Page 171 - Exile-ebook

170 AN EXILE OF THE MIND BROMIDE IN MY TEA 171

passengers aboard, dropped us off
in Fiji a week later to the welcome
cries of ‘bula vinaka’ wherever we
went. This would be the first of
several trips to these islands.
We then flew to New Caledonia
at the time of the nickel boom
where Nicole’s French spanned
the language barrier to make new
friends. They showed us parts of
their island well off the beaten track
to see magnificent waterfalls. And
Nicole aboard a freighter to Fiji. in true French style we enjoyed the
lengthy ritual of eating meals with
a cargo ship to the Pacific islands. bottles of French wine decorating
The thatched dwelling, made the long wooden table.
from sago palms held together with From New Caledonia we flew
rattan bindings and a bit of luck, across to Auckland where I became
had bamboo shutters for windows art director for the New Zealand
to lower against the rain and keep Home Journal and Nicole became
out malarial mosquitoes with little pregnant.
effect. Geckos were encouraged to Invited for tea and cakes at a friend’s
chirp their way across the walls and house, my cup began to rattle violently
flick out tongues to catch mosquitoes against the saucer with tea spattering
that had taken up residence. over their white shag carpet. Covered
Outside the hut, a shower on by several blankets on a summer night
a raised platform let in the sky. It against teeth-chattering chills, I would
had three walls of woven grass and sweat profusely the next minute.
a shower curtain for privacy. Most Nicole was admitted to hospital with
of life was lived outside, sipping on similar symptoms complicated by her
South Pacific lagers under the shade pregnancy.
of a banyan tree. Symptoms that were baffling
The captain of the freighter we
later boarded, not keen on having Isle of Pines, New Caledonia.