During the last week we’ve been trying to catch up with boat projects that have piled up over the past few weeks. We’ve been busy cleaning the waterline (incredible how much grows on a passage and how hard it is to get off), sewing the zipper of the lazy bag, washing and storing sails after the passage, doing the laundry (fortunately there’s a friendly German ashore who’s lived here for 30 years and provides the cruisers with all kinds of services), cleaning off mould, scrubbing the deck, etc., etc. and these are just the most urgent jobs 
Additionally we’ve also brought all kinds of materials from Panama to do bigger projects as soon as we find time to work in a quiet place: cloth to upholster the sofa, material for a new rainwater collection/sun awning on the aft deck, a new tap for the kitchen, new electric sockets and plugs, etc., but these jobs will have to wait a bit, because Mangareva (the main island of the Gambier where we’re anchored now) is too pretty to be ignored.
We’ve walked over the hills to the southern side through lush tropical vegetation on the coast and pine trees further up and found a few farmers willing to sell good quality, but very pricy veggies. In general prices are very high here, as most things have to be shipped or flown in. On the other hand there’s so many fruit trees in all gardens that the locals call out to cruisers who walk by and offer them grapefruits, papayas and sometimes even bananas for free–the famous polynesian hospitality’s still a part of the culture here.
The next day we walked up to the Belvedere outlook providing a spectacular view over the turquoise bay that’s dotted with coral heads and bigger reefs, the smaller islands, the outer reef and the endless, darkblue Pacific Ocean beyond. Some of the boats who arrived in the same week as we did are already making plans for the next passage, but we’re just happy to be here and not thinking of moving on for quite a while 
