July 27, 2008
A thief in the night
Woke this morning to find that the dinghy plus outboard had done a runner. Have spent a lot of the morning in the police station, but very doubtful we'll ever see it again. Grrrrrr J
July 22, 2008
Finally some pictures
Pegasus under sail - taken in unknown location (Clare posting)
Blue-footed boobie (Galapagos)
Fatu Hiva
Nuku Hiva
Black-tipped shark in Fakarava
July 20, 2008
Tahiti
We're about half way round Taihiti now, in the part that has no road round the coast. The steep slopes drop straight down into the water, an impressive coast to sail round. Position 17 48 568 S and 149 07 673 W. There are a few houses right on the water's edge here, and a sort of path connecting them and the small coconut plantations, but all transport is by boat - the kids have an hours journey each way to school by boat then bus. Amazing that such a remote area exists so close to Papeete, but not surprising when you see the terrain.
July 17, 2008
Tahiti
At last a place that everyone has heard of. Island of Captain Cook, Paul Gauguin, pearls, tattoos, and dances with wiggling hips and grass skirts. Well Papeete, the main town, has all of those, and it also has 4-lane highways, sprawling suburbia, and a huge Carrefour supermarket with 100 types of French cheeses, Dutch UHT milk, US cake mixes, and lots of New Zealand meat. The choice is overwhelming and so are the prices - who buys the local watermelons for 25 euros ($40 dollars)each?? To some extent we shut our eyes and just buy what we want, knowing that soon we won't have the choice when we move on to more remote spots. (No, we haven't had watermelon). Why are locally grown bananas (to be seen in every garden) more expensive than imported ones in the UK? And mangoes and papaya ......However, baguette is cheap, fresh, delicious, and available everywhere.
Pearls are certainly big business, and it has been interesting to see just how cultured pearls are produced. First oysters are grown for 3 years, then they are 'seeded' with a small bead of mother-of-pearl and some epithelial cells from a donar oyster. The positioning of the seed is very precise work, and the seeders work at tables a bit like a watch maker with strong lights and delicate instruments. In French Polynesia a species of oyster is used which produces black pearls. The seeded pearls are hung in strings of net bags in the clean water of lagoons, and have to be checked and cleaned regularly. It takes another 3 years to produce a pearl of the size required - or longer for larger ones. What surprised us was that only 10% of the pearls are A-grade, and only 1% perfect, no wonder they can be very expensive. Black is a bit of a generalisation, as the colour can be aubergine, greenish, bluish or gray, not actually black. We will be looking at pearls with much more awareness now - the white ones are mainly Japanese.
Tattoos are seen on the majority of Polynesian men, beautiful traditional swirling patterns over shoulders back and chest. The patterns are also seen on 'tapa' (bark cloth) paintings, and on some of the intricate wood carvings. When missionaries arrived in French Polynesia in the 1820's they banned tattooing (ie they banned uncovered bodies!) as well as traditional dances and singing. It was only in the 1980's that it was re-introduced as an art form - and now it is purely decorative whereas before it was a religious rite, a sign of wealth and social position, and a mark of tribal identification.
As for the dancing, we have certainly come here at the right time of year. In July, leading up to Bastille Day (a public holiday, but not really celebrated), there is a festival of song, dance and sports in all the Society Islands. The biggest of course is in Taihiti. The sports include things like climbing coconut palms, carrying fruit, tossing poles, and the very popular outrigger canoe races - a sort of tropical Highland Games. We spent an evening watching part of the dancing competition. Wonderful costumes which have to be made of natural materials, so leaves, flowers, feathers, and 'tapa'. The hip swaying is something that they grow up learning, a 5-yr old child was standing in the aisle next to us dancing with the music too. The accompanying music was mainly drums of various types, with ukele and nasal flute. And the singing is very harmonious - church services are a 'concert' in their own right.
