My sister, Astrid, and her children, Ryssa, Keiton and Skye came to visit. We had a busy, activity packed two weeks together. For their accommodations, we rafted another sailboat to us. This worked out really well. Having them right next door gave them their own space, yet allowed us to have meals and social time together; much more than if they had been lodged on shore.

Our most frequent activity, especially for Astrid and I, was swimming and snorkeling. With our snorkeling gear on, we would jump off the boat, pick a direction and go exploring. Over the two weeks, we swam in three different coral areas.

Near us in the anchorage, just behind the pass, is one of the coral reefs we swam over. Because it was so close to the boat, we swam around it many times. In fact, we swam around it so many times that I began recognizing certain parts. The coral in this part of the reef is not as healthy as in other parts of Huahine. It is colourless, which is caused by bleaching by the sun. A lot of the coral is covered with a growth of algae making it look wooly. Despite the sad state of this area, we did find a ray of sunshine and hope; we found 'Nemo'! Yes, we found a white and orange clown fish darting in and out of waving sea anemones. The anemones offer this wonderful little fish protection and seeing him was a sign of hope for the reef.

The coral on the south side of the pass, where we swam next, is healthier and has a lot more fish, both in numbers and varieties. The coral itself is more colourful and has interesting organisms on and around it. The day we explored this unsheltered area of the reef, we had to contend with waves and current due to a brisk wind. The danger with these two elements is that you can be swept into coral heads. The depth of the water where we swam is around 8-10 feet, and some of the coral heads have grown to within inches of the water's surface. Scraping along one of these can cause nasty cuts and stings that can lead to infections. Happily, this did not happen to any of us. At first, Astrid and kids had a bit of a time getting used to their masks and snorkels, but, being really good swimmers, soon they were not only swimming with fish, but like fish! It was great to see how quickly they felt at ease with their surroundings. We snorkeled for a couple of hours; a testament to how beautiful it was.

The third place we went snorkeling was beside an island near the perfect beach. The difference between this reef and the other two was startling. There was new growth everywhere which could be witnessed by vibrant colours on many surfaces of the coral. And, fish were so plentiful, that no matter which direction we looked, there were always fish in view. It was obvious that this area was much healthier than the other two. Again we snorkeled for a long time, just taking it all in.

We were hoping to see sharks and rays while there, but unfortunately none were around. As I was swimming around looking for sharks, I had to chuckle because I realized that if I saw one and was to begin yelling 'shark! shark!', I was not going to be understood the way I wanted it to be understood. I explained that if shouted these words, it was meant as an invitation to come and see, not jump frantically out of the water into the dingy! The sharks, black tips, are not a threat. They swim among the coral in the shallow waters looking for fish and dash away when humans come near.

The second most frequent activity was fishing. The boys; Keiton, Skye and Liam, spent a lot of time fishing over the side of the boats. The water is so clear here, that we can see the bottom 20 feet below and all kinds of fish swimming about. The desire to hook one of these good sized fish was great, as was the frustration when their hooks came up empty. Michael and boys went trolling in the dingy and they tried spear fishing a few times at the mouth of one of the passes and among the coral. Try as they might though, no fish ended up on the dinner table.

Apart from all the swimming, snorkeling and fishing lots of other activities happened.
Keiton and Skye, rented scooters for a day and toured the islands.
Astrid and Ryssa did a car tour and had great adventures.
All 9 of us, plus our friends on a neighbouring boat went hiking up a valley. The girls explored the almost dried out river bed and the boys followed a path that ran parallel with the river.
Astrid, Ryssa, Skye and I went to a quiet section of beach. There I got a lesson in water colour painting.

Oh, and the drumming - can't forget the drumming. While on the valley walk, Astrid, Ryssa and I made fabulous rhythms on the trunks and roots of large trees in the forest. What an experience! This made me think of Paulo, the owner of the boat that Astrid and the kids were living aboard. He is a drummer and has two wonderful African drums. I asked him if he could give us a lesson. "Happily," he said! So, Astrid, Liam and I spent a couple of hours learning to beat rhythms in the cockpit of his boat.

At the beginning of week two of the visit, the 9 of us, aboard Gromit, went to the perfect beach to camp for 4 days. The weather was a little stormy and quite overcast, which was actually good for our sunburn susceptible guests. In general, they were finding it rather hot here and welcomed the clouds.
Kayaking, swimming, exploring, coconut collecting and fire building were some of the events of the days spent at the beach, but the most exciting was being instructed, step by step, by Sikki (caretaker of the beach), how to bake Tahitian coconut bread and squash 'poeh' in an in ground oven. All the ingredients, except the flour, sugar and tapioca flour, were from around the beach and from Sikki's land. I'll post pictures of this process soon. I feel it deserves a separate post.

At the end of two weeks, which flew by, Astrid and family left Huahine with nice little tans and, I think, an appreciation of what life is like in French Polynesia!

Astrid: Thanks for all the running around and the buying of requested items, not to mention lugging them all here for us. We have enough cream cheese to last us a year!!!! Do I hear 'cheese cake' calling my name?!?!?

See Photo Album entitled 'Canadians Come to Visit' in the Photo Gallery (right hand side bar). When you have the photo album open, click on the first picture to make it larger and then continue clicking on 'next'.