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And just as the reformed alcoholic becomes the most strident teetotaller so the vitriolic green flash naysayer may become its most tediously vocal supporter.
We were sailing from Morea to Huahine, an overnighter so we would get there mid morning. The sun was setting off the port bow and M, Jim and I were watching the last moments. As always, waiting for this so called ‘green flash’. You may recall some colourful comments in previous blogs about this subject, for me in the same league as UFOs, crop circles and Bigfoot. (Not to say that some of the green flash proponents still don’t seriously need medicating but…)
Then, as the last of the sun was about to disappear, a green dot appeared. Not so much a flash as a small green point of light. M, Jim and I all looked at each other, jaws dropped, exclamations of absolute amazement. This was revolutionary stuff. How many years frying corneas staring into nautical sunsets. Now all turned on its head. We had to crack a beer.
Later, talking on VHF to friends who had sailed an hour before us we discovered they had experienced it also.
Whatever the conditions, whatever the explanations for
why this occurs, we were stone cold sober, we saw it and it cannot be denied.
But back to Morea, the close neighbour of Tahiti, with its two spectacularly photogenic bays and more rugged ranges, palm-fringed beaches, paradise-on-a-stick as it were. Apparently this was the setting for the movie South Pacific.
We slipped in thru’ the gap in the reef, signposted clearly as usual, and anchored with a few other cruisers.
I must say that the water here is as amazingly crystal clear as anywhere I’ve seen. The visibility is endless, snorkelling or in the boat the sensation is of flying over the incredible seascape. At times it takes my breath away, swimming out over a huge ball of coral and facing a drop-off that just falls vertically 20 or 30 metres and I can see right down into the blue.
The first night and another fabulous meal, was it roast lamb, again? Later the full moon rose over the mountainous rock beside us. The silhouette of a few straggly trees clinging precariously to the top corner of the escarpment, a little further along the cliff a misty cloud cap lurked, Perfect.
We were parked in less than
20’ with the usual bug-eyed box fish hanging around and occasional rays passing by. Towards the shore a deeper trench and steep wall harboured hundreds of fish while black tipped sharks and stingrays prowled the trench totally ignoring me floating above. (so far so good!) We also have crown of thorns star fish, yuk.
Outside the outer reef the boys got a couple of dives with sharks, turtles and a giant moray eel. Gonzalo was concentrating on taking a photo when his arm came down on a crown of thorns, ayayay, he was in awful pain and the stings on his arm were shocking. I’d not realised they were so lethal. Coño!
I’ve been snorkelling rather than diving, partly because there is so much to see in the top 10m and partly because it is so much easier to grab the mask and fins rather than getting all the gear set up, and I’ve got a bung ear. However, I’m going to get my set-up organised today, there is a sunken schooner (not that I haven’t sunk a few schooners before. boom boom) down the coast that I’d like to dive on and in a few days we’ll be
in Bora Bora where the diving is renowned. In fact here (Raiatea) they are speaking in hushed tones that it is the best kept secret of the world’s finest dive sites, we will see!! We’re going to motor round to the other side for a couple of dives tomorrow(?)
(PS: we did drive around but the weather beat us, no dives)
After Morea we had a short day to Huahine, a narrow opening thru’ the reef and then a beautiful big bay, actually it is 2 separate islands but so close and with a bridge joining that it looks like a bay. Once more fabulous rock sculpture, the clearest water, near shore another near vertical rise from 35m to 2m, very tricky to get the anchor right, our stern swinging round just a few metres from the coral, unreal snorkelling. Ashore a different vegetation with huge areas of a Cyprus looking tree, densely packed with an unusual layered canopy.
A small village, the usual quietly spoken, gentle, laid back people. Little kids jumping off the seawall, riding bikes off a too-short ramp into the water, bombing us as we left in the ding.
One ‘restaurant’ (only one dish, but tasty)
one store (a house with some supplies) twice a day Le Chinois drives along in his van with a whole store inside but mainly bread. Everywhere fabulous baguettes! It will be difficult when we leave French Polynesia I’m sure that will be the end of good bread. Dommage!
