Beyond Tahiti

Serendipity - our timing may not have been better.  Having been in Papeete, Tahiti, for only a few days, the government announced some lightening of the lockdown in place there.  It meant we could do everything on land almost as normal, and with the second announcement two weeks into our stay, we could also sail to other islands within the same archipelago - meaning only Moorea in our case - the other large island 15 miles from Tahiti forming the windward Society Islands. 

So within a couple of days we prepared to make the short sail out of Papeete harbour to the inviting Moorea which had been the backdrop to most of the sunsets we had enjoyed whilst here.  Fifteen nautical miles and three hours later we were cruising along the North coast of the island looking for a suitable anchorage. Many boats had spent their lockdown period here, so it was by no means empty, but not so busy that we weren’t able to easily find a nice anchorage in Oponohu bay.  The bay was like a deep fjord cutting into the island with huge soaring peaks all around.  It was so peaceful as we were the only boat here apart from a couple of small local yachts.  We spent a few days there, later moving to an anchorage outside the small village of Papeto’ai where we were able to mail a letter, and shop for some groceries. Whilst we were there, we finally heard the news about total deconfinement of French Polynesia - which meant we were free to cruise wherever we wanted!

Having been given the green light to cruise between all the islands, we thought about a plan to cover as much of what we wanted to see as possible, whilst positioning ourselves for what comes next. This is almost impossible, of course, as we have no idea which, if any, island nations to the west would open their borders before our time to leave - which is currently the end of July.  We are hoping for a visa extension, but that is not guaranteed, which would allow us more time to explore French Polynesia and maybe sail to Hawaii at the end of the hurricane season.  Lots of ‘ifs’ and uncertainties, so we are more or less taking each day as it comes.  

Since we were in the Society Islands, we decided to explore this archipelago first.  Our first planned stop from Moorea would be the island of Huahine - in the Isles Sous Le Vent (Leewards).  The island lies about 90 nautical miles north west of Moorea - just far enough that a night sail would be needed to ensure we arrive during daylight.  The weather had been blowy for a few days although we had been well sheltered in our bay, and we left Moorea late one afternoon to find big swells from the north and healthy 15-20 knot winds.  Under these conditions we made good progress at around 8 knots of speed and actually found ourselves approaching Huahine about an hour before dawn.  All the islands in French Polynesia have reefs surrounding them and in some cases navigation charts are not always accurate or up to date, so it is essential when approaching to have visibility in daylight so there are no surprises - see the photo of the Tanda Malaika below.  We took a more circuitous route north of the island to await sunrise, and as soon as there was enough light we entered the pass into the lagoon and anchored outside the main town of Fare. There were three other boats here, but it seemed they had spent their lockdown here, so we might well have been the first boat to arrive in many weeks. In the afternoon we went ashore, but as it was Sunday, there was almost nobody about, except a Roulotte (food truck) selling crepes. Doing our part to stimulate the local economy we sat and ordered crepes - sweet for Dara and savoury for me - and chatted to the owner, Thierry.  It seemed we were indeed the first ‘tourists’ for some weeks.  We are so glad to be able to tour and see these islands as they might have been decades ago before the large influx of tourists which is the ‘old’ normal…

The next day we returned to the town to shop for groceries, and found Isabelle Location - a car and scooter rental shop.  Isabelle had a ‘covid special’ price on scooters, so we took one for four hours to tour the small island.  Like many of the other islands, Huahine has a Nui and an Iti - large and small island - in this case joined by a small bridge.  We had heard about the sacred blue eyed freshwater eels that live in a small stream on the other side of the island from Fare, so intrigued by the thought, we headed there first taking a clockwise route around the usual coast road.  Before long, we found the spot where they were, and parked the scooter. After a while we realised they were hiding under a culvert and needed some coaxing by way of the canned tuna we had brought especially for them.  Strange creatures indeed, those sacred eels.

Shortly after the eel spot, we crossed the bridge to Huahine Iti, and the heavens opened. We were about to experience one of the worst thunderstorms since leaving Panama, and we were out and about on a scooter in t-shirt and shorts.  Well as they say, you can only get wet once, so we pressed on with the rain coming down harder and harder and the thunder crashing through the mountains. As luck would have it, just as we arrived back in Fare, the storm abated, but Isabelle was out fishing and nobody was about, so we took refuge in the Fare Yacht club restaurant where we could dry off while sipping a cold beer and enjoying a meal of poisson cru - the local version of ceviche - raw fish in coconut milk and lime juice with cucumbers.

Later, back at the boat, we decided to move to Avea bay the next day - a half moon bay on the south west of the island known for its beautiful waters.  It was a gentle six mile motor through the lagoon to reach Avea and a great chance to see the peaks and valleys of Huahine from the sea.  Avea bay turned out to be one of the most picturesque locations we had been to - with stunning clear waters, turquoise banks and coral.  We were able to fly the drone and take some fantastic video and still shots of the india in the blue waters.  We were anchored just off the beach in sight of the wreck of the catamaran Tanda Malaika on the shore.  They made the mistake of trying to approach the island after dark and ran onto the reef, losing their boat and their home.  All the hotels and restaurants around the bay are still closed since the lockdown, since there are no customers yet.  It was so peaceful and the water so clear and beautiful it was was hard to leave, but with so many islands to visit and potentially so little time, we stayed only two days, preparing to sail next to Taha'a, the island north of Raiatea and a stone's throw from Bora Bora.  After Taha'a we will go to Bora Bora, then to the most westerly of all the islands, Maupiti, then back to Raiatea and finally on to Moorea and Tahiti one last time before setting off to the Tuamotus.  More incredible pictures to come!!

Moorea

Moorea with its soaring peaks

Oponuhu Bay in Moorea

Thierry in the Crepe Roulotte

Double chocolate crepe!

We found this Tiki in someone's garden as we wandered around Fare on a quiet Sunday

Decorated canoe

Marae- a scared worship site

Museum - under construction

'Here be sacred blue-eyed eels'

One of the aforementioned blue-eyed sacred eels

The Fare Yacht club to dry off and revive on poisson cru and beers

Looking across to Taha'a and Raiatea, and the storm that soaked us

Huahine Iti over-water huts

the Tanda Malaika - a catamaran that hit the reef outside Huahine in 2017 - a chilling reminder of how things can go wrong

india in all her glory