Rarioa

Took the dinghy to the cut and drifted with it, snorkelling over the drop-off. The coral is pretty dead unfortunately, but the fish are fantastic. Lots of new ones to look up now that we are in a different ocean, and different varieties of familiar types. Plenty of sharks, mostly black tip, cruising along but luckily not too inquisitive. One reason why we swim with the dinghy - it allows us a quick exit if necessary! I saw a large octopus sitting on a lump of coral. First time I've seen one so wasn't sure what it was to begin with. There was a big blobby eye staring up at me. Unfortunately, couldn't get G's attention and then we had drifted past.

Also went over to see what the Mayor's celebrations were like. As we had seen in the Marquesas, the women had been busy decorating the meeting place (just a large roof, no walls) with plaited palm leaves. We arrived in time to see the welcoming ceremony for the dignitaries; some lovely music and singing, then young girls with flowers in their hair presented the guests with leis (garlands to hang round the neck). We then wandered along the ocean side of the moto (little island) as the tide went out looking for cowrie shells. Found four types which G is now trying to identify. When swimming G dived for a beautiful large shell with long spines, alive, so we put it back, but will be looking out for one of those on a beach. Have a feeling that we're not allowed to take shells into NZ, so will give P a select sample to take back with her.

The people on the other sailing boat said that they had caught a tuna in the cut from their dinghy at sunset, so we went with them (in 2 dinghies) yesterday. The tide was ripping out at its full 8kts, so we wouldn't have wanted to go out there with only one dinghy. Our new outboard is wonderful, faster, quieter, and much more economical. Makes such trips feasable. We returned as darkness was descending minus two lures and sans fish. Not sure what we hooked but they were both too big for the line!

It sounds from F as though he's getting very detailed charts?/satellite photos? of our position. We tried to get a look at the blog in Taiohae, but it was just too slow. Will have to wait until we get to Taihiti.