28 Apr: Huahine
We flew in 30 minutes to the island of Huahine. We had treated
ourselves
to a villa
at
Bougainville
Villas,
complete
with a
car and a
motor boat
for the
two day
stay on
the
island; A
more
expensive
option
than usual
but
definitely
worth it.
The 2
bedroom
villa
is
nicely
decorated
and very
well
equipped
(there's
even a
washing
machine)
and has a
lovely big
terrace.
The car is
brand new
and
the
aluminium
hull boat
with a
15 hp
engine is
docked
on
a
private
jetty on
the lagoon
just 50 m
from the
house.
Class!
After a quick food shop and lunch we headed out on the motor boat
to explore
the lagoon
around the
east side
of Huahine
Iti. We
stopped alongside
Motu
Murimahora
for some
snorkelling.
The
coral
and
fish
were
lovely
and
with
the
water
temperature
at 30
degrees,
we didn't
get cold!
Then a
stop at a
white sand
beach at
the
tip of
the
motu
for
the
girls
to
have a
quick play
in the
shallows,
before
continuing
our
journey
around the
small
island of
Huahine
(Huahine
Iti) to
another
white sand
beach on
Motu
Araara. We
collected
a couple
of
coconuts
from the
beach and
then set
off
back
in
the
direction
of the
villa. On
the way we
saw some
several
sting
rays. Will
we ever
get lucky
enough to
see these
beautiful
creatures
whilst
we're
snorkelling?
We enjoyed dinner on the terrace and then watched an
interesting documentary
on TV
about
Easter
Island,
our next
destination
after
Polynesia.
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 |
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| The Huahine
islands |
The villa and
car |
The motor boat
on
the
lagoon |
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 |
 |
| Sophie
snorkelling |
Gaelle
snorkelling |
A box fish |
29 Apr: Huahine
This morning we decided to tour the islands of Huahine by car. We
started
with the
lookout
point over
Maroe Bay,
where the
villa's
situated.
Then we
stopped at
Faie to
see the
sacred
blue eyed
eels
which
live
in a
short
stretch
of
river.
They're
well fed
by the
locals and
hence are surprisingly
big for
fresh
water
eels. We
fed them
our
left-over
bread. On
the way to
the
archeological
remains of
the
coastal
marae
around
Maeva, a
lovely
smell
of
vanilla
caught our
attention
so we
stopped at
a vanilla
grower's.
We learnt
how the
vanilla is
grown,
picked and
dried,
tasted
some
vanilla
rum and
saw some
vanilla
plantations. The
Maeva
marae
reside on
the edge
of the
lagoon and
are the
most
complete
and
most interesting
remains
that we've
seen to
date.
Next stop was the Huahine pearl farm. A small boat took us over
to visit
the pearl
shop out
on the
lagoon
next to
the oyster
beds.
We
learnt
how
pearls
are
farmed
and
had a
good
look
at
the
brut pearls
for sale.
We then
did a
quick tour
of Huahine
Iti,
stopping
for a
picnic on
a white
sandy
beach and
a look at
some more
marae
remains.
We spent a lovely afternoon on the lagoon with the motor boat. We
went under
the bridge
linking
the two
Huahine
islands
and headed
up
the
west
side
of
Huahine
Nui to a
coral
garden and
a spot
called the
natural
aquarium.
The
snorkelling
in both
spots was
great.
It's
surprising
just how
comfortable
the girls
now are
in the
water;
both
can
dive
down
to
pick up
shells
or look
more
closely at
the coral
and blow
the water
out of the
snorkel when
surfacing.
On the way
back we
spotted a
turtle and
several
sting rays
from the
boat.
It's
nice
to
see the
islands
from
the lagoon
as the views are
very
different
to that
obtained
when
driving
around the
roads.
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 |
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| The lookout
over
Maroe
Bay
and
Huahine
Iti |
Sophie showing
a
clam |
Angel fish |
30 Apr: Huahine and flight to Raiatea
This morning it was raining... By 9:30 it was still grey and
overcast,
but the
rain had
stopped so
we decided
to take
the boat
out
on the
lagoon
and
return
to
the
coral
garden we
snorkelled
at
the day
before.
Gaelle
found a
beautiful
shell
whilst
snorkelling
but
unfortunately
it still
had the
mollusc
inside,
but it
appeared
to
be
dead.
We
decided
to
put it
into the
ice-cream
tub filled
with
water
in
the
boat
and
observe it
for a
while. By
the time
we reached
a white
sand beach
opposite
the
snorkelling
spot on
Huahine
Iti, the
shell
had
shown
no
sign of
life. A
guard
followed
us up to
the beach
on his
kayak
pirogue
and when
we showed
him the
shell he
took
control of
the
situation,
got out
his knife
and
started to
empty the
shell.
Gaelle was
delighted
to be able
to keep
the shell
but
we
were
all a
bit
taken
aback
as
we
don't
like
killing
any form
of
animal...
We returned to the villa before the rain started again to shower
and have
lunch.
Then
Raphael,
our host,
dropped us
off at the
airport
for our
flight to
Raiatea.
Fifteen
minutes
later and
we
landed
at
Raiatea
to
be
warmly
greeted by
the owners
of Sunset
Beach
Motel.
