Monday, June 16, 2008
Rangiroa
We spent the last week of Ashley and Aaron’s vacation at Rangiroa.
After going through the pass we anchored in front of the fancy Kia Ora hotel with many other boats we knew.
Ashore we had a drink at their very fancy (and expensive) bar. It had a glass bottom floor over the ocean where you could watch the fish swimming. They were fed by the staff periodically so were enticed to hang around.
There is little else in the immediate vicinity and several of the local restaurants send a van to pick you up and drop you off for dinner. We ate at one of them and enjoyed the milkshakes and steaks. Quite the treat!! We decided to treat ourselves a second night and discovered the ice cream sundaes with their home made ice cream—I think more of those are in our future!!!
After a couple of days we stocked up on meat and eggs --$10 a dozen!!!—and set off across the 15 miles to the other side of the lagoon. We had a windy crossing and questioned whether we should have ventured across at all but luckily the far shore was sheltered and we were able to anchor beside a beautiful sandy beach with turquoise seas and small inlet lagoons—hoas—all created by the coral reefs.
We had a quite a few days there and were able to snorkel, swim and explore the many coves and motus (small coconut covered islands on the main coral rim of the original volcano. It was a tropical paradise and was amazing to look beyond the reef and see the crashing waves on the outside of the rim---the seas we had crossed to get here. We did a very fast drift snorkel—you literally go in at one end of a hoa and let the current take you to the other—usually you time this with the slack tide but we did it when it was still running so was a little like a fast train ride. The area has a huge number of pretty corals, colourful fish and lots of black tip reef shark. One day when exploring some pools Ashley spotted a huge octopus which we were able to watch as he crawled across the bottom. The other thing that amazed me was the beautiful clams. They had lips of brilliant turquoise, green, blue and purples and were wonderful to watch as the opened and closed. The water was like glass and the visibility was excellent.
Ashley and Aaron enjoyed “just hangin” as the rest of their trip had involved traveling and they needed to work on their tans so they can go back looking as though they had just come back from French Polynesia—most of us know the feeling.
On our last night at the motu Ken repeated his pie making performance, proving it was not a one time wonder for those of us who partook in his first effort many years ago. This time it was peach pie, Ashley and Aaron made corn fritters so with the barbecued steaks it was quite a feast.
It was time to return to the main village so Ashley and Aaron could catch their plane back to Canada. We motored back in calm seas and they treated us to a dinner at our favorite steak and ice cream restaurant.
The next day we caught a taxi to the village nearby. It had a small supermarket, a couple of little touristy shops and a bank machine but not a lot else. Ashley and Aaron had massages at the fancy hotel we were anchored at and then we treated them to a pre wedding celebratory dinner –NZ rack of lamb and the dessert buffet made the exorbitant prices worth it. There was a minor panic when Aaron discovered their tickets to Tahiti were dated for the 25th May---they should have been the 15th June—fortunately after dealing with the language barriers there appeared to be room on a plane to get them in to Tahiti in plenty of time to connect with their ongoing flights.
The next morning we took them in the dinghy to the airport and saw them safely off on their long trip back to Calgary.
We had enjoyed the 4 weeks they had been with us and will have many happy memories of their trip. They loved all except the sailing—someone else in the family will have to pick up the sailing lifestyle—luckily we had fast passages and the sea sickness stopped as soon as we arrived in a calm anchorage.
I know they will remember this “pre honeymoon” for a long time and we are pleased that they chose to share it with us. We wish them well for their upcoming wedding—Ken is able to go back and be there but I will have to stay and look after the boat so sadly I will miss it but I did get to go on their honeymoon!!!
Ken had been bothered by an infection on his wrist and this appeared to be getting worse. He started on antibiotics but by the next morning it did not seem to be improving so we made a visit to the doctor. He diagnosed an infection from the “no no” insect which is in the Marquesas which he felt had gradually infected his arm and prescribed 4 intravenous injections over the next two days. It made us aware how quickly tropical infections can flair up and how aware you must be. Luckily the medical assistance was easily accessed here and hopefully by tomorrow Ken will be feeling a lot better and we can carry on with our sail plan to Fakarava—another atoll we hope to dive at before crossing to Tahiti.
