Louise from Sara of Sweden told us they had done the black pearl lottery at the lodge and what a great success it was. The pearl farm is attached to the Havaiki Lodge, they have a lottery opening of oysters 3 times a week, you just turn up at 9am, you can’t book. We managed to get there on time, and were joined by a Mororo, Pachamama and Blue Sunshine.
The local guy did an excellent hour long explanation about pearl farming, quite a business that started in 1958. For many years they had to bring in a Japanese graft master, who opens the oyster when it is 18 months old and then inserts a tiny bit of flesh from a sacrificial oyster that has particularly good shell colour, they then add a little round ball, made from shell. The oyster then coats the ball with its shiny shell, because the ball is an irritant. It sometimes manages to spit the ball out, after 18 months they check the ball and replace it with a bigger ball! They only replace the ball once or twice. No wonder they cost so much, the oysters have to live in very clean water, the shells have to be cleaned every few months, then the grafter has to insert his magic, and then they wait for 3 years for a decent sized perfect round pearl. Mis-shaped ones don’t get nearly as much money but I think they are nicer as the perfect rounds look too perfect. They no longer have to get a grafter in from Japan as the University in Tahiti now has a Masters degree course in pearl grafting!
We all selected our closed up oyster and I have to say I was thrilled with mine, huge, very shiny and slightly mis-shaped. Then for the equivalent of US$30 it is shined and put on a necklace or bracelet string. I had mine made into a necklace and Rowan is now sporting a pearl bracelet! Polynesian tattoos next!!!
We stayed at the lodge for lunch with the rest of the Arc gang, the kids were getting pretty bored, so they all went off cycling. We had a very chilled read of papers on our iPads at the lovely beach. The Lodge was very impressive, beautifully landscaped with very pretty little beach rooms right on the beach. It was a slightly overcast day which was a relief after the heat of yesterday, so we did not eat at the tables in the water, which is a bit of an experience as the sharks are attracted as soon as your food arrives!
Everyone returned to the Lodge in the evening for music and dancing on a Friday night, Rowan and I just did not have the stamina!
Light blue water on the left in the atoll and the deep blue sea on the right. The very narrow town of Fakarava
Havaiki Lodge
The pearl farming demo
Oysters laid out on the table for us
Opening an oyster
White round shell inserts on the left and the black pearls in front, all sorts of shape
Teasing the pearl out from the stomach
The opening of the oyster I selected
Eating tables in the water, shared with the sharks
Interesting light and clouds over town
Interesting sunset
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