The
bungalow
was very
nice and
roomy,
right on
the edge
of
the
lagoon
and
on a
lovely
plot of
land of
about
1000m2. A
particularly
nice touch
was
the hibiscus
flowers
laid all
over
the bungalow,
shells
along the
terrace
balcony and
fresh
opened
coconuts
placed in
the fridge
with
straws.
François and Sophie went for a swim in the lagoon to explore the
corals
before
dinner and
we
arranged a
dive for
the next
day.
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 |
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| The bungalow
at
Sunset
Beach
Motel |
Gaelle proudly
showing
her
shell |
François
enjoying
a
fresh
coconut |
1 May: Raiatea
Once the rain had subsided, we took one of the
hotel's kayaks
out onto
the lagoon
with the
objective
of
reaching
a
nearby
motu. It
took 3/4
hour to
row to the
tiny coral
fringed
island. We
then took
to the
water for
a spot of
snorkelling
before
beginning
our
journey
back. The
kayak
started
lying lower and
lower on
the water
and
becoming
more and
more
unstable.
It became
obvious
that it
was fill
of water
so we
rowed as
quickly as
we could
to shore,
fortunately
making it
without
capsizing!
We then
proceeded
to empty
the kayak;
it must
have had
at least
60-70
litres
of
water
in
it as
we
struggled
to lift
it. After
some
deliberation
we decided
to risk
continuing
our return
journey
by
kayak,
keeping
as
close
to
the
shore
as
possible.
We stopped
a
second
time to
empty it,
before
making it
safe and
sound back
to the
hotel's
jetty,
with
aching
arms. What
an
adventure!
In the afternoon we went out for a dive on the sheltered east
side of
the island
at Teavo
Piti with
Hemisphere
Sub. The
girls came
with us on
the boat
accompanied
by a dive
instructor
who would
take
them
snorkelling.
The dive
in the
pass was
fantastic! Eight
black
tipped
reef
sharks
circled
around us
for the
whole duration of
the dive.
It
was our
first encounter
with
sharks! We
also
saw
seven
huge
Napoleons
measuring
up to 1.5
metres
long, a
leopard
ray, a
school of
barracuda,
an
enormous
tuna
fish, a
lionfish,
a moray
eel and
hundreds
and
hundreds
of
tropical
fish. The girls
thoroughly
enjoyed
their
snorkel
around the
nearby
motu. Back
at the
dive
centre
situated
in a hotel
we swam in
the pool
and
watched a
fashion
show
before
being
driven
back to
our
bungalow.
We got an Internet access at the hotel, but the connection
was so
unreliable
and
slow that
we
couldn't
finish uploading
our
website.
Sorry for
the
missing images...
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| On the dive
boat |
2 Apr: Tahaa and Flight to Bora Bora
We went on an excursion today of the vanilla island of
Tahaa, just
north
of Raiatea.
We started
by
crossing
the
lagoon
between
the two
islands on
a pirogue
under a
grey,
cloudy sky and
finished
under the
rain with
raincoats
on!
Just
our
luck!
Fortunately
though the
weather
cleared up
when we
reached
the pearl
farm. We
were given
a very
interesting
and
complete
talk about
the
culture
of pearls
before
hopping
into a
4WD
to do
a
tour of
the
island. We
were
quickly
halted by
road block
caused by
a fallen
electricity
pole, so
we
attacked
the
circuit the
other way
round. The
track to
the
lookout
point was
really muddy
and steep
in
places but
it proved
no
challenge
for a
Land
Rover. On
the way,
Edwin our
guide
showed
us
how to
make a
flute from
a native
tree and a
plate from
leaves.
From
the
lookout
point we
had a
beautiful
view of
Tahaa with
both
Raiatea
and Bora
Bora in
the
distance.
Edwin
cut us
up some
grapefruit
and grated
some
coconut
flesh to
be eaten
with
bananas. It
was all
really
tasty,
especially
the
grapefruit
which was
green and
unexpectedly
sweet.
Then a
stop at a
vanilla
farm wher
Edwin
explained
how
vanilla
flowers
are
pollinated
by man and
how the
vanilla is
dried.
Next a delicious 3 course meal prepared by Edwin's
wife; raw
fish
salad,
tuna
sashumi,
coconut
bread,
fried fish balls,
baked tuna
in vanilla
sauce with
rice,
fresh
fruit
salad and
coffee.
After
lunch we
got back
in the
pirogue
and headed
for a
nearby motu
for a
snorkel.
We saw
lots of
interesting
things
including a
coral
eating
starfish
we'd seen
in the
aquarium
at Noumea,
a
squid, a
caterpillar
like
animal,
box fish
and
several
picasso.
Then return journey to Raiatea to catch our flight to Bora Bora.
We arrived
just after
sunset at
Bora Bora
and the
views of
the old
crater
peaks and
the lagoon
were
stunning.
We took
the airport boat
shuttle to
Vaitape
and waited
for the
transfer
to Chez
Robert et
Tina to
pick us
up. It
didn't
turn up,
so we
resorted to catching a
taxi...
The room is plain and poky with a shared bathroom and kitchen...
Quite a
step down
from the
nice
bungalow
in Raiatea
which was the
same
price...
But then
this is
Bora Bora,
so fingers
crossed that
tomorrow
morning
when we
see the
beauty of
the famous
Matira Point
we'll feel
better
about
staying
here
for four nights!
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| Eating bananas
and
grated
coconut
at the lookout |
The view from
the
lookout
over
Tahaa |
BACK
| 
