By Teitimoana Tairi, Cook Islands News
Palmerston administration team and the community unloading goods onto their tractors for delivery. Photo: Cook Islands News
Life on remote Palmerston Island is a testament to resilience, with a community of about 30 people relying on a resourceful lifestyle, close family bonds and quarterly cargo shipments for essentials to survive.
With a population of just 28 people, the rhythms of life on the atoll are dictated by the ocean, weather and strong family connections.
Last month, 16 of those residents left for Te Maeva Nui and Constitution Celebrations in Rarotonga, held from 25 July to 5 August, leaving only 12 people on the island.
Just over a week ago, after spending three weeks here, residents of Palmerston, Pukapuka and Nassau returned home on the Tuvaluan cargo-passenger vessel Nivaga III. The residents from Manihiki, Rakahanga and Penrhyn travelled on the Tongan vessel MV Taka-i-Pomana.
The Taunga Nui vessel delivered cargo to the people of Palmerston in June. Photo: Cook Islands News
Along with them, the Northern Group islanders and Palmerston residents took home goods, mostly essentials, which they planned to share with those who were left behind to look after the islands.
Jock Marsters, who has children living here in Rarotonga, says one of the essentials that they needed to take back home was corned beef.
"Yes, a lot of corned beef because on the odd days when nobody wants to eat fish, it's normally corn beef," Marsters shares.
Palmerston Island Government councillor Juliana Marsters unloading cargo from the Taunga Nui vessel. Photo: Cook Islands News
Essential food items such as noodles, canned goods, meat and common everyday snacks are very limited in Palmerston. There is no shop on the island.
Her daughter, Mareta Marsters, who is residing in Rarotonga, explains life on the island.
"No airport, no cars, they literally just have motorbikes, quad bikes, and tractors for transport."
According to Jock Marsters, they typically purchase goods in bulk to ensure they have enough supplies to last for three months.
This timeframe is crucial as it aligns with the arrival schedule of the next inter-island cargo ship, which is the primary vessel they rely on for transporting goods between the islands.
This bulk purchasing strategy helps the people of Palmerston manage their resources efficiently, ensuring they are well-stocked until the next shipment arrives, which is usually every three months.
It also helps them account for any potential delays in the shipping schedule.
"We normally shop until it lasts for three months, that's flour, sugar, rice, corned beef, spaghetti. All those small daily meals," she explained.
Palmerston resident Julianna Marsters, the Cook Islands' youngest Island Government councillor, explained her usual routine of ordering food.
She would send her orders to Prime Foods and CITC before asking for a quote. Those orders are then placed and stored on the cargo ship for drop offs.
From the last arrival of the Taunga Nui, the Cook Islands General Transport barge in June, she shared that she had spent almost $4000 on her goods. This included meat, canned food, sugar, flour, spices and baking goods, to ensure she had enough to support her and her brother until the next cargo vessel arrived.
When the vessel arrives at the island, the administration team on Palmerston and the community bring the cargo ashore, unload it and deliver the goods to their homes.
If families on the island run low on food, they would trade whatever they have with others.
Food production on Palmerston comes with its own unique challenges.
According to Julianna, the island is unable to grow taro because the soil is infested with root pests.
To grow vegetables, residents create healthy soil by storing it in a recycled container or pot and then mixing it with sand and manure.
They are planning to grow their own taro in the near future, but for the time being, they are sticking to their own unique traditional crop which they call "puraka", a root vegetable very similar to taro.
The people of Palmerston are all descendants of William Marsters, an Englishman who settled the remote island in the 1860s with three Polynesian wives, creating a single, tight-knit community where the vast majority share the Marsters surname. William Marsters separated three lands for his three wives, which to this day remain the three family branches on the island.
According to Cook Islands Tourism, English is the mother tongue of the people in Palmerston.
The Palmerston Lucky School has only 12 registered students, from pre-school to year 10. The older students are then taken to Rarotonga to finish their schooling.
-This article was first published by Cook Islands News.
