Tahaa and Raiatea

Bondi Tram
Peter Colquhoun and Sandra Colquhoun
Fri 2 Sep 2011 18:53
We made the short crossing from Huahine to Tahaa and spent the afternoon behind this small motu just inside the pass....
 
 
....with a view of Raiatea to the south.  Tahaa and Raiatea are in the same lagoon.  You can go all
the way round Tahaa inside the lagoon, but only 3 quarters of the way around Raiatea.
 
 
In the evening we went to a beautifula bay on the west coast of Tahaa, surrounded by lush vegetation
and anchored in splendid isolation.
 
 
The French couple who live here arrived in a yacht 25 years ago and having found paradise they stayed.
They run botanical tours and whilst we did not go on one, they let us wander in their magnificent
garden.
 
 
 
 
 
 
This is a vanilla plant which is a species of orchid.
 
 
Sandra is holding a vanilla pod.  When the pods turn black, they can be harvested.
 
 
There is a good view of Bora Bora, our next destination, from the north west end of Tahaa.
 
 
 
Between the two islands there is a beautiful coral garden which you can drift through with the current.
 
 
When we were last here we had a wonderful fish soup at this hotel, but unfortunately not this time as
it was closed.
 
 
Uturoa on Raiatea is the second largest town in French Polynesia, but is very small compared to
Papeete.
 
 
The river Apooiti on Raiatea is navigable for some miles by dinghy.
 
 
 
There are many small farms on the banks of the river.
 
 
 
 
 
 
On the way back we met this tourist boat turning around as they can't get up the river as far as we
could in the dinghy.
 
 
The ancient ruins are the spiritual home of the Polynesians.  Raiatea was originally know as Havaiki,
and from here the great migrations that settle Hawaii, the Marquesas and New Zealand were supposed
to have departed.
 
 
 
This pearl farm building would make a nice week end retreat.
 
 
The southern end of Raiatea is remote and wild.