Late afternoon and the roosters that live in the bush started an oral Mexican wave, one starts crowing then the next and so on all around the island until it’s coming back to us. Then the dogs get in on the act!
At night the sound of singing carried across the water. It is amazing, especially at night, how sound carries over water, you can hear soft conversations 100’s of metres away.
Was this a Saturday night service or just choir practice? Whatever, it was sublime, we’re anchored off, water like glass, this most lovely singing, a just past-full moon, some kids laughing and squealing but not interrupting the singing more like part of the whole scene. Next day Jim and I hung out by the church and listened closer to the singing.
Huahine had a special feel, similar but not quite as powerful as Nuka Hiva. The Society Islands are
growing on me, I’m feeling really comfortable here, soulwise.
Next we went to Raiatea, Crikey, I’m getting almost blasé about another fabulously beautiful island but no way, each one is special.
I was torn between excitement and despair earlier in the day. Having finally got a fish on the line and a great battle to land it, it was another f tuna. However I seem to have recovered from my tuna aversion and choked down some sashimi.
Anyway, Raiatea, secret diving mecca, more fringe reefs, more extreme depth to shallows, 2 marinas, quite a little town. I almost said bustling but nothing bustles in Polynesia it is all very laid back, the people move and talk slowly, the traffic here is minimal. There’s a group of locals sitting in the shade outside the big market building. They’re all smiling and laughing in their little groups.
Anyone and everyone will respond to my greeting with big smiles.
Jim found a shop with a T-shirt with my gecko on it, I showed the girl my tat and she tells me she’s from Nuka Hiva..jajaja.. too cool!
Inside the stupourmarket at the checkout it’s not unusual for the checkout chick to have
a lengthy conversation with friends and you soon get into the habit of not worrying about time at all and it is definitely no use whatsoever to try and rush anything.
Out on the horizon above the thrashing white breakers pounding the reef I can see the blue/grey outline of Bora Bora. One of the more dramatic rock sculptures, the twin volcanic cones up to 2,000’ balancing an absurdly oversize fluffy white cloud sombrero.
Oh, this is going back a few days…..bare with me..
IT’S NOT ALWAYS SO EASY..
We were anchored off the lyrical Marina Taina. On purish white sand in 3 - 4 metres of crystal clear blue water. This is like the Venezuelan water: the same forever visibility, the same blue hue.
Tahiti is pretty much surrounded by reefs, generally about a km off shore. Inside the reef there is extensive, boat-shredding coral, sand beds and deep channels courteously indicated by big red and green markers. You just have to remember which side you’re on, now was it green to shore and red to reef or the other way? hmmm
We’d pulled off the channel, the sandy bottom rose steeply from 50
feet to 20 and we lobbed the anchor. It was only a few metres to the nearest coral heads so we didn’t want to go any closer. I spent a lot of time snorkelling amongst the coral heads with their huge variety of shapes and textures. Not a lot of colour in the coral but the usual dazzling array of bright fish, the occasional stingray and every now and then I’d catch a glimpse of a prowling barracuda giving me the eye.
I was comforted by recalling something I’d read about barracudas the other day “ if they do bite you they will usually stop after one bite as humans are not their preferred food” Some consolation!
Monday afternoon, M, Jim and I had gone across to the Dinghy Bar to wait for Gonzalo who was flying in at 5.45. For the first time in a long while it was raining. A few big squalls came through with monsoonal downpours. Gonzalo was delayed, so by the time he got there we’d dented the beer supply and also knocked off a couple of perilously nostalgic bottles of Jacob’s Creek with pizzas. I won’t tell you how much! Eventually we got
everyone back onboard for nightcaps.
I’d gone down about 11.30, the wind was up, more rain and then I got the call. Up on deck there was a bit of chaos as the wind had swung around 180. As we swung the anchor pulled off the sand ridge and with not enough chain out we were dragging.
