Month: August 2012

August 3, 2012

Over our time in Raiatea, we found that it is a strange, beautiful and exotic place.  Each island in French Polynesia is unique, but somehow Raiatea is more so; it feels different from the other islands.  When I see a new place, I tend to go through the brain memory files for a close match.  Often, I can pick out places from my past that a new place reminds me of, but not so much with Raiatea.  Sometimes it is beautiful and feels like a dream world, sometimes it is strange, sometimes it’s a little foreboding, and sometimes it just feels like the end of the earth.

This really hit home when a friend of ours was thinking about going around to seldom-visited anchorages on the south and west side of the island.  On our circle-island drive we had seen these anchorages and been surprised there were no boats in any of them! Hearing our friend talk about going, we told him these would be perfect for him: off the beaten path.  I then realized, in spite of my own love for the occasional secluded bay, I would not want to anchor in these places.  Even though they were only a few miles away, they seemed too wild and remote, the kind of place where you just feel very alone (in an unsettling way).

Rich and I came to love this island, but this is one of those examples of it being important to tell people why you love a place (the same way you should tell them why you don’t).  We were lucky and got into a marina and were very comfortable during a windy period – we were in the right place at the right time.  We rented a car and saw the island.  We liked the “strange” Chinese food (other cruisers were always surprised that it wasn’t spicy, resorting to using Tabasco sauce to try to liven it up).  We did yoga every morning on a grassy area overlooking a beautiful bay, and we made great friends here.

I can certainly see how for most cruisers, this is a quick stop in an odd place for groceries and duty-free fuel before heading on to the more classically beautiful Taha’a and Bora Bora.  This was one of our favorite places, but we’d be careful about recommending it as this isn’t for everyone.  With our circumstances, it was perfect for us. -Cyndi

Below, some photos from our circle-island car trip.

August 3, 2012

We decided to go counter-clockwise on our car trip around Raiatea knowing this would put us in more populated areas (hopefully with eateries) at lunchtime. So far, the trip had given us some beautiful scenery as we drove down the island’s west and south sides.

Heading back north on the east coast we stopped to visit the Marae Taputapuatea, an ancient religious and ceremonial site.  It was beautiful and it felt peaceful; yet there was also something unsettling about it that I couldn’t put my finger on.  I guess I’d sum it up by saying that I wouldn’t want to walk around there alone at night.  (Maybe that stems from the human sacrifices that took place here.)

We ended our drive with a lunch stop at the Hotel Raiatea Hawaiki Nui, the island’s only “luxury” hotel.  It probably was stylish in the sixties (when it was built) but now looked rather dated and a little worn.  Still, it’s a very likeable place and a nice stop for lunch. -Cyndi

 

August 3, 2012

So imagine our surprise. We’re driving along the road in Raiatea (we rented a car for some sightseeing) and beside us not 25 feet away we see a spotted eagle ray splashing around.

We get out for a closer look and to take some pictures. It was swimming along on top of the shallow reef right beside the road.

Another surprise: there were four small spotted eagle rays swimming along behind the first one we saw. It looked like a mother with four babies but I didn’t think this could be the case – I thought they laid eggs that hatched without the mother around. After consulting Wikipedia, we found out that they are ovoviviparous – the mother retains the eggs in her body and they hatch one year later. The young, up to four at a time, are born with a wingspan between 7 and 14 inches. These were about 14 inches, we’d guess. It could very well have been a mother and her young. What an incredible road-side sight! -Rich

 

 

August 3 – 7, 2012

One of the nicest things about our stay at the marina were the early morning yoga sessions led by Marlies. She would do yoga on the lawn overlooking the water, and anyone who wanted to could join her.

Kathy lent me a yoga mat, and Rich used a cockpit cushion (which worked surprisingly well), and we’d trek over at 6:30am every morning to do our yoga by the sea.

August 02, 2012

This became our motto for Raiatea as we had occasion to repeat it quite a few times. Our second day here, we decided to walk around the top end of the island to a marina and boat haul-out on the northwest side (about a 3 mile walk).  We walked along the road, and we were surprised to find, out in the middle of nowhere, a Do It Center.  We had one of these in Fallbrook, but it closed not long after we moved there and I was sad to see it go.  I have never seen another one until now.  Here, out on a lonely road in Raiatea, was a Do It Center, with exactly the same sign and colors as the one we had in Fallbrook.  It even looked the same inside.

We headed on, stopping to rent a car for the following day as we passed the main airport.  People fly in here all the time, but they generally take a shuttle boat right over to Taha’a.  Most of the tourist traffic on this island comes from the weekly cruise ship. (I find it bizarre the ship comes on Sunday when the town of Utaroa is closed up. It’s another Raiatea mystery).  We were able to rent a car for the following day before walking on.

As we walked, there was a small stream along the road.  I looked down into it and saw an eel!  Then I saw it was chasing a big shrimp.  We stood and watched the eel try to get the shrimp, and the shrimp successfully evading him.  You don’t see that every day.

The next day on our circle-island trip in the car, we stopped at the side of the road to get a picture of some scenery.  Right there in the water below us were five spotted eagle rays that looked like a mother swimming with youngsters.  I have seen eagle rays before, but not this close and certainly not while pulled over alongside the road.  I also didn’t know young rays stayed with their mothers, but it seems they do.  Again, you don’t see that every day. We would go on to repeat this phrase a lot while we were here. -Cyndi