We decided to head over to Raiatea today – a 3 mile sail from Tahaa!! We eventually found a nice spot to anchor (in 23m of water!!)
After lunch we headed ashore to the marina to find about getting fuel – whilst it is cheap Jonny wants to make sure we leave with full tanks which will hopefully get us to Sydney. The marina office was closed and when we asked in the Moorings office about opening times she said it just depended when the guy wanted to open!!
We had a walk around but there wasn't much to see so we headed back to the boat.
Around tea time we could here music from the shore so decided to go and check it out. The local dance group was practicing and said we could watch – the girls seemed to know what they were doing but the boys needed more practice!!
Sunday, 5 July 2009
3rd July, Taravana Yacht Club, Tahaa
After an e mail from his Dad regarding his tax rebate Jonny spent the morning refilling in tax forms trying to sort out a year old claim!!
I went ashore to get bread for lunch and swap some books.
After lunch (and giving up on the tax forms!!) we went ashore for a walk. Also in the anchorage was a 50ft motor boat called Lisa Marie who we had seen in the anchorage at Nuku Hiva and in Tahiti so we decided to go and say hello. They were a lovely couple from Sweden who had done a circum navigation on a yacht and were now planning on heading to Alaska in their motor boat (via the Pacific to warm up!!)
At 5.30 we headed ashore to pay our mooring fees – Whisper had also arrived in the anchorage and we got to know Julia Max (George and Sue, American).
Andy had invited us over to Calysta for a banana and chocolate custard dessert so we decided to invite him over to Newt for tea and then have dessert.
I went ashore to get bread for lunch and swap some books.
After lunch (and giving up on the tax forms!!) we went ashore for a walk. Also in the anchorage was a 50ft motor boat called Lisa Marie who we had seen in the anchorage at Nuku Hiva and in Tahiti so we decided to go and say hello. They were a lovely couple from Sweden who had done a circum navigation on a yacht and were now planning on heading to Alaska in their motor boat (via the Pacific to warm up!!)
At 5.30 we headed ashore to pay our mooring fees – Whisper had also arrived in the anchorage and we got to know Julia Max (George and Sue, American).
Andy had invited us over to Calysta for a banana and chocolate custard dessert so we decided to invite him over to Newt for tea and then have dessert.
2nd July, Taravana Yacht Club, Tahaa
After breakfast we left for the 20 mile sail from Huahine to the lagoon containing Tahaa and Raiatea. We were undecided which of the two islands we were heading for!! In the lagoon we looked at the town quay at the main town in Raiatea (we had heard that you could stay here for a couple of days for free) but the wind was blowing straight onto it which would have made it uncomfortable. After looking at the other possibilities on the north coast of Raiatea we decided to head to the Taravana Yacht Club on the south side of Tahaa because it was protected and we had heard that the mooring buoys were free if you bought a beer.
At the yacht club all the buoys had reserved signs on but as we were about to give up the manager of the club radioed to tell us that some of the buoys were available. We picked up a buoy, went ashore to say hello and then came back to the boat for lunch.
After a relaxing afternoon we headed ashore for a walk and then drinks in the bar – Calysta, Bagheera (Peter and Nikki, English), Rogue (Scottish) and Thumbs Up (Ivan and Cheryl, American) were also on mooring buoys and ashore for drinks.
At the yacht club all the buoys had reserved signs on but as we were about to give up the manager of the club radioed to tell us that some of the buoys were available. We picked up a buoy, went ashore to say hello and then came back to the boat for lunch.
After a relaxing afternoon we headed ashore for a walk and then drinks in the bar – Calysta, Bagheera (Peter and Nikki, English), Rogue (Scottish) and Thumbs Up (Ivan and Cheryl, American) were also on mooring buoys and ashore for drinks.
Thursday, 2 July 2009
1st July, Fare, Huahine, French Polynesia
We picked up the hire car again at 9am and drove to Fare to got o the supermarket and get fuel. In the Fare some of the locals had set up stalls selling fruit and veg so we managed to get some tomatoes, green peppers and a pineapple as well as a couple of supplies from the supermarket.
Back on the boat we decided to move the boat up to Fare ready to leave tomorrow (Fare is next to the pass to exit the lagoon) and now the wind had eased the town anchorage looked calm again.
We had a nice motor up the lagoon and found a nice spot to anchor, had lunch and then went ashore to do some jobs. Back in the supermarket (again!!) we met the couple from Whisper (Scoot and Mary, USA) who we had briefly met in the anchorage on Fri before we had all left to find more sheltered bays.
