"Treasures of Cruising the World" with Bill & Mary Ann: Report #41 Uturoa, Raiatea, French Polynesia November 3, 2016 Thursday Partly sunny & 84 degrees Part #1 Of 3 85 Pictures

By the time we woke up this morning, we were pulling into the dock of Uturoa, Raiatea, the second largest of the French Polynesia Society Islands. You could describe it as having lush scenery and natural beauty, with green-carpeted mountains. Similar to Bora Bora, but different in many ways.

Considered the "sacred" island, it was settled over 1000 years ago. It's ancient name means big springing waters. Captain Cook anchored near here in 1769, then followed a delicate colonization. Brutal wars for power began in the 1800's'between the local natives, lasting for more than 30 years.

Somewhere during the middle of this, missionaries arrived to a complicated scene. By the 1900's the Pomare family reigned this entire area. Then the French came along, and more wars pursued until eventually, the French took over.

Raiatea is located 125 miles from Tahiti, has a total of 238 square miles, and houses a population of over 12,000 people. Their main exports include copra, vanilla, and pineapples. And flowers. Their tiare apetahi flowers are completely unique to this mountainous area. They cannot be grown anywhere else in the world.

The sister island to Raiatea is Tahaa, a smaller island with 5300 people. Typical tropical crops are also harvested here, but the industry that is growing by leaps and bounds is the black pearl farming.

While the highest point on Raiatea is Mt. Tefateaiti at 3,333 feet, neighboring island, Tahaa's highest peak is Mt. Ohiri at 1,935 feet.

What do the tourists do here? Taking ship tours included 3 site-seeing excursions, all 3 ½ hours from $70 to $120. There were 8 water or adventure tours as well. They were 3 to 3 ½ hours from $90 to $140. That would include a pearl farm, a beach break, a vanilla plantation, a catamaran ride, or a kayak ride up the only navigable river in the Society Islands. Drift snorkeling through coral gardens off of Tahaa was also an option.

We stayed in and around Uturoa today. What had to be the highlight of the morning, was watching the outrigger canoes passing the ship in the dock on their annual International Outrigger Canoe Race. We did not realize that the race was just about the same date as last year. During breakfast in the dining room, we saw flotillas of boaters coming in groups, all surrounding the outrigger canoes. A helicopter was swooping overhead, getting shots for the live television here in Polynesia. We estimated there must have been 100 racing canoes with 6 rowers in each boat.

By the time we finished breakfast, they were gone. We are not sure if they were into the second leg of the race, going from here in Raiatea to Tahaa, a 16 mile leg. Hoping to find someone who spoke English to ask about the race, we never did connect with any of the locals. We will have that opportunity tomorrow while in Papeete. We recall that last year, the locals were crowded upstairs at the marketplace, watching the recorded race on TV, as it is a big deal here.

Taking the path we took last year, we strolled around the marina to the main road, where a long stretch of park lines the water's edge. There is no usuable beachfront here.

Eventually we ended up at the area where the outrigger canoes were beached. When you see them up close, it is surprising how narrow and tight they are. Cannot imagine spending hours rowing in these, stuck in one position. Besides a wooden seat, the only thing there was room for was a liter bottle of water. Besides a huge tent and several trailers with food cooking, there was little boating activity here.

Inside the huge tent, were grandstands surrounding a center stage with big screen TV's. The locals were in the process of dismantling the seating areas. Whatever went on here, was obviously done.

At the end of this area was a seawall where people were swimming. Public bathrooms were there along with fresh water showers. Other than finding a hotel with a pool, this is the only place we know where you can go swimming. There is a boat launch and also ladders to exit from the deep water.

The only thing missing today were the elderly ladies that sold their handmade treasures in this park. They sold seashell jewelry for a fraction of the cost at the marketplace in town.

There was not much more to see up this way, so we headed back to town. Our first stop was at the little Catholic church where we lit two candles, leaving some French francs we had collected. That always helps us think we will have a safe trip home. It has worked, since we have lit many church candles throughout our journeys.

Close to the church was the central marketplace. On the outside, a group was singing under a big tent. Several tables of island jewelry and clothing were for sale. In the market, on the lower level, was the produce and flower market. We went upstairs and checked out the seashell jewelry and carvings. There were fewer vendors than usual, and we noticed that the prices were steep. Perhaps that is why we saw few people buying things today.

The walk through town was quick, since it is very compact. We decided to continue walking up the other end of town to see if we could find their largest hotel, the Hawaiki Nui Hotel. Eventually, we did find it, but what we did not know was that it was closed permanently. The sign FERME was on the plywood that covered the main entrance. If we had picked up a newer local island booklet, we would have seen that was printed in there. Duh…..

We considered going further up the road, but stopped in our tracks when two dogs began barking furiously at us. Thinking they were behind a solid wire fence, we soon found out that they had access to the road from their driveway. When they came out snarling with their teeth showing, they both looked like Godzilla. OK, exit stage left. Obviously, no one walks these roads.

The long walk back to town sharpened our appetite. And we knew the exact place we wanted to go……Le Cubana, a café right across from the cruise ship. Among other things, they serve a decent pizza. Ordering large Hinano beers, eventully their version of the royal pizza arrived. The description said tomatoes, cheese, olives and euf. Not remembering what euf was, the pizza came with an almost-cooked egg on top. Could be that is Cuban-style. Actually, it was very good for a change. We added a profiterole dessert that we split. Ice cream-filled crispy pastry shells, covered with whipped cream and chocolate sauce finished our meal quite nicely.

We had a little time to check out the little souvenir huts before going back to the ship. Nothing really caught our eye this time.

Before we knew it, the time was close to 4pm. All aboard was 4:30pm today. The sail away had been moved to the lower promenade, as well as the bow. The Captain was going to take us on a scenic route on the way out of the two islands. We did this a few years ago as well. The ship had to navigate between the coral reefs, which came close to both sides of the vessel. We had to have an experienced pilot onboard.

There is only a 2 ½ mile lagoon between the two islands, so within minutes, we were sailing very close to the shoreline of Tahaa. Vacationers were on the banks waving as we went by. The sun was going down in the west, casting the shadow of the ship on the island's shores. We exited a narrow channel just as the sun dipped on the horizon. Getting photos from the aft pool was the best place to be.

We are now headed towards the island of Tahiti, where we will dock tomorrow in Papeete.

There were two hours that we worked on photos of the day before it was time for dinner in the Pinnacle Grill at 8pm. The meal began with their best salad, Caesar salad, no anchovies. Followed by two delicious ribeye steaks cooked perfectly. This is the only place to enjoy steaks on this ship in our opinion. Dessert was once again Cherry Garcia ice cream without the meringue.

Took a walk on the lower promenade deck on our way to our room. A few more folks were out and about enjoying the cool breeze like us. Nice end to another great day in paradise.

Bill & Mary Ann

Dockside in Uturoa, Raiatea