Uturoa, Raiatea

January 23, 24, 2023

Hallo Readers, we arrived this morning in Uturoa on the island of Raiatea, the second largest Island in French Polynesia. Tahiti is the largest island.We are having a overnight stop in this City. We are anchored right in town here with all the stores in walking distance.This morning we boarded a bus to take us to a pearl farm. It was very interesting to learn how these famous black pearls are produced. I am not going in details about it, but it is worth while
googling it and reading up on it. After taking in the lecture about producing the Pearls we boarded the bus and continued our tour. Next stop was a ancient sacred meeting place and also a burial place. This place is named Taputa puatea . This site is a Unesco Heritage Site. We were offered fresh cut fruit and a whole coconut as a refreshment. A native fellow with a machete was making the openings in the coconuts for us. It was remarkable that he still had all 10 fingers after opening all the coconuts. We stopped at a viewpoint, but it was to cloudy to see very much. After this brief stop we carried on back to the ship. In the afternoon we did some local shopping including some goodies for our favorite crew members. Goodies like chocolate bars, chips, canned sardines and Tuna. They were much appreciated. Because we were anchored for the night, we had another lovely dinner on the back deck under the stars. Closing off with some of my now favorite tequila 1800 Blanco on the rocks. For all of you who haven’t tried this one, it is very smooth. No salt or lime needed, just sip it.

Cheers

Day 2

This morning we got up early, with breakfast on the back deck under the morning sun.Carol had another tour planned for this morning. We walked off the ship and boarded a boat to take us to the sister island called Taha’a. We visited a Vanilla farm. Here they are producing the vannila powder and paste. The owner of the farm did a presentation about growing the vanilla beans. There was an opportunity to purchase some of the vannila. The next stop on our boat tour was a stop at another pearl farm, with a wonderfull small sandy beach. Here we were offered fruits and drinks. Here in French Polynesia there is pretty well fruit growing everywhere, it’s like having a grocery store in your backyard. Our next stop was a small island where there was an opportunity to snorkel and swim. There were several stingrays swimming around our boat launch. They were likely looking to interact with us human beings. After spending an hour on this beautiful island, it was time to had back to town. On our way back the wind had picked up considerably and because of the combination of wind and waves we got doused with sea water. There was another Sail Away party on the back deck at departure. It was a remarkable to watch the captain steer this vessel through the small channel in the corel reef. I guess he had help from a local pilot on board. The rest of the night we spend doing a few music trivia challenges.

” There is more than the seeing of sights. It is a change that goes on, deep and permanent, in the ideas of living.”By – Miriam Beard.

Cheers