22 June 2014
Day after Solstice, not that it means much here but it is
quite cold of a night, rug up! We are sitting in a marina in Raiatea, after Jenny,
our generator, finally had her last moments and shorted out. No point in
getting half a new one so we ordered a complete new generator, Julie, bigger,
with it arriving here too early….unheard of! So, after 2 ½ weeks of being in
Raiatea, we are now set to get going again.
Huahine – first, we must say, absolutely brilliant! We
arrived on the east side of Huahine which is not a common thing to do, and
navigated our way up a channel between the motu and mainland, finally anchoring
in a sand spit amongst the reef. A local Paul came out to greet us, with his
computer, and showed all the great and goodness of ‘Paul’s Bay’, so we called
it.
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| Paul and his catch |
Next day saw him arrive with a platter of freshly caught
reef fish, he had been fishing since 2am. We saw Paul, the most friendliest guy
you could ever meet, at least every other day, bearing; papaya, coconut, fish,
limes, breadfruit, kayaks, bananas, fresh pressed coconut milk ,….yummm!
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| Paul’s Place, a lovely plot of land he is clearing on the motu |
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Paul, bearing more fruit & fish
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Paul also came by one day to take us for a hike up the hill
(mountain?). A great guy, and the night before we left we were watching tv he
suddenly appeared in the doorway (bit of a shock as he had climbed on the boat and made his way to the companionway in the dark)……he had just baked a breadfruit cake and brought it out
on his kayak for our desert….and our continued journey. What amazing
hospitality, showing us around his property and island! Oh, and as I am
re-reading this forgot to mention that he is deaf and dumb.
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| Hiking through wildflower meadows |
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| Looking back to Zenna during the hike |
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| Marion on a the steep slope |
Oh, and look, I can’t even talk about our adventure in the
church annual gathering, …..though the food was interesting??
We headed off to Fare, capital of Huahine, which was a great
sail - something we had not done for a long time, excellent! We arrived in Fare to
plenty of market produce, a good supermarket, and internet.
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| Nice office Marion! |
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Supply ship in the sunset, Huahine
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The Huahine yacht club served excellent meals, so good we
decided to stay for Marion’s birthday. Anchored off a nice beach where we had a
great bbq lunch on the beach. Marion’s birthday went well with all the yacht
club singing and even giving Marion a headdress! Truly hospitable these locals!
Really! We try and repay local hospitality where we can and were fortunate
enough to tow 3 local surfers out to the reef break, they were thankful and almost
amazed.
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Marion the birthday girl.
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| Towing local out to the reef break |
Unfortunately the day after Marion’s birthday we pushed old
Jenny too far, and she shorted. DOD (drama of the day), remember those…we now take them in our
stride. So, off to Raiatea we go, a yachtie haven, to sort things out. Now,
things don’t happen quickly around here, but it is all in the how and who. So,
here I sit after 16 days or so, 105kg generator from the UK delivered &
installed, and we’ve had a few days off inbetween. Brilliant!
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| Fresh flowers for a marina Sunday breakfast |
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Are there He/She’s here…….
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Hieva has started, and we are looking to get involved.
Marion even got her drum out the other night, not sure what the neighbours
think, to join in!. The drums are beating nearly every night, and the
competition is rising, but Raiatea has a wide flat lagoon that we are anxious
to sail, if not to adjust the rigging, and enjoy. Taaha lies off to the north.
It is only a couple of hours sail away in enclosed waters and we have heard
good reports!
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| Generator has arrived...now what do I do? |
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| The marina is always busy |
Hitch hiking is extremely easy and acceptable here and we
have enjoyed that plus our cycling. It is always quite exciting; we went for a
bike ride yesterday up a local road and found a dead end, but the locals were
having a QLD! Before we knew it we had our hands full with Pampelmouse and
Aubergine. The locals are truly giving, sooo comforting that you can find this
these days……until you experience it you will never know…..they want nothing in
return. Even the French here are hospitable, though they are cruisers, allowing
us to join their Sunday BBQ.
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| ......and French cruisers here put on a great bbq |
How lucky are we, very! But…… it is not everyones cup
of tea, it is hard, but nothing in life worth doing is easy!
Tahaa & Bora Bora to come, yahoo!
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