Exploring Rangiroa

Jackamy
Paul & Derry Harper
Sun 2 May 2010 19:51
Sunday 2nd May
 
This is our third night at Rangiroa and we still haven't warmed to the place. It is meant to be the tourist centre of the Tuamotus but unless we are in the wrong place I just don't get it.
 
We are anchored at Tiputa Village which is so quiet you could safely fire a gun along the main street and not hit anyone, which is fine but it just doesn't have any atmosphere as the whole area appears quite run down and untidy. Yesterday Amy and myself opted to walk to the next village, Avatoru, with Blue Magic to see what we could find as this has been described as modern and bustling by Tuamotu standards. Paul was busy fitting our new VHF radio so he chose to stay on the boat.
 
  
 
Tiputa village and the high street
 
 
Birdies sat on sticks
 
Things went from bad to worse! We rode in the dinghys for around 35 minutes to shorten the walk as we knew it was a little way to Avatoru but we under estimated just how far it was. We'd opted to go at 14.00 as we thought we'd have missed the midday sun but as we were walking directly into the sun it was horrendous. The walk was long, hot and sweaty with not a lot to look at to break it up. So when we bumped into some people 2 hours later and asked how much further the village was only to be informed that we were at the village we were not impressed. This village consisted of a shop that was closed, a bank and a rather run down church to match all the run down buildings. So we began the 5 mile walk back almost as soon as we got there! Another thing that didn't help the situation was that we'd taken a petrol can and a trolley as there was a petrol station en route but would you believe it, it was closed! The trolley became a bit of an issue and Amy's mood worsened by the minute!
 
Then when we returned to the boat in the dark Paul had discovered that he was missing a vital part for the radio so his mood wasn't indifferent to mine and Amy's - frustrated!
 
 
Amy managed to take a break from frowning to smile for the camera
 
  
 
The church at Avatoru
 
Thankfully we had a lovely meal ashore in the evening which brightened everyone's mood. Chez Josephine is actually a 'pension' which is almost like a guesthouse, a small quaint family run hotel if you like. Before the meal we spent time watching the black-tip reef sharks swimming under the balcony which was lovely. There were two tables of 7, one for us and one for the hotel residents. There is no menu so you just pay a set price and you all eat the same starter, main and pudding which is always a bit of a gamble but this time it paid off. The starter was raw tuna on a bed of cabbage with a few chutneys, the main was curried mahi mahi with sticky rice and the pudding was pineapple cake with creme anglais. We were expecting something a little different though as the waiter described it as "English Cream" which caused a few laughs! The whole meal and setting was lovely so it made up for an 'interesting' day! The only bit of advice I'd give is to check how much the set menu is before you actually eat!
 
After re-stocking this morning we went for a snorkel by the pass. There are buoys there to tie up your dinghy and you drop over the edge directly into shoals of fish a couple of metres above the coral - fantastic! There were huge shoals of fish and hundreds of varieties too and we even saw a few reef sharks. Amy miraculously managed to find one of the beautiful porcelain shells that Fernando had given to Chrissy and myself when we first arrived in Manihi, she only had to dive a couple of metres to retrieve it so she's pleased with herself. The rest of the day has been spent doing odd jobs and we've even managed to get a spot of sunbathing in which hasn't happened for a long long time!
 
We're moving on from here first thing in the morning around 07.30 and we're headed for Tikehau. We don't want to build our hopes up too much but the guide book says it is "Almost too good to be true"!