We will update the blog again from Tahiti where we should be—insect bites allowing—in a couple of weeks.
Hope spring has sprung wherever you are and life is as good for you as it is for us.
After going through the pass we anchored in front of the fancy Kia Ora hotel with many other boats we knew.
Ashore we had a drink at their very fancy (and expensive) bar. It had a glass bottom floor over the ocean where you could watch the fish swimming. They were fed by the staff periodically so were enticed to hang around.
There is little else in the immediate vicinity and several of the local restaurants send a van to pick you up and drop you off for dinner. We ate at one of them and enjoyed the milkshakes and steaks. Quite the treat!! We decided to treat ourselves a second night and discovered the ice cream sundaes with their home made ice cream—I think more of those are in our future!!!
After a couple of days we stocked up on meat and eggs --$10 a dozen!!!—and set off across the 15 miles to the other side of the lagoon. We had a windy crossing and questioned whether we should have ventured across at all but luckily the far shore was sheltered and we were able to anchor beside a beautiful sandy beach with turquoise seas and small inlet lagoons—hoas—all created by the coral reefs.
We had a quite a few days there and were able to snorkel, swim and explore the many coves and motus (small coconut covered islands on the main coral rim of the original volcano. It was a tropical paradise and was amazing to look beyond the reef and see the crashing waves on the outside of the rim---the seas we had crossed to get here. We did a very fast drift snorkel—you literally go in at one end of a hoa and let the current take you to the other—usually you time this with the slack tide but we did it when it was still running so was a little like a fast train ride. The area has a huge number of pretty corals, colourful fish and lots of black tip reef shark. One day when exploring some pools Ashley spotted a huge octopus which we were able to watch as he crawled across the bottom. The other thing that amazed me was the beautiful clams. They had lips of brilliant turquoise, green, blue and purples and were wonderful to watch as the opened and closed. The water was like glass and the visibility was excellent.
Ashley and Aaron enjoyed “just hangin” as the rest of their trip had involved traveling and they needed to work on their tans so they can go back looking as though they had just come back from French Polynesia—most of us know the feeling.
On our last night at the motu Ken repeated his pie making performance, proving it was not a one time wonder for those of us who partook in his first effort many years ago. This time it was peach pie, Ashley and Aaron made corn fritters so with the barbecued steaks it was quite a feast.
It was time to return to the main village so Ashley and Aaron could catch their plane back to Canada. We motored back in calm seas and they treated us to a dinner at our favorite steak and ice cream restaurant.
The next day we caught a taxi to the village nearby. It had a small supermarket, a couple of little touristy shops and a bank machine but not a lot else. Ashley and Aaron had massages at the fancy hotel we were anchored at and then we treated them to a pre wedding celebratory dinner –NZ rack of lamb and the dessert buffet made the exorbitant prices worth it. There was a minor panic when Aaron discovered their tickets to Tahiti were dated for the 25th May---they should have been the 15th June—fortunately after dealing with the language barriers there appeared to be room on a plane to get them in to Tahiti in plenty of time to connect with their ongoing flights.
The next morning we took them in the dinghy to the airport and saw them safely off on their long trip back to Calgary.
We had enjoyed the 4 weeks they had been with us and will have many happy memories of their trip. They loved all except the sailing—someone else in the family will have to pick up the sailing lifestyle—luckily we had fast passages and the sea sickness stopped as soon as we arrived in a calm anchorage.
I know they will remember this “pre honeymoon” for a long time and we are pleased that they chose to share it with us. We wish them well for their upcoming wedding—Ken is able to go back and be there but I will have to stay and look after the boat so sadly I will miss it but I did get to go on their honeymoon!!!
