2016_04_03 HUAHINE

Last excursion didn’t look very good this morning as it was POURING!  Some discussion amongst the group as to if we should even bother.  Never a doubt in Rich Rediker’s mind and we decided to bring rain gear and see what happened.  

Took the tender to the pier in Maroe and eventually found John-Pierre a local Huahine guy with his boat Poetina I.  Jean-Pierre has been on Huahine the last 35 years doing these day boat tours.  His company name is a combination of his two daughter’s names.  Today his niece had come over from Raitea last night on a speedboat to help on the boat.  I bet she got here way faster than we did!  We asked one of the crew what the ship did all night as Huahine was in sight from Raiatea.  They said they went way out to sea to dump waste and replenish water for the ship before docking this morning.

Huahine is actually two islands, Huahine Hui and Huahine Iti with a bridge the road passes over to go from one to the other.  We were on the water most of the day so it isn’t matter to us.

Hilo!  On one of the islands.

Female body shape - face on the left side of the other island.

Local lore has it that a Polynesian guy named Hilo came to Huahine and his “member” id prominently displayed on one island.  150 feet high!  The other island has a female shaped mountain and the legend was that they were forever separated and Hiro’s tears created the lagoons in the middle.

Ready to go under the bridge.

Jean-Pierre at the helm.

First stop was a bit of snorkeling off of a small motu after crossing under the bridge.  We were told to stay on one side of the island as the other side was “dangerous”.  No fins - I tried for a bit but the current was really strong so I got back in after a short look at the coral and fish.  Not really too impressive compared to the other islands.  

Back in the boat and headed towards the river and the sacred blue eyed eels.  On the way we passed a pearl farm and stopped for some shopping.  I got a inexpensive black pearl necklace strand, we got a small set of black pearl earrings for Mackenzie and a mounted drop black pearl for Connie.

The pearl farm in the middle of the lagoon.

Decorative shells on the wall of the pearl farm.

Explaining the pearl making process.

Clam shells are placed in the water like this for 18 months after the clam has been readied for the process.

Getting off the Poetina I heading to see the blue eyed eels.  Jean-Pierre on the left.

Local school.  Quite colorful.

Went quite a way to the river, passing Jean-Pierre’s house along the way.  Walked up a road for a bit passing a local school (closed on Sunday).  Jean-Pierre bought a can of Mackerel and threw it into the water when we got to the spot where the eels stay.  They thrashed around pretty well - hard to see their blue eyes and ears in the glare.

The group in front of the sacred eels sign.

Sacred eels in the muddy river.  Really big suckers!

Closeup of a sacred eel.

Making my Maori face with zinc lip gloss war paint. 

Connie says I would scare no one.

Off to Jean-Pierre’s summer house on another motu where we had our local food lunch.  Quite the operation - he owns a large piece of land with palm trees.  Our lunch was served buffet style on a picnic table in the water.  Bobi and Richie “cooked” the raw tuna ceviche, adding lime juice lettuce, cabbage, carrots and onions and cucumbers.   Cary helped by squeezing coconut “milk" out of raw coconut shavings with a coconut husk.  All tossed togethers for a delicious salad.  Chicken with mushroom and beef stew served over basmati rice.  Dessert was banana and shaved coconut with optional chocolate sauce!  Delicious.  Beef, fruit juice, rum punch and water to drink.

Cary Claver squeezing coconut milk onto our raw fish salad.

Buffet line, motu style.

Lunch!

Eating our lunch in the water!

Posing with Jean-Pierre's family.  They played and sang and danced for us at lunch.

As we finished out lunch Jean-Pierre’s 18 year old son pulled in with his Dad’s second boat Poetina II with 40 or so persons on it.  They were to have a meal of the same food we had further up the beach.  

Jean-Pierre's niece and Lisa Claver on the beach (reef) side.

Connie and Bobi collecting coral pieces on the reef side.

Gayle walking ahead back to the lagoon side of Jean-Pierre's property.

We walked across some land to the sea side edge of the motu and did a bit more snorkeling in shallow water with swift currents due to the waves crashing on the reef.  Coral pretty desolate but people saw quite a few fish.  Since you could pretty much stand I “swam” around for a bit as well trying not to be hurled onto the coral by the waves.  Headed back to the boat and set sail into the harbor.

Last snorkeling in a really fast current.

Rich asked if there was some better snorkeling available and Jean-Pierre took us into the middle of a channel.  The current was REAL strong so everyone just got in a floated down stream.  Gayle and I stayed in the boat looking down and the boat and the snorkelers were really cruising along.

Jean-Pierre basically floated behind the snorkelers and picked them up after a while before we headed back to the ship.

We have been packing in the room as we have to have bags ready by 10:00 tonight if we want the crew to collect them for us tonight.  We have to get off the ship tomorrow back at Papeete at 9:30 so one last dinner tonight at the Red Ginger Asian Restaurant and a breakfast tomorrow until 9:00.

Hard to believe the cruise is almost over!

