Moorea

Moorea still gets our vote for the prettiest of the Society Islands. Since we had traveled here 5 years ago on a holiday, we were not going to stop here with the boat, happily, we changed our minds. When we arrived, we anchored on the top, port side of Opunohu Bay in about 26 feet of turquoise water with a sandy bottom. This is noted as the prettiest anchorage in Moorea by all of the guide books, so as you might imagine, every other boat visiting Moorea is also anchored here. These sail boat guys are really teaching us about how to get cozy in an anchorage, we are like sardines here. Anchoring here is definitely not like the Canadian Northwest where if there is one other boat in the bay, you consider it crowded and move on, here there are so few other bays to move on too. But the weather is calm for three glorious days and this anchorage is picture perfect with the beautiful water, sandy beach, the crashing surf on the reef, the palm trees and the towering volcanic mountains covered in robes of lush green. This is what the tropics is all about, getting up in the morning and having your coffee on the back deck, no wind, water like a bathtub, air temp. 26 degrees, sun shining and then in the evening, having a glass of wine on the fly bridge, not a whisper of wind, under a full moon that lights the world around you. This is what we have been talking about! The diving has been quiet good, we did two dives with Top Dive and it was fun to find Nicholas is still a dive master here - we dove with him 5 years ago. Our first evening here we met a very nice South African couple on a 76 Nordhavn and had Happy Hour with them and a good visit. They of course have a very nice boat. The small village of Papetoai has a nice boat quay and we tied up there and walked around a bit. Our exploring netted us the locations of three small grocery stores and a good local restaurant for lunch - Snack Mahana. Today we rented what they call a "Bugster" - a go cart with signal lights - and toured the island a bit. Found a happy pizza place - Chez Luciano - for lunch, good pizza and very fast. We bought some local pineapples from a road side stand for pinacoladas later (maybe, I'm hoping!!!) and found yet some more little crafty things that we just had to have. We got the scoop on a good restaurant for tomorrow. When we got back to the big boat, the wind was really up, about 25 knots, and it seemed that we were dragging a bit. So because of the tight quarters, we pulled anchor and just went around the corner into the bottom end of Opunohu Bay where we found the protection we needed from the wind and surprisingly the elbow room we so crave. This move also exposes us to a whole new panorama of beauty, sometimes, you just have to be here!

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Weather Reports and Weather Reports!

It is July 19 and we have been in Bora Bora for 11 days now. This is a first for long term anchorages for us, but the weather will not ease up and let us out. We are going to be heading back toward Tahiti, to Moorea and this is part of the problem as we will be going against the waves/swell and currently also the wind. A rough ride to put it in layman's terms. So we pull weather reports off of the satellite at least twice a day to see any changes and hopefully spot a calming trend. Today is supposed to be the day. We have filled our time since Georgia left with boat chores, doing nothing and maybe an occasional dive. We hate to even take the whaler out to go to the main island of Bora Bora (only a short distance from the motu we are anchored by) as the wind howls through the open channel giving us massive salt water showers. I've had to dig my lovely "pink" plastic rain coat out to wear when we go someplace so that I can at least have some part of me dry. The little whaler has never had so many sponge baths in it's life. We went to dinner last night at Fare Manuai, a very nice restaurant. The eating establishments here will pick you up free of charge for a meal, which is nice as it saves a $30.00 taxi ride return. The dinner was pretty good. We had a farewell drink with the Oso Blanco group as on the 19 they head north west to the northern Cook's, a path we will take in Sept when we return from our trip home. So our paths will probably not cross again until the bottom end of Tonga when we both head into New Zealand in November to avoid cyclone season in the South Pacific.

