It has been just over a month since I returned from Italy. I went there to celebrate the marriage of my niece, Rachel to Ben. It was a joyous occasion full of much love, support & affection for a wonderful couple, who are both thoroughly gorgeous human beings. They deserve each other. It was also an opportunity for me to catch up with Wil again & my daughter, Alice, who flew in from Bangkok for the occasion. Needless to say we had a great time & we all enjoyed the fact that we could spend time with my sister’s family in a stunning location in Tuscany. Arriving back in Papeete was a bit like returning to a parallel universe – such a contrast!
So good to see Bill again most of all, who had been incredibly industrious in my absence. It has always been the case, that without the distraction of his wife, Bill is able to achieve a long list of jobs without me being around to generally interfere!
Since then, we have been on tour guide duty. Our lovely friends Max & Mette,(with whom I stayed with in Umbria for a few days), arrived within 48hrs of my return and our leisurely meandering was been replaced by a program committed to incorporate all of our best experiences so far! We promptly left Papeete & headed for Vaiare in Moorea for our first stop. The magnificence of the mountains & aquamarine lagoon always make for a good first stop. After that we headed round the corner to Ha’apiti, which was our launching position for Raiatea – so within 2 days we were right into an overnight passage! This was the second of literally all our passages with Max & Mette that was bookended by some sort of cetacean experience! As we exited the pass, a mother & calf emerged very close – much to everyone’s surprise & delight. It is whale watching season here August to November and, much like Australia’s east coast, the populations of migratory whales has significantly increased.
Our time in Raiatea & Tahaa was filled with some great experiences:
- first anchorage in our favourite spot at Ile Tipaemaua
- A trip up the river to the botanical gardens
- Anchoring in NW Raiatea where Max & Mette enjoyed an excellent dive.
- A visit to the pearl farm & vanilla farm in Taha’a.
- 2 visits to the coral gardens for snorkeling in a shallow ‘aquarium’
- Swimming with mantas, although only 1 around on 2 occasions
A special highlight, we enjoyed the most delicious meal at Fish & Blue in Raiatea – sunset dining with views over the lagoon enjoying the company of good friends. Doesn’t get much better than that!
Max & Mette also bought some goodies for the boat – some of the marine variety, (we are very excited about a new anchor control with a chain counter), as well as a coffee percolator, which has significantly enriched BIll’s breakfast experience as well as an underwater camera. The latter has been so much appreciated as we can now attempt to capture some of the beauty of the underwater world. We used it at the coral gardens & whilst our photos paled into insignificance compared to Max’s awesome photos, (he is a very accomplished photographer), we did manage to snap a few goodies. When I failed to capture a moving subject, (& it’s very annoying that fish don’t have a propensity to pose for a photo), I resorted to capturing the exquisite colours of the iridescent clams which populated the reef.
We were very much aware of the weather window for returning to Moorea & Tahiti, so we only managed a brief stop in Huahine during which we hired a car for the day to do the ‘sights’. Our overnight return passage was good – sailing conditions & sea state very tolerable & again we were treated to whale sightings at either end of the trip. Those at Moorea were exceptional – whales breaching not far from Cooks Bay where we anchored for few days. Max & Mette certainly made the best use of the time there hiring a car for the day, doing a couple more dives & having the most incredible encounters with a juvenile whale in a whale snorkeling tour. In retrospect we could kick ourselves for not going but it was a last minute plan & we thought we would save the experience for when Edward, our oldest son & his fiancée, Alicia arrive.
We returned to Tahiti with a few days in hand & easily filled the time with a trip to Papeete, visit to the museum & a road trip of ‘Highlights of Tahiti’. So a pretty jam packed schedule but a real pleasure to be able to share the delights of cruising in French Polynesia with good friends. We were lucky that the weather obliged & that we were able to achieve what we set out to do. Knowing that in fact, we would repeat the experience when Edward & Alicia arrived 2 days later! More to come on the next adventures…