Forced vacation time!

It is, once again, school holidays, but instead of being busy with guests we find ourselves absolutely free …….what a refreshing change ! It is usually quiet in May but that’s not it, AirTahiti's are, in fact, on strike, and of course the flights to the Austral islands are the first to be canceled ! So, for the past week there have been no visitors.

It has its advantages, we have had some free time with the kids – Matotea is getting a few riding lessons from her dad. And of course Heimana and especially Amaiterai want to join in too !

We can also work a bit on our kitchen renovations in peace. Viriamu’s pouring the floor of my new improved « office » as I write. We also got to attend a family wedding over the last weekend (more about that in another post).

However, we do still need to pay the bills, just like the guys at AirTahiti, and we don’t have a retirement fund or paid « holidays », so without flights we aren’t going to get by very easily ! On a broader level the whole island is rather dependent on our air link, to get to and from Tahiti, for medicines, medical evacuees and the post service. Only a strike of the cargo boat would be more debilitating.