BILL AND JEANNE'S EXCELLENT ADVENTURE IN

FRENCH POLYNESIA
JULY 23-AUG 5, 2006

(if you mouse click the thumbnails you can see a larger image)

This was our first trip to the romantic and legendary South Pacific islands and we were not disappointed!  We spent 4 nights ashore on the islands of Tahiti (one night) and Moorea and 8 days sailing.  We were fortunate to  join the 7 person "crew" lead by our able Skipper Joe and his Executive Officer, Terri.  Joe and Terri have sailed these islands many times and know them quite well.  We had made a previous (1999) sailing trip with one of Joe and Terri's armadas in the British Virgin Islands and our daughter, Heather, has done 3 such trips.  Hence, we were totally confident we had placed our safety in capable hands; especially as Jeanne and I have not done much sailing ourselves in recent years.

         
  The Crew              Bill and Jeanne     Joe and Terri               Azasha              Jim and Susan

French Polynesia, a French colony located about half way between California and Australia, is about 20 degrees south of the Equator and consist of about 130 islands in five major groups.  One such group, the Society Islands, was our destination.  Tahiti is the largest and best known of these islands.  (see the maps below)

THE BIG PICTURE

FRENCH POLYNESIA

THE SOCIETY ISLANDS

July 23. 2006 Sunday
We departed at 1PM on Sunday from LAX via Air Tahiti Nui airline to Papeete, Tahiti (pop ee ay tay), the largest city, for the 8 hour flight.  There is only a 3 hour time difference so we arrived fairly early (about 6:30PM local).  After a quick money exchange ($1US is about 100 Central Pacific Francs, CPF) we were picked up by Charlie who took us to his nearby hotel for a very short stay.

July 24, 2006 Monday
We caught a very early flight (6AM) from Papeete over to the island of Raiatea via the intra-island air carrier, Air Tahiti, where we would soon meet  the rest of the crew at the "Moorings Tahiti" boat charter marina.  Joe met us at the airport and escorted us over to the marina-a short taxi ride.  There we met Jim, Susan, Azasha and Terri and got our first look at our home for the next week, the sloop Poenui (poe ee newy-means "big pearl" I think). We were grateful that Joe granted us the rights to the forward stateroom in this "Moorings 433" sailing yacht where we shared the bath with Azasha who occupied the smaller forward quarters with bunk beds.

By 1230 we were equipped and underway for an open sea sail from Raiatea up to the island of Bora Bora arriving at our anchorage near Le Meridien (see map) at about 6:30PM.  All of these islands are surrounded by a protective barrier reef and approach to the island can only be accomplished via the well marked "passes" through the reefs.  Bora Bora has only one such pass.  Huge open ocean waves crash over the reefs and provide a vivid and stark reminder that sailors must exercise extreme caution in approaching the passes as a mistake could be quite disastrous.

Bora Bora is the source for the mystical island, Bali Hai, of "South Pacific" movie fame.  Indeed, they say that during WW II all the native women of the area were moved to Bora Bora to protect them from the American soldiers and sailors that were stationed in French Polynesia.  It seems that today the island itself needs some protection from the resort developers because there are dozens of new luxury resorts under construction all along the lagoons.  Over the water "bungalows" are the preferred resort models and we heard that some rent for about $1200 per night! But after all, this is a French colony and the whole purpose of colonizing is to exploit the natural resources of the colonized.

July 25, 2006 Tuesday
This morning we took the dingy over to the nearby island (called a "motu") where we snorkeled in the "LagooNarium"-a fenced off place with sharks, rays, turtles and other reef fish.  The 2500CPF per person admission fee also included a great fresh fruit tray with melons, papayas, coconut and the wonderful local grapefruit (pamplemous in French).

The motus, located on the inside of the barrier reefs, are very flat, some have decent beaches and most are privately owned ("you must pay" for a visit).  Jeanne and I decided to go over and visit the Motu Pitiaau on which the luxury resort Le Meridien is located.  We soon learned the errors of our ways as we were quickly greeted by the hotel guys who told us (politely) that we were not welcome.   I guess the $1200 a night guests do not like to be bothered by the riff raff from a charter yacht!

Today Susan and Jim contacted via VHF radio some friends from California who were also at Bora Bora having sailed from the LA area all the way to French Polynesia.  They came over on their dingy for a short visit.

July 26, 2006 Wednesday
We had a pleasant evening at an anchorage a short distance south of the Le Meridien near the southern tip of Motu Pitiaau. This was a great snorkel spot at the end of the motu and then a few of us went out via dingy to the edge of the reef for more snorkeling (the "Aquarium").  Fortunately, there were no strong currents today so it was a great snorkel. Just a bit awkward getting back on the dingy but sometimes dignity must be sacrificed for expediency.

At 2:30PM we departed this anchorage and headed back counterclockwise (see the map above) around Bora Bora for tonight's anchorage (near Bloody Marys on the above map) over at the south west end of the main island.  I regretted not having just walked across the island as it was not far to walk but we could not sail directly there as the water is too shallow.

