Lat: 14:57.9 S: Long: 147:38.3 W - Rangiroa Atoll, The Tuamotus, French Polynesia.
Lat: 14:57.9 S:
Long: 147:38.3 W - Rangiroa Atoll, The Tuamotus, French
Polynesia. From the Marquesas the 3 guys sailed to the Tuamotu
Archipelago, an enormous arc of 76 islands with a land area of 343 square miles.
They stopped off at four tiny islands, the most memorable of which was Fakarava
where they swam into a “wall” of about 200 sharks, and caught plenty of fish to
stock up the freezer. They also all caught really heavy
colds! Apart from its diving attractions, the Tuamotus are best known as
the world’s top producers of black pearls. Originally natives would free-dive to
depths of 200 feet to harvest the oysters but nowadays pearl farms, looking like
garden sheds perched on stilts, use elaborate techniques to produce these
beauties. The word “black”
refers not to the colour of the pearl itself, but to the use of the black-lipped
oyster from which it comes. Black pearls come in almost every colour, with
shades from silver-grey through pink, blue, green, peacock, aubergine and
anthracite; and not surprisingly, the best of them are highly sought after.
Regular market auctions are held in Papeete, Tahiti, with world-famous jewellery
manufacturers keen to bid. When I rejoined Sulana
in Rangiroa (still in the Tuamotus) Alan took me to the Paul Gauguin
pearl farm where he bought me THE most beautiful pearl necklace. He said it was
my combined birthday, 20th wedding anniversary and “thank you for
sailing around the world with me” present. Also in the Rangiroa atoll we visited the Blue Lagoon and Bird
Island. We waded ashore through water the same colour as Sulana’s canvas-work –
that indefinable shade of aquamarine/emerald/turquoise/jade. Just
beautiful. While up to our calves in sparkling clear water we suddenly became
aware of little black objects slowly cruising around, with dozens going round in
circles. The lads were thrilled to realise they were black-tipped reef sharks
which were being fed left-overs from a barbeque by some other visitors. They
were completely unfazed by us and we spent quite some time there trying to get
some decent underwater pictures of
them. |