We’ve seen quite a mixture of weather since we have been in French Polynesia. It is now confirmed that we are in an el Nino year which tends to cause disruption to the normal SE trade winds in this area with more disturbed weather and westerlies. Hopefully this will help us with our travels through the Tuamotos and the Marquesas but at the moment it is just bringing wet weather.

The first few days of Maya’s visit were really grey and drizzly with a bit of wind making the sea choppy. We stayed in Pape’ete for a couple of days having a look around then moved to Taina on the west coast for a change of scene. We tried to do some snorkelling but the sea was too rough for Maya to really get started. We hung out on the boat, reading, cooking and eating and in the evening enjoyed some garish cocktails at the Pink Coconut.

The weather forecast looked like things were brightening up so we decided to sail across to Moorea for a bit of beach time and hopefully better snorkelling. The crossing was pretty smooth and this time we anchored in Cook Bay. I take back my previous comment about Moorea being “strangely undeveloped”. Cook Bay has the full quota of pearl shops and restaurants, hotels and tour operators, but still has a fairly low key pace of life.

We decided to take a half day “safari” tour to see some of the interior of the island. We climbed into the back of a 4WD yute fitted with bench seats (with seatbelts!) and a roof/rollbar. The tour took us to scenic spots such as Magic Mountain and Belvedere where we had a great view over both Cook and Opunohu Bays. We visited the remains of several maraes which are pre-European religious sites used for worship, burial and human sacrifice. They were part of a network stretching from NZ to Hawaii to Easter Island with the Society Islands right in the centre.

Our driver and guide Tom was good value with masterful driving skills in reverse while eating a baguette. We had a fun drive on a dirt road through the mountains and pineapple plantations and managed to fit in a tasting of liqueurs (mainly pineapple based!) at the local distillery and even a visit to a pearl shop!! We bought the liqueurs but decided to leave the pearl buying until we get to the Tuamotus which is where most of them come from in the first place.

The highlight of Cook Bay was and early morning visit from a Humpback whale. Maya spotted it about 20m from the boat as it cruised slowly past us and stopped further into the lagoon in amongst a bunch of weed. It played there for about 10 minutes, diving and blowing and flicking up it’s fins and tail. Then it turned and came directly towards us, it turned again just behind the boat and came past within 3m – us watching him watching us! It was an amazing experience, I wish we’d jumped in and snorkelled with it but we were a little awestruck to see it so close in the first place!! 

After three days there we moved around to anchor in Opunohu Bay. The weather was a bit patchy but we got some beach time on the lovely white sand of Ta’ahiamanu Beach. We watched the locals playing petanque and did a bit of snorkelling too. On Saturday night we went to the Hilton Hotel to see a Tahitian dance performance. It was extremely enjoyable and the dancers and musicians were very professional but a little predictable; the women were lithe with swaying hips and undulating grass skirts, the men were toned and decorated with tattoos, their bulging eyes, poking tongues and foot stomping reminded me of the Maori huka. The only really cheesy bit was at the end when they invited the tourists to dance – cringeworthy!!

The journey back to Tahiti was tough with a 25kt wind on the nose and a 2m swell. Maya turned green but kept her ear plugs firmly plugged in and a “Mona Lisa” smile on her face, she handled the crossing really well. Back in Pape’ete we took a bus to the museum which was interesting but most of the information is only given in French. We had a lovely meal together on Maya’s last night and then we put her on the plane back to Auckland early on Wednesday morning. After such an awesome trip we were sad to say goodbye!

We are heading down to Teahupoo in the southern part of Tahiti Iti for a week to watch the Tahiti leg of the Billabong Pro Surf Championship.

Suzy and Neil