Tahiti –
Our trip from the Tumotu’s to Tahiti was one of the worst we’ve ever experienced. With a constant onslaught of squalls containing heavy winds, rain and rough seas we were battered and beaten again and again. With winds reaching up to fifty knots and rain so hard it was painful to stand in we really picked the wrong time to make the passage! We were sailing with three other boats: Helen Kate, Silene and Serai but found it very hard keeping visual contact; luckily we stayed in touch over the radio and were happy to know we weren’t the only ones out there. After three days of very little sleep and hand steering the island of Tahiti was a very welcome sight and after a tough sail beating up the coast we limped into the anchorage just off the Tahiti yacht club on the North coast of the island and dropped our anchor in perfectly calm water. We were very lucky that we suffered no damage to Bluemoon but our friends received broken stays and one ripped out mainsail sheet. Once anchored safely we stripped the boat down below of everything that got wet underway and hung it out on deck to dry in the sun, Bluemoon looked like a Chinese Laundry boat!!
Ashore we were awestruck with the huge French supermarkets stocking everything and anything we could possibly wish for especially the European products I’d been without for well over a year. We wandered the isles dazed by all the bright colours and perfect looking fruit and vegetables in such abundance. We treated ourselves to some nice big juicy steaks, fresh French bread and cheese and of course a couple of bottles of wine for our first night back in civilization.
After a couple of days adjusting to the sights and sounds of a busy metropolitan country we moved the boat around to the main anchorage in Lagon De Punaavia on the North western side of the island just south of Papeete. We were just in time to celebrate the 4th of July, American Independence day, on board our friends Catamaran ‘Bare feet’ . Although the Americans were seriously out numbered by the non Americans we had a great time and celebrated in style! The same night we went on into the city of Papeete to watch a huge dance competition of local Polynesian Dancers competing against the other islands. The graceful movements of the dancers, the traditional music and powerful singing made it a really magical experience. Every dance consisted of almost a hundred dancers and depicted a story relating to local traditions that are passed on over the generations. It was very easy to get drawn in by the dancer’s energy and the bright colours that we could have happily stayed watching them all night!
A few days later we took a Safari tour of the island with some other cruisers, and in the back of a land rover we headed into the mountains in the heart of the island. The countryside is extremely beautiful and our Tahitian guide explained to us local traditions and stories of Polynesia’s history. He also explained the meanings behind the tattoos that cover the locals’ bodies and why a person would traditionally get a certain one. Some are to show what family a person belongs to and others mark something that happens in a person’s life, anything from coming of age to the loss of a loved one. Now however, they have become popular with westerners who just pick out the ones they think look the most attractive and have no personal meaning.
While in Tahiti we also took the opportunity to get in some diving and go for a guided tour of an old seaplane and a huge old wooden trading ship. Swimming down to about seventy feet we still had perfect visibility and were able to go inside the plane and out the cockpit window. The ship had been taken over completely by the sea and covered in colourful reef and all kinds of mysterious looking fish, including the biggest Rock fish I’d ever seen. There are a lot of great dive spots in Tahiti many of which are well marked and as long as you have your own equipment and transport it’s very easy to go on your own and see something different every day.
.
Moorea-
Ashore we were awestruck with the huge French supermarkets stocking everything and anything we could possibly wish for especially the European products I’d been without for well over a year. We wandered the isles dazed by all the bright colours and perfect looking fruit and vegetables in such abundance. We treated ourselves to some nice big juicy steaks, fresh French bread and cheese and of course a couple of bottles of wine for our first night back in civilization.
After a couple of days adjusting to the sights and sounds of a busy metropolitan country we moved the boat around to the main anchorage in Lagon De Punaavia on the North western side of the island just south of Papeete. We were just in time to celebrate the 4th of July, American Independence day, on board our friends Catamaran ‘Bare feet’ . Although the Americans were seriously out numbered by the non Americans we had a great time and celebrated in style! The same night we went on into the city of Papeete to watch a huge dance competition of local Polynesian Dancers competing against the other islands. The graceful movements of the dancers, the traditional music and powerful singing made it a really magical experience. Every dance consisted of almost a hundred dancers and depicted a story relating to local traditions that are passed on over the generations. It was very easy to get drawn in by the dancer’s energy and the bright colours that we could have happily stayed watching them all night!
A few days later we took a Safari tour of the island with some other cruisers, and in the back of a land rover we headed into the mountains in the heart of the island. The countryside is extremely beautiful and our Tahitian guide explained to us local traditions and stories of Polynesia’s history. He also explained the meanings behind the tattoos that cover the locals’ bodies and why a person would traditionally get a certain one. Some are to show what family a person belongs to and others mark something that happens in a person’s life, anything from coming of age to the loss of a loved one. Now however, they have become popular with westerners who just pick out the ones they think look the most attractive and have no personal meaning.
While in Tahiti we also took the opportunity to get in some diving and go for a guided tour of an old seaplane and a huge old wooden trading ship. Swimming down to about seventy feet we still had perfect visibility and were able to go inside the plane and out the cockpit window. The ship had been taken over completely by the sea and covered in colourful reef and all kinds of mysterious looking fish, including the biggest Rock fish I’d ever seen. There are a lot of great dive spots in Tahiti many of which are well marked and as long as you have your own equipment and transport it’s very easy to go on your own and see something different every day.
.
Moorea-
Just a day sail from Tahiti lies the island of Moorea, a very beautiful island and one of our favourite so far. We sailed in through a pass in the reef and anchored in 12 feet of beautiful crystal clear water just off the bay in which they filmed the movie ‘Mutiny on the Bounty’. On one side we were enclosed by perfect live coral reef and on the other a long white sandy beach covered in palm trees….Perfect!! A great thing to do here is to take the dingy to a sandy shallow spit in the bay where we could stand waist deep in the water and feed the sting rays. It’s a bit daunting to start with but once you get used to them they come right up and take food from your hand and as they brushed up against us they felt really soft and gentle. The reef sharks that came along for a look were a little bit more scary but once we were used to them we could swim out among them without a worry. The coral reef here is very beautiful and there’s lots of fish to snorkel around and look at straight off the boat.
Ashore we found a lot of great hikes and exploring under foot from the anchorage is very easy. The local people were extremely friendly and kept stopping their cars to offer us a ride but were shocked when we explained we’d rather walk! They grow a lot of bananas on the island and Jimmy found it his mission to bring at least one stalk home every time we went ashore. The problem is that they tend to ripen all together and so we found ourselves being forced to eat over five bananas and bake banana cake everyday so that none went to waste! Moorea is very popular with tourists especially Honeymooners and it’s easy to see why. There are very few hotels and the ones that are there are very beautiful; with thatched roofed huts stretching out into the ocean allowing great views of the island and each with its own swimming platform into sea. The sunsets here are amazing with the whole sky constantly changing colours that seem to last forever. We were very sad to leave this wonderful place but there’s still so much to see!!
No comments:
Post a Comment