Taihiti itself has very few beaches, though it does have world renowned surfing spots (as I write we are at Teahupoo, one of the best known, but there's no wind today so the surf looks very benign). All the Society Islands, of which Taihiti is the main one (and Bora Bora the only other well known one) are mountainous with a surrounding reef. So there is calm lagoon water around the coast, with surf battering the reef a short way away. This is the main difference between these islands and the Marquesas which have no reef around them. Reefs filter sea water giving clear clear lagoons whereas the sea around the Marquesas tends to be cloudy. The next island along, Moorea, is where the tourists and locals go for sea, sand, and waving palm trees. We spent a very happy week there before coming here, and were able to have our folding bikes out to explore the one road that runs around the island. Inland on both islands it is extremely steep and mountainous and fairly inaccessible. These days nearly all the population is around the coast, but the original inhabitants - pre 1500 - lived inland up valleys to protect themselves from other tribes. Ancient 'maraes' or sacred platforms are found well inland in many places.
Today the men of Teahupoo village are out on the reef collecting crown of thorns starfish which are threatening the coral. On the dock near us the women are preparing lunch for them, quite a community effort. We had to go and see the mayor for permission to anchor off the village - a very attractive and elegant lady with a smart Mercedes. Most mayors have other jobs too, so not sure what other hats this lady wears!
Pearls are certainly big business, and it has been interesting to see just how cultured pearls are produced. First oysters are grown for 3 years, then they are 'seeded' with a small bead of mother-of-pearl and some epithelial cells from a donar oyster. The positioning of the seed is very precise work, and the seeders work at tables a bit like a watch maker with strong lights and delicate instruments. In French Polynesia a species of oyster is used which produces black pearls. The seeded pearls are hung in strings of net bags in the clean water of lagoons, and have to be checked and cleaned regularly. It takes another 3 years to produce a pearl of the size required - or longer for larger ones. What surprised us was that only 10% of the pearls are A-grade, and only 1% perfect, no wonder they can be very expensive. Black is a bit of a generalisation, as the colour can be aubergine, greenish, bluish or gray, not actually black. We will be looking at pearls with much more awareness now - the white ones are mainly Japanese.
Tattoos are seen on the majority of Polynesian men, beautiful traditional swirling patterns over shoulders back and chest. The patterns are also seen on 'tapa' (bark cloth) paintings, and on some of the intricate wood carvings. When missionaries arrived in French Polynesia in the 1820's they banned tattooing (ie they banned uncovered bodies!) as well as traditional dances and singing. It was only in the 1980's that it was re-introduced as an art form - and now it is purely decorative whereas before it was a religious rite, a sign of wealth and social position, and a mark of tribal identification.
As for the dancing, we have certainly come here at the right time of year. In July, leading up to Bastille Day (a public holiday, but not really celebrated), there is a festival of song, dance and sports in all the Society Islands. The biggest of course is in Taihiti. The sports include things like climbing coconut palms, carrying fruit, tossing poles, and the very popular outrigger canoe races - a sort of tropical Highland Games. We spent an evening watching part of the dancing competition. Wonderful costumes which have to be made of natural materials, so leaves, flowers, feathers, and 'tapa'. The hip swaying is something that they grow up learning, a 5-yr old child was standing in the aisle next to us dancing with the music too. The accompanying music was mainly drums of various types, with ukele and nasal flute. And the singing is very harmonious - church services are a 'concert' in their own right.
Taihiti itself has very few beaches, though it does have world renowned surfing spots (as I write we are at Teahupoo, one of the best known, but there's no wind today so the surf looks very benign). All the Society Islands, of which Taihiti is the main one (and Bora Bora the only other well known one) are mountainous with a surrounding reef. So there is calm lagoon water around the coast, with surf battering the reef a short way away. This is the main difference between these islands and the Marquesas which have no reef around them. Reefs filter sea water giving clear clear lagoons whereas the sea around the Marquesas tends to be cloudy. The next island along, Moorea, is where the tourists and locals go for sea, sand, and waving palm trees. We spent a very happy week there before coming here, and were able to have our folding bikes out to explore the one road that runs around the island. Inland on both islands it is extremely steep and mountainous and fairly inaccessible. These days nearly all the population is around the coast, but the original inhabitants - pre 1500 - lived inland up valleys to protect themselves from other tribes. Ancient 'maraes' or sacred platforms are found well inland in many places.
