Fun and games in Island of Moorea
by Andrew and Clare / Freedom and Adventure on 21 Jul 2017
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We had a fun week on the beautiful Island of Moorea meeting many new Cruisers before the eighty odd boats participating in the Pacific Puddle Jump continued on to New Zealand and Australia. Fortunately for us our very good Dutch friends Martin and Ellen are staying in French Polynesia for a while. We are enjoying their company sharing meals, drinks and activities. One of the highlights was going to Stingray City together.
There were plenty of sharks, stingrays and people in the water and much thrashing about as the local operator feed the fish. At first it was a bit intimidating slipping into the water with so many sharks swimming close by but we soon came to enjoy this unique and wonderful experience.
Fresh prawns from the prawn farm was another highlight. The raw prawns, sweet and juicy, were so fresh that they had absolutely no odour to them even after being boxed in the fridge for a few hours. Ellen and I joined together and cooked two separate dishes and hosted a dinner party fit for Kings, namely our kings Martin and Andrew.
The city calls
We sailed back to the Island of Tahiti as our friends needed to fly home to the Netherlands for a few weeks. We also decided to return to the city as our HF Radio broke down after thirteen years of excellent operation. The relays were chattering so badly we couldn’t hear or transmit. For those of you who know Andrew and his love for the radio you will understand that this was a minor disaster.
Fortunately we are not planning an ocean crossing this year or the breakdown would be escalated to a ‘major disaster’. When at sea and away from the internet, this is how we get daily weather reports, emails and communicate with the world. Since returning to Tahiti we have researched every avenue for a replacement. We considered having a new radio flown in at great expense and or advertising for a second hand radio from another Cruiser. However Martin came to the rescue and lent us his radio for the period he is away.
At present Andrew is happily listening to a Radio Net in the States and we are back on air and in daily contact with our friends on the Polynesian Magellan Net. Today we spoke to an Aussie who has two broken radios on his boat that he keeps for spare parts. Andrew might be able to source some relays from him and repair our radio; this possibility is still developing.
Celebration time
In the month of July Tahiti is celebrating it’s 135th Heiva Festival. Papeete (Tahiti Capital City) is alive with competitions of dancing, drumming, singing, traditional sports and arts and crafts exhibition. We enjoyed watching the Fruit Carriers Race. The competitors from both sexes are barefoot and across their shoulders they carry a pole (log)with fruits tied onto it.
The race is 1,705 metres and the weight of fruit varies from 15 kilos for the women to 20, 30 or 50 kilos for the men. As you can see from the photos the men are dressed in only a loin cloth which was a bit interesting:) Other events include Javelin Throwing, Stone-Lifting, Copra Preparation and Canoe Races.
The dancing, drumming and singing competitions are staged over six evenings with a total of 2,260 artists performing to celebrate the Polynesian Culture. Each performance has hundreds of dancers on the floor. The men are fierce and athletic and the woman supple and graceful. The solo performances showcase the best dancers, what a treat.
The musicians are on an elevated stage and drumming with a number of different drums to produce rhythmical and powerful music that penetrated our very core. At one performance apart from the musicians on stage there were about fifty drums around the edge of the dance floor. The hairs on my arms were standing on end.
We have tickets for Saturday night which is the last night. We will see the second and third place winners. The first place winners will be performing the night before but that concert has been sold out for some time. We have already attended two concerts however as it is a competition, photographs are not allowed. I did sneak two shots on our iPhone. One is of the woman who sat in front of me; the biggest woman I have ever seen and with a massive head of hair. Although the seats are tiered, when she sat down it was like a total black out.
In addition the seats are allocated and the auditorium was packed, how’s that for bad luck:) Andrew was standing next to her at intermission and said she was about six foot four inches tall. Fortunately for me she changed seats with a friend after intermission.
The must do's
We have spent a few days in the City Marina at Papeete giving us access to the festivities and the city. It is very convenient and close to a very good fresh food market. The variety of vegetables is limited. I could write a whole paragraph listing the vegetables I haven’t seen since leaving home.
The one I miss the most and hardly ever see is Capsicum. We can get peppers but they are far too hot for our taste. Whilst in the city, Andrew has a few dental appointments as he chipped a tooth earlier in the season and is having it crowned. We have both had a clean and check. The dentistry is of a high standard and a bit less expensive than Australia.
I also had a chance to wash all the covers off the settee in the saloon. We dried them on the boat and then spent a morning wrestling with the cushions putting the covers back on.
They came up beautifully and I am very happy.
So what's next
We are now anchored outside the Tahiti Yacht Club. We know the cruisers on four other boats here, Ednbal, Pitufa, Alcyone and Monkey Fist. Tonight we are having drinks at the bar and a together. Thursday we will travel into the city and visit the dentist and Saturday we will take the boat back into City Marina. From there we will join fellow cruisers from Cinnabar, Pangaea and Shindig for dinner and the Heiva Concert – how exciting.
This article has been provided courtesy of the Freedom and Adventure.
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