We’ve been in French Polynesia for a month now and have explored most of the islands in the Windward and Leeward Island groups. Together these make up the Society Islands which were apparently named after the London Missionary Society, the Protestants got here first! The names of the churches in Pape’ete make me laugh; there is a Catholic cathedral and a Protestant “temple” . . . nice one!
We spent a few days in Pape’ete when Heather and Anthony first arrived. There’s a few things to see: the pearl museum has an interesting display about the origin of pearls and the history of the industry and then passes into a very expensive showroom with some gorgeous necklaces. The black pearls have actually a full spectrum of colours and shapes and prices! The market here is quiet, okay for shopping for veggies but not a vibrant hubbub like you find in Asia. However it is the source of Neil’s current favourite food – a baguette stuffed with eggs and bacon.
It’s really great having the bikes on board. We made a tour of Pape’ete by bike, ostensibly checking out the chandlers (of which there are several) but basically getting happily and sweatily lost in the suburbs and chuffing a few Hinanao’s (local beer) while trying to find our way out. We had dinner at Le Petit Auberge with H and A on my birthday, nice French food followed up with ice cream and whiskey – this is becoming a habit!!
The next day we sailed over to Moorea (get your map out for the next bit!). We anchored in Baie de Opunohu which has a dramatic backdrop of shear, craggy mountains typical of the Society Islands. There were about twenty yachts with us in the anchorage and a large cruise ship in the bay. Again we got on our bikes and had a 20km ride around the bay. It is strangely undeveloped for such a hot tourist destination; virtually no roadside pearl shops or restaurants, not even a supermarket, we passed just a couple of fruit stalls and, of course, grand entrances to the big resorts: Sofitel, Intercontinental, etc. I guess the tourists don’t stray far from the pool.
We spent two nights in Moorea then put Heather on a plane and Neil, Anthony and I sailed to Bora Bora. During the night we passed the eastern Leeward Islands of Ra’iatea and Huahine then arrived in Bora Bora and picked up Heather again. We really liked BB, the main town of Vaitape was lively with lots of people about, several pearl shops and restaurants and a couple of supermarkets (is this my measure of civilisation now?) We snorkelled in crystal clear water and, although we did not find the coral very exciting, the reef fish were plentiful and three manta rays hovered around for several minutes. Bastille Night was a noisy affair with crowds of people hanging out and loud music throbbing around the bay. Table football seems to generate high levels of excitement and, after canoeing and petanque, seems to be the most popular sport among the locals.
Heather and Anthony flew back from BB and Neil and I sailed across to the neighbouring islands of Ra’iatea and Taha’a. We anchored in the Lagoon Tau Tau on the west side of Taha’a and found ourselves in one of the most pristine snorkelling spots I’ve ever seen. The rich and vivid colours of the reef fish and coral were stunning as we drifted on the current flowing in from the reef. We took the bikes ashore and road to the village of Patio on the northern tip of the island but it was Sunday so everything was closed up and no-one around. They take their Sunday “day-of-rest” very seriously here!
The next day we moved to the NW side of Ra’iatea, mainly because I wanted to dive the Teavapiti Pass which is one of the best dives for shark encounters. It lived up to it’s reputation and as we dropped down to 20m I saw several Blacktips and a Grey Reef shark. The later was hunting a school of barracuda, they’re very impressive at close quarters. During the dive the Titan Triggerfish were a bit of a bother, one took a particular dislike to me and tried to attack several times. While I was taking a photo I felt someone pulling my pony tail – it was the triggerfish going for my jugular!!
The last island we visited before returning to Tahiti was Huahine and it was probably my favourite so far. We anchored off the village of Fare which sported a very good supermarket, no pearl shops or restaurants of note but a couple of the superb rum punches at the Yacht Club at happy hour left you staggering back to the dinghy. We made a Tour de Huahine Nui (the northern island) on our bikes which turned out to be a little bit further than planned but with great views of the craggy hills and the lagoon. The only downside to Fare was that the anchorage was not so good with strong swirling currents and coral bombies which gave us some anxious moments.
So now we are back in Pape’ete. Maya arrived yesterday evening so we are planning our adventures for the next two weeks.
Ciao for now
Suzy and Neil