So at 2:00 pm on July 19 (yesterday now) we made the break from Bora Bora. The going was pretty decent in the lee of Tahaa and Raiatea, but definitely lived up to all of the weather reports from that point on to Moorea. As always, the wind is steepest when you start out on a trip, thus assuring that when you reach your destination you will have to wash the boat as it has been completely and totally sprayed. The waves were predicted to be 7 ft at 7 second intervals and in the darkness they were all of that (and I think more - it always seems bigger when you take it on the nose). But here we are now, an hour out of Moorea at 7:30 am on the 20th and everything is pretty calm as the sun breaks brightly over the horizon. Not a rain cloud in site - just when we would wish for one the most (really helps in boat washing). Can't wait to explore this next new island of the Society Group.

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Bastille Day and Birthday Parties

The boating people are really a little floating community. They just travel from one island to the next, just socializing in a different setting all the time. So Bastille Day is a big thing here in French Polynesia, and the boat people are all excited about heading in to the parade (big event) and seeing all of the goings on. But there is a bit of a delema as to what time the parade should be as the President is supposed to attend the parade and he also has to attend the parade in Papeete, Tahiti. So will it be 8:00 am or 2:00 pm and this does not get ironed out until the morning of the parade. We heard the VHF radio sounding off at 6:30 am, but just rolled over and covered our ears (oops this was the general announcement of the parade time - 8:00 am),so we missed the parade! But from one of our friends, whose opinion we trust, we just missed standing in the sun, hearing one speech and then another speech. (so in other words - not much!) That's O.K. because we wanted more time for snorkeling and diving anyway. That evening there was a big pot luck deal at the yacht club (small lean-too on the beach with a dingy dock. Cyclone in Feb. nearly wiped it off the island.) and another general announcement over the VHF that it was Eric's birthday (Oso Blanco) and we already knew this, so were there for the whole thing. Georgia had a lot of fun as this event brought all of the people in from the surrounding boats and she was happy to find that there was a lot of young people her age to hang out with. It is lucky for us that she only discovered this on her last night here as we may have had to be party chauffers in her efforts to keep herself occupied on the boat. We did do a spa day at the Hilton - Georgia and I, it is not Glen's idea of a good time - and it was very nice to be pampered for a little while. Mind you the ride back to the big boat on the whaler and being splashed by the waves and sprayed by the wind pretty much negated all of the benifits. Our favorite sail boat - Dream Catcher is in the anchorage here at Bora Bora now so we had refreshments on their deck one night and took them diving another day. It is a lovely 82 foot "Swan", pure sailing elegance. The owners and crew are equally nice and very interesting people. Georgia flew home from Bora Bora yesterday and should be arriving in Calgary as I type this. The weather surrounding the island is going to keep us here at least until Monday or Tuesday so we have 4 or so days left to entertain ourselves here. It is time to move on though and Moorea will be our next stop on our way back to Tahiti.

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Bora Bora

Having Georgia on board insures that we don't just idle our time away looking at scenery. We have explored each island of the Society group that we have landed on - thoroughly, and Bora bora is no exception. We have done a couple of dives, one on a very healthy coral reef inside the lagoon and one with the "sharks" on the outside of the reef - the visibility was crystal clear and the fishes were large and numerous. The fish are also very used to being feed so gather as soon as a diver enters the water - this includes the sharks - which can be a bit un-nerving. What if they get upset because you didn't bring them a snack? Snack on you????? We tag along after the Lagoon cruise boats and get in on such easy thrills as feeding and swimming with the rays. T(hey feed them with their tourists (meaning they feed the rays with squid, not the tourists) and move on and we slide in and swim with the still expectant rays. Needless to say, this was one of Georgia's trip highlights. Bora Bora is a small island, the circling road is only 32 km. so our day rental of the car turned out to be only a half day (lunch time included) Most of the posh resorts are on the Motus surrounding the main island, which is O.K. as we can reach anything with our small boats. We have the Hilton Bora Bora just up the coast from our anchorage and they allow outside reservations for all of their facilities - nice. Of special note here in the Tahiti area was the total solar eclipse that happened at 7:13 am July 11 and lasted for roughly two hours. We bought our special solar viewing glasses, available at any store on any of the islands and were perched on top of the boat, waiting in giddy anticipation for this astrological event to occur. .....And the rain clouds rolled in! Then the mountain in the centre of the island seemed to be in the way, were we even going to get a glimpse? Yes, we saw the whole thing very clearly. In Bora Bora, it was only 90% coverage, but still very impressive. We are all shopped out, don't want to see any more pearl stores or paero stores (the universal wrap around dress/skirt/whatever) but we are still very happy to swim and dive in the beautiful blue water (good, because that part is free and shopping is getting pricey). The weather here has been pretty windy, but the rains come during the night or early morning and the days are sunny and hot. So no complaints on that.

