Moorea: Day 3 - Griswald Family Snorkelling Trip

Wednesday, May 29, 2013

We decided today was a good day to finally do some snorkelling. We researched the best spot to do it and decided rather than going with a crowded guided-tour, we would just take our dinghy there. It was no small passage, a good 4 miles across the mouth of the adjacent bay to ours, through a very reefy area.

We got really close and I was able to snap a photo of one of the many popular "bungalows over the water" hotels in Polynesia (most associated with Bora Bora, but they are on almost all islands).

You are looking at $500 a night here in Moorea, or thousands per night for the same experience in Bora Bora.

The dinghy ride took a Griswald turn when we realized we were not in the channel at all that safely navigated the reefs. We ended up in water less than a foot in depth, surrounded by jagged reefs. When we slammed into one, we decided to turn around and go back before damaging the prop (and having to row back).

It was a good thing we did, because the wind and waves really picked up on the way back and huge amounts of water were splashing into the boat.

I had to keep bailing us out as we went.

So we didn't end up snorkelling, but still had an adventure and came home as wet as if we had snorkelled. That is okay though, the snorkelling is supposed to be much better in Bora Bora, so we'll get some in then.

Moorea: Day 2 - Fire Dancers

Tuesday, May 28, 2013

We went for a short stroll in the morning, to get some more information on the Moorean Fire Dancers that we had heard about. We saw a local fisherman selling his catch, which included the biggest Mahi Mahi I have ever seen.

The fire dancer show later that night was MUCH better than the one we saw in Tahiti. I would highly recommend it to anyone who finds themselves in Moorea.

We had a few pre-drinks from what we bought at the Juice Factory yesterday. Tahiti Drink is the perfect cocktail for relaxing in Polynesia.

It started out with a woman demonstrating a "pareu" and the many different ways to wear it. Created with traditional designs and bright tropical colours, this is typical tahitian clothing that can be tied into many different ways (a cover-up, a dress, shorts, a shawl). It can also be spread out as a picnic cloth or a beach towel.

Then they moved us over to the dancing area, where the show began. This show had a story behind it where a girl was pregnant and the chief(/father) would only marry her if she were having a boy. So she ran off to another island to have the child and when it turned out to be a boy, the chief happily married her. (Leaves you wondering what would have happened to it if it were a girl...).

The lady dancers, again, were hypnotic.

And they danced in different apparel.

And this part I didn't understand. After the chief and new mother were married, this seductress (I think) came up to the chief, handed him a corner of her dress and danced away seductively, while it slowly stripped off her.

At the end of the material, she tossed it off,

And then continued to dance around.

With that sexy confusion out of the way, they brought out the fire dancers.

This was one area where the male dancers outshone the female dancers.

Here are my four new Polynesian wives.

Moorea: Day 1 - Arrival

Monday, May 27, 2013

Sailing Across the Pacific Ocean 2013 (Part 16) - Exploring Moorea

Today we embarked on our great 10 mile voyage to Moorea. It only took a couple of hours and we had no problems getting in, other than the sea being a bit rough. Moorea is a much less populated island than Tahiti, but has all the luxuries since it is so close.

We anchored in Cook's Bay, which was absolutely stunning. It only has only about 10 boats anchored and is a fairly large bay. The surface of the water was lined with big, evenly-spaced hibiscus flowers, like some kind of dream world.

It was almost too beautiful to be true.

Shortly after dropping anchor, we put the dinghy in the water and booted over to the Tahitian Juice Factory for some free samples of alcoholic beverages.

We had a really sweet Tahitian girl serving us samples.

We bought a bunch of different rums and liqueurs before heading back.

Some friends told us to check out this guy who sells chicken out of a little red truck by the beach, so we decided to stop there on the way back.

Here is a shot looking out at the anchorage from shore.

Tahiti: Day 8 - Waterfalls and Blowholes

Monday, May 20, 2013

Like Canada, today was a holiday in Tahiti. Everything was closed down, so we figured it was a good day to go see some natural sites.