Back on Newt we had a swim and a shower and the people from Daydream (Wayne and Susan, Canada) came over to say hello and invited for drinks on the town pier. So we packed some wine and beer and headed to the town pier and had a lovely couple of hours meeting some new people.
30th June, Avea Bay, Huahine, French Polynesia
We arrived at the car hire place at 10 but were told that the car was only coming back at 11 so we went back to Newt for a drink.
Once we finally got the car we drove around Huahine Nui (big Huahine) and stopped at Fare for some lunch. We then carried on exploring Huahine Nui visiting the Marae (religious sites) and doing a walk. After the walk we needed to cool off and we had been told about some good snorkeling at a nearby hotel. We got to the hotel and it was all closed down with holes in the roofs of the bungalows. We had a good explore of the resort but couldn't see where the good snorkeling was.
The next stop was the Huahine Pearl Farm. They ran a complimentary boat out to the farm in the middle of the lagoon. Despite also visiting a pearl farm in Manihi this was really interesting and we learnt more about the pearl process.
Our final plans for Huahine Nui was to see the eels and visit Eden Park – unfortunatelky the eels were nowhere to be seen and we couldn't find Eden Park either!!
We headed back to Huahine Iti (little Huahine) to visit a vanilla plantation – there wasn't much to see they just had packets of vanilla pods for sale.
Finally we circum navigated Huahine Iti before heading abck to the car rental place.
We have the car until 11.30 tomorrow morning so we are going to collect it again in the morning and head back to Fare to do some shopping.
Once we finally got the car we drove around Huahine Nui (big Huahine) and stopped at Fare for some lunch. We then carried on exploring Huahine Nui visiting the Marae (religious sites) and doing a walk. After the walk we needed to cool off and we had been told about some good snorkeling at a nearby hotel. We got to the hotel and it was all closed down with holes in the roofs of the bungalows. We had a good explore of the resort but couldn't see where the good snorkeling was.
The next stop was the Huahine Pearl Farm. They ran a complimentary boat out to the farm in the middle of the lagoon. Despite also visiting a pearl farm in Manihi this was really interesting and we learnt more about the pearl process.
Our final plans for Huahine Nui was to see the eels and visit Eden Park – unfortunatelky the eels were nowhere to be seen and we couldn't find Eden Park either!!
We headed back to Huahine Iti (little Huahine) to visit a vanilla plantation – there wasn't much to see they just had packets of vanilla pods for sale.
Finally we circum navigated Huahine Iti before heading abck to the car rental place.
We have the car until 11.30 tomorrow morning so we are going to collect it again in the morning and head back to Fare to do some shopping.
29th June, Avea Bay, Huahine, French Polynesia
We picked up Andy and took the dinghy over to the car rental place to try and sort out a car tomorrow. They had one available but only from 10am which we thought was abit late but would be ok.
After we dropped Andy back at Calysta we took the dinghy to the hotel to walk to the shop to try and get bread. The shop was closed so we decided to keep walking to the village and see if the shop was open on the way back. We had a lovely walk but the shop still wasn't open on the way back!!
Our walk obviously tired us out because we both fell asleep in the cockpit for a couple of hours!!
We had a nice swim in the afternoon and Jonny did some snorkeling.
At sunset Andy came over for a beer to try out our new cockpit light that Jonny had made out of a coconut shell – it works well and looks very pretty!!
After we dropped Andy back at Calysta we took the dinghy to the hotel to walk to the shop to try and get bread. The shop was closed so we decided to keep walking to the village and see if the shop was open on the way back. We had a lovely walk but the shop still wasn't open on the way back!!
Our walk obviously tired us out because we both fell asleep in the cockpit for a couple of hours!!
We had a nice swim in the afternoon and Jonny did some snorkeling.
At sunset Andy came over for a beer to try out our new cockpit light that Jonny had made out of a coconut shell – it works well and looks very pretty!!
28th June, Avea Bay, Huahine, French Polynesia
After a lazy morning doing internet jobs we decided to go for a walk ashore and to see if the shop was open for bread (although we thought this was probably unlikely on Sun). The shop was closed but we had a nice walk and then headed back to the hotel and had an ice cream.
We had a nice afternoon on the boat listening to the big gusts of wind and watching dvds before having an early tea and watching a movie.
We had a nice afternoon on the boat listening to the big gusts of wind and watching dvds before having an early tea and watching a movie.
Sunday, 28 June 2009
27th June, Huahine, French Polynesia
In the morning we met the local guy and he took us for a walk round the bay up to a view point and around to a house that he was building. There was a American luxury hotel in the bay but it had been blown away by a hurricane and you could still see the swimming pool and foundations from the bungalows.
