Today's port was a smaller island a bit off the beaten track called Huahine. As laid back as we thought Moorea was, this island is even more so laid-back. There are two islands here – one called Nui and the other named Iti, similar to Tahiti. Nui is 60 kilometers around or 37 miles, while Iti is 35 kilometers around or 22 miles. The main village is Fare on Nui and the highest point is Mt. Turi at 2194 feet in elevation.
The weather looked promising with temps in the 80's and a 76% humidity. The winds were 13 mph and the skies were mixed with sun and clouds. No rain in sight, but we kept the umbrellas with us when we went to shore just in case.
Off the beaten path is a good description of Huahine. Serenity, authenticity, and easy living keeps the 6075 people happy that reside here on this island of 74 square kilometers. There are 8 villages scattered around the perimeter with a very rural lifestyle. We did not see any fancy resorts, although there may be some in isolated areas. Most of the accommodations are small pensions or B&B's.
The Zaandam anchored in the Bay of Maroe where guests tendered to shore, then took a local school bus to the town of Fare, a 5-mile drive. Unless they were on excursions. Some of those tours were 2 to 3 ½ hours for $110 and went to a pearl farm, a marae, and vanilla plantation. Another took folks to sacred sights and legendary places and another was a lagoon cruise discovery with juice, water, or fruit. A Huahine coral garden snorkel was 3 hours for $120 with a drink and fruit, while a 4 WD safari was the same price and 3 hours. Another 4x4 and snorkel tour was 3 ½ hours and $130 and a lagoon cruise was 3 ½ hours for $170 and included lunch. Most of these excursions included a stop to see the legendary sacred blue-eyed eels.
Other things to do here were renting bikes, ebikes, scooters, or a car. There are some beaches scattered around the islands. There are vanilla and pearl farms, a distillery and a place that specializes in creating unique pareos or sarongs.
As always the tour groups went off first, followed by the tender ticketed people. That did not start until 8:20am and there was a long pause before more were called. At least 20 minutes or more. We wondered about that and called the front desk. The said too many guests were going to the tender drop-off, but there were not enough local buses to get them to town. So they had to wait in the heat of the day for those shuttles and were not happy campers. It was better to delay the tender boats and have people wait on the ship and not on the shore.
We were in no hurry to go over since we had plenty to keep us busy. A crew drill was in progress with a "man overboard" drill, which we did watch from our veranda. They literally threw a dummy (not a dumb person) in the water, then circled to retrieve it with hooks and poles. Interesting. We could not help to see that the dummy had the life vest on backwards and his face was in the water. Something wrong with this picture??? But what do we know?
We left the ship close to 11am, and joined the short line at the platform. It was a 15-minute ride to the shore, where we boarded one of the local school buses to Fare. We drove over a bridge that tied Huahine Nui and Iti together at the channel connecting the bays of Maroe and Port Bourayne. From there Iit was a nice ride through the countryside. For some reason, the song that goes "over the river and through the woods to grandmother's house we go" was stuck in my brain as we drove the wooden bus made for kids through the dense woods and past lagoon waters. The ride was about 4.3 miles, and it did take 15 minutes.
Once we were dropped off in the village, we walked from one end of the town to the other in 10 minutes. Honestly, there is very little in Fare for tourists. The one and only Huahine Yacht Club was opened for business but already crowded with cruise ship passengers. It's been the same every time we have gone to Fare. Actually don't let the name Yacht Club fool you. It really was an open-air restaurant and a good place to get beer and perhaps some fresh tuna sandwiches. We did run into buddies Rosie, Randy and Susie and Eddie. Some of them had come over early and had no problem getting a table. Susie and Eddie squeezed in somewhere, but we decided to leave. We had our usual Pinnacle Grill bacon and egg breakfast and we were not hungry yet.
We waited about 15 minutes for the next bus, and went back to the tender pier. The ride was fun and it did not rain. That was a plus because one of times we came here, we were drowned the rain was so torrential. And one of the "le truck" school buses had broken down, leaving folks in the driving rain along the roadside. It was a while before another bus came to the rescue we heard.
Back at the tender pier, we noticed that the steps to board the boat were steep. Many ladies with dresses had a hard time and happily took the arms of the crew members who were there to help. We were back onboard by 1:45pm and eventually ordered room service mini sliders with some coleslaw for lunch. Just right and not too much.
The Captain came on with his afternoon send-off messages saying that once they heave the anchor, we would be off sailing towards Papeete, Tahiti about 112 nautical miles away from Huahine. We should arrive at the entrance to the harbor at 7am and be docked for two full days shortly afterwards. He expected the winds would increase tonight and some deep swells. Tomorrow's forecast was for a dry morning, with some late afternoon showers. Sounded good to us, but would that hold true?
The ship left the bay close to 5pm with folks watching from the bow and deck 6 forward. Sailing out into the open ocean only took 15 minutes, then most everyone left as it was time for dinner. Yesterday we had received a last-minute special invite to a private culinary demonstration with the hotel manager and the rest of the President's Club members in the Wajang Theater at 7pm. We already had plans for that time, and dinner for us was at 7:30pm. So we passed on the event. Doubt we would be missed.
After cocktail time, we headed for dinner and ordered appetizers of chicken noodle soup and a sesame chicken plate with a red sauce. Caesar salads for both of us tonight. We ordered the tenderloin thinking it was the hunk of steak. However, it came sliced like a roast flooded with gravy served with red roasted potatoes and sauteed mushrooms. It was good, just not what we expected. We did have dessert of a strawberry sundae with whipped cream and nuts. Good way to finish a meal. By 9pm, the dining room had cleared out, a signal that most everyone was tired after a long day in port.
There was entertainment with a repeat performance from Rebecca Harkin and husband Kurt Russell. She sang and he played the piano. The movie "Gauguin: Voyage to Tahiti" was shown in the Wajang Theater. Way too tired for either option, we were happy to retire to the comfort of our room.
Looking forward to being docked without the hassle of tenderboats.
Bill & Mary Ann
