Well this will be short as Ive already spent far too long at this internet cafe, and although it is delightfully air conditioned, I really want to leave. Ill give a super quick once-over of where we've been, then Ill concoct some fabulously detailed update later on. (By the way Im sorry about the lack of photos, theres no way of uploading them here...)
Leg three has, thus far, been quite different in that there was no long passage at the beginning. Instead, its been a delightful few weeks of island hopping in French Polynesia. We started off at Morea (right across from Papeete) where a few of us went on an amazing hike and got a massive view of the lagoon and reef (also stopped by a juice factory on the way back...much needed).
A lookout along the way
The view from the top
Tav and I near the top
Huahini came next. Most of us spent the entire day on a small motu on the outside of the island just snorkeling (I got some neat photos of an anemone...just like in Finding Nemo...yes, I realize Im a nerd) and reading on the beach.
There you have it - Finding Nemo anemone.
Bec and I made the grave mistake of not wearing shorts over our suits or sunscreen on our tender backsides, and had to spend the evening within reach of aloe and sitting on ice packs the burns were so bad. We definitely got our fair share of mocking for that one. We also went to a great church service in Maroe (a town on Huahini) where they sang "I Love You Lord" in Tahitian and French as their last song. We got another game of volleyball in that afternoon (on concrete...nice) which was oh so fun.
One of the great kids from Maroe
We headed to Tahaa from Tuahini and snorkeled around a little motu in the morning and then visited a pearl farm in the afternoon.
On the dock after the pearl farm tour
Very neat to learn exactly how each different kind of pearl is made. We got another hike in at Tahaa as well, and even though Bec ripped her entire toe nail off at the top, it was enjoyed by all.
Tav's photo of a wee fern we found on the way up
Mom and the boys at the top
From Tahaa it was only a short jump over to Raitaea (thats definitely spelled wrong). Again, hiking was the plan. After a bit of following the river and looking around, we found the trail and made it to a massive 60m waterfall.
Our first fresh water rinse in quite some time
It was so nice to swim in fresh water (we hadn't actually had a fresh water wash in over two weeks by this time...), and it was delightfully cold. (Sidenote: on the way down we found the hottest peppers of all time. Dont really know what kind they were, but our mouths were on fire for at least an hour afterwards.)
From there we headed to Bora Bora where we not only stocked up on juice and chocolate, but also got to explore quite a bit. Tav and I had a fun hitchhiking day where we got a ride with a hot-dog vendor (he moved here four years ago and has recently started selling hot dogs as a living...he gets up at 6, sells 60 hotdogs - until 8, or until he runs out- then goes kiteboarding all day. he then works as a bartender until the wee hours of the morning at the resorts...yup we meet awesome people while hitchhiking. he was great), found a nifty viewpoint, and almost didnt make it back to the boat in time.
The next day Bec, Arwen and I had some serious sister bonding. We rented old fashioned bikes and rode around the island (only 32km). It is by far my favourite way of exploring. Its faster than walking, but slow enough (unlike hitching) to see everything and stop and chat with people. All in all a very fun day.
From Bora Bora we had our longest passage yet! Three whole days! We had by far the roughest weather Ive seen yet.
This gives you an idea of how far we were keeled over, and how the spray/waves were (Tavs photos)
There were times when the upper pin rails were under water, and we were dunking the tops of the stantions on a regular basis.
The Starboard quarter under two of the bigger waves (the sail is the trysail tied up on deck - we had to take it down...)
It got to the point where we had to wear our harnesses up on deck during the day, and Pop wouldnt let Simon and Noah on deck at all. It was AWESOME! Granted, we only had it for a day so the novelty didnt really get a chance to wear off, but it was quiiite exciting. We were all totally decked out in our foulie gear, and my watch was on 12-4 so we got quite a good go at it.
Everyone on deck in their foulies (Tavs photo)
Dishes was definitely a gong show while smashing around so much (there may have been a towel fight or two initiated as well), and since the skirt on the main was loose for a while, poor Tom got probably 30 gallons of water on his bunk.
We are now in Rarotonga in the Cook islands, and things are good. Everything is amazingly cheaper, we're out of the storm, and Avarua is quite a nice town to explore. The plan is to rent bikes again tomorrow and see what we can find on the other side of the island.
Oh yes...and during the passage we found some unwanted visitors. How do you say... bed bugs. Yeah its pretty sweet. Anyways, since Rarotonga's the biggest of the Cooks, we decided to have a massive extermination and get things under control (I make it sound really bad, but really we only found a few bedbugs, and only two or three people have been getting bites) before it has the chance to get out of hand. So this morning we all got up at 6 and moved absolutely everything we owned up on deck. So all the clothing on the boat is currently getting washed at an industrial place, and we had to hand sort all other items and fully inspect them for bugs/eggs. So all the mattresses, all the bags, shoes, all the food(which had to be brought out from under bunks and put up on deck), galley stuff (all the cupboards were emptied, silverwear, utensils....everything had to be brought up on deck...) is inspected and up on deck.
The whole boat torn apart: everything on deck, mattresses all over the place...gong show
The entire inside was swept, scrubbed, and bleached, and now the exterminator bug man is in there doing his thing. All in all it was a painfully long and arduous process, but we are all glad to be doing it now when things are relatively easy to contain and not later when it has run rampant.
Anyways, I really need to go...fresh air is calling me. But I'll try to put some photos from the last islands up when I find another place. Hope all is well, thanks for all the notes! Keep keeping in touch, I really love hearing from everyone! Im doing my best with the postcards, they're still coming! Miss you all, Ill talk to you later