It was a dark and stormy night (boom boom) all the shades were down, the awning was out across the foredeck it was totally disorienting, even disorientating.
Luckily we didn’t hit any other boats as there were several in close vicinity. It was a tricky call to get back as the sand rises up so steeply just before the coral and at night you’ve got no idea where the coral heads are. We fell back and anchored in deeper water. Half an hour later we dragged again and had to repeat the process!
Just so as you don’t think this is all too easy!
It was good having a couple of overcast days as the sun is red hot here and humidity high but it’s not so good for visibility in the water which was also a bit cloudy from the storms.
Out along the outer reef there’s usually a half reasonable wave constantly crashing. After the storms it was huge. Great breakers hammering the reef. Inside the water was froth covered with a lot of crap.
As usual it all cleared up and we went diving Tuesday. Gonz and Jim with scuba and moi with shnorkel gear. The first spot, called ‘the aquarium’ was only 20 - 30 feet deep and with quite a current. I was able to follow them and dive down to check out the fish. Nextly we dinghed out to a spot off the end of the airport main runway and dove on a light plane wreck. Pretty cool altho’ somewhat spooky. It’s mainly intact and looks like it’s just parked there. I could easily see it from the surface in 40 feet of crystal clear and I free dove down a few times to get a closer look.
NOW IS NOW….back to Wednesday morning, we’re parked at the quay, side tied, I love it, right in town, Uturoa I think. Today we have a guy coming to check the video game. It has been shutting itself off and re-booting every 5 minutes which is
not good in these sensitive reef enclosed bays.
As usual the danger of being tied up and in town is the proximity of shops. Jim and I always stroll thru’ any shop we see as there’s always going to be something we need. There’s lots of NZ lamb here, killer chops and juicy thighs, we’ve had a bit of a lambathon! Also NZ fruit and veges, good local stuff as well. I reckon we’ve boosted the NZ economy by several points and it’s to our credit that Hinano Beer Co. shares have rallied.
Jim got a rent-a-wreck and drove us around Raiatea, All very tranquil with little traffic and excellent quality road just meandering around the coastline. We stopped at two maraes, significant sites to the early natives, this was where they left from to colonise Hawaii and NZ among others.
That sounds a bit lame-o. They are actually very impressive representations of a fantastic culture that achieved so much with an understanding of sailing and navigation that enabled them to travel and settle and trade across the south pacific. But you know how to google for facts I’ll just set the scene.
You can easily see Tahaa,
Raiatea’s sister isla inside the same fringing reef and we motored over and around. There were lots of inviting inlets and coves, quite a lot of houses and all nicely spaced, this looks like a retreat secret for the well-to-do and smart. It was too overcast for good diving so we moved on and parked up north for the night.
One morning Jim and I walked over to a local pearl farm, a sprawling house was set in neat-cut grass and big trees, a bunch of chooks and doves, 3 big geese started to sound the alarm, it seemed deserted. A woman came out of the house and was all smiles and friendly, she directed us out to the shaky shack at the end of the shaky pier. There we found her son and 3 others. He was seeding the pearls and showed me the whole process. One guy opened the pearl and stuck a rubber peg in then they were left to relax the muscle. Two guys were seeding. They each had their own work area. The son showed me how to place the oyster in a rack, open it a little wider, insert a fine scalpel and
delicately slice open the necessary bit, insert a piece of black material that had been cut from a pearl with exceptionally dark shell, also a little yellow ball as nucleus, some antibiotic and it closes itself.
Next guy puts each oyster in an individual mesh bag so that in a few weeks they can check and see if any have rejected their nucleus.
These oysters were 3 years old, their first seeding which will take 18 months to produce a pearl. Then they take out the pearl, replace it with a similar sized nucleus and back they go…and so on…the oysters can live to 30 years.
As we walked back the woman invited us in and showed us pearls, thousands of them, all graded and sized, she must have had a million bucks worth right there. And so friendly and eager to show us all the ins and outs of the pearl business, lovely people and a great experience.
