We left Moorea on 8th for an overnight run to Hua Hine, purportedly one of the quieter Society islands. We planned to spend a few days snorkeling and reading and generally relaxing before heading to Bora Bora to stage for the leg to Rarotonga. After 14 hours in a washing machine we arrived to an easy pass in north west Hua Hine and spent the morning motoring down the west coast and exploring the bays. We anchored halfway down the coast off the reef in white, white sand and 9 metres of water - as Paul commented, you could read a newspaper on the bottom the water was so clear. Next morning we dinghied into the sleepy town of Fare which has a massive supermarket and enticing artisan shops which were unfortunately(depending on your perspective) already closed for the weekend. We lunched beside the dock and dropped in on an Ozzie boat who had a dinghy we are thinking of buying before heading back to the boat and sunset over Tahaa and Bora Bora in the distance.

Next morning we upped anchor and headed for Tahaa. The wind had picked up during the night and there was little escape from it along the west coast - unless we went an hour to the south. We decided to get closer to our final destination instead and ran along in very brisk winds and moderate seas to the top of Riaitea. From there it was a 2 hour motor up to the top of Tahaa and to charter yacht territory with their distinctive yellow or blue canvasses. We are now anchored again in a wind funnel across from one of Tahaa's luxury resorts and with Bora Bora well in our sights.

The one thing you must do on Moorea is swim with the stingrays and black tip sharks off the Intercontinental resort. Local tour guides feed the stingrays which is a no-no really but a bonus for us. The rays are bold and will wrap themselves around you in a effort to get the morsel on offer. Their skin is surprisingly soft like a luxurious suede. The black tips are more shy and tend to circle on the perimeter but will occasionally swim through the mass of tourists. The photo is of 4 stingrays vying for squid

On Saturday we had an easy 2 hour sail to Moorea and anchored in Cook's Bay near our friends Lili and Steve on Liward - Cook's bay is a bit of a misnomer since his only visit was in 1777 and he actually anchored in Opunohu Bay and only rowed into Cook's. Moorea is a beautiful island, reminiscent of Ua Pou in the Marquesas except its pinnacles are sharper and more ragged and it is more populated and tourism oriented.



Lili and Steve had us organised that evening for pizza followed by a mini Heiva at the local resort, so we finally got to see some serious hip action as Paul would say and, although not truly authentic, colourful and lively - unfortunately we forgot to take a camera.

Yesterday we did a circuit of the island in a rental car with Lili and Steve - Steve was in search of waves, ones which have good shape but are not too powerful as is the case with many of the surfing spots here. We drove from Cook's bay through the back road to the Agricultural School where you can buy jams, ice-cream, and juices - the school is for children with learning difficulties. They are brought here from across French Polynesia and given farming skills to increase their future prospects. Next we headed to the Belvedere which has views down to Opunohu and Cook's bays but it was raining hard and the cloud cover was low so our view was a grey blur. There is a single road around Moorea and the circuit is 60 kms thereabouts starting at the airport in the northeast - Cook's bay is at 10 kms or PK10. By lunchtime we had made it only to PK23 where we stopped at a restaurant, Le Snack, recommended by Woody(he is from Hawaii and makes ukeles, guitars, and pearl jewelry). Very nice Mahi Mahi and seating under the trees next to the reef. We continued around the island popping into gardens to ask for directions to the surf, gave a ride to an Ozzie girl who was tracing her heritage to Raiatea, and finished up in the backgarden of a house behind the airport where a narrow lane leads down to one of the popular surfing spots and the best surf breakers for the day. Steve headed there this morning but returned saying that the swell had increased and it was a mean pipeline now so no surfing. For us, today is boat job catch-ups. Tomorrow we will go around to Opunohu Bay and then make the move to the Leeward Islands. This photo is from last night at the dock.

