HAPPY OCCASIONS AT ST BARNABAS'
Cyclone Wati was most obliging on Saturday afternoon. He had more or less decided to say goodbye to the island and continue on his journey to new Zealand.
By the time Rhaelene and Campbell came out of the Chapel after a very beautiful marriage service, the rain had almost stopped, and the wind had eased except for an occasional gust.
Rhaelene's dress with its lacy, lightly spangled bodice was just exquisite. The bridesmaids were in an equally beautiful 'old gold' lace. I asked them where the dresses had come from - hoping for a few dressmakers' scraps- but I was told they had been bought "off the rack". Oh well, nice try.

On Sunday morning at the 8 a.m. service at St Barnabas, we had the delightful pleasure of meeting with Marietta and Atea. This charming and gentle couple come from the Tahitian island of Huahine, and are on NorfolkIsland for two weeks teaching Tahitian dance and drumming. Marietta and Atea actually attend a Church of England church in Huahine, where Marietta's father is a deacon, and she is an assistant deacon.
During the service, they sang a couple of very beautiful songs for us, accompanying their voices with guitar and ukelele.
We are just so blessed in this little community. We enjoy visitors and experiences that we would never encounter living an urban or suburban life on the mainland. Our young people are just so fortunate to have the opportunities to learn from people like Atea and Marietta, and to re-discover the Polynesian side of their culture.