Ra'iatea/Taha'a

From Huahine, the next islands westward are Ra'iatea and Taha'a, just a short twenty or so miles away. There are eight entrances through the barrier reef into the large, deep lagoon which both islands share. Taha'a, the smaller, northern island can be circumnavigated within the lagoon while you can't quite make it all the way around Raiatea. We spent eight nights here, in four different anchorages. The first was on Ra'iatea, in Faaroa Bay, which offered the possibility of taking your dinghy up the only navigable river in French Polynesia. The bay was quite heavily populated, but, the river entrance looked intriguing as we watched other dinghies disappear into the jungle.

Early the next morning, it was our turn. We'd hoped there'd be lots of birdlife, but, strangely, there wasn't any to speak of. We've seen lots of rivers and this one didn't have anything memorable really. There was supposed to be an abandoned botanical garden at the head of the river and we looked forward to having a look around. There was a substantial concrete dock to tie up to so we disembarked. It didn't look abandoned and there was a short path, with benches, through a manicured area which we started along. Unfortunately, we came across three workers tending the plants who promptly told us: 'it is closed...'. We said can we just walk around the path. 'No!', so, we had to leave.

We headed further upriver and came across a local man who waved us over to his dock to invite us to come and see his smallholding. We were reluctant, but, he seemed friendly. It turned out to be a highlight, he was very proud of his two hectare plot that he tends with his wife. We got the tour and came away loaded down with fresh papaya, cucumbers, coconut, bananas and a few other fruits we don't know the names for. We don't think the farmer expected payment, but, we made a token payment anyway as we appreciated the time he spent with us. We'd asked for just 'one' banana  to try and we were given 'one' bunch of about fifty! These little bananas are only about four inches long and super-sweet.

A surplus of bananas that ripen all at once can only lead to one thing, banana bread! It seemed crazy to turn the oven on in the heat, but, this lovely loaf made it worthwhile.

Before heading northwards to Taha'a we spent a couple of nights in Haamene Bay, close to a village, which allowed us to stretch our legs, stock up on fresh baguettes and use the internet at the
post office. We then carried  on northwards to Taha'a and around its top. On the westward side of the island, we caught our first glimpse of Bora-Bora, just another twenty miles westward.

We anchored between an iconic-looking 'motu' (islet) and the 'best' resort on the island with the now ubiquitous over-water bungalows.

The attraction at this location was snorkelling the coral garden that runs between Motu Tautau and
the resort's motu. We went over the following morning and it was fabulous. You park your dinghy on the beach, walk to the end of the island, enter the waist-deep, crystal-clear water and float down over and between the coral gardens. It was very shallow, but, the variety and number of fish was amazing. Unfortunately, we don't have an underwater camera, so, no pics, but, it really was very special.

We moved down to Hurepiti Bay, past this lovely waterside church and holed-up at the end of the very protected bay for two welcome rainy days.

We'd hoped to book onto a vanilla plantation tour, by 4x4, up into the mountains, but, due to the wet weather that idea was a washout. We upped anchor the next morning, which dawned absolutely clear, windless and a little cooler and headed through the PaiPai Pass on our way to Bora-Bora.