Tahiti has been a whirlwind of socialising and touring. On Monday we joined Somerset and Sirena of Oare on a tour of Papeno'o Valley with our guide Teiva who French Polynesian. The valley crosses right through the centre of Tahiti but is currently blocked since a landowner on the western side has forbidden vehicles to pass over their land. Apparently the pass there is very narrow and some gunhoe tour drivers either hit or only just missed children playing near the road so now all the tours have to backtrack to the eastern side - which according to Teiva is not a bad thing since the road through to the west is full of ruts and rocks. The road we were traveling along towards the east seemed little better - the jeep crawled down the mountainside and around hairpins at impossible angles and D from Sirena of Oare had to close her eyes at some points it was so steep. The photos are of a mountainside covered in waterfalls and of Teiva feeding jamon and fromage sandwiches to fresh water eels - they almost jump for it.





We have now had 2 excellent lunches at 'O' Restaurant on ?? in Papeete. The restaurant is modern French and run by David and Corin who are part owners and Remi who is the chef. Remi and David joined us on Iolea with Interlude and Somerset for a lazy afternoon last Sunday - I think it was 10pm by the time everyone headed home after dinner ashore. This is our last lunch at the restaurant, with David and Corin at the end of the table and Jim from Somerset in between.



Our last couple of days on Tahiti has been occupied with separating ourselves from large quantities of money - just as the Ozzie dollar starts to tank! Paul's 25 year old BC and Regulator are leaking like mad and since he is the one who is meant to save me if something goes wrong when we dive rather than the other way around, it was time to get a new one - particularly with the prospect of Nui in front of us. For my part, Papeete is a provisioning mecca and we stocked up on cheeses and cold meats and tinned duck - all the necessaries of life. We are now heading to Moorea a little poorer. The last photo is of a weird looking boat on the mega yacht marina.

Day 2. We started at Nautisport and bought line for our davits. Next was the wine shop on Rue du Paul Gaugin with Karen from Interlude and Paul hunting down bargains to keep our boats going to NZ - somewhat of a challenge in French Polynesia. In theory we are entitled to duty free alcohol here but thanks to a few ratbag cruisers Customs has clamped down on access to duty free - although still unclear, it seems that to obtain duty free alcohol you have to be leaving the country within 48 hrs, you pay full price, and when you make your destination (ie Cooks, Tonga etc) you have their customs either reimburse you or send the authority to French Society and they reimburse you somehow, in other words its impossible.

Anyway, after this stop we headed for Point Venus where Captain Cook observed the transit of Venus across the Sun. The point has a memorial to Cook and a lighthouse and there were school children everywhere. The photo is of small outriggers that are covered in corrugated iron so they don't fill with water. We then headed to the east coast in search of the 3 waterfalls, a restaurant, and the lava tubes. We found the first which was very picturesque and had a good supply of taro leaves which Interlude collected for callaloo soup. We did not find a restaurant on the east coast nor could we locate where the lava tubes were so after a long trip down to Taravao and a Chinese lunch with pleasant but overwhelming ukuleles and island songs we headed back to Papeete and Le Belvedere - via a long twisted and narrow road that climbs to 1600 ft. The restaurant, Le Belvedere, has views down to Papeete and out to Moorea - well worth the drive, cycle, or walk.

This morning we caught the bus down to Paea and collected our cars. Our first destination was the east coast of Tahiti Iti and the big waves. This part of Tahiti attracts surfers from around the world. Large swells from southern storms produce ideal conditions in August and there is a major surfing competition at the end of the month. Unfortunately, the swell wasn't quite as large as we hoped but the trip was fun. The photo is of the scaffolding that the judges sit on to assess the competitors.



Our next stop was a restaurant sitting above the reef - basic plastic chairs and a la carte food and prices but the food was excellent and so was the view. The rest of the afternoon we meandered around and up Tahiti Iti then dropped into Vaipahi water garden and the grotto on the way back. They are both by the roadside but Vaipahi has a wonderful range of flowers and its possible to hike an hour or two up to the top of the falls. The main photo is of us at the grotto.