10th July 2015

Continue with us on our tour of Huahine.

Now these are the sacred eels with the blue eyes of the River Faie. They are some 4-5’ long, not worried by human presence, indeed other tourists were feeding them tinned mackerel almost from their hands. No idea why they are sacred though.

Huahine is 2 islands, Hauhine Nui and Huahine iti, joined by a bridge. The water between the islands form very pretty bays.

Vanilla plantation, the vanilla plant is a vine, grown under netting with coconut husks to store water. The plants must be 3 years old before they will flower and produce the pods. When ripe the pods are dried in the sun. The society Islands vanilla is much prized and smells wonderful. Francois who took us on a tour was very engaging and we left heaped with fruit, having been shown all that the farm grows and this was all in French, so not my strong suit here but I think we got most of it.

Another lovely sunset!

Fare Bay with a typical dwelling

Part of the traditional Heiva celebrations, competitive coconut husking and grating is not for shrinking violets. This women is wielding the axe with a strength and determination I definitely wouldn’t argue with!

The other part of the coconut team, prizing the coconut meat from the shells. Having done this, it is a physical job. Other sports include spear throwing, stone lifting and canoe racing. And more of this to come.

All our best,

Lynne and Alan