Today the men of Teahupoo village are out on the reef collecting crown of thorns starfish which are threatening the coral. On the dock near us the women are preparing lunch for them, quite a community effort. We had to go and see the mayor for permission to anchor off the village - a very attractive and elegant lady with a smart Mercedes. Most mayors have other jobs too, so not sure what other hats this lady wears!
July 12, 2008
Hello from Tahiti
We are anchored just south of the airport and about 5 miles south of Papeete. We leave the dinghy in the nearbye marina, and exit onto a busy 4-lane highway with a MacDonalds just down the road, rather a culture shock! However 10 mins down the road is a very large Carrefour with all the French cheese, pate, etc you could dream of - for a price. It feels much more like a bit of France here than any of the islands did - for a start there are a lot more people of French rather than Polynesian extraction (as well as a lot of Chinese who originally came to work on the vanilla plantations). The cars have French registration, and les toilettes in Carrefour have that special smell...
Yesterday we took Le Truck, (there are also proper buses but on longer routes) into the city. Were quite impressed, the water front area is lovely, the tourist office extremely helpful, and our cup of coffee was in a large china cup, and good, not Starbucks rubbish. This month, leading up to 14th July celebrations, is a festival of song, dance and sport called the Haeva. We have booked to watch some of the dancing and singing (all part of a competition) tomorrow evening which should be fun. The sports are free to watch and include things like stone lifting, coconut palm climbing, coconut husking, and carrying fruits. Also lots of canoe races including a marathon. The canoes all have outriggers (as do the traditional sailing boats), now made of fibreglass though there are plenty of old wooden and bamboo ones in the small islands. Imagine all those fit young men with fantastic tattoos ........
Yesterday we took Le Truck, (there are also proper buses but on longer routes) into the city. Were quite impressed, the water front area is lovely, the tourist office extremely helpful, and our cup of coffee was in a large china cup, and good, not Starbucks rubbish. This month, leading up to 14th July celebrations, is a festival of song, dance and sport called the Haeva. We have booked to watch some of the dancing and singing (all part of a competition) tomorrow evening which should be fun. The sports are free to watch and include things like stone lifting, coconut palm climbing, coconut husking, and carrying fruits. Also lots of canoe races including a marathon. The canoes all have outriggers (as do the traditional sailing boats), now made of fibreglass though there are plenty of old wooden and bamboo ones in the small islands. Imagine all those fit young men with fantastic tattoos ........
Hello from the Society Islands
When I last wrote we were awaiting our evening meal with the family on the island of Taou. It was quite a meal - bearing in mind that they can only get supplies when their large outboard motor is working and the sea is calm enough for the crossing in an open boat to Fakarava. We had pizza as an appetizer, made with coconut milk in the dough, and with some of our mahi mahi on it. Then bbq chicken, lamb (that we had supplied), 'poisson cru' which is raw fish soaked in coconut milk and lemon juice, fried fish, crab, crayfish, rice and coconut bread. Then a delicious light coconut tart for dessert. The crab was coconut crab, a large land crab that is nocturnal. We were telling her that we hadn't either caught or eaten one, so she got her husband to go and get one specially for us! We gave them some epoxy glue when we left, that sort of thing is very hard for them to acquire and extremely expensive.
Made the decision to put off our arrival in Tahiti for a bit longer, so made the 240 mile trip to the Society Islands, but are now in Moorea, only 20 miles or so from Tahiti. (Still French Polynesia). This island is the 'recreation island' for Tahiti with beaches, and good diving and snorkelling. It is also much quieter. There's a tarred road right round the island, but inland it is very steep and craggy and pretty inaccessible. There are two deep bays on the north side, Cooks Bay and Opunohu Bay, both of which were explored by Capt Cook and found to be excellent anchorages, sheltered, fresh water, fish and fruit available, and friendly natives. The views can't have changed very much since his day, but he wouldn't have heard cars passing or been able to buy fresh baguette daily!