Ken had been bothered by an infection on his wrist and this appeared to be getting worse. He started on antibiotics but by the next morning it did not seem to be improving so we made a visit to the doctor. He diagnosed an infection from the “no no” insect which is in the Marquesas which he felt had gradually infected his arm and prescribed 4 intravenous injections over the next two days. It made us aware how quickly tropical infections can flair up and how aware you must be. Luckily the medical assistance was easily accessed here and hopefully by tomorrow Ken will be feeling a lot better and we can carry on with our sail plan to Fakarava—another atoll we hope to dive at before crossing to Tahiti.
We will update the blog again from Tahiti where we should be—insect bites allowing—in a couple of weeks.
Hope spring has sprung wherever you are and life is as good for you as it is for us.
Saturday, June 07, 2008
Nuku Hiva to the Tuamotus
We spent our last morning in the Marquesas in the main town of Nuku Hiva where there was an agricultural fair. Men were hollowing dugout canoes and selling their beautiful carvings and the woman selling lots of fruit and vegetables. I had to wait before the judging had finished before purchasing a pineapple as it was the centerpiece of their display. I also got a couple more of the enormous grapefruit which are the highlight of their produce as they will not grow in the Tuamotus. The fair gave us a last colourful look at the Marquesas which are certainly a tropical paradise. There is a lot of French and EU money flowing into this part of the world which makes for immaculate villages and even where there is only 1 mile of road the locals have a fancy 4 wheel drive vehicles. They seem to have a very relaxed lifestyle where they catch some fish and grow some produce but not a lot else. South American people have to work a lot harder to maintain their families.
We had delayed our departure for a few days as the winds were very light but our forecast showed the trades returning so we set off for our 470 mile voyage. The first evening we had to slow the boat down as Aaron caught a 45lb barracuda—the teeth and size of this fish was amazing—it took him an hour and a half to land—we had all hoped it would be a massive tuna and visions of mega sashimi left as he threw it back—next time.
We had a great passage with our first day of 152 miles and subsequent days of over 100 miles each arriving at dawn after a 3 ½ day passage.
Unfortunately neither Aaron nor Ashley were able to handle the somewhat choppy conditions and both suffered from sea sickness and were very happy to set anchor in Manahi Atoll in the Tuamotus. Luckily we had picked a good weather window as a boat which left before us took 9 days to do the same trip with very little wind Ashley and Aaron were grateful for our shorter trip. We did have one calm period during which Aaron took a swim off the boat refreshing himself. We also caught a skipjack tuna which became sashimi and Aaron and Ashley made some sushi which was delicious.
We arrived to find a very strange part of the world; the atolls are virtually the craters of volcanoes with the sea dropping off to thousands of feet deep right off the land. There is a ring of coral on which sand and coconut palms have developed and most of the atolls have a small village and possibly an airstrip on a wide part of the rim. There is a pass or two which in favorable conditions enable boats to pass into the lagoon in the interior of the ring which can be up to 40 miles long in the largest atolls. Many of these islands have developed pearl farming as a major industry. Manahi, where we arrived at was an original pearl lagoon where 30 years ago divers free dove to get the oysters, one in a hundred of which may contain a pearl. After the Japanese discovered how to cultivate pearls the Tuamaotu Atolls became a natural environment to develop a successful industry.
We spent our first couple of days snorkeling around in the turquoise clear water with the colourful fish and went shell collecting around the ocean side of the rim. Ashley proved to have the best eye for shells and has a collection of beautiful cowries and other lovely shells. Ken’s best ones always seem to have a live fish inside and we felt too guilty to kill it.
We visited a French man who had set up a sail mail (the email and info sent over single sideband radios) base. He has a huge antenna and communicates with boats from Panama to New Caledonia. He was happy to talk with us and welcomed us to his home. He is managing to grow fruit on his sandy coral patch of land—most islanders appear to find it too much trouble. The French enable these people to be very lazy and unmotivated by paying for all health and education amongst other benefits.
The next day we had arranged to visit a pearl farm where they showed us the complicated and labour intensive method used to cultivate pearls. This involves growing oysters to a certain size then impregnating them with a bead of shell which if it takes will become a pearl. Many are irregular and worth very little and it seems as though these people work harder than any other Islanders we have seen so far. It was an eye opener and we all came away with pearl souvenirs. We were also fed and watered with coconuts and found that choosing the right coconut seems as difficult as choosing the right oyster.
