We had read about Hervé and Valerie in our cruising compendium and as I mentioned before, they are well known to the cruising community. They live with their son on the eastern side of Taravai, in a lovely cottage on the edge of the beach, which has been in Hervé’s family for generations. (Interestingly, this island used to be populated by 2000 people when the missionaries first arrived, but now there are just 7 inhabitants!) They are very self sufficient – Hervé hunts wild pigs & goats that roam the island, (his dog actually drives them into the sea & where Hervé grabs the floundering animal). He goes spearfishing for (hopefully) non-ciguatera affected reef fish, grows his own fruit & vegetables and takes his boat a few miles across the lagoon to Rikitea for other supplies. A bank of solar panels provides the necessary electricity.
For the last 14 years they have been hosting cruisers for a BBQ every other Sunday. They are incredibly hospitable and make you feel very welcome in their home. They enjoy meeting those intrepid sailors that visit the Gambier Islands and of course, it is such a unique experience for us to spend time with such generous people and appreciate their way of life. There were just 6 of us when we visited – ourselves plus Kerry & John on Kelani and a French couple, Sylvane & Leticia on Cruising Bird. Valerie had prepared some food – guacamole & crackers, rice, fish with a tasty sauce, as well as cooked bananas and we all contributed our own delicacies to the feast. All washed down with rum punch, although mine was seriously lightweight compared to the rocket fuel supplied by Valerie & Leticia! It was such a lovely afternoon, learning much about the Gambier Islands & their own Mangarevan heritage. After lunch we had a highly competitive game of boules, which I’m pleased to say Bill & I won, but only because the 3rd member of our team was Hervé! It was a very memorable occasion and a highlight of our time in the Gambiers.
We spent another night in Agakauitai Bay, then headed back to the reef to anchor off Totegegie – a long thin atoll where the airport is located. There are only 2 flights a week, (between Tahiti & the Gambiers), so we knew that we wouldn’t be troubled by the noise. It was another great location for swimming, snorkeling and generally having a good time with friends, (which included another boules game with Chris & Be off the boat Halley).
We had been keeping an eye on the weather, as the time was approaching for us to head back to Tahiti via the Tuamotus. Both Kelani & ourselves have visitors arriving in April – for us our daughter, Alice & son, Wil – which we are very much looking forward to. A period of fairly consistent E/SE winds were forecast in a few days time, so we headed back to Rikitea for a final reprovision before leaving. On the way we spent a night at the Southern end of Aukena, one of the other high islands in the lagoon. We met Antoine on the beach, clearly the custodian of that end of the island, who lived alone in a house on the beach. He looks after the church of St Raphael and the surrounding gardens full of citrus trees and several rather large tame pigs. He was very keen to chat, kindly donated us some oranges & directed us to a path leading to a small disused hexagonal lookout tower perched at the end of the cape. The following day was more breezy, but we had a quick snorkel from the boat although the visibility wasn’t great & there were swarms of small jellyfish floating around.
So we headed back to Rikitea for the last bit of provisioning & pearl shopping! Our timing rather conveniently coincided with that of the arrival of the supply ship, so we managed to get most of what we needed for the next few weeks. We were not planning to see any shops again until Tahiti.
Our last night was spent anchored off Taravai. We visited Hervé & Valerie for a final farewell & purchased fresh produce from their bountiful garden. So we are now replete with bananas, pamplemousse, passion fruit, avocado & limes – we won’t be getting scurvy anytime soon on this ship! We had a good snorkel over the reef south of the bay, cut slightly short by an over friendly white tipped shark, that initially had paid its undivided attention to John & Kerry, who headed back to the dinghy. It then turned its loving attention on Bill & I. They are more inquisitive than the black tipped shark reef sharks & generally approach out of curiosity, (or when looking for a potential food source!). Clearly we weren’t looking that tasty although it kept circling us a several times!
Finally it was farewell to the Gambier Islands as we lifted the anchor and navigated our way out through the lagoon to the pass. We will remember the Gambiers for their welcoming, joyful inhabitants, the contrasting verdant high islands & the low palm-fringed motus, the good (jewellery) and bad (pearl float hazards) of the pearl industry, great climate and for the friends we made. Next stop Tahanea, 680nm and 5 days away.