Next day we set off for Bora Bora. The imposing outline becomes more dramatic as we approach, as does the raging surf, throwing huge geysers of white spume, great clouds of mist rolling along. Twin volcanic peaks, one classic cone
the other a massive chunk of stone, looks like a huge plug that has been shafted into the middle of the island. Bora Bora has an almost continuous fringe reef and the southerly swells were punching into it sending giant spray heads high into the air. From a few miles out the low cloud of surf spray muffled any signs of civilization and it looked like another even more magical island paradise.
There’s only one way in, and out, of the reef. The one entrance is not so wide but, as usual, well marked. Slip between the red and green, line up the red and white towers in the distance, voila!
Bora Bora gets by far the most of the tourists that come to the Society Islands and fortunately they are well hidden. Expecting high-rise gringo development complexes I was surprised to see very little in fact no buildings of any height. The model here is for little grass-thatched-roof cabinas out over the water, strung out along little stick walkways, cute little balconies, some have glazed holes in the floor so you can watch the fish action, lit up also at night.
There’s quite a range in the quality and
size of the cabinas, no doubt reflecting the filthiness of the richness of the inhabitants. I suspect there are no backpacker lodgings here.
As we motor around inside the reef the skyline changes perspective with the angles and the light, we navigate thru the channels v carefully, more relaxed in the wider parts, more dramatic sheer rises from 40 metres to 2 metres in no time at all, sharp coral heads, reefs, in parts it is treacherously narrow and at one point we ran up on the coral but were able to get off after a short stop.
Along the shoreline and out on the motus (the islands on the outer reef) hundreds of these little mock grass huts line the channels, there must be a million of them, there’s even a flaming club med here but in the same local style.
We parked down the south end where they say is the best snorkelling, the water is painfully clear on pure white sand, this is probably the best island of the lot which is why they cop all the tourists! Bummer.
Sunday morning, Jim and I take the ding a mile or so to the point where the
snorkelling is said to be the best. A couple of dive boats are tied up and about 20 people bobbing in the water. It’s only 5’ deep over hard coral. We anchor the ding and snorkel over. I can see the sharks from way off and several of them peel off and come towards me.
Black tips over tan and white body, quite beautiful but their bright yellow eyes, penetrating, arrogant, sizing up my meal potential, no doubting these guys are top of the food chain. As I get closer to the group I can see up to 30 sharks circling like a gang of Indians around the wagon train, waiting to attack. They are everywhere.
Also there are a couple of dozen big grey stingrays. I had only seen them before shuffling over the sea floor but here they were winging up and around.
The leader of the toury group had a bucket of fish and altho’ the sharks were a little more reticent, the rays were right in his face, eating from his hand. (Not easy if your eyes are on the opposite side of your body and your mouth is in the middle of a 3’ wide
body and in only 5’ of water!)
One brushed past me, curling up his wing to go by me, surprisingly soft underside, then I notice, going past my chest, the long rigid tail with a lethal barb, flashes of Steve Irwin, I stifle a rising panic attack, it passes me by, oblivious.
The crystal water was so full of fish, hundreds of little guys, a few sucker fish, off at the edge of the action I spotted a big barracuda just waiting his time.
The sharks continue to circle, in packs or alone, relentless, constantly on the prowl, but slowly too. It wasn’t until later when I nearly ran over one in the ding that he showed his incredible acceleration, one flick, a blur and he was gone.
Well, finally got the gear out and dove yesterday, it’s certainly much better for photos than snorkelling and free diving. Swam with a bunch of rays, jajaja and a million small fish, pretty cool.
This could possibly be the last gasp of WiFi here so I might just get this off my hands.
Nextly we’re off to Rarotonga, in the Cook islands, about 500 miles, where Gonzalo flies out
and Evelyn, Jim’s wife, flies in.
Hopefully I can get some pix up, some are Jim’s and some I’ve taken with Jim’s camera, Thanks.
Take care out there………Love to you all……
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