THE IRON SAILBOAT

3 km south of the village, the rusty carcass of a ship that ran aground during the 1906 cyclone is now part of the landscape. Probably of Spanish origin, it would have broken in two at the time of the shipwreck: the front part would have sunk along the drop-off, while the rear part was thrown onto the plank and spread inland with the passing of decades and bad weather. When the Paumotu family moved between the neighbouring atolls every six months, they discovered this wreck and found a bit of everything - even a piano!