Adventure 14, Society Islands, Cook Islands, Niue

SOCIETY ARCHIPELAGO
Tahiti, Moorea, Huahine, Ra’iatea, Tahaa, Bora Bora


TAHITI AND HER ISLANDS WELCOME SEA WHISPER
June 18, 2013 Log Report: Enroute Tahiti , Port Phaeton
Anchor up, concerned about coral. Other boats had anchor foul in coral. W SE @15-20 kn. Swell 2-3m. Hoisted dinghy on deck. Bit of a chore.

We all dream of Tahiti with its tropical gardens, Polynesian dancers, strumming ukuleles and luxury bungalows on private beaches. The history of the ancient Polynesians, their outriggers, the European explorers and the infamous ‘Mutiny on the Bounty’ conjure up images of Tahiti’s past centuries.

CARREFOUR, THE BUS RIDE AND A HAIRCUT FOR LIONEL
After a rolly 2 day passage from the Tuamotus, Sea Whisper made landfall through the barrier reef into the Isthmus of Phaeton Bay that separates the big and small islands of Tahiti. We discovered a peaceful haven with enchanting scenery and humid scents of ‘Tiare‘, the Tahiti flower. “There’s a Carrefour here,” another cruiser informed us at the small marina. With supplies running low we got ashore and briskly walked the 2 km. to the famous French food chain supermarket. Soon our back packs are loaded with fruit, vegetables, yoghurt, fresh chicken and chocolate.

The Hair Cut: In the small mall we discover a hair salon. We enter the door and were greeted by a guy (whom we thought) in skin tight white jeans, beaded belt, white sandals, painted red toenails and makeup. “Coupe des cheveux?” “Qui monsieur,’’ responded Lionel. “Revenue en une heure.” After a closer look, Lionel quipped “Qui Mademoiselles,” realizing this jovial guy had changed his gender! The hair cut turned out to be most satisfactory.

Bus ride: A scenic bus ride to Papeete took us on a costal route passing gardens of Eden and plantations of coconut trees, Tahitian chestnut, breadfruit, yams, sugar cane, bananas, lemon and tamarind. Simply beautiful! We arrived in Papeete to be greeted by Polynesian smiles, men and women bedecked in jewelry and tattoos, people strumming ukuleles and the French sidewalk cafes spilling over with locals and tourists. We strolled the harbour looking at the cargo ships and yachts including the private Russian super mega 380 ft. yacht with a crew of 34. The reported construction cost of this vessel in 2005 was in excess of 300 million!!! The Russian billionaire calls his ship ‘A’. ‘A is one of the largest private yachts in the world. She looks like a submarine…..wouldn’t you agree? And then we just had time to grab an espresso before being summoned to the bus.
A taste of Papette. Tomorrow we will sail Sea Whisper to the harbour at Tiane marina and join the fleet of anchored and moored yachts.

LIONEL THROWS A CARROT
“If you would like to go home for a family visit Barbara, this would be a good opportunity.” Oh my, the wheels starting turning and after a conversation with a grandson who asked when I was coming home, the wheels turned quickly and within a few hours I was booked out on Air Tahiti to Victoria via LAX. At Victoria International I was greeted with sons, daughters-in-law, 4 grandchildren, sisters, and brothers-in-law. WOW! For the next 2 weeks a great family fix was in store: school closing events, Island View beach walks, salmon fishing and lacrosse games with grandchildren, bicycle rides with sisters, coffee with friends, lunch with Lionel’s sister and her husband, the Saltspring Island market, a picnic at Sidney Spit, and salmon barbecues with the family. I was spoiled and I loved it. Soon it was time to go back to Sea Whisper and Lionel was emailing to say he missed me and needed his ‘First Mate’.

MOOREA…Sister Island of Tahiti
Log entry July 10, 2013 Enroute Moorea
1000 Depart Marina Taine, Tahiti mooring. Motored through channel and exited reef at Papeete main channel. Cleared to pass end of runway from Transport Tahiti. No wind, big slop.

Moorea, the sister island, the magical tropical island greeted us with its lush landscape and vertical peaks. The views of the clear blue lagoon and the massive heights hovered all around us.

