The partner of a Cook Islands fisherman found alive after spending a week lost at sea says she feared the worst but never gave up.
Teuamua Malo said a brief and emotional phone call on Thursday night ended days of fear and uncertainty for her family and the wider island community.
Malo said she had spent the past week in anguish after Pone Apiuta disappeared at sea, but never lost faith that he would be found.
Apiuta, 42, from remote Pukapuka Island, disappeared after going fishing on 11 June alongside several other local fishermen.
The crew of an RNZAF P-8A Poseidon maritime patrol plane found him on Thursday morning.
He was then rescued by a Taiwanese fishing vessel, which is currently in the Samoa region.
"I was crying the whole week, remembering him. But in my heart I could feel he's still alive. I didn't give up on him."
The emotional reunion began with an unexpected phone call from the Taiwanese rescue boat.
"I didn't know it was him calling," Malo said. "The number wasn't a Cook Islands number. I knew it was someone calling from outside the Cook Islands but I didn't know it was him."
It was only when she heard his voice that she realised who was on the other end of the line.
"Only when he said, 'Oh darling' - that's when I knew it was him calling."
The call lasted only a few minutes, she said, because Apiuta was exhausted after his ordeal.
"He was really tired," she said. "When he rang me last night, I could hear it in his voice. He was tired. He didn't have a good rest."
Rather than press him for details about how he survived, Malo chose to let him rest.
"I just said, 'Don't worry. We'll wait for you. When you come back, that's when we'll talk'."
Pone Apiuta waves to the crew of the RNZAF P-8A Poseidon that found him.
The brief conversation was enough to bring comfort not only to Malo but also to the couple's son, Kalalea.
Despite reports that the fisherman may have spent days adrift with limited supplies, Malo said she still did not know how he managed to survive. The only information she received was that mechanical problems had left him stranded.
"He told me the engine for the boat wasn't working," she said. "That's why he drifted out."
Malo said she believed the breakdown left him unable to return home.