Our first stop was at Point Venus (where we originally anchored when we got to Tahiti). This is where Captain Cook originally landed when he came to Tahiti back in the 1700's.

There was a really nice black sand beach there with a little beach-soccer field.

The next stop was 'Les Trois Cascades" (The Three Waterfalls). We had to do a small hike before arriving at the first one.

The water was flowing much better than the waterfall we hiked to on Fatu Hiva.

The other two waterfalls were located a bit further down the trail.

They were also flowing rather nicely.

It said "no swimming, falling rocks", but that didn't seem to stop anyone.

The final stop today was at the blowhole. There was this little hole in the side of the road that would explosively shoot air out every time a big waves crashed against the shore. It was really powerful.

This was the old road that went around the mountain here, but the blowhole has been slowly destroying it.

They have built a tunnel through the mountain a bit further away which people use now.

Down by the water you see the actual blowhole, which would explode with water and air whenever a wave crashed ashore.

I creepily filmed a local fisher boy trying to catch some fish in the waves with a bamboo rod.

Tahiti: Day 9 - 14 Final Days in Tahiti

Tuesday, May 21 to Sunday, May 26, 2013

We spent most of these last days in Tahiti fixing things on the boat and provisioning. We had to buy new batteries here in Tahiti because the old ones weren't holding a charge at all. It ended up costing $2,000 for two batteries!! Tahiti is not a cheap place to buy boat parts...

I met a younger couple from Vancouver and another Swedish couple who were in their early 30's. They both had bought boats in Latin America and decided to venture off into the Pacific. They met each other in the Tuomotus and have been friends since. I went out with them on Friday to Les Trois Brasseurs (a French Brewpub here, which they also have in Montreal) and then to some club after. There was some little Tahitian girl doing math with her friends on a chalkboard there, so I went up and corrected some of her work and ended up doing a small lesson on rational and irrational numbers. That sure is an unusual new bar story for my repertoire.

We went for a dinghy ride to the fuel dock (at Marina Taina) to scope it out and see how to approach it in the sailboat before leaving tomorrow. We had some crazy Tahitians who would paddle up to our boat, catch up, and then paddle along in our wake. These guys were paddling at like 7 or 8 knots and stayed there for an hour or so. Unbelievable upper-body strength.

There were some unbelievable mega-yachts at the marina. We got to see the huge 5-spreader sailboat from Fatu Hiva up close. It was called Erica VII. I have noticed that we have been running into the same boats and people a lot on this passage on different islands.

Tahiti: Day 7 - Lazy Day

Sunday, May 19, 2013

Today was a pretty lazy day. We didn't accomplish much. We walked around town, but everything is closed on a Sunday here.

A bunch of Canadian boats arrived today and I helped them dock. That's pretty much it.

Tahiti: Day 6 - Tribal Dancers

Saturday, May 18, 2013

We spent the day working on the boat again and doing a big provisioning run.

At night, Gary and Jan treated me to a dinner show where they had all the tribal dancers doing their thing. It was at a really nice hotel (Intercontinental).

We had some pretty good seats from the bar.

I liked the girls, they were really talented dancers. I had to get a little closer for them, to capture all that booty shaking.

The guys weren't as exciting, but still good.

Tahiti: Day 5 - Les Roulettes

Friday, May 17, 2013

Most of the day was spent still cleaning and boat work, but in the evening I took a walk to the arts & crafts festival where they had all the 'Les Roulettes" set up. It was a lot full of truck's that pull up and sell food. I didn't eat anything, but I heard they are pretty good (and relatively cheap).

You pay 1500 Pacific Francs for dinner here, where a restaurant will charge you over 3000 PF.

They had a band of guitarists and ukelele-ists rocking it out.

And a roasting goat.

I got a bottle of cider because they didn't have any beer or wine (which was really odd for a French island). It was actually pretty good.