The Society Islands are in between the Marquesas and Tuamotos in age. They have developed a barrier reef, but are still very mountainous. Reefs filter water so we have beautifully clear water, the bottom clearly visible at a depth of 10 meters. We were disappointed to see crown of thorns starfish on the coral - large brownish spiny starfish which crawl up onto the coral and devour the living polyps. The bikes have been out, and we've cycled quite a way round the coast road to a high lookout spot with stupendous views towards Tahiti and over the reef and pale blue lagoon area inside. Have been lucky with perfect weather, calm and sunny, for the last couple of days. Today looks much more ominous and we have the rain catcher in position but the rain only seems to be falling on the mountains.
We've met up with a few old friends here - a S. African couple on 'Sapristi' who we first met in Guadaloupe 2 yrs ago, then caught up with in the Galapagos. We arrived here after dark and they were kind enough to come out in their dinghy and guide us to an anchoring spot they had chosen for us during the day. Also a Swiss couple on 'Shiva' who we met in the boat yard in Chesapeake Bay last time we hauled out, and have been leapfrogging ever since.
We have managed to do a couple of things here that we thought we would have to do in Tahiti. G needed a 'proof of life' form signing for his pension, and we happened to cycle past a lawyer's office so enquired if they could do it. Were told that the mayor does that sort of thing. So cycled off to the Mairie, the mayor was found pottering around the garden outside, and he signed it, no cost, and the post office was next door so in about 10 minutes it was finished and (hopefully) on its way. Also, for a price, we can get wifi on the boat. Had hoped to skype as the connection is quite good, but it is only good now and then so the sat phone is more reliable and cheaper!
Made the decision to put off our arrival in Tahiti for a bit longer, so made the 240 mile trip to the Society Islands, but are now in Moorea, only 20 miles or so from Tahiti. (Still French Polynesia). This island is the 'recreation island' for Tahiti with beaches, and good diving and snorkelling. It is also much quieter. There's a tarred road right round the island, but inland it is very steep and craggy and pretty inaccessible. There are two deep bays on the north side, Cooks Bay and Opunohu Bay, both of which were explored by Capt Cook and found to be excellent anchorages, sheltered, fresh water, fish and fruit available, and friendly natives. The views can't have changed very much since his day, but he wouldn't have heard cars passing or been able to buy fresh baguette daily!
The Society Islands are in between the Marquesas and Tuamotos in age. They have developed a barrier reef, but are still very mountainous. Reefs filter water so we have beautifully clear water, the bottom clearly visible at a depth of 10 meters. We were disappointed to see crown of thorns starfish on the coral - large brownish spiny starfish which crawl up onto the coral and devour the living polyps. The bikes have been out, and we've cycled quite a way round the coast road to a high lookout spot with stupendous views towards Tahiti and over the reef and pale blue lagoon area inside. Have been lucky with perfect weather, calm and sunny, for the last couple of days. Today looks much more ominous and we have the rain catcher in position but the rain only seems to be falling on the mountains.
We've met up with a few old friends here - a S. African couple on 'Sapristi' who we first met in Guadaloupe 2 yrs ago, then caught up with in the Galapagos. We arrived here after dark and they were kind enough to come out in their dinghy and guide us to an anchoring spot they had chosen for us during the day. Also a Swiss couple on 'Shiva' who we met in the boat yard in Chesapeake Bay last time we hauled out, and have been leapfrogging ever since.
We have managed to do a couple of things here that we thought we would have to do in Tahiti. G needed a 'proof of life' form signing for his pension, and we happened to cycle past a lawyer's office so enquired if they could do it. Were told that the mayor does that sort of thing. So cycled off to the Mairie, the mayor was found pottering around the garden outside, and he signed it, no cost, and the post office was next door so in about 10 minutes it was finished and (hopefully) on its way. Also, for a price, we can get wifi on the boat. Had hoped to skype as the connection is quite good, but it is only good now and then so the sat phone is more reliable and cheaper!
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