Life off the beaten path
23 June 2022
Annette/Mike
Life in the Gambiers is definitely off the beaten path. Except for a handful of cruising boats, mostly from France, we haven't see any tourists or anything tourist related. There aren't any resorts or hotels, official restaurants or bars. The old mission style church is the most predominant structure in town and the only other identifiable buildings are the medical clinic, post office and the Gendarmarie, which also serves as the coast guard, fire department and the police. The main industry here is pearl farming with the oysters attached to lines supported by thousands of black and blue buoys scattered throughout the lagoon, often just below the surface. These add interest to navigating through the coral heads.
Since we arrived on a Friday and could not check in until Monday we had to stay in the main anchorage just off of Rikitea and, craving a little exercise we decided to hike up Mt Duff, the highest peak on all the islands. It was a difficult, 1400 foot climb, at times so steep that ropes tied between the trees were provided so you could pull yourself up the hill. The trail wound it's way through palms and mimosa trees, giving way to pine forest as we moved up the hill. Along the trail we found and were able to forage a bit including a grapefruit-like citrus call pamplemouse, some type of sweet red berry and very spicy red chilis. Once on top we got a fantastic view of the entire archipelago. We were also directly above the town and were just in time for a birds eye view of a traditional Polynesian ceremony with drums and dancing with the dancers wearing traditional woven headdresses and grass skirts. Our little hike turned out to be a full body workout and by the time we g
ot back
down our heads were spinning and our sea legs wobbly. It probably wasn't the best way to acclimate to land. But the hike was well worth it.
Once we were officially checked in we were free to roam so we pulled anchor and snaked our way through pearl farm buoys and coral heads to the barrier reef and dropped anchor behind a tiny island called One Palm Motu which was nothing more than a patch of sand and, you guessed it, one palm tree. Unlike in Chile we don't have to tie additional lines to trees, however, with all the surrounding coral heads we have to suspend our anchor chain with buoys so that it floats above the coral without damaging it.
Speaking of coral, the snorkeling is the best we have ever experienced. The water is crystal clear and beautiful turquoise blue over the sandy areas. When you look sideways underwater it feels like you can see all the way to the horizon. Ciguatera poisoning is a risk throughout the region, particularly here, so the fish are not hunted. As a result they are big, numerous and relatively tame.
Today we moved to the south side of Taruvai Island as some light northerlies are predicted. We went for a paddle over the reef on our SUPs and saw lots of huge, fluorescent blue parrotfish, giant angelfish and a couple of black tipped reef sharks.