A Tropical Adventure - More from Fakarava, French Polynesia
by Andrew and Clare Payne on 23 Aug 2016
The Limousine - a good thing it has a chassis Andrew and Clare Payne
When last I wrote we were in the small settlement of Pakokota on the eastern shore of Fakarava and Matthew, the friendly owner of Pakokota Yacht Services, was preparing his limousine (a 1984 Jackaroo) to drive us to the main township of Rotoava for shopping.
By preparing, I mean derusting and painting the rims before putting on a new tyre and hopefully putting some seats in the car. So all aboard the limousine with doors that only shut from the outside, a rear door tied up with rope, seats that weren't fastened to the floor and rust holes in the car floor big enough to put your foot through. But as Matthew said with a cheeky smile, “it's all part of the adventure”. A supply ship had come into Fakarava the day before so we gleefully stocked up with fresh produce plus baguettes and croissants from the French bakery.
We sailed back to the south pass and anchored in the south west corner of the atoll. A lovely spot with sparkling water shading from deep blue to aqua to lemon closer to shore.
We took the dinghy and travelled in and around the many little motus and swam in the warm shallows. We also did a few more drift snorkels through the pass and snorkeled some quiet outcrops of coral in the back eddies. A favourite spot in the warm calm water for many tropical fish and a few lazy sharks to just hang.
There's no escape
Unfortunately our Fakarava Flu hung around for the best part of two weeks and we were both fairly lethargic. We have been in company with four American boats and they too have the bug so no wild parties at the moment. On Andrew's birthday we were happy to just put up the hammock, listen to music and lie in the sun.
However I hope you notice in the photo that Andrew dressed for the occasion with a bow tie bringing some class to our deserted tropical island. We will celebrate with a birthday dinner once we get to Tahiti.
A few days ago we sailed up to the main township at the north end of the atoll for internet and shopping. Matthew from Pakokota Yacht Services is away and so another adventure in his limousine wasn't available. I'm not sure if that is good or bad luck but I guess we will cope with the mundane.
So what's next
The weather has been very changeable with glorious sunny days, lots of rain and too much wind. We are ready to sail to Tahiti but as usual we are waiting for the right weather pattern. At this stage it looks like we will be here for another week or so. Tomorrow we will sail back to Hirifa on the south east corner as we are expecting strong south easterly winds and lots of rain in the next few days.
Hirifa is well protected and one of the calmest and most spectacular anchorages we have been in. So we will just kick back and enjoy, enjoy.
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