STINGRAY CITY
“What and where is Stingray city?” I asked Lionel. It turned out to be an underwater playground with stingrays. In our dinghy we navigated 4-5 miles through tricky coral heads and reef passages. We landed near the Intercontinental Moorea Resort and Spa where several boats wee moored in shallow water. We threw our anchor over the side and jumped into the turquoise sea. A flurry of Stingrays with their long-shaft tails and white tip reef sharks surrounded us immediately. Out came the sardines! With a 10 lb. weight belt I dove for the rays and allowed them to dine on sardines right out of my hand! What an eerie feeling to have these slippery flying saucers with their topside beady eyes and their wide sand paper mouths skimming along the bottom right at your feet.

HUAHINE…The sensuous Island
Huahine is resplendent with its white sand beaches, coral islets and lush hills. Some of the best preserved archaeology remains on this island of French Polynesia.

MAEVA SITES, WATERSIDE MARKET AND THE ‘FLIPPER TATTOO’

The Market. In the sleepy port of Fare we could smell the hamburgers and fresh fish and hear the strains of reggae music along the waterfront. Smiling Polynesian women with head garlands sat side by side selling their home arts and vegetables and fruits: cakes, jams, spinach, bananas, ginger marmalade and coconut oil. A very nice lady could see that I was stumbling with my French. “Can I help you,” she asked. I wanted to know where there might be a nice restaurant, where we could rent a bicycle and with a little hesitation I said, “I am thinking of a Tattoo, is there a Tattooist in Huahine?” She answered all 3 questions and said I had to find ‘Sam Tattoo’. “He is the best!” Lionel and I found our bicycles and off we went riding along the picturesque roadsides
The Flipper Tattoo.
After riding 3 kilometers there appeared right in front of us, ‘Sam Tattoo’. Oh, oh what now? In Sam’s studio we quickly scanned the design books and arranged an appointment for 3 o’clock. We rode 10 further kilometers and as I was starting to get a wee bit nervous, I wanted to keep riding to delay my tattoo appointment. However, I had acquiesced to this treatment so I had to keep my promise. Back at Sams my tattoo design ‘FLIPPER’ quickly took shape on my right ankle. Sam took the liberty to add a Huahine feather design my baby dolphin. Within an hour I was done sporting my powerful souvenir from French Polynesia. Brave yes, but ever so proud of having sailed across the Pacific Ocean to French Polynesia with Lionel and Sea Whisper!

Maeva Sites. The Maeva, a waterfront complex of pre-European Marae. The Marae are the stone platforms (places of sacrifice to the Gods). At Maeva we tackled a hike into the lush mountains and found several ‘Marae”. At the waterfront museum we were enthralled with the historical data and artifacts on display.

BORA BORA
After sailing to Raiatea, the first island that was settled by Polynesians and boasts the largest Marae ‘Taputapuatea, we picked up a guest, Ian Menzies from Victoria in our dinghy at the little airport. Ian was keen to do a passage on Sea Whisper. Our next stop…Bora Bora. Estimated passage time would be 4 hours from Raiatea a good shake down to see what kind of stomach Ian had. The passge went well with moderate to heavy winds at the start and lighter winds at the finish. Ian enjoyed it all and kept saying “I can’t believe I’m here!”

A BEAUTIFUL LAGOON, A WILD HIKE AND A HOTDOG PARTY!

The Lagoon…..Bora Bora, the Pearl of the Pacific boasts one of the most beautiful lagoons in the world. The water is translucent with Motus (little islands) fringing the lagoon. It has always been a destination for honeymooners in the Polynesian style over-water bungalows, and perhaps overrated as we were told the going rate is $5,000 per night for a full self-contained suite!! Lionel, Ian and I snorkeled in the beautiful turquoise waters with the manta rays and the tropical fish.