The pearl farmer (he is also the baker), his son and his friend with his son then invited us to partake in their spear fishing and grouper fishing exploits. Aaron and Ken both had a lot of fun spear fishing for the first time and Ashley fished for her first time and between everyone caught about 40 grouper. The locals do not go out often so freeze a lot and they pressed us to take more than we can eat.
When they brought us back to the boat we persuaded one of the boys to perform the French Polynesian version of the “haka” (maori war dance). He did this with great flourish and we enjoyed it very much
These people are very generous and are happy to share their lives with strangers. Baguettes were delivered to our boat in the morning and we are going in to visit with the local English teacher this afternoon. He and his wife are here for 2 years from Paris and it seems as though the expatriate French people hunger for outside visitors.
This is quite different from my visions of the atolls—I had not realized how large the atolls are and how narrow the rim where all life is. They are also affected by the trade winds and ocean weather patterns as there is no height of the land to create local conditions. Since we have been here it has been very windy with occasional squalls coming through. Very little rain falls here and local are forced to ration there water from one or two catchment tanks on their houses.
On our last morning our friends from the pearl farm took us to an area to find the beautiful cowrie shells which are from the area. Aaron caught an octopus with his hands which he cooked for lunch and then we prepared to set sail. We tried to time our exit from the passage through the channel out to sea and it was easier than our entrance.
We then had a windy overnight passage to Rangoroa. We arrived too early for the slack tide to go through the channel so spent an uncomfortable 3 hours waiting 3 miles off shore buffeted by big seas and winds. We were very happy to get through without incident and are now anchored amongst many of the boats we have been with since Panama.
This is the largest and most populated atoll where we will have a week before Aaron and Ashley will fly home to prepare for their upcoming wedding. They are very happy that their open ocean voyaging is over and look forward to some snorkeling in calmer waters before they leave.
We had delayed our departure for a few days as the winds were very light but our forecast showed the trades returning so we set off for our 470 mile voyage. The first evening we had to slow the boat down as Aaron caught a 45lb barracuda—the teeth and size of this fish was amazing—it took him an hour and a half to land—we had all hoped it would be a massive tuna and visions of mega sashimi left as he threw it back—next time.
We had a great passage with our first day of 152 miles and subsequent days of over 100 miles each arriving at dawn after a 3 ½ day passage.
Unfortunately neither Aaron nor Ashley were able to handle the somewhat choppy conditions and both suffered from sea sickness and were very happy to set anchor in Manahi Atoll in the Tuamotus. Luckily we had picked a good weather window as a boat which left before us took 9 days to do the same trip with very little wind Ashley and Aaron were grateful for our shorter trip. We did have one calm period during which Aaron took a swim off the boat refreshing himself. We also caught a skipjack tuna which became sashimi and Aaron and Ashley made some sushi which was delicious.
We arrived to find a very strange part of the world; the atolls are virtually the craters of volcanoes with the sea dropping off to thousands of feet deep right off the land. There is a ring of coral on which sand and coconut palms have developed and most of the atolls have a small village and possibly an airstrip on a wide part of the rim. There is a pass or two which in favorable conditions enable boats to pass into the lagoon in the interior of the ring which can be up to 40 miles long in the largest atolls. Many of these islands have developed pearl farming as a major industry. Manahi, where we arrived at was an original pearl lagoon where 30 years ago divers free dove to get the oysters, one in a hundred of which may contain a pearl. After the Japanese discovered how to cultivate pearls the Tuamaotu Atolls became a natural environment to develop a successful industry.
We spent our first couple of days snorkeling around in the turquoise clear water with the colourful fish and went shell collecting around the ocean side of the rim. Ashley proved to have the best eye for shells and has a collection of beautiful cowries and other lovely shells. Ken’s best ones always seem to have a live fish inside and we felt too guilty to kill it.
