Thursday, July 03, 2008
Tahiti to Moorea
We had a windless crossing to Tahiti—memories of Mexico—we have become seasoned cruisers now though and took an extra day instead of putting on the engine as we would have done a year ago.
We anchored at Marina Taire which is a 20 minute ride to downtown on Le Truck. It was a huge culture shock at first—noise, traffic and everything available—at a cost!!! It is a busy pleasant city not spoiled by the high rises which have marred Hawaii. It is safe and people are pleasant. The market downtown has a large variety of fruit and vegs all run by the Chinese who seem to have taken over the market gardens of much of the world. The supermarket is amazing—products from all over the world. Much is imported from NZ and meat, butter and apples are not expensive. The large deli section is full of cheeses and pates, mostly from France and it is hard not to spend your entire food budget there. Everything is available and it was great having a selection. Since Panama where we had stocked up with canned goods we have become used to eating whatever fresh food is available locally.
Pearls, the local specialty are available everywhere and at all price ranges. The town is colourful and casual.
We did find the typical frustration of trying to find specific boat items in a foreign language. Everyone being helpful sends you from one store to another and at the end of the day you still have not found what you want—it will be a treat in NZ.
Everything is very expensive—a light lunch in an outdoor patio is about $90 for the two of us if we had one drink—we have got good at getting a beer and eating a sandwich at take away bar. Baguettes have become the norm and sandwiches are everywhere. The local people here are a mix of nationalities from centuries of invasions and are very attractive and a lot slimmer than their Polynesian counterparts in the Marquesas and Tuamotus.
We had arrived in time to participate in the Tahiti-Moorea rally—a yacht rally put on by the tourist bureau to welcome cruisers to their islands so we decided to participate.
The first afternoon at the signup they put on a welcome dance and handed out information and we got coupons for free drinks—we have become very adept at taking advantage of such opportunities.
The following morning we left with about 15 other boats to sail the 10 miles to Moorea. Unfortunately there was very little wind so half way they asked everyone to motor the rest so we would be in time for the hangi (lunch cooked in the ground oven). They welcomed us to the beautiful beach with music and traditional costumes and served us the huge lunch.
Then we had the games—we teamed up with another boat and two locals for the canoe race which we won handily—several of the canoes which are very slim with an outrigger managed to dump but we all seemed to coordinate ours well.
There was a javelin type throwing game where you had to spear a coconut and a run which involved carrying a pole of fruit around the track. They then put on a dance show and gave out the prizes—we won a beautiful pearl on a chocker which somehow I ended up with which crowned the day. It was a lot of fun and we appreciated the effort they had gone to organizing the event. We met many other cruisers most of which are going to NZ also.
We moved around into Cooks Bay the next day which is an idyllic place with rugged peaks at the head of the bay. It was Canada day so we invited a number of other boats in the anchorage to a pot luck where we all wore red or white and Ken had trivia questions for everyone—he was the only one who knew most of the answers. It was a lot of fun.
The next day we did a 20km hike up the valley to a viewpoint of the southern half of this beautiful island—it had been an important religious site several hundred years ago and there are the remains of their complex civilization. We then walked around the bays home and got a feel of this tropical wonderland. Flowers abound and most people have wonderful gardens. There are some beautiful homes on the water and you could not help but feel envious that they get to live here.
We are heading out today to anchor on a reef at the mouth of the bay where we will have a few days snorkeling, apparently you can swim with the stingrays. We will head back to Tahiti on Sunday night to restock and check out and then leave for Huahine, our next destination where I will do our next update.
We anchored at Marina Taire which is a 20 minute ride to downtown on Le Truck. It was a huge culture shock at first—noise, traffic and everything available—at a cost!!! It is a busy pleasant city not spoiled by the high rises which have marred Hawaii. It is safe and people are pleasant. The market downtown has a large variety of fruit and vegs all run by the Chinese who seem to have taken over the market gardens of much of the world. The supermarket is amazing—products from all over the world. Much is imported from NZ and meat, butter and apples are not expensive. The large deli section is full of cheeses and pates, mostly from France and it is hard not to spend your entire food budget there. Everything is available and it was great having a selection. Since Panama where we had stocked up with canned goods we have become used to eating whatever fresh food is available locally.
Pearls, the local specialty are available everywhere and at all price ranges. The town is colourful and casual.
We did find the typical frustration of trying to find specific boat items in a foreign language. Everyone being helpful sends you from one store to another and at the end of the day you still have not found what you want—it will be a treat in NZ.
Everything is very expensive—a light lunch in an outdoor patio is about $90 for the two of us if we had one drink—we have got good at getting a beer and eating a sandwich at take away bar. Baguettes have become the norm and sandwiches are everywhere. The local people here are a mix of nationalities from centuries of invasions and are very attractive and a lot slimmer than their Polynesian counterparts in the Marquesas and Tuamotus.
We had arrived in time to participate in the Tahiti-Moorea rally—a yacht rally put on by the tourist bureau to welcome cruisers to their islands so we decided to participate.
The first afternoon at the signup they put on a welcome dance and handed out information and we got coupons for free drinks—we have become very adept at taking advantage of such opportunities.
The following morning we left with about 15 other boats to sail the 10 miles to Moorea. Unfortunately there was very little wind so half way they asked everyone to motor the rest so we would be in time for the hangi (lunch cooked in the ground oven). They welcomed us to the beautiful beach with music and traditional costumes and served us the huge lunch.
Then we had the games—we teamed up with another boat and two locals for the canoe race which we won handily—several of the canoes which are very slim with an outrigger managed to dump but we all seemed to coordinate ours well.
There was a javelin type throwing game where you had to spear a coconut and a run which involved carrying a pole of fruit around the track. They then put on a dance show and gave out the prizes—we won a beautiful pearl on a chocker which somehow I ended up with which crowned the day. It was a lot of fun and we appreciated the effort they had gone to organizing the event. We met many other cruisers most of which are going to NZ also.
We moved around into Cooks Bay the next day which is an idyllic place with rugged peaks at the head of the bay. It was Canada day so we invited a number of other boats in the anchorage to a pot luck where we all wore red or white and Ken had trivia questions for everyone—he was the only one who knew most of the answers. It was a lot of fun.
The next day we did a 20km hike up the valley to a viewpoint of the southern half of this beautiful island—it had been an important religious site several hundred years ago and there are the remains of their complex civilization. We then walked around the bays home and got a feel of this tropical wonderland. Flowers abound and most people have wonderful gardens. There are some beautiful homes on the water and you could not help but feel envious that they get to live here.
We are heading out today to anchor on a reef at the mouth of the bay where we will have a few days snorkeling, apparently you can swim with the stingrays. We will head back to Tahiti on Sunday night to restock and check out and then leave for Huahine, our next destination where I will do our next update.
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.
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