I took the kids in the dinghy to "Honeymoon Island” and "Maina" two of the atolls out on the reef.  First of all, we had a nice time.  I looked at tour guides and it's $100-$125 per person for a boat tour is the lagoon and picnic on an atoll and snorkeling.  Well, we just had an $875 day and it was great!!  Maybe we take for granted some of our spoils.  We have the boat, the hotel, the snorkeling gear, etc.  We get these days all the time and some people would be paying $900 just for the tour, then hotel, airfare, meals, etc.  We are quite fortunate!!

In order to drive here in Aitutaki, you need a local driver's license.  You go to the police station and pay $2.50, take a quick driving test, be at least 16 and there you go.  Cassidy is now a licensed driver.  Cassidy and Courage had a great time and wanted to take more people!!  Motorcycles are cheap to rent around here, so they decided to rent another one so more people could go!

OK, to rent a motorcycle, apparently there's no credit card deposit (only $20 in case you don't refuel it), no walking over the vehicle for prior damage, no insurance fees, and very little formality to the process (to protect the company).  Courage asked if it was OK to park it down by the dock at night, they said "OK" but "take the keys of out if."  Typically everyone here on the island drives scooters, not a lot of need for more, and they all leave their keys in it when they go into a store, or for the night or whatever.  So, maybe the dock is "sketchy" here at night, having to take your keys with you and everything!!  It's nice to have a place with little to no crime!  I've asked and one lady thought the population here was about 1600; another said 1300 and declining.  I think some hurricanes, etc. have taken their tolls on the place.

All of the land is family owned.  You have to marry a local to get in on the land here.  Each family makes a decision for their land.  One lady explaining it to us was an outsider, but married in.  The family then gave them their portion of the land and it went through the court process to be official, so that their house or whatever they do to the property is handed down to their kids rather than reverting back to "the family" as a collective.  An outsider can probably lease some land from a local for maybe a 60 year maximum.  She wasn't totally sure.

It's interesting and nice to learn how things work here.  English makes it easier to ask more in depth questions and even easier to understand the answers.  It must be nice that there are no mortgages or rent to worry about (as far as I can tell).  They all collect rainwater, not sure if there's also a public water system.  Remote houses have solar; town has a central power supply.  I doubt there are many people here with car payments or much of a cost for fuel since you could circle the island many times on a scooter on a single tank of gas.  So food costs a lot, but many people have gardens and I imagine that's a large portion of their budgets.  Also a washing machine costs almost $2,000.  A simple lawn mower is $1200.  Anything big and imported looks very expensive.  Not sure if these are standard items in many households or not?

Enjoying touring, seeing the island, meeting the locals, refilling on fresh foods, exploring beaches, seeing whales and generally having a great time!

Shannon