We visited a French man who had set up a sail mail (the email and info sent over single sideband radios) base. He has a huge antenna and communicates with boats from Panama to New Caledonia. He was happy to talk with us and welcomed us to his home. He is managing to grow fruit on his sandy coral patch of land—most islanders appear to find it too much trouble. The French enable these people to be very lazy and unmotivated by paying for all health and education amongst other benefits.
The next day we had arranged to visit a pearl farm where they showed us the complicated and labour intensive method used to cultivate pearls. This involves growing oysters to a certain size then impregnating them with a bead of shell which if it takes will become a pearl. Many are irregular and worth very little and it seems as though these people work harder than any other Islanders we have seen so far. It was an eye opener and we all came away with pearl souvenirs. We were also fed and watered with coconuts and found that choosing the right coconut seems as difficult as choosing the right oyster.
The pearl farmer (he is also the baker), his son and his friend with his son then invited us to partake in their spear fishing and grouper fishing exploits. Aaron and Ken both had a lot of fun spear fishing for the first time and Ashley fished for her first time and between everyone caught about 40 grouper. The locals do not go out often so freeze a lot and they pressed us to take more than we can eat.
When they brought us back to the boat we persuaded one of the boys to perform the French Polynesian version of the “haka” (maori war dance). He did this with great flourish and we enjoyed it very much
These people are very generous and are happy to share their lives with strangers. Baguettes were delivered to our boat in the morning and we are going in to visit with the local English teacher this afternoon. He and his wife are here for 2 years from Paris and it seems as though the expatriate French people hunger for outside visitors.
This is quite different from my visions of the atolls—I had not realized how large the atolls are and how narrow the rim where all life is. They are also affected by the trade winds and ocean weather patterns as there is no height of the land to create local conditions. Since we have been here it has been very windy with occasional squalls coming through. Very little rain falls here and local are forced to ration there water from one or two catchment tanks on their houses.
On our last morning our friends from the pearl farm took us to an area to find the beautiful cowrie shells which are from the area. Aaron caught an octopus with his hands which he cooked for lunch and then we prepared to set sail. We tried to time our exit from the passage through the channel out to sea and it was easier than our entrance.
We then had a windy overnight passage to Rangoroa. We arrived too early for the slack tide to go through the channel so spent an uncomfortable 3 hours waiting 3 miles off shore buffeted by big seas and winds. We were very happy to get through without incident and are now anchored amongst many of the boats we have been with since Panama.
This is the largest and most populated atoll where we will have a week before Aaron and Ashley will fly home to prepare for their upcoming wedding. They are very happy that their open ocean voyaging is over and look forward to some snorkeling in calmer waters before they leave.
Sunday, June 01, 2008
Niku Hiva
We had a great overnight sail here arriving at dawn.
We met Ashley and Aaron here and did our check in which being a French Protectorate was very easy—the French are always very more relaxed than other bureaucratic countries.
We found out where to buy the best green vegetables and the day after the supply ship came in were able to get eggs, potatoes and onions. New Zealand lamb, beef and butter is readily available here and great baguettes so life is good. The only barrier are the prices and we have had to learn to compare with Calgary prices other than South American prices and we can handle actually purchasing anything.
We explored around the town for a couple of days and then sailed an hour to the next bay to anchor and walk to the waterfall. One of Aaron’s ---101 things to do before I die---was to swim in a pool at the base of a tropical waterfall. After a lovely 2 hour hike we were rewarded with a lovely if not cool swim in a great pool. The anchorage was beautiful (it is hard not to have too many superlatives in language when one describes this part of the world) and we renewed acquaintances with some more of the boats we had met in the Galapagos and did a book exchange so am now ready for more passage making.
After a few days we sailed in very light winds to make the 25 mile passage to Anaho on the north part of the island. Unfortunately we had very light winds and it was quite rolly so both Ashley and Aaron suffered from sea sickness. When we got here we all decided it was not in vain as once again we were in a lovely protected bay surrounded by palm trees, white sandy beaches and coral reefs. They immediately jumped in the water with their new snorkel equipment –fulfilling another of Aaron’s dreams seeing many varieties of colorful fish.
