Tour of Huahine Nui (Great Huahine) and Huahine Iti (Little Huahine)

The last day of the kids' week off in November, Michael and I decided to splurge! We rented a car and did a tour of the two islands that make up Huahine. What brought us to this decision was the fact that we've been here about 3 months now and haven't seen much more than the town of Fare. It was time to see more! On the map, the village of Fare is located on the west (left side) north (top section) of the island.

We packed water, snacks, bathing suits and our cameras and headed down the road towards a town called Maeva, at the northern end of Huahine Nui. Huahine is actually two islands: Huahine-Nui and Huahine-Iti. They are connected by a bridge spanning about 500 feet. This bridge is between Bourayne Bay on the west and Maroe Bay on the east.

Within only a few kilometres of Fare, I told Michael to pull over;" right here!" I said," right here!" He did so with a confused look on his face, after all, we'd only just left!

At this point, I'd like to ask for your indulgence, as I know that not all of you are 'Asterix' fans like we are. I couldn't help myself when I saw the 'mehir' (boulder) at the side of the road. It looked exactly like the one 'Obelix' carries on his back. In fact, I could have sworn that I saw 'Oblelix' holding the one at the side of the road as we slowed down to pull over! I took a picture of each of the kids honouring 'Obelix', (see first four pictures in the Photo Gallery Album entitled: Tour of Huahine).

Our next stop was an archaeological site in the town of Maeva. Maeva is unique in French Polynesia because all the district chiefs of the island lived side by side and worshiped their ancestors at their respective marae. Marae are platforms and courtyards constructed of coral that often had low surrounding walls and internal arrangements of upright wooden slabs. They were used for religious ceremonies in which they would seat their gods and present fruits and other foods to them at ritual feasts.

A little further on is a lake called Lake Fauna Nui situated beside the village of Maeva. The lake is actually an almost completely enclosed lagoon fed by water from the ocean. Near the village's east end we saw ancient stone fish traps which supported the ancient chiefs and priests. The traps have been recently repaired and are again being used. As the tides come in and go out, the fish enter the stone traps and are unable to find their way out again.
A few miles down the road in the town of Faie, we saw the famous blue-eyed eels we'd heard about. There is a small river that runs through the town and it is populated by these sacred creatures. Legend has it that it was the eels that brought fresh water to the village. Not wanting to be a skeptic, but I think it was the rain water spilling down the mountains in rainy season finding lower ground that brought water to the village, but I guess that doesn't make for a good legend.

The eels are huge, mostly because people feed them canned mackerel bought from the little store right beside the river where they swim. I joked one day while speaking to a Polynesian woman about how huge they were and that they'd probably be a tasty morsel and she told me that they are protected. Then she proceeded to tell me that the reason they are protected is, and I quote, "because the Polynesians would eat anything." Oh!
The scenery was stunning as we continued our drive around the top of Huahine Nui. Around every bend was a new vista filled with water that ranged from baby blue, through turquoise to deep royal blue to vistas of black rocks enrobed in lush greenery, much of which were palm trees, never letting us forget we are the tropics.

All along the roads we saw fruit trees. Some were growing on people's property and others just grew wild. We picked some papaya at the side of the road, but didn't help ourselves to mangoes we saw at the side of the road, because the tree was growing beside someone's house. We also saw some avocados, but they weren't ripe yet, as it is early in the season.

Most of the time, we drove on the one main road that follows the contour of the islands. At one point though, we veered off onto an unmarked road. The road itself was cement and paved and as we proceeded, it become more and more narrow. It was carved out of the side of the hills, with lots of Polynesian houses above and below it. Around the houses were gardens and fruit trees. I had always wondered where the people, who sell their produce at the small tables outside of the supermarket, grew their products.

The road went on for many miles narrowing more and more and being more and more covered by trees. Then suddenly it ended - right in the yard of a family's home (which looked more like a cottage). We looked behind us to see if we could back up and turn around, and by this time some of the people from the house had come out. They motioned to us to pull in so that we could turn around and we thanked them. We were just about to drive away; when Michael suggest that we ask if they have any bananas and if so, could we buy some. The woman, who looked like the grandmother of the family, said that bananas cost 300 francs ($3) for 15 - that's as much or more than we pay at home- but she said she didn't have any ripe ones at the moment. We explained that we were looking to buy a whole stock of green bananas and she directed a man, who I assume was here son or son-in-law, to go cut one. We could hear him sawing away in the bush and a few minutes later, he returned with a stock that weighed somewhere between 30- 40 pounds! This all happened so quickly, I hadn't had a chance to ask how much. Luckily she didn't price them the same as the ripe ones, and we ended up paying 1000 francs ($10).

Next, we asked about pamplemousse (grapefruits). She took us to a tree and told us to pick. We picked about 7-8 very large ones and she only charged us 500 francs ($5). She asked if we wanted mangoes, which we didn't, as we had lots on the boat already, but she just handed us a bag full as a gift. With many thanks, we drove away, the trunk of the car full of fruit!

Happy to have seen the islands and to have found truly fresh fruit, we returned the car in Fare, and headed back to the boat for a big bowl of fruit salad!