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Oh My God!

We have done the ultimate Polynesian picture perfect thing today! We followed Oso Blanco over to the west side of Tahaa to the motu (small island) Tautau. The channel is 100 plus feet and the reef is about 8 to 12 feet of pure white sand. Oso Blanco bravely pokes his nose onto the sandy reef and reports that he still has 2.5 feet under his keel, so come on in. Wow - 2.5 feet under the keel!! This is picture perfect, these two, 100 ton boats, suspended on the turquoise water over the pure white sand, their shadows perfectly reflected on the bottom and mere feet away, the dark blue depths of the channel. We immediately don our snorkel gear and plunge into the water, yep, only 2.5 feet under the keel. It gives Glen goose bumps to see the boat's bottom so close to the ground (me too actually) big problems if we drag anchor. But it is too pretty to even contemplate this kind of problem. We find a ray gliding around on the sand, some large white puffer fish and a couple of huge cow fish. Our own swimming pool.
We spend the balance of the day snorkeling. We head over to the motu as there is supposed to be wonderful snorkeling there, but we must have missed the spot as mediocre is the best description for it. We try to get a reservation for dinner at the resort on the island (the best in all of Polynesia - supposedly) but they can't get us in so we have the Oso bunch over for snacks and drinks and a good visit.

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Sunshine At Last!

Whining works after all, we have some sunshine. In fact we have beautiful calm And sunshine. We awake in our precarious anchorage on the west side of Raiatea in "glass" calm water and a beautiful sunny day breaking. We lift anchor and head to the north of the island by going out one pass into open water and then in another pass to enter back into the lagoon and anchor by Marina Apoitit by Uturoa. being Sunday (hence the sun!) nothing is open in town, but we do manage to catch the dive shop guy and sset up a dive for tomorrow with them. When we say nothing is open, that means nothing, so no restaurants either, we have a quiet evening on the boat. Georgia seems to be going stir crazy?????? Our dive is on a three master sail boat sunk on the reef in early 1900. It is very well preserved and we see some new creatures living in it's shell. Georgia's first wreck dive. I have to admit, it was a good one. We stock with groceries in the afternoon and ready to head to Tahaa the next day. Tahaa is in the same lagoon as Raiatea, but is a separate island. Tahaa is a very beautiful little place. It is pretty windy the day we head up but we find a good anchorage in Haamene Bay, which is good as all of the touristy things we want to do here are located here. The first two numbers that we call for the sites we want to see don't speak English. Oooh, not a good sign. I muster as much French as I know for the next call - "Ahlo?" and it works as the lovely lady on the other end responds in English (as my French is obviously going to be bad). She was a good contact too as she set us up on a tour to see a Vanilla Plantation, a pearl farm (for Georgia) and the Hibiscus turtle foundation, everything we wanted on one phone call. As we were waiting at the dock for our ride, we see Oso Blanco anchoring up next to us in the bay and call on the VHF to see if they want to join in the tour - Yes, of course. So a little trucks comes for us with seats in the box and a canopy overhead and away we all go. the vanilla farm was very interesting. Tahiti produces the best tasting vanilla in the world, but not the most expensive and not the most available. It takes a very long time and a lot of hand work to get this exotic spice/flavor perfect. We of course buy a bunch of vanilla flavor products which are very yummy. The pearl farm turned out to be informative for everybody. When we were in the Tuamotus, we got to see the nets in the water and how the oysters are managed there, but at this farm, the fellow explained in classroom style the types of oysters, how the colors (black,green,purple) are achieved and how the pearls are created. Very interesting. The Hibiscus foundation rescues turtles from the fishermen (the turtles get caught in the fishing nets) rests them up and feeds them for a bit then releases them back into the wild. We had dinner at the Hibiscus restaurant (thankfully - no turtle on the menu) it was good not to have to cook ourselves for a change.