We reached our mooring spot at about 6:30PM with intentions of having dinner ashore at Bloody Mary's famous restaurant and bar. Unfortunately, they were booked up for dinner so Jeanne, Azasha and I went ashore to check the place out and visit the bar.  This time it was my turn to visit with someone I knew.  Remarkably, sitting next to us at the bar was my old pal, Marty, who I used to know from China Lake and Washington, DC days!  Small world!

July 27, 2006 Thursday
We departed Bora Bora early at 7AM to return to Raiatea arriving at the Moorings Marina at 1:30PM.  I confirmed on this sail that I have to avoid going below during the open sea sailing to avoid a bit of motion sickness.  I was not alone in this limitation. Guess I am not made for an extended ocean sailing voyage!

We replenished our water and linens at the Marina and some of us went to the town of Utoroa to visit , pick up personal supplies and try to make phone calls and emails.  Then we continued down the east coast to a mooring at Faaroa Bay and dinner at the Southern Cross restaurant (we were the only guests).

July 28, 2006 Friday
We were rained on last night as we departed the restaurant and had some showers during the night.  This is the winter season here and temperatures are delightfully pleasant and rain is less frequent than during the summer months. After breakfast aboard we stuffed ourselves into the dingy and made a trip up the bay and then up the FaaRoa River (the only navigable river in French Polynesia) until the water was too shallow to proceed further.  We had to remind ourselves that this was for real and not a Disneyland Jungle cruise.

After the jungle cruise we departed Faaroa Bay (about 11:30AM) and headed north from Raiatea to the island of Tahaa. Raiatea is the second largest of these islands and Utoroa is the second largest town after Papeete on Tahiti.  Raiatea is also believed to be the point of origin for early Polynesians as they migrated to other islands in the area. The first human inhabitants to the South Pacific islands arrived from east Asia starting about 3500 years ago but the Society Islands were not occupied until as recently as around 600AD.

We arrived at our anchorage just to the north of the Toahotu Pass and, of course, inside the reef on the east side of the island.  Tahaa and Raiatea share the same barrier reef and it is possible to sail from island to island completely inside the security of the reef.  However, we sailed up the windward side outside the reef as it was a much faster passage.  We did some snorkeling by the nearby motu where we asked for a $3 fee but we did not really go ashore and did not pay. 

This night Joe decided to anchor just inside the reef and facing directly into the prevailing easterly trade winds which blow without ceasing across the south Pacific at this time of year.  Tahaa is not heavily populated and there are few lights on the island. Hence, we had a spectacular view of the southern hemisphere stars and the Milky Way was really bright with spiral arms easily visible.  We recognized a few familiar constellations and some unknown (to us). We never did figure out the Southern Cross.

July 29, 2006 Saturday
Last night we had a great snooze with those trade winds rocking our cradle and we were greeted with some rain squalls in the morning. 

At about 10AM we departed our anchorage and motored over to Faaha Bay to check out one of the pearl farms but it was closed for the weekend. Hence, we moved on down to Haamene Bay to another pearl farm which was open and happy to give us the standard lecture about producing the famous black pearls of the area. We learned about the "pearl surgeons" who are hired by the farms to implant a seed into the mature oysters which will, hopefully, become a marketable pearl in about 16-18 months. Jeanne purchased some pearls from the "farmer" and she later found they were really bargains compared to similar ones at the more "touristy" shops on other islands.

After the pearl visit we continued inland up the Haamene Bay and moored just off shore near the town of Haamene and near the restaurant Tahaa Matai where we dined and celebrated Susan's birthday ( she is 39, the same age as the rest of us).  Dinner was about $60 for Jeanne and me!

July 30, 2006 Sunday
We departed Haamene at 10AM and motored/sailed around the south end of Tahaa and stopped briefly for water purchases at a delightful resort (Taravana Yacht Club) at the tip of Apu Bay. We then continued the sail to return to Raiatea this time sailing inside the reef along the east side of Raiatea to one of Joe's favorite anchorages for some good snorkeling at the Taoru Island. Here there is a very abrupt drop off at the edge of coral reefs and excellent viewing of corals, sea anemones and wide selection of fish.  I never did learn to identify the individual species although Jeanne is sure she spotted Nemo (of motion picture fame) living happily in his own anemone home.

July 31, 2006 Monday
After a quiet evening (some rain) we enjoyed some more snorkeling and at 11AM lifted anchor to return to Tahaa and to Hurepiti Bay which is on the west side of the island and just below the town of Tiva on the map.  Our purpose was for Jeanne, Terri and me to join the Vanilla Tours for a 4X4 trip across the island and to learn about the plant life.  The owner and guide for the tour was Alain who lives with his family on a little plantation in the jungle next to the shore.  

We arrived early and while waiting for the other tour customers we visited with Alain and his family and they treated us to a snack of the local specialty ,"poisson crue" which is basically raw fish and very similar to Mexican ceviche but prepared with coconut milk.  It is delicious!

