The Sounds of French Polynesia

As we ready ourselves to leave these welcoming isles, we shall miss their characteristic musical sounds. The constant baying of the numerous mongrel dogs, adding a staccato beat to island life with a counterpoint of roosters crowing and chicken squawks, irrespective of the time of day. It appears that nobody has taught the rooster that his job is merely to announce the dawn of the day, not the dawn of each hour of the day! The scuttle of the Tupa, land crabs, lends a percussive stroke to the languid life that is French Polynesia. The gentle lapping on the shore of the multi layered turquoise waters keeps the whole band in time, together as a community. “Ioaorana”, hello, chimes from every mouth as a passing greeting, with a smile and a songlike rise in pitch with an elongated ending, reminiscent of the sing song Cork accent in the south of Ireland. We have abandoned the more classic French “bonjour” greeting and have enjoyed the melody of the Tahitian language.

We have felt the maeva, welcome, here and do not want to tear ourselves away. Most of the Oyster World Rally boats have completed their 10 day or so passage to Fiji and assure us that the Fijian islands are equally magnificent, we are not, as yet, convinced. Tomorrow, we head the 28 nautical miles west to Maupiti, the last of these splendid Society Islands on our list. We will spend one night there before setting sail on our passage to the Fijian town of Savu Savu, on the island of Vanua Levu, the only entry port allocated in this post Covid era. The winds are forecast to be favorable to push us along comfortably on our westerly journey. The South Pacific trade winds move predominately in a southeasterly direction between 5-30°S and strong westerly winds, known as the roaring forties, between 40–50°S, so we should have a very happy passage.

8^th June 2022 was World Ocean Day, a United Nations project promoting 30X30, 30% protection for our lands, waters, and oceans by 2030. Join us in helping to keep our ocean healthy and beautiful and stabilize global climate by signing a petition to rally your political leaders around this life saving issue.