TERRANESIA 2024 The South Pacific TERRAtories of PolyNESIA: DAYS 34-36 (17-19 July 2024) FUTUNA ISLAND, LEAVA / NUKU / VAISEI / SAUSAU / FIUA / KOLOPELU / KOLIA / VELE POI TOWNS.

Up at 5am and was the first at the airport before 6am so I could get my magical seat. No magic but science. Because the Twin Otter propeller aircraft is so small and takes only 16 people, each person is weighed along with their luggage. Based on the resulting weights and any extra cargo for the Futuna (like medical stock or mail), the pilots determine where each person will sit to keep the aircraft balanced. Instead of row 1, I got row 3 and you can sit anywhere in that row so I chose 3C to be on the right. There were only 9 of us so we spread out in the aircraft. I noticed that light people were at the front and the heaviest at the back. This is because the engines are forward. We took off on time at 730am and I got OK shots of Wallis but aim to get better ones coming back. This flights was about getting good shots of Futuna. The Hawker De Havilland DHC6 Twin Otter operated by Air Loyante based in New Caledonia is not pressurised and flew at 8000ft and 128 knots (237km/h). I know this because there is no cockpit door and I could see the instruments. It was a very smooth flight with scattered clouds. Futuna was exactly where the pilots said it would be. On the right. Got some great far shots of the island but when the aircraft turned to approach the runway the left got better closer views. My 1.4L Manual Red Chevrolet Spark hire car was waiting for me and I drove half the length of the island to my hotel. Futuna easily has the worst roads of any place I have been to. Concrete slabs that are completely busted up with holes, ripples, stones. Drove 30km/h in 2^nd gear nearly the whole way because the road was so bad. Futuna is wild. It is a jungle-covered rock with everyone and everything living on the coastal edges. There is no reef but rocks with coral on them. No beaches as such. Many spots with some sand but very shallow knee-deep waters. I knew straight away that a 2km swim would be a challenge. The heat and humidity is worse than Wallis. I checked in and headed to the only two supermarkets on the island to stock up. I then drove the entire length of the island to find a place to swim. I noticed that the churches are architected the same as Wallis. Everyone lives on the coast in a very narrow strip from mountain to ocean. I visited the only travel agent on the island for swim advice who suggested the coast next to the airport runway. I checked this out but the place is windy and there was a wild current and waves. I found a coral strip in a locality called Fiua. The waters were calm and the warmest of my entire trip to date. I struggled at first to find water deep enough for a full stroke but managed to find a channel that gave me some distance. I spent half my time in very shallow water with strokes close to my chest making it more tiring. Nevertheless I did it. 2.1km and stumbled out to a magnificent sunset. It was a great end to the day. I retired early so I could rise sunrise for my run.

They say that lightening never strikes twice in the same place. If your surname is Golfin, IT BLOODY DOES !!! More on this in a moment. I literally popped outta bed on 18JUL. Why? Because I had only one bottle of bubbly and slept at 930pm so I was tip top. Before my run, I visited the supermarket at 630am for hot food. The lady owner’s hot tip yesterday to come at sunrise to get my pick of the best food worked. I carried away beef, pork and chicken dishes for the rest of my stay since I did NOT want to shop at sunrise again. The run was great. The sun does not pierce you until at least 1.5hrs after sunrise, thanks to the high inland mountains that block it for a while. I was now ready to tour the wester half of the island but not before my café au latté (coffee with milk). I popped into my car hire place to ask them for a good café and the local manageress took me in her own car to show me. This is real community magic. Her English was OK so I asked her if I could interview her and she suggested her best friend right next door to the coffee shop. Another fine moment. I met Fuliki and she agreed to an interview in 30min. Enough time for me to fuel up and get my coffee. The only petrol station on the island was out of petrol so I went for the coffee instead. Fuliki interviewed well and I set out on my island tour, coffee in hand.

