Moorea
There is a sting ray feeding station in Moorea that we went to visit. The sting rays and black tip reef sharks were amazing.
View from the lookout on Moorea
Our anchorage in Moorea
Huahine
Waves breaking on the reef surrounding Huahine
Our sheltered bay with a mooring buoy
Jonny grating the flesh from a coconut to make coconut milk for the bread.
The beach at the north end of Huahine
Religious sites in Huahine
Overlooking the lagoon in Huahine
Bora Bora
As we are approaching Bora Bora
A stunning anchorage in the Bora Bora lagoon
Throughout July there is a festival held throughout the Society Islands. In Bora Bora they build a grandstand and a small village including bars, restaurants, shops and arcades.
There is a dancing and singing competition between the local villages. The first picture was the village singing the night we went to watch. The other pictures are of a different village dancing. Throughout the week each village sings and dances.
Whilst on the south end of Bora Bora we visited several snorkeling sites with amazing fish.
We are leaving Bora Bora over the weekend and will not have proper internet access again for about 2 weeks until we reach Tonga. If you wish to e mail us please use our sailmail address.
Tahiti, Society Islands
We had a prize giving for the Rangiroa to Tahiti race held at ‘Le Truck’. ‘Le Truck’ is a group of catering vans that set up in the centre of Papeete in the evening and set out tables for you to eat at.
Tahiti Market
As we went from the anchorage to the town quay this outrigger had fun surfing on our dinghy wake!!
As part of the rally you could have a go on a traditional sailing outrigger
Kate and traditional dressed Polynesian men who were part of the Blessing ceremony for the rally
As part of the rally you got a free night on the town quay in Papeete. It was quite noisy and hot on the quay but great to be in the centre of town.
Our free rally t shirts!!
The best part of the rally for us – the outrigger race with 4 cruisers and 2 locals per boat. We won our heat!!
One of the traditional games in the beach part of the rally. You had to carry the bananas on your shoulder and do a lap of the course.
The 2nd traditional game – husking a coconut and trying to extract the most milk
The 3rd traditional game – stone lifting. Our team didn’t enter this part!!
After the prize giving there was traditional Polynesian dancing.
The very busy anchorage at Moorea
Nuku Hiva, Marquesas
The view from the top of the cliff we walked up overlooking the bay and anchorage.
An example of Marquesan carving in the park
The Taiohae Bay anchorage
Ina (Lucey Blue) arranged an ice cream party to celebrate Norwegian Independence Day. This was Jonnys third bowl of ice cream!!
One of the reasons the tap water in Taiohae Bay is not drinkable is the pigs infecting the river
The crepe van on the dockside
We were surprised by the modern buildings on such remote islands
Daniels Bay – a local called Daniel was relocated from this bay so the American programme Survivor could be filmed there.
A Tiki statue – part of Marquesan rituals
The second largest single drop waterfall in the world
An early start to visit the Saturday morning market
A 39km outrigger race.
Manihi, Tuamotus
Well built modern buildings on a remote coral island
Russ and Ray came to pilot us into the lagoon and to the anchorage
A pearl house on stilts in the lagoon
The anchorage in Manihi
We visited a small family run pearl farm
A sign post showing we are more than half way between Panama and Sydney
The Tuamotus islands are made up of a ring of land with a lagoon in the middle. This picture shows the lagoon, the thin strip of land and then the sea on the other side.
Rangiroa, Tuamotus
The anchorage in Rangiroa
Rangiroa to Tahiti Race
As there were 13 boats leaving Rangiroa on the same day we decided to have a race!! You started your time when your anchor hit the bow roller and stopped as you crossed the first channel markers at Papeete. Engine hours had to be added to your time and based on a 40ft boat for every foot over 40ft you had to add ˝ hour and for every foot less than 40ft you could take off ˝ hour. Although this was only a rough handicapping it seemed to work well as the first 8 boats finished within 3 hours including a 34ft boat, 41ft boat and a 48ft boat.
At the start of the race with Rangiroa in the background