After the walk we started to get things ready for the bbq – we were going to make coconut bread to go with it so we had to grate the flesh from about 10 coconuts and collect some leaves to bake the bread in.
Unfortunately the situation changed and we decided to leave the bay and head to a different anchorage.
We headed to the south end of the island and found a sheltered anchorage off a beach where we are planning to spend a couple of days waiting for the wind to ease.
We had heard a boat called Bagheera on the radio and the guy sounded English and when we arrived in the anchorage they were here but not on the boat but when they arrived back they called us up to say hello and invited us over for a drink. They are heading to New Zealand.
After drinks on Bagheera Andy had invited us over for tea and we had a nice pasta with a curry sauce.
After the walk we started to get things ready for the bbq – we were going to make coconut bread to go with it so we had to grate the flesh from about 10 coconuts and collect some leaves to bake the bread in.
Unfortunately the situation changed and we decided to leave the bay and head to a different anchorage.
We headed to the south end of the island and found a sheltered anchorage off a beach where we are planning to spend a couple of days waiting for the wind to ease.
We had heard a boat called Bagheera on the radio and the guy sounded English and when we arrived in the anchorage they were here but not on the boat but when they arrived back they called us up to say hello and invited us over for a drink. They are heading to New Zealand.
After drinks on Bagheera Andy had invited us over for tea and we had a nice pasta with a curry sauce.
26th June, Huahine, French Polynesia
We arrived into the anchorage off the main town, Fare, about 7.30am and found a lovely spot to anchor – unfortunately there is a lot of wind expected over the next few days and it was blowing straight down the lagoon into the anchorage with some 35knot gusts. We decided to head ashore to explore. The town was nice with an unexpectedly large supermarket. We also looked into prices for bike, scooter and car hire as we would like to spend a day exploring the island. Back at the boat there was still huge gusts coming through the anchorage so we decided to head down the lagoon to find a more sheltered spot. We motored into one bay that was flat calm but 25m deep so we decided to try and find a shallower spot. We motored round a couple of places but didn't find anywhere better when a local guy in a outrigger canoe paddled over and told us he had a mooring buoy. We followed him and the buoy was in an ideal location off a lovely beach. He said he was the guardian of the beach and we could come ashore later and get some fruit.
After a quick swim we headed ashore to say hello to the local guy. He seemed like a very friendly nice guy. Whilst we were ashore another boat came into the bay and saw us on the buoy, a dinghy from the boat came ashore and the guy from the boat wanted us moved off the buoy because he wanted to go on it and as he was French he should have priority – the local guy said that we were first on the buoy and therefore we were staying there. The guy didn't want to accept this and when we walk off down the beach he stood their sulking!! We ended up 'hiding' in the jungle behind the beach to try and make the guy leave and finally he did!! The local guy invited us for a bbq on the beach the following night and also arranged to meet us on the beach in the morning to get some fruit.
After a quick swim we headed ashore to say hello to the local guy. He seemed like a very friendly nice guy. Whilst we were ashore another boat came into the bay and saw us on the buoy, a dinghy from the boat came ashore and the guy from the boat wanted us moved off the buoy because he wanted to go on it and as he was French he should have priority – the local guy said that we were first on the buoy and therefore we were staying there. The guy didn't want to accept this and when we walk off down the beach he stood their sulking!! We ended up 'hiding' in the jungle behind the beach to try and make the guy leave and finally he did!! The local guy invited us for a bbq on the beach the following night and also arranged to meet us on the beach in the morning to get some fruit.
25th June, Opunohu Bay, Moorea, French Polynesia
We had heard from Sunchaser and Christine Anne that Cooks Bay was stunning and also from another boat that there was a fruit juice factory where you could sample the juices so we decided to take the dinghy for a look. We took the dinghy into the bay to a hotel that had a dinghy dock and then went for a walk. There wasn't much to see ashore but we got an ice cream from the garage!!
Leaving the bay we stopped at the juice factory and sampled some of their fruit juices, alcoholic punches and coconut liquor – all were very nice!!
We were leaving at 4pm to do an overnight sail to Huahine – the next island in the Society Island chain.
The sail was very lumpy and not quite enough wind – every time a wave hit it knocked the wind out of the sails so we alternated between sailing and motor sailing.
Leaving the bay we stopped at the juice factory and sampled some of their fruit juices, alcoholic punches and coconut liquor – all were very nice!!
We were leaving at 4pm to do an overnight sail to Huahine – the next island in the Society Island chain.
The sail was very lumpy and not quite enough wind – every time a wave hit it knocked the wind out of the sails so we alternated between sailing and motor sailing.
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