Today is Sunday and we have zodiaced in to another tiny island located in the China Strait. Samarai Island was once an important trading port and stop-over between Australia and East Asia, and once the thriving administrative capital of Milne Bay Province. Back in the early 1900s, it was described as one of the most beautiful places in the South Pacific, but it was evacuated and its infrastructure destroyed in WW II to prevent it falling into Japanese hands. The island never returned to its former size or influence. It has been declared a National Historical Heritage Island in 2006 and is a shadow of its former self.
We were greeted with an outdoor church service under some magnificent trees, followed by some traditional dances. I preferred the pagan to the Christian performance! I have to say it was a bit of a disconnect to see the dancers, the women bare breasted and the men barely covered, twirling and chanting to the beat of a drum in front of an Anglican alter cloth.
Here you could see the red of the betel nut juice staining the teeth of both men and women, and surprisingly enough I saw it on the teeth of boys as young as about 9 or 10. Here’s a good view of an older boy chewing.
And then there was this beautiful face.
And this look of love and pure joy, showing that people are the same the world over!
