Our passage back from Tahanea to Moorea was a good one. Apart from some heavy rain showers when we passed north of Tahiti, we had a dry, calm and following wind trip. We even got to use our symmetrical spinnaker for the first time which went really well. 12 knots of wind behind us and doing 6 knots. Reassuring to know we have a light wind option that we can use during the day (we’re not up for running this at night when you can’t see squalls etc – it can messy very quickly with a spinnaker and most likely it will get trashed).
We went straight to Cooks Bay in Moorea as this is a) a favourite spot and b) an excellent place to do most of the reprovisioning, refueling and so on without all the hassle of Tahiti. Wil and Alice were due to arrive later in the week and we wanted to get the boat all ready to take off again once we had picked them up.
So just before they arrived, we went over to Tahiti, did the essentials in Carrefour then waited eagerly for their arrival. It was a very busy night as Alice arrived at 10pm from Bangkok (after a 36hr trip via Singapore and Auckland) and Wil at 5am the next morning from Amsterdam (after an equally long trip via Paris and the US West coast). We hired a car to pick them up and had multiple trips from the boat to the marina and not much sleep.
It was fantastic to see them again. I hadn’t seen either of them in over a year and it had been a while for Deb too. They both arrived exhausted, not just from the trip, but also a very busy and demanding time for both of them. Alice has had a huge transition to life as a diplomat on posting in Bangkok and Wil had just completed his thesis to finalise his economics master’s degree from Bocconi University. They were both in need of some serious parental nurturing and Mum’s cooking! Both of which we were delighted to provide.
However, before they could collapse on the foredeck we took them on a road trip to Teahupo’o. A friend had recommended a tour guide to take us out to the break then go exploring further south into the “terre sauvage” which is the remote part of Tahiti with no roads and untouched spectacular scenery. It was a perfect start to their stay. Julia was a wonderful skipper and host; we saw “the wave” looking beautiful and intimidating; then had a short trek to a remote waterfall where we were able to get pummeled by the cascading water. After that, a brief stop up a small river & bite to eat, followed by a snorkel and a final view of the wave on the way back. We had debated whether to do this given the timing, but it turned out to be a great idea.
After an early morning visit to Papeete farmer’s market the next day, we up anchored and got into cruising mode, starting our tour of favourite places in the Societies. First stop Vaiare in Moorea, a short hop from Tahiti, classic Polynesian anchorage and great snorkeling. Then round to Maharepa and then Cook’s Bay again to enjoy a meal at the creperie – delicious!
Next stop – Les Iles Sous le Vent (Huahine, Raiatea and Taha’a). The weather forecast wasn’t looking too promising, so we expected quite a bit of motoring, but in fact we had a great passage overnight to Huahine – probably our best to date, with good seas and just the right amount of wind to keep the speed up.
It was so fantastic to have Alice and Wil on board to share our cruising lifestyle and visit some of our favourite spots. The weather wasn’t as good as we would have liked; lots of rain and cloud about but also interspersed with beautiful sunshine and of course lovely and warm, so it didn’t really cramp our plans too much. I think we were all content to go slowly, enjoy each other’s company and generally just hang out together in some very special places. Of course, Mum’s cooking was a major hit and lots of rest without having to think too much about what happens next was appreciated.
Nonetheless we still managed to snorkel the great spots like Hana Iti in Huahine, the Coral Gardens and the manta spot in Taha’a. We visited the pearl farm and vanilla farm to get in a bit of ‘tourist activity’ and spent a lovely evening at Fish and Blue to toast Alice’s birthday, Wil’s graduation from his Master’s degree and to celebrate life in general!
Alice read a million books and Wil managed to gather a fabulous collection of shells in his snorkeling outings. There were also some highly competitive games of Bananagrams played between Wil & Deb, the latter being a bit miffed that her younger son generally had the upper hand!
Sadly, after such a pleasurable 3 weeks, we had to say goodbye again, putting them on the Apataki Express ferry back to Tahiti. Fortunately, they were on the same flight to Auckland before going their separate ways: Wil to Sydney, Alice to Bangkok. These partings are always hard and do not get any easier – with our family spread over 3 continents it happens too often, but that is part of life as we all pursue our disparate lives – as of course, we should.
This left Deb and I feeling as though we had now reached the conclusion of many parts of our trip and a little unsettled. Our time in French Polynesia is coming to an end; we have now developed experience and confidence in handling our boat, explored the Society Islands, had incredible cruising adventures with John and Kerry, hosted visitors including our oldest son and his fiancée and have enjoyed wonderful Polynesian culture and hospitality. Wil and Alice’s visit marked the final significant event here, so now our minds turn to our next phase – sailing back to Australia by October.
First step will be Maupiti, a very special atoll just 40nm from Raiatea and on the route to Tonga. We need to check out of FP, prep the boat and ourselves for our longest passage (1400nm or about 10 days), and then wait for the weather window to look good. We have decided we want to get to Fiji relatively quickly so that we can leave the boat there for about a month to return to Aus and then the UK to address some pressing issues with Deb’s Dad who has just moved into a care home. Then we can return to Fiji and take our time there before continuing west.
So we are now in organising mode but also feeling a bit in limbo as we contemplate the many ocean miles ahead. Lots to look forward to and lots to do.