We will lug our luggage to the ferry terminal (very close) for a 11:30 ferry to Moorea.  Rich has arranged for the Hilton to transport us to our over-the-water bungalow room!  We are all pretty excited to see our rooms!

Last sunset from the Oceana Marina!

2016_04_02 RAIATEA

First look at Raiatea this morning just after sunrise.

Heading in to dock at the pier.  That's the "robe lady" there on the deck.  We never see her without the robe!

Sailed into Raiatea Harbor this morning around 7:00.  For the first time we would not need to take a tender as we docked right against the pier in Uturoa the cultural and commercial center of the island.  A big city with a population of 9,000. 

So big we saw a roundabout as we were docking. 

Gangplanks at the ready.

Musicians setting up.

Playing for first people off the ship.

Watched lowering of the gangplanks and saw the musicians setting up to play for us as we departed the ship.  We were definitely on the right side of the ship.  Looked right down onto the pier from our balconies.  

As we were able to walk right off the boat we left a few minutes later than usual.  We found the boats from Le Excursion Bleu and their day tour director Bruno.  Then the fun started!  Bruno told us we had to get in a queue and pay the balance due for our day.  Rich had already paid in full for the tour and had to go back to the ship to get a copy of his receipt.  In the main time Gayle and Connie worked their way through the line and were told they had no reservation for us at all.  We had gotten on one boat with 8 others (our enemies from the first day).  Bruno told us we had to get off because that boat could not hold 16.  Quite the discussion between Rich and Toma - eventually we got another boat to come and take the 8 of us out of the harbor.  It was pretty hot - to say the least and a bit unsettling until all was settled.

A lot of empty pearl clam shells at the pier at the pearl farm!

Eventually a hired boat appeared  and we were driven to the pearl farm. Toma started telling us stories about pearl farming and Polynesia in general zinging Rich a bit each time!  The women did some shopping but decided not to buy anything.

Docking at the vanilla farm.

Walking to the vanilla farm greenhouse.

Vanilla plants in the greenhouse.

Vanilla seed pods

Owner's wife at the store on the vanilla plantation.

Got on a second boat (nice young couple on board) and headed to the vanilla farm.  Here we walked around a lane to where we saw a vanilla greenhouse.  Screened in area with vanilla vines planted in ground up coconut husks.  The owner showed us the vanilla bean stalks and why in vanilla size matters!  Up until 5 years ago the vanilla was planted on the steep hillsides - these greenhouses made the process a lot easier.

Told about the major producers of vanilla - Mexico, Madagascar and of course Tahitian (although grown on Raitea).  Connie bought some vanilla bean pods and a mother-of-pearl bracelet.

Closeup of coral on the beach at lunch.

Same boat took us to a motu where we had our lunch.  The mayor of the island blessed our food and we dug in buffet style.  Most of the usual foods were present again, the raw fish was especially good.  

Island we were going to swim at after lunch in the sun.

Sitting on a lounge chair IN the water in the pouring rain!  May be the only image taken during rain storm.

Just back from another snorkel day this time on Rongoria.  We were heading for the little island for some swimming after lunch.  A few minutes later it was POURING!  We sat in the water (warmer) in the rain for a while listening to Toma (our guide) tell stories about French Polynesia,  Finally bailed and headed back to the ship.  Where of course it is bright sunshine and HOT!  

Sitting in a bar hoping to see end of NCAA tourney (not on).  

Shortly after Bobi realized that she did not have her eyeglasses and the adventure began.  Richie headed back to the pier and luckily found Toma again.  He made calls to the boat people on his cell and remarkably her glasses were found at our last stop before we headed back to the boat.  They began their long journey back to Bobi.

In the mean time Cary Lisa and I went into a bar on the pier.  Cary thought he saw basketball on the tv and we hoped it was the NCAA hoops.  By the time we got there the games were almost over and we realized that it was a NBA game he saw when we walked past.  I bought a beer for Cary and a couple of mango drinks for Lisa and me.  If you bought drinks you got to use their internet for 30 minutes.  Sweet - I checked my emails and updated this blog a little bit.

Richie and Toma on the dock after the glasses were returned.

Bobi has her glasses back!  This lady found them on the beach.  She was the wife of one of the boat drivers.

We waited on the pier talking with Toma some more and generally just staying with Richie (Dr Blood).  After about an hour the boat returned to the pier with Bobi’s glasses to much celebration.  Richie has been famous for asking Saint Anthony to find things in the past and did so again.  

Looking thru the cruise ship mooring lines.

After that a Windjammer like sailboat went by looking pretty majestic!   Back to the boat - the personnel were actually concerned that some of us had not returned to the ship.  We were approaching last call to board when we got back on. 

The ship sailed from Raiatea at 7:00 toward Huiahine which was in sight from the pier.  Toma said their speedboats can go the 55km in an hour or so.  We don’t drop anchor tomorrow until 8:00 so they must just sail around the islands all night.  

