Jan. 22

Turtles and Tatts

Having experienced trips around a couple Polynesian islands, we decided to focus our energies in Rarotonga. Karla arranged a “swim with the turtles adventure” for 7 people. They departed on a tender upon our arrival and were picked up on the dock. Their 2 hour adventure won high marks.

I’ll let her describe the experience:

The turtle experience was fabulous: there were 9 of us from the cruise and the tour operator sent a taxi to pick us up and deliver us to the Avaavaroa passage beach site (about 20 minutes away) where we met our young and very enthusiastic tour leaders. After orienting us to the bounds of the swimming area and safety considerations, they conducted a brief swim test of each of us and asked if there was anyone who wanted to be pulled on a foam lifeguard buoy. There were a couple takers. We saw plenty of sea turtles (all green; no hawksbills) including “big mama,” about 85 years old. The turtles were swimming and resting on rocks and our guides snapped photos as they could. It was a great day; the water was a nice temp–neither too warm nor too cold –and the sea was calmer than expected, as we were warned of strong currents.

Back to Fred: My mission was to get us tattooed before we left Rarotonga. Emails to several shops resulted in no responses….even the “chat here” invitation was a blank. When we got off the tender, I asked a young security person where to find a tattoo shop. He pointed me in the right direction and I arrived about 8:15. One of the artists arrived a few minutes later and I thought I was in business. But, he said “no” to US dollars. An ATM said ‘no” to my visa and the bank wasn’t open. I returned to the shop, feeling a bit defeated. By then, the owner had arrived and she was much more accommodating. She said they could handle me and accept US dollars on a 1:1 basis with New Zealand dollars. NZ dollars are worth 65-70 cents US. However, they wouldn’t be able to fit Karla in. I said that she just wanted a little turtle and she finally scheduled Karla for 3.

I explained that I wanted a wrist tattoo, like we got 5-6 years ago in Bora Bora. I didn’t want a copy; rather I wanted to see what he could do with the same words we had provided the artist in Bora Bora….sun ocean, people, whales, community. The artist was able to identify the unoccupied wrist and started drawing…..then cutting….then inking. It’s a bit painful; I described it as harder than childbirth, but not too bad. He finished with a product that was better than I had expected. I couldn’t find the whale, but he said, “there wasn’t room.” I was still pleased with the outcome. I tried to tip him, but it was in US dollars and he wouldn’t accept them. Tipping is not common. I returned to the ship and Karla found me a bit later….happy with her turtle experience.

A little about tattooing: it is practiced as an artform all around the Pacific, with the “tatau” being marks of identity or status– saying something about who they are and where they come from. Captain Cook commented in his journals (1769) about tattooing among the people of the South Pacific. Turtles (hong) symbolize endurance, long life, prosperity, protection (hard shell), family, and spiritual energy (mana). In Hawaiian culture they are viewed as spiritual guides, being thought to have led Polynesians in their migrations across the Pacific.

We walked to the shop so she could get a sense of where to be at 3. After some discussion, they agreed to take her then. A young artist started drawing a turtle with a flower on its back. He completed the turtle outline pretty fast, but then drew and redrew the flower and other details 4-5 times. I was watching and thought several of his “early drafts” were fine. But, he would rub them off and then redraw. When he finished, It looked somewhere between great and spectacular. Karla was more than pleased. This guy accepted a tip, but reluctantly.

We were lucky that it all worked, but, of course, sometimes you make your own luck. As we got on the tender, there were ,”how long do you think that will last” comments. People had trouble believing that they were real tattoos. I had to use my response after the Bora Bora tattoos….”I’d like mine to last another 10 years; Karla wants something more like 30.”

Our memories of Rarotonga are positive. Karla commented that our scorecard is really more about what we did than the island itself. All of the islands are volcanic, lush, and tropical; not all of them have turtles and tatts.