We spent several days there—we walked to a plantation nearby complete with lipstick and shampoo to trade and came back with papaya and melons. Aaron kicked his foot on some coral so spent several days limping but was still able to snorkel. He and Ashley spotted some lobster and later that day Ken and Aaron took the Hawaiian sling Ken had got for Xmas awaiting this opportunity and went on a successful lobster hunt.
Ken and I joined some other cruisers and hiked over to a nearby village where we had a pork lunch—what a treat—and traded more of the perfume and lipstick for a pile of the delicious huge grapefruit which grow freely here—need more bananas next time.
It was time to ready ourselves for the 500 mile crossing to the Tuamotus so we sailed back to the main town, this time with more wind and will resupply with baguettes and fresh vegs.
We are leaving today and it should take us anything from 4 to 6 days depending on the wind.
We are enjoying having Aaron and Ashley on the boat, it is fun to see their excitement and we are enjoying sharing this part of our adventure with them. It is certainly the ultimate tropical paradise.
Internet connection is unreliable and even though I managed to post the pictures from our crossing and first week here the pictures for this and following sectors will have to wait until we get to Rangiora—probably another 2 weeks.
We hope to spend most of that time snorkeling and diving the coral atolls and exploring the different scenery of that part of the world.
We met Ashley and Aaron here and did our check in which being a French Protectorate was very easy—the French are always very more relaxed than other bureaucratic countries.
We found out where to buy the best green vegetables and the day after the supply ship came in were able to get eggs, potatoes and onions. New Zealand lamb, beef and butter is readily available here and great baguettes so life is good. The only barrier are the prices and we have had to learn to compare with Calgary prices other than South American prices and we can handle actually purchasing anything.
We explored around the town for a couple of days and then sailed an hour to the next bay to anchor and walk to the waterfall. One of Aaron’s ---101 things to do before I die---was to swim in a pool at the base of a tropical waterfall. After a lovely 2 hour hike we were rewarded with a lovely if not cool swim in a great pool. The anchorage was beautiful (it is hard not to have too many superlatives in language when one describes this part of the world) and we renewed acquaintances with some more of the boats we had met in the Galapagos and did a book exchange so am now ready for more passage making.
After a few days we sailed in very light winds to make the 25 mile passage to Anaho on the north part of the island. Unfortunately we had very light winds and it was quite rolly so both Ashley and Aaron suffered from sea sickness. When we got here we all decided it was not in vain as once again we were in a lovely protected bay surrounded by palm trees, white sandy beaches and coral reefs. They immediately jumped in the water with their new snorkel equipment –fulfilling another of Aaron’s dreams seeing many varieties of colorful fish.
We spent several days there—we walked to a plantation nearby complete with lipstick and shampoo to trade and came back with papaya and melons. Aaron kicked his foot on some coral so spent several days limping but was still able to snorkel. He and Ashley spotted some lobster and later that day Ken and Aaron took the Hawaiian sling Ken had got for Xmas awaiting this opportunity and went on a successful lobster hunt.
Ken and I joined some other cruisers and hiked over to a nearby village where we had a pork lunch—what a treat—and traded more of the perfume and lipstick for a pile of the delicious huge grapefruit which grow freely here—need more bananas next time.
It was time to ready ourselves for the 500 mile crossing to the Tuamotus so we sailed back to the main town, this time with more wind and will resupply with baguettes and fresh vegs.
We are leaving today and it should take us anything from 4 to 6 days depending on the wind.
We are enjoying having Aaron and Ashley on the boat, it is fun to see their excitement and we are enjoying sharing this part of our adventure with them. It is certainly the ultimate tropical paradise.
Internet connection is unreliable and even though I managed to post the pictures from our crossing and first week here the pictures for this and following sectors will have to wait until we get to Rangiora—probably another 2 weeks.
We hope to spend most of that time snorkeling and diving the coral atolls and exploring the different scenery of that part of the world.
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