The Hike….We learned about a tricky hike to Mount Hue near the town of Vaitape. An ascent of 620 m with some climbing ropes taking about 5 hours up and down. Ian and I decided to tackle this trail. Meandering around looking for the trail head, we asked a local for directions. She firmly told us, “You must go to the Police and tell them you are going up the mountain.” With some thought we decided that if we alerted the police they would not let us go. Heading up side roads, through farm land and back yards we found the trail head. Immediately we started to climb through the lush greens, the thick forest and step by step up the formidable basaltic slopes. And then came the ropes. We met a guy coming down and he informed us we still had 1 ½ hours to go to the summit. We climbed and climbed, rivulets of sweat collecting all over our bodies. Long shafts of light filtered through the forest foliage. Occasionally there was a distant view from a vantage point. Breathing rhythmically and calculating each step we arrived at a grassy mountain ridge. We had to transverse the southern slope for the final ascent. It was hot and humid. Should we carry on? Or would it be wise to run around and head back to base camp? Ian said “You know your limits Barb, don’t push on if you think you’ve had enough.” His words were clear but having come this far I decided to keep going. After 40 minutes the grassy route took us upwards, and then we looked up to see the final rope climb…50 ft. straight up. Wow with sweaty palms I climbed up and up hand over hand on the rope with a fatiguing toehold in the sharp rock crevices. I finally slid over the top. We had reached the summit! Feeling a little light headed and hungry I sat down to enjoy the immense view, a Kit Kat and water. “That’s it for me.” Ian inched on to find the red flag around the corner. And then realizing it was mid afternoon and knowing it could be tougher getting down, we descended making extremely careful steps over rock, inter- twined roots and the slippery leaves of the forest floor. At the end of this arduous hike ……an ice cold beer!!

Hotdogs: The yacht Blue Marble is a 42ft. catamaran. None other than 8 spunky intelligent 30 ish men and women make up her crew. These guys formed a syndicate and bought Blue Marble in the Caribbean and sailed her through the Panama Canal to the South Pacific. It was a brilliant plan as the crew had reinvented the journey that some of their parents undertook in a converted fishing trawler back in the early 1980’s. The large gaff rigged sailing vessel with 3 families onboard set out for the South Pacific from Norway. We first met Blue Marble in the Galapagos, and now again in Bora Bora, French Polynesia. The invite to the hotdog party came with a pre-requisite….we had to dress up. From a large black garbage bag we cut out Tuxedo Tails for Ian. His bow tie was fashioned from a piece of rope. Lionel sported his top hat complemented by a tee-shirt with a handsome tie painted on it, and I wore a white dress, a bright bolero and my Turkish beanie hat. As we boarded, Karena handed me a little ‘Aquavit’…the Scandinavian equivalent of schnapps! The hotdogs turned out to be gourmet all the way!! Mashed potatoes, grilled vegetables, bratwurst, pastry wrapped sausages and all the accrued aments. A bundle of laughs and picture-making added to the evening’s drama!

From the Culture of the Marqueses Islands to the enormous lagoons of the Tuamotus to the lush beauty and tranquility of the Society Islands, French Polynesia has offered us high caliber adventures in sublime settings. Moving west let’s move on to the Cook Islands.


RAROTONGA AND THE COOK ISLANDS

Log Entry: July 27, 2013 Enroute Rarotonga
0930 Depart Bora Bora. Underway, overcast. Light rain showers

The Cook Islands, named after Captain James Cook, are the home to 22,000 people. The
Cook Islanders are Maori people related to New Zealanders and French Polynesians. In
1888 they were under British rule and in 1901 the islands became part of New Zealand and they are now self-governed since 1965. The Cooks are all about tropical gardens, white sand, azure lagoons, fresh fish, tropical fruit, yellow hibiscus, bone jewelry and pearls. In modern Rarotonga there are groovy cafes, boutiques and nightlife and some of the best dancers in Polynesia!

THE MARKET, COCONUT FIBRE HATS AND HIP SHAKERS
Constitution Days. How lucky Ian, Lionel and I we were to arrive in the harbour at Rarotonga at the beginning of Constitutional Days celebrating 48 years of self-governing.
We soon found out how much Cook Islanders love to dance! The contest begun….3 days of full-on traditional dancing from 15 islands. We sat amongst the Maori fans of all the villages and cheered and roared at the stunning performances of the PRAYER dance, the DRUM BEAT dance, and the ACTION dance and song. Our favourite was by far the DRUM dance where men stamped and knocked their knees together; and the dance known as the Pe’e ura pa’u and the Kaparima, where the women in a very suggestive manner, shake and gyrate their hips. Wow oh wow! Such a spectacular sight!

Unfortunately it was time for Ian to fly home. We will miss his good nature and humour, and willingness to jump in and help. On passage, he was an excellent crew, no mal de mare and will be welcomed back anytime.