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Raiatea

The day we left Huahine for Raiatea was not the "best" weather day. It was rainy and windy and there were very large waves/swells in the small 20 mile channel that separates the two islands. It is comforting to know that this boat thinks nothing of this type of conditions and that weather watching is just a formality. Georgia is feeling the effects of not being on the boat regularly so spends the trip down below trying not to be too sick. It is not one of my better days either as through what I have done or what I have failed to do I leave a path of loss and destruction. I didn't put every thing away for the trip so there was a gouge in the teak floor from a falling object and "my" dive suit blew overboard because they weren't properly stowed and I burnt the bottom out of my frying pan making lunch. That's three bad things right? Well, no. I was able to scrub the burnt stuff off of the pan. Once we reached Raiatea our search for a quite place to anchor near the town of Uturoa resulted in our dropping and retrieving the anchor no less than four times (once was by the airport runway and the officials made a personal boat trip out to ask us "MOVE" in the polite way that only the French can do) and during one of these times, I managed to whack the anchor onto the boat and that big chip in the gel coat was number three for bad things. We did find a reasonably quiet spot though and we even had internet so we could all catch up on our business. Day two - we rented a car to tour the island, we were going to rent scooters again, but it looks like rain and it did rain. The island is lovely of course, not very commercialized, there are a couple of small resorts. We did stop for lunch in a quaint little resort on the south of the island, Opoa Beach Resort, very nice lunch and very nice little resort. We did some roadside shopping - gathered some papaya from trees that we are positive were growing wild???? and an avocado and some pommelos. Stopped at one of the little "magasins" and bought some bread (baquettes - really hard to make toast from these). It is still blowing at the boat when we get back and raining. Day three - we head south in the lagoon in search of a quiet anchorage and we do find a perfect spot and wonder of wonders, when we head out for a snorkel adventure, we actually find a beautiful coral garden with multitudes of colorful small fish and live coral! Day four - we suit up and go diving in our coral garden, there is a drop off to 60+ feet and we have a really good dive. There is even an eagle ray here, though very shy, we only catch glimpses of him. I do have a second dive suit, so am lucky to not have to dive without. The diving in the Society Islands has not been very good at all so this spot warrants a second dive the next day and it is just as interesting the second time around. Day five - we moved the big boat around the west side of the island and had to scramble to find a shallow enough anchorage before the daylight left. The bays look lovely, but they are very deep and have very shallow reefs extending into them, so you need the light to be able to see the variances in the water depths as deep to shallow is immediate and we would run the boat aground using our depth sounder. But despite the rush, we managed, as we always do, to get the job done. It is raining and raining and raining here. We mop up the boat and close the windows/doors then open them all up again, hide the outdoor seating then set it all up again. The rain is getting tedious to say the least. Well we are diving anyway so salty wet or rainy wet, I guess it doesn't matter. When the sun does peak out it is definitely beautiful and today the whole afternoon has been gloriously sunny. We have watched waterfalls be born in the last couple of days. The evenings are quiet dinners on board and sadly a series of really bad movies, but good wine makes up for that fact. Tomorrow, we will head back to the north end to stock up on supplies and do a wreck dive before moving on the Tahaa which is the second island in the same lagoon as Raiatea.

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