It doesn't happen often, but today's port of Huahine is a new one for us. So what can we expect? According to the Island Travel Guide, this particular island has maintained its rural lifestyle, sort of off of the beaten track as far as tourism is concerned. "Authentic" is the word used to describe the few towns and villages on these two islands. Actually, Huahine consists of two islands….one is Huahine Nui and the other Huahine Iti, connected by a bridge and enclosed in one big lagoon and coral reefs. Together, the island is 10 miles long and 8 miles wide. There is a total of 6075 native and the main village is Fare. Together the islands are 74 square kilometers with a total circumference of 95 kilometers. Mt. Turi is the highest point at 669 meters or 2200 feet in elevation.
The Volendam sailed through the opening of the reef and into Maroe Bay where the anchor was dropped. It was going to be one very hot and humid day as it was already 84 degrees at 8am. There was barely a breeze. We went off to breakfast like always, and had a visitor, Nancy, who showed us photos she just took of a few cows standing in the water. From one photographer to another, she got a big laugh with these shots. Of course, we had to take some when we got back to the room. Even the cows were laid back.
There were a few shore excursions here beginning with two 3 hour tours to a pearl farm, vanilla plantation, and a marae (temple) for $100. The second one was a ride to sacred sites and places, followed by a coral garden snorkel and a 4 wheel drive safari – both also $100. Another 4 x 4 ride and snorkel was $120 for 3 ½ hours and a lagoon and motu picnic for $160 for 3 ½ hours.
There were no regular tour buses here, just open-air wooden school buses or le trucks. And today was a tender port once again. We stayed onboard until 11am, then ventured down to the tender platform for the 10 to 15 minute boat ride to shore on Huahine Iti. At the old concrete pier, there was a welcome band, and a local gal handing out tiare blossoms to every guest. The pier market consisted of a table or two of trinkets and across the road was a restaurant by the name of Rauheama Snack, which was closed. Restrooms were there as well. An added bonus was seeing the many tropical fish swimming right around and under the concrete pier. We got good photos without getting wet.
We boarded a waiting school bus knowing there would only be two available since today was a school day. Later on, there were a total of five trucks. The ride took us across a bridge that spanned the two islands and north towards the town of Fare. It was a 20 minute ride through dense forest jungle roads and island housing….some nice, some very old and rusting. Views of many growing areas for fresh produce were here and there as well as in the local backyards. Vanilla is a crop grown here along with pineapples, coconuts, and taro root and yams. Watermelons and cucumbers do well as do avocados and mangoes of course. We could have sworn we saw a small netted plantation of marijuana plants along the roadside in someone's private garden. Going too fast, we did not get a picture.
After the free bumpy ride with scenic views, we arrived to Fare, a quaint village with one of everything folks need here. Like one supermarket, bank, pharmacy, a few cafes, and shops. Once off of the school bus, we walked the main street looking for a suitable place for beers. By now, it was noontime, and every place was full of customers. Those cafes that had some available tables were rather seedy-looking. Heading back to the bus stop, there was the recommended Huahine Yacht Club, but obviously over-whelmed with ship guests. No way were we going to wait for a table, since it appeared most people were "parked" for the day. The recommended sandy beach behind this café was flooded with the high tide….no sandy beach until the tide went out. The few souvenir tables had shell jewelry but twice the price of what was sold in Mo'orea.
We figured that it was best to go back to the comfort of the ship and have lunch and ice cold sodas there. On the way back, we passed a broken-down school bus with many guests standing along the roadside. Don't know what happened, but they were stranded and no other bus stopped to help out. We took on the majority of guests and squeezed tight on the benches made for little kids. Now we hoped our bus would not break down. At this point we were close to the tender landing and we could have walked the rest of the way if need be.
There were two boats waiting to load guests, and we got on the second one. We guess there were twelve of us, so many seats were empty. We took the seats in the center next to the opening where there was a breeze. A strange lady came and sat right next to us….we mean right next to. For heaven sakes, the entire back was empty. But we did not say anything. She talked incessantly and asked nosy questions, most of which we had to ignore. When she started coughing, the ride was about over and it couldn't have been too soon. Perhaps due to the heat and several days of activity, many folks are getting cranky. In addition to that, there are some older people that should assess their capabilities before trying to leave the ship. One such elderly lady barely made it up the steep stairs to the upper platform. No one, not even security staffers, made a move to help her either. If she happened to fall backwards, she would have taken out at least six people behind her.
We were back by 1:30pm and ready for that room service lunch of salads and a shared panini. While relaxing on the veranda, we saw the peaks cover over with clouds. Eventually those passing clouds dropped some driving rain which was most welcomed. It cooled the air off nicely. It came down hard enough to hear it hitting the water in the bay.
Captain Paul came on with his daily talk and said we had 105 miles to Tahiti from here and going 8 knots will get us there early tomorrow morning. He said the winds were 15 knots and the temperatures should be 82 degrees. What was not mentioned was the fact that Papeete is expecting up to 70% chance of rain on Saturday. Even more on Sunday. Oh well, that's what the umbrellas are for. And the best part is we are docked….no tenders for two days.
Dinner was good. We had cold Vietnamese wraps with pork and hoisin sauce…small but very tasty. One of us ordered the shrimp quesadilla appetizer, and the Weiner schnitzel. It appeared the serving of the pork had been cut in half, as they were probably running low on it. The other entrée was rigatoni with chicken meatballs and covered with a marinara sauce. All good. Desserts were a hot fudge sundae and chocolate chip ice cream. The dining room was half full.
Showtime featured The Knights, a singing group with their final performance. We noticed that some folks had attended the 7:30pm show, then came to dinner at 8:30pm. Anything goes in both levels of the dining room these days. "Fixed seating" really means nothing. The guests are seated where there are waiters available we guess.
Bill & Mary Ann
