We decided to stay in the main town in Gambier, Rikitea, to celebrate Christmas. It was here that most of the other cruisers were, and we were hoping to attend some festive celebrations onshore together with the locals.
We attended a service at the cathedral in town on Christmas Eve. Most of the service was in French, but a few of the hymns were in Polynesian. It felt so special to attend the celebration together with the local population, and they greeted us visitors with great hospitality.
We decorated the boat in style, during the last few days before Christmas. This year, we had a special new Christmas decoration on board… and that is 100 meters of Christmas lights! The captain got inspired while we recently were in Norway, and he knows how much the admiral looooves those outdoor lights!
We ensured we honored some of our Norwegian holiday traditions, even though we are far away from home. It mostly meant eating traditional Norwegian Christmas food, which the captain, who is also the head chef onboard, cooked excellently.
As we were invited for a New Year’s party on January 1st by a lovely couple, Herve and Valerie, living on the neighboring island, Taravai, we moved our boat over there on New Year’s Eve. They are well known among cruisers visiting Gambier that they host BBQ parties and happy hours with cruisers on their beautiful property.
The plan was to make an earth oven, where a full pig and goat were to be roasted, and celebrate the new year from midday on January 1st. However, as rain was forecasted for Jan. 1, the New Year’s party was postponed, and they ended up arranging a happy hour for the cruisers on New Year’s Eve instead. It was a lovely start to the New Year’s celebration.
We invited one of our neighbor cruisers, Swiss Alex from SV No Stress, over for a New Year’s celebration dinner. The chef made duck a l’orange, which turned out absolutely gorgeous. All of us managed to stay up until midnight, which is not an easy task for cruisers, who usually go to bed around 9 or 10… We enjoyed a lovely starry night sky from the upper deck, as we welcomed 2025!
Christmas and New Year is a time when it is easy to long home to those we hold love and dear. We have had many calls back home to follow the celebrations throughout the holidays. Lucky for us, it is easy to get in touch with other cruisers, especially in remote locations like Gambier. We have had a lovely Christmas and New Year’s celebration here in Gambier, and thank everyone that has shared it with us!
