Tiva, Tahaa, Society Islands
Harmonie
Don and Anne Myers
Sun 18 May 2008 18:54
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16:38.505S 151:33.129W
On Wednesday (5/14), we left our anchorage by the
motu north of the island of Tahaa and motored a short distance through the
lagoon to the west of Tahaa where we found a gorgeous place to anchor just
outside the marked deepwater channel in uncharted shallower water. There
were a few coral heads here and there, but deep enough not to cause
trouble. The water was so clear that the sunlight reflecting off the white
sand bottom made the whole area look just like a swimming pool. A swimming
pool with a few coral heads and a bunch of tropical fish, that is.
Along the way, we had a marvelous view of Bora Bora
in the distance to the west. Picture 1 shows exactly that with hotel bungalows
set out over the water in the foreground. This thatched roof, over the
water bungalow style is extremely popular here and most of the big name and
exclusive hotels have them. Bill and Kathie did some research on hotels
before coming and discovered that they too could stay in a very nice thatched
roof, over the water bungalow for the bargain price of $600-$1200 per
night. Surprisingly, they decided to spend their entire two weeks on the
boat with us (with the exception of one night in a reasonably priced Tahiti
hotel on their way back home from Bora Bora).
As usual, Lady Kay had done some research for us,
and again acting as our tour guide, arranged for dinner reservations for the
eight of us at a local restaurant called Chez Louise in the town of Tiva on
Tahaa Island. As we were getting ready for dinner, Kathie sent out the
sunset alert (process used by anyone on board who happens to notice that the
sunset is going to be particularly nice - the process typically involves
yelling loud enough to get everyone's attention, 'Sunset alert!'). The
sunsets happen so fast in the tropics that if a sunset alert doesn't go out
within a reasonable timeframe, all crewmembers miss the event and a potential
picture taking opportunity is forever lost. Fortunately, on this evening
Bill was paying attention and responded to Kathie's sunset
alert. Picture 2 was the result (that's Kathie to the left and Bora
Bora to the right).
Lady Kay arrived just before sunset, set down
their anchor nearby and we all dinghied across the channel to the restaurant,
which was located right on the lagoon waterfront in the village of Tiva on
Tahaa Island. The restaurant was beautifully done up like most we've seen
in this area - open air, thatched roof, palm fronds hanging here and
there, brightly colored plastic table cloths and potted plants and
flowers everywhere. The only thing that seemed odd was that only one table
was set up - that being the one for us - and no other customers were
there. We apparently had the place and Chef Louise to
ourselves.
After the rum punches were served, Chef Louise
herself made an appearance to welcome us. Michael on Lady Kay had learned
earlier that Louise encouraged customers to bring their own wine. We did
exactly that and when Virginia from Lady Kay asked Louise why she encouraged
this practice Louise said, 'It's much cheaper for customers if they bring
their own wine. I would make more money if I did not let them do this and
sold them the wine myself.....but instead of making more money, I make more
friends.' This statement was followed by a big smile from Louise. We
laughed. Louise is a very jolly person and giggled quite a bit when
Virginia (our French expert) told her that I have a sister named Louise.
She wanted to know if my sister worked hard like she does. Of course I
said yes. She found this to be a very satisfactory answer and then posed
for a couple of pictures before going off to the kitchen to prepare our dinner
(picture 4).
Shortly thereafter dinner arrived. It came
family style in three pieces of bamboo sliced lengthwise so that there
were six bamboo compartments - one each for shrimp, warm water lobsters,
poisson cru (raw fish marinated in lime and coconut milk served with
vegetables), tuna, rice and bread (picture 5). Each end of the table got
their own set of bamboo dishes, enough to feed four. In order to keep the
round bottom bamboo dishes steady on the table, our waitress placed beer
bottle caps along the sides of each dish. As the French would
say, 'Walaa!' dinner was served. Before leaving us to enjoy our dinner,
the waitress explained patiently that any waste (shrimp and lobster shells) and
any leftovers should be taken to the side of the porch and scraped into the
water where the hungry fish were waiting. 'The fish would like to eat too,
so please give your scraps to them.' Ok, we've gotten doggy bags before
and fed table scraps to cats, but table scrap wild fish feeding was a first for
all of us. The food was excellent and we even enjoyed the raw stuff (this
south pacific air must be getting to us). When we were done, we did as
instructed and scraped our shells and leftovers into the water for the
fish. Picture 6 is Kathie and I emptying the last of the bamboo dishes
into the water. If you look close, you will see the swarm of fish going
after the food. We decided it was a bit like watching those
documentary films showing piranhas feeding in the Amazon. The ripples
you see in the water weren't caused by the food scraps going in, but by the
fish swarming and flapping around wildly.
And so ended yet another day in
paradise.
Anne
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