French Polynesia

Let us begin by apologizing. We have not been able to email the group since arriving in Hiva Oa because our hard drive crashed.  Unfortunately, our three month old computer just couldn't take the wild Pacific waves... Best Buy will be getting our sob story when we get home. So after days of trying to have the computer repaired, we finally have some sort of illegal french operating system that will expire in 30 days. In addition our case to Best Buy is probably shot. We also apologize in advance because this email will likely fail to do justice to our experiences in French Polynesia and will also be exceptionally long.

 

The Marquesan Islands are full of primitive culture and kindness. The wild chickens belong to everyone, just like the fish in the sea. We sailed to four of the six islands, Hiva Oa, Tahuata, Ua Po, and Nuka Hiva. In the Marquesas, steep cliffs drop into water thousands of feet deep. A highlight for us was a dingy date we took upon arriving in Tahuata. As Brian pulled the dingy up to the dock, ten kids (ages 7-9) were dancing on the dock waiting for us. The kids jumped into our dingy and requested to be driven around the remote anchorage. The island is the smallest of the Marquesan Islands and is home to only 500 people. The kids took turns driving the dingy and showed us around their little village. The highlight in Ua Po was definitely a hike to a waterfall in the middle of the jungle with some of our friends from an American boat. The water was cold and fresh, which was rejuvenating after our 17 day passage across the Pacific from the Galapagos. The ARC function in Nuka Hiva was fantastic, local dancers covered in creative Marquesan tattoos gave a great show. The buffet of fruit and fish was huge. Our highlight from Nuka Hiva was the Catholic ceremony we attended at Notre Dame. Marquesan Catholicism is very unique, as images depict Jesus as an islander, clutching little tiki statues. The concept is very confusing, and we wont even begin to speculate until we return to the states and do some research... Anyway, the French/Marquisan ceremony had the most beautiful music. There were no instruments, but the fullness of the voices filled the entire island.

 

From the Marquesas, we sailed to the Tuamoto Islands. At Rangirora, the coral reef is thriving. Snorkeling the reef at mid-day was fantastic and we were frequently visited by blacktip sharks. Swimming with sharks has become an every day occurrence in French Polynesia. Luckily, there are enough fish around the humans are pretty low on the menu. The fish and coral species were very diverse. We visited Gauguin Pearl Farm and were educated on the process of raising the perfect pearl and how to determine its value. Brian did a drift dive in the two passes to the atol and one sunset dive where he saw lots of sharks, rays (spotted & manta), schools of large fish (tuna, jacks, barracuda, & etc.) and an abundance of healthy coral and reef fish.  The snorkeling inside the lagoon was also spectacular and became an almost daily activity.  One day, while seeking out sharks, Brian dropped his underwater camera.  We felt fortunate to only have lost the snorkeling pictures of Rangiroa as we had chagned out SD cards upon arrival.  Amazingly, one of the crew members on another boat found the camera while snorkelng the same spot 4 days later.  It was a little beaten up but still functioning.

 

We arrived in Tahiti a week ago. Papeete is the biggest city that we have seen since Panama. The traffic and noise were pretty intimidating and we quickly decided that we would take the ferry over to Moorea for a little time on land. We couchsurfed four days in Moorea with a French family. They had their hands full with two young girls so we rented a scooter to transport ourselves around the island during our stay. Scooting around the island together was very refreshing after being on a boat for so long. Moorea has beautifull beaches, a dying reef, and spectacular mountain views. Apparently several years ago, a storm destroyed most of the reef and it has yet to recover. Each evening we returned to our host family to play with the kids and cook dinner together. Four days later, we returned to Papeete and continue to explore Tahiti. The surf is supposed to be rocking, but we have yet to see that. We saw a super high waterfall, which was really pretty. The open air market has nice fruit, vegetables, and artisan crafts. Tahiti is alright... probably our least favorite of the islands, but but we have restocked items that we needed and are ready to move on. Everything is super expensive in Tahiti... and in our opinion, not worth the expense.

 

Tomorrow we leave for Bora Bora. On the way, we will take our time visiting smaller islands within the Society Islands.  Possibly Raitea, Tahaa & Huahine . After Bora Bora, we will make a few stops on our way to Tonga and Fiji.

 

Hope everyone is doing well and we look forward to catching up soon!