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