The other customers arrived (a French family of 5) and we began our tour and botanical explorations of the island (conducted mostly in French, unfortunately for us).  Vanilla is a big cash crop on these islands and Alain has a small crop at his place.  The vanilla flower must be pollinated by hand (due to a lack of bees) in order to produce a vanilla pod.  Alain said he could do about 3000 flowers in one day!  That must be a boring job.

The rest of the trip was a whirlwind demonstration of the utility of the local plants.  There are plants for making ceilings, floors and walls. There are plants for making paper (breadfruit bark), plants for string, rope, dental floss, tatoos, yellow finger nail polish not to mention all the yummy edible fruits (pineapples, grapefruit, cocos. star fruit (very bitter).  Some plants are good for keeping bad demons away while others encourage the visit of good spirits.

One fruit, the Noni, is said to be popular in the US health food industry these days since it can cure cancer, diabetes, restore youth to the aged (well, maybe), promote good digestion and even stop the itch of mosquito bites (confirmed!!). The ripe fruit has a most unpleasant odor, like aged cheese, but this is a small price to pay for such health benefits.

We did a four wheel trip north to the town of Patio and then headed counterclockwise (see above maps) around the island's shore back to the headquarters at Hurepiti Bay. Unfortunately, it was almost dark when we returned.  The rest of the crew had gone snorkeling and upon returning to retrieve us discovered that someone had "stolen" our mooring at the Vanilla Tours spot.  The water was too deep for anchors so we had to motor back out the bay and returned to the snorkel spot just north of the bay.  Fortunately, Joe had had the vision to mark this spot with his handheld GPS and he was able to navigate back in the dark to the exact same anchor spot they had used while we did our Vanilla Tour.

Aug 1-4, 2006 Tuesday-Friday
This was the day (Aug 1) to say goodbye to the Poenui.  We departed our anchorage at 8AM and headed back to Raiatea and  to the Moorings Marina to return our charter boat. We had a 12:25pm flight back to Papeete and then caught the high speed ferry from Papeete over to the island of Moorea about 12 miles west of Papeete. From the ferry landing at the village of Vaiare it was a short bus ride over to Cook's Bay and to our Hotel Kaveka.  At last, a bathroom that does not roll around  and shower with lots of water!

Cook's Bay is named for the legendary English CAPT Cook of the late 1700s fame although I read that he never actually came to this bay on Moorea.  European explorers from France, England and Spain all "discovered" these islands at roughly the same time frame (late 1700s).  In fact ,each of these countries made a claim of ownership but France ended up with possession to this very day

Our remaining time on Moorea was spent "kicking back" and touring this island.  The hotel is quite nice with individual bungalows and good meals in the open air dining area.  Breakfast was a "bit pricey" with full meal about $25 each! We also paid an additional $30 per night for the luxury of using the air conditioning.

We did an evening at "Tiki Village" on the west side of the island where we got a full Polynesian (similar to luau in Hawaii) meal and entertainment with the dancing as the main attraction.    (about $50 each) Jeanne also checked out the local pearl shops and discovered that the prices back on the pearl farm at Haamene Bay were a relative bargain!

The owner of the hotel, Greg, told us that prior to Sept 11, 2001 most of the local tourist were from California but today most are from France.  He said a lot of hotels and restaurants went bankrupt shortly after 9/11.  The French government decided to help its colony so they started to subsidize the plane flights from Paris to Tahiti. I don't know if they are still doing this but the idea worked as evidenced by large numbers of French visitors who generally flew from Paris to LAX and then after 2 hour layover on to Papeete.  We did not envy them the long flights.

We found that people spoke English no matter where we went although French and Tahitian were the preferred languages.  (Heather says that 20 year ago when she was visiting  almost no one spoke English.)

On Thursday the cruise ship, Paul Gaugin, showed up and anchored in Cooks Bay.  The ship delivered its passengers next door to our hotel and there were rental car agencies set up to snare some boat tourist.  We hustled over and grabbed a car early and did our own tour of the island traveling clockwise around Moorea.  On the north side of the island we could drive inland to a point "Belvedere" with great viewing of both the two bays Opanuhoa and Cooks.  There were also several "marae" sites here with large stone platforms that were used in ancient times for religious services.  These services also included human sacrifice and cannibalism on occasion.  We overheard a guide speaking in English and he made a distinction between the islands that cooked their humans versus eating them raw.  I'm not sure how the priests on Moorea preferred their human flesh but I can confirm the mosquitoes like it raw.

We departed Moorea on Friday, Aug 4 by taxi and then ferry over to Tahiti for our red eye flights back to LA.  Some of us wimped out and rented a room at the 5 star Sofitel Maeva Beach Hotel which is near the airport.  This was a good move as it rained all afternoon so we just hung out at the hotel until flight times.

It is good to allow no less than 2 hours at the Papeete airport as it took us over an hour of waiting to check our bags and get boarding passes.  Then it was a long 8 hour flight back to LA arriving at about 11AM local time on Sat Aug 5 and another long drive through traffic to San Diego.

Jeanne and I are already fantasizing about our next trip to the South Pacific islands.  I would like to check out some of the other island groups besides the Society Islands but that will the subject of a future "Excellent Adventure".

THE END