Stranded in Paradise.
Safiya
Harvey & Sue Death
Wed 31 May 2017 16:36
After a couple of days in Ahe our friends from the Oyster Altair joined us
and we decided to move on to the atoll of Rangiroa. We sailed together
through the night the 80 miles to the largest atoll in the Tuomotos,
measuring 40 miles in diameter and 100 miles circumference with a string of
tiny islands encircling the lagoon. Getting through the pass into the
shelter of the lagoon is quite hairy as the water tends to surge. It is very
tidal and narrow so you have to pick the right time to cross. As it was, we
had standing waves going through and we surfed into the lagoon, the dolphins
loved it though, one jumped right across our bow!
Inside the lagoon the water is crystal clear and turquoise blue and teeming
with wild life. It is also very sheltered which was just as well as a few
days ago the wind picked up to over 25 knots and changed direction coming
from exactly where we want to go next so we decided to stay here until it
abates which should be mid week, to make our journey more comfortable.
Luckily we've chosen a really lovely place to stranded with just enough
civilisation to make it comfortable. We were able to buy lettuce and
tomatoes for the first time in 6 weeks so we have had a real salad fest.
There are a number of small restaurants, bars and 2 small grocery stores,
and even Wi-Fi so the crew have been very happy.
There are 4 Oysters in all in the bay, the rest are scattered around the
Tuomotos all similarly holed up at the moment like us. We have joined up
with the others for dinners and drinks. We've hired bikes and cycled the
length of the little island stopping off at watering holes on the way. We
visited a pearl farm and had a very detailed explanation of how black pearls
are cultivated, it was fascinating to watch the Oysters being opened and the
pearls removed, I'd never realised quite how many different shade of black
there are. I chose three different coloured black pearls mounted on a silver
necklace (late birthday present/ early anniversary present - is 30 years a
pearl anniversary?) We've been diving here four times in total and twice we
have seen dolphins. On one occasion a very friendly dolphin came up to us
and allowed us to stroke him, they really are beautiful creatures. On
another occasion a pod of 12 swam right past us, two of them had babies
suckling.
Last night the whole Oyster entourage went across to the luxury hotel here
for a Polynesian dinner and traditional dancing which was great fun.