Tomorrow will be our LAST excursion - hard to believe this amazing trip is almost over. 

2016_04_01 BORA BORA II

Took first tender to Viatape pier where we met up with David our pilot and guide for the day.  David is from Lyon, France and has lived in Bora Bora for 4 years.  His wife is British and was a barrister but now works at pearl shop in town.

High marks to Pure Snorkeling by Reefbleu Discovery. First off, the boat was the best boat BY FAR of any of our snorkeling trips.  Fast with very comfortable seats and quite a bit of room for the eight of us.  Plenty of little compartments to stow away our shoes and gear so there was room to move around.

David drove us about 5 minutes away to our first snorkeling stop. The boat had flippers so I got into the water where we were seeking to sight a manta ray.   Another catamaran was in the area and their guide communicated to David that there was a ray right below them.  We followed a 8-10 foot long manta ray around for a bit.  She was swimming slowly (way faster than we could swim) around for a while.  Magnificent creature, so glad to see one so quickly.  David said it can sometimes take up to an hour if at all.

Next 10 minutes more to just inside the lagoon at the oceans edge where we encountered a bunch of dolphins.  They were swimming and jumping around our boat for quite a while.  They didn’t seem interested in heading out to the ocean but swam around in the lagoon. 

After that we went out into the ocean to see the where the surf crashed into the outer atoll edge at some moth’s.  
Quite different snorkeling here with a fairly strong current towards the reef.  I skipped this one - bad swimmer.  The others seemed to like it.

David helped us find a spot just outside the lagoon to toss a bottle with a message in it out into the ocean.  Rich found this bottle on Cape Cod - it had originally been thrown into the water in the Bay of Fundy in Canada.  There was a message from a girl's family who had passed away.  Rich added the information about where he found it in Cape Cod.  Added the new location in French Polynesia to the message.  There is a web site that had a special number identifying this bottle, where it came from and following it's journey.  We hope it washes ashore somewhere and somebody can continue it's journey.

Back inside the reefs into the lagoon again for yet another snorkeling spot.  We were told to stay in the middle of the channel as the current was quite rough against us on the edges.  I went in after losing a clip on my snorkel mast.  It flew off my mask into the water while I was trying to adjust the snorkel tube.  Borrowed another mask from the boat but it’s mast was very low to the water and I kept swallowing water.  The current WAS quite hard to manage so I got out after just a few minutes.

Our lunch spot.

Ready to eat!

Table in the ocean.

Fruits and coconut bread.

Rice and raw tuna.

More fruit and lychee fruits.

Pretty hungry so we went to a private beach for a local lunch. Rich asked if a all day tour could be arranged with a lunch included.  The owner of the boat talked to a local Polynesian family who had this site and they agreed to cook for us.  We were the first ones to do this and David was keen to make sure we were satisfied with the food.  Amazing food served on a picnic table in the water!  We had Mahi Mahi as well as a raw tuna dish.  Rice with carrots and corn and coconut banana sugary dish that was sort of dessert.  One plate had 2 different types of local bananas, tapioca and taro.  No-one really liked this plate.  A second plate had “regular” bananas, orange slices, grapefruit as well as lychee fruit.  Good!  Also fantastic coconut bread as well a a bunch of baguettes.  We could have had much more of anything but we were pretty full.  I would say the lunch was a smashing success.  

Connie and Bobi floating in the impossible colorful water where we had our lunch.

You can see the surf breaking on the reef in the background.

Group of Eagle Rays!

Click on the second image for the spotted markings on their backs,

Cary Claver's underwater camera shot these Eagle Rays.

After lunch we put our snorkel gear back on and swam out just a short way from the beach where David found a group of Eagle Rays!  Just amazing to see.  Again majestic creatures - a group of about 20 swam in formation.  David said they swim back and forth there almost every day.  Like sharks they need to have water flowing through their gills so they hang in suspension facing into the current.  So great to see.

We left Gayle on the beach for our next stop to Bora Bora’s Aquarium.  A lot of boats were anchored here and it was quite loud and crowded.  One party boat of young kids showed up with music blasting!  There were TONS of fish here and the current was quite calm - easy for snorkeling.  Many of the guides were feeding the fish and huge clusters of fish swam around us like a cloud.  This could have been really cool but we cut it short and headed back to collect Gayle.  We thought the party boat was going to show up at our lunch spot shortly so we got out of Dodge.

It was hot!  Bobi gave Connie and I some zinc lip stuff!

Headed back towards the cruise ship for one final snorkeling stop.  Really hot by now and I wasn’t interested in any more water time.  Hid under a towel until the other got back in the boat.

Returned to the Viatape pier to end our day around 4:30.  It just keeps getting better!  Said goodbye to David and headed back to the ship for a well deserved shower.

2016_04_01 OCEANA MARINA ATTACKED BY SUBMARINE!

Underwater submarine turns on cruise ship in Bora Bora.  Details to follow.......

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HAPPY APRIL FOOL'S DAY!