Through a visitor's eyes
Janna Cawrse fell in love with Suwarrow while sailing around the Pacific with her newlywed husband, Graeme Esarey. "Not your typical honeymoon cruise!", she told me...but it was a visit which has inspired her to start work on her own book about the island. Graeme took the stunnning pictures on this page which give an insight into why Janna loved it so much.
Anchorage Island - largest of the islets and motus that comprise Suwarrow
In his book "An Island to Oneself", Tom Neale tells the remarkable story of how he decided in 1952 to reconstruct the ancient pier which was originally built from coral blocks in the days when copra production was at its height. All but the foundations had been destroyed in a hurricane in 1942 - a story related in Robert Dean Frisbie's book "Island of Desire".
Tom single-handedly, painstakingly and without any tools, pushed massive blocks out of the sea, along the beach and into position....only to see his work destroyed within days of completion by a a great storm. The pier was rebuilt again some years ago with the help of visiting yachtsmen, but is again in need of repair.
Tom single-handedly, painstakingly and without any tools, pushed massive blocks out of the sea, along the beach and into position....only to see his work destroyed within days of completion by a a great storm. The pier was rebuilt again some years ago with the help of visiting yachtsmen, but is again in need of repair.
Despite its idyllic beauty, Suwarrow still has only two permanent residents - a caretaker and his wife. The 2004 caretaker, Ioane "Papa John" Kaitara - pictured right - says grace for visiting yachstmen befofe a "potluck" dinner. Papa John's nephew, Baker (left) was also a caretaker on the island.
Frigate birds abound on the island. And with few visitors to bother them, even a nesting baby is happy to be photographed.
Janna and Graeme's boat, the S/V Dragonfly at anchor on Suwarrow
The pier made famous by two authors
READ MORE ABOUT TOM NEALE'S SUWARROW
