The way the mayor responded was to invite us all to lunch. We couldn't go empty-handed, so each boat took a dessert to share. The result was fantastic - fresh smoked fish spear gunned by some of the cruisers and a local fisherman and an array of various deserts. The mayor is a young chap but highly motivated to help his village. With our first world heads on we couldn't work out "the angle". A free lunch?? But the truth is - there is no angle - just an incredible, traditional Polynesian welcome.
It's very hard to contribute to the local economy here. They don't make much, they don't sell anything, we don't pay any refuse tax here but the mayor wants to encourage more boats to come. Truly they should as it's a gorgeous place wth friendly people - even more so because few boats get down here. The mayor, Francoise, even has funding to build a small marina here for 7 boats or so.
And this is the dichotomy we often see. If you encourage more boats, the reception is less "special" and it loses the very thing that draws us here. Now if they could grow some veg to sell to cruisers - that would bring them here for sure :)
After our lunch, we got a small tour, including the generator room. A few of us had joked about this before suggesting it would be a Perkins - and sure enough, it was! They have enough batteries for 10hours on inverter but have to run the generator for 2 days to catch up. I don't know if the power goes off overnight as it does on Pitcairn, because we are too far away in the anchorage to see the village at night.
We are thoroughly enjoying Amanu - delighted we decided to stop here and experience the welcome.