August 7, 2012
One “must do” in Raiatea is a walk up Tapioi Hill, the hill behind the city. From here you can see sweeping views of the city of Utaroa, the island of Taha’a nearby and the reef that surrounds both Raiatea and Taha’a.
The walk up to the peak takes about 45 minutes is quite beautiful, but there are some special challenges. By challenges I mean livestock that roams free. The horses aren’t a concern, but the cows are another matter. Normally cows are pretty gentle, but you have to be wary if they have calves, and bulls are always a big concern. We were with friends, so we had some feeling of safety in numbers. We cautiously passed the cows, and very cautiously passed a bull we saw along the way.
We reached the peak and a magnificent viewpoint that looks to the north and east. Seeing a couple of bulls on the path to the west view, we decided we didn’t really need to see it. In fact, we decided it might be a good time to head back down the hill. We had to pass more cows, speaking nicely to them as we went by as quickly as possible.
When people ask us what the scariest part of our ocean voyage was, we can say that so far, it was the cows (no bull!). -Cyndi