The Market. Oh how we love the markets. The best opportunity to load up our bags and baskets with fruit and vegetables from growing local crops. We also discovered exotic breads, coffee, food stalls, fresh fish, coconuts and coconut guitars, snail shell necklaces and black pearls. We drank hot coffee while market shopping and watching two comely and adorable Maori five year old dancers perform.

White Church Sunday. Rarotonga has some of the best preserved coral churches in the South Pacific. Would you believe, we were present in Rarotonga for the ‘White Sunday’ Service which is held once a month. All the women were clad in pure white from head to toe sporting their beautiful woven coconut-fiber hats known as ‘Rito’. The Methodist Wesleyan coral church exploded with brilliant white, and in addition to this visual feast, their loud harmonic voices belted out the Maori hymns. At the end of the service, all the visitors were treated to a light lunch in the church hall. How welcome we felt!


PALMERSTON ISLAND

Log Entry: August 7, 2013 Enroute Palmerston
1000 Depart Rarotonga. Underway to Palmerston. 2 passengers onboard. Yvonne and Shekina Marsters. Wind SE @12 kn. Sailing with Don Leon and Windkist.

PALMERSTON, THE MARSTERS AND AKA’S STRAW HAT
Palmerston an atoll only 255 miles NW of Rarotonga has a fascinating history. All 52 inhabitants are descendants of William Marsters who arrived from Gloucester, England in 1863. He brought with him 2 wives from Manuae in Polynesia and then he added a third wife. From the 3 main families on Palmerston there are thousands of Marsters in Australia and New Zealand. Such a famous progeny!

Tere, Yvonne and Shekina Marsters. With Yvonne and Shekina as passengers on Sea Whisper, needless to say, we were treated like Royalty having transported mother and daughter safely back home to Palmerston. It was a close call for Yvonne as she was teaching school in 2 days. We had lovely meals, showers and laundry at their waterfront home in the village. Tere Palmerston is the former CEO for Palmerston. Yvonne, his
European wife, is the school Principal and daughter Shekina (16 yrs.) is wanting to study law.

A visit with Aka. Aka is now 84 years old and her husband, John James was grandson of William Marsters. Aka is an Elder of the church and lives in the Blue House at Paradise Beach. She sits in her comfy chair and tells stories of when she was a little girl fishing with nets and learning to weave baskets. Today she is still weaving straw hats. With a glint in her eye she picked up a beautiful 2 tone straw hat from her table. ”This is for you… a gift from my family.” How thrilled I was! Aka says she eats fish every day and drinks coconut milk. In my journal she wrote “Thank you very much for visiting us. God be with you, and your beautiful family. And may you have a safe journey all the way back home. We love you, and will always remember you in our prayers.” Aka told us about William Marsters original house. It was built from 12 x 12 ft. timbers from a wrecked ship in the late 1800’s.

We walked around the old house of William Marsters, spent time in the graveyard and attended the church service where I proudly wore my new straw hat handcrafted by Aka . After 3 days our lives were enriched having visited this little piece of Paradise and the lovely Marsters’ families.



NIUE, THE ROCK OF POLYNESIA

Log Entry: August 14, 2013
2030 Changed course for Niue. Diverted from Beveridge Reef.
19 22.7 S 166 30.5 W SOG 6.6 COG 255 Wind ESE @25 kn. Lumpy seas,
100 % overcast. Gusts, squalls. 196 m to Niue

Niue is known as the ‘Rock of Polynesia because of its rugged landscape, chasms and sea caves. Niue, a large coral atoll, arising from the Pacific ocean is one of the world’s smallest independent nations in the heart of Polynesia. In 1974 Nieu became self-governing. Today 1500 hold New Zealand citizenship and call it their home.

MOTOR CYCLE MADNESS

Not having ridden a motor cycle since I was about sixteen, I was a little apprehensive jumping on the back of a 250 Honda…….. Lionel, being the capable mechanical man, helped ease me into riding and exploring 64 km around Niue. We traveled to caves, the bush, the back roads and the seaside reefs. We had landed on Niue for a big annual Lakepa village festival. At 0600 we jumped on our motor bike and rode 17 km. for the full day of festivities. It began with breakfast fare of chicken, pork, beef, rice and taro and ended with contests of Polynesian dances, spear throwing and basket making. A full day of traditional Niuean culture and craft.

Sea Whisper’s southeast trade wind cruising route, the 6000 mile journey across the South Pacific will now take us to THE KINGDOM OF TONGA.