Author: richwest3

August 1 – 10, 2012

Generally bad weather while cruising is not a desirable thing, but sometimes it can be a blessing. If you can make your way to a secure place, bad weather can let you enjoy it in a way that is special and rare when you’re cruising with a time limit. Raiatea was a perfect example of this.

When we arrived, we had at least week of strong winds ahead of us. There would be no pressure to get going as we were “stuck.” We could just relax, do boat work, and sightsee at our leisure. It allowed us to enjoy morning yoga classes, spend evenings with new friends, to get to know the town of Utaroa in depth, and to take a few days to really see the island.

If our weather conditions had been good, we would never have bothered to go to the marina and would never have met some great people or experienced some great things. We would have spent a couple of days tied to the public dock in town and then, lacking some conveniences there, would have moved on to “better” spots.

After 9 days the winds calmed and after a tearful good-bye, it was time to get going once again. The clock resumed its ticking, but for awhile it was nice to have a time out to enjoy the gifts that bad weather can bring.

August 09, 2012

We planned to sail our boat to Taha’a, but when we had the opportunity to go on a circle-island tour of the island, we grabbed it. Taking a tour would help us decide where we wanted to go, and what we could skip. It included a snorkeling trip at the Coral Gardens, tours of a pearl farm and a vanilla farm, a safari trip to a lookout point, and lunch. I was especially excited to see the Taha’a Resort near the Coral Gardens as I have always dreamed of staying there.

The tour turned out to be a great thing to do. The highlight of the day was, as expected, the Coral Gardens. But an unexpected highlight was the lunch that was included in the tour. The guide’s family prepared the lunch at their home, and it included banana bread, taro and breadfruit side dishes, poisson cru with rice, fresh mahi in vanilla sauce, and fruit salad for dessert. On the table were carafes of wine and water, and the final treat was coffee with fresh vanilla. The food was delicious, as good as the best restaurants we’ve been to and worth the price of the entire tour.

The day ended with a drive up through a tropical forest to a lookout over Haamene Bay. When we saw it, we decided to bring the boat there after we left Raiatea. This ended up being an worthwhile tour! -Cyndi

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

August 1 – 10, 2012

Utaroa (the main city on Raiatea) is a strange but interesting place.  It’s the second largest city in French Polynesia, but that said, it’s small, more of a town than a city, and rather . . . rustic.  You can walk from one end to the other in a few minutes.  Within this town, though, are three pretty good-size grocery stores, several small markets, and a central plaza area that sells produce and has some food stands.  There are scattered upscale gift shops for the passengers of the weekly cruise ship, and a couple of dusty hardware stores.

The most distinct thing about Utaroa is prevalence of Chinese food.  It may not be the biggest city, but it is definitely the Chinese food capital of French Polynesia.  It’s not the spicy Chinese food that’s become popular in the states, though, but the more old-fashioned Cantonese-style food. Still, it’s pretty good.

Our favorite dish to get was chow mein, which had a lot of meat and vegetables with the noodles. Of course, being French Polynesia, there is always a sliced baguette served with the meal. One of our favorite lunches combined the two: the chow mein sandwich (on a baguette). It was starch heaven!   -Cyndi

August 3 & 4, 2012

The reef off the west coast of Raiatea has a lot of land above water, creating islands, motus, and lagoons that gave it an otherworldly feel.  On the south side of the island, the reef is mostly underwater, creating a bright blue band in the darker off-shore water.  Few people live there, and it feels windswept and remote.

It was surprising to come across a pretty inn at the end of a bumpy turnoff leading to the ocean.  This island is off the beaten path as it is, and then this inn is such on a remote part of it.

We’d discovered this place the previous day (on our circle-island trip) and liked it so much we brought our friends here after our waterfall hike. We only came for coffee but were delighted when those drinks were accompanied by a selection of homemade cookies!

I have to say they are pretty nice here at the ends of the earth.  -Cyndi