Only an hour into my tour and after a photo/film stop, I return to my car and guess what ? It will not start ? Nada (Nothing) !!! How can this be ? The same hire car company on two different islands with the same problem only 2 days apart !!! I screamed. I swore. I ranted and raved. After pulling myself together I walked to a nearby house and asked them to ring my hire car company. They took me across the road to a MECHANIC !!! Golfin bad luck comes with a tiny silver lining after all !!! The mechanic confirmed I had a dead battery and after many words of broken French helped by heaps of sign language he understood I had to hitch a ride back to the hire company so he called his son and we pushed started the car !!! I thanked him profusely and drove the hire car company. No one was there so I drove back to my hotel. My host and owner Patrick then rang the mobile on my car hire contract and in 10min flat a ute turned up with a new battery !!! More silver linings. The car started and I was off again. Take Two. I just had to thank the mechanic so I swung by my favourite supermarket, picked up a swag of beers and headed back to his place. You should have seen the look on his face. Happy and unexpected. He thanked me profusely. Thanks to him I visited the following places: Sausu Church, Vaisei Church, Fiua Church & Bay, Toloke Bay, Tavai Bay, Tuatafa Viewpoint, Pyramid Rocks. The highlight were the Pyramid Rocks. The northern side of the island is very isolated and rough. The wind howls and the ocean roars. You will also notice a lot of churches. This is there mainstream sites. Sadly there are no historical monuments or archaeological sites due to the small size of the island and the weather eroding everything. I got back early and turned in for another nap with my fellow Futunians. They work from 7am to Noon, go home for lunch and a nap and complete the working day 3-5pm. Just like Europe, only here it is necessary – the heat and humidity from Noon to 3pm can roast several chickens and humans !!! I completed the day with blogging and two great movies underpinned by the delicious packaged food from sunrise !!!

My last full day in Futuna (19JUL) began well. I was able to find fuel for the car because the island had run out yesterday. My luck then increased by finding Fuliki, a local lady that I interviewed first thing in the morning. Fuliki is the cousin of the lady that rented me my car and she referred me to her since her English was better. After our interview she recommended the only local café serving takeaway coffee. They put it in a milkshake container with a straw so it took me the whole day to finish !!! At the supermarket I noticed that everyone said “Ta Ta” for goodbye !!! Amazing !!! I told them that older Australians said the same for goodbye.

Today I would visit the eastern half of the island and travel to towards the airport and to the other northern side where I was yesterday. The day was great. Sun out with fluffy scattered clouds for great pictures. The eastern half of the island is very isolated and the northern road stops just before the so-called “Pyramid Rocks” which I had seen yesterday coming at them from the west. So in essence I circumnavigated the island except for maybe 3km on other side of the Pyramid Rocks where there used to be a dirt road but it got washed away. I visited the following places: Sausu Church, Vaisei Church, Fiua Church & Bay, Toloke Bay, Tavai Bay, Tuatafa Viewpoint, Poi Cathedral, Pyramid Rocks. The highlight was the Poi Cathedral because it is huge, very ornate and stands in front of a big mountain and open ocean – the best of both worlds. I returned to the airport to drone Alofi Island which is only 2.5km away from this point. The whole of Alofi island is classified an ecological biosphere and is protected – no one lives there and no dwellings are allowed. I could not find a fisherman to take me there to swim so the drone was the next best option. Unfortunately I could not fly it from the airport as the approaches to the runway are out of bounds for drones. I had to drive to the village of Malae which is 3km away but outside the restricted area to get my drone to see Alofi. I made another stop half-way down the island so I could drone the entire Futuna. Once again the drone was restricted to 150m instead of my usual maximum ceiling of 500m so my views of the back part (northern side) of the island where restricted but I could see both the east and west ends of the southern side as you will also see below. The last drone flight came with its share of drama. After I commanded my drone to return to home (RTH) automatically the drone cancelled the RTH – this has never happened before so I initiate RTH again and it cancelled !!! I then flow it manually close to the origin and initiated RTH again with success but let me tell you, my heart pounded because returning and landing it manually takes a lot of power and I only had minutes left !!!

I calmed myself down back at the hotel with a nice cool shower and even cooler bubbly. My final full day and night in Futuna was terrific and a great example of small island life. So simple. So unspoilt. People so genuine. Futuna is its own little world and in a big and misguided planet…

Please enjoy the sites of Futuna and see summary facts after the photos…