We
watched us sail away last night from Huahine until land faded away and we
arrived at Raiatea in the middle of the show last night. Since everything was
closed, I’m not sure why it was such a big deal to overnight there.
from the balcony
from the balcony
from the balcony
Today
we were joined by John & Toni, Bob & Phyllis, Cathy & Tom, Kris, Charles
& Judy and Allison. What a great group once again.
It
was a pretty similar day as yesterday, but what a great way to spend both days.
Raiatea
and Tahaa, the ‘sacred island’ and the ‘vanilla island’, both share the same
blue lagoon. The tour was aboard a motorized pirogue on the lagoon of Tahaa
Island. We circled the entire island by the end of the day. (Raiatea and Tahaa)
Today
was pretty much all from the boat with no land portion like yesterday. We
started with the sharks and rays snorkeling. We have done this many times and
usually the sharks leave as soon as we get in the water. Today was a very
different experience. There were dozens of them and they stayed and swan all
around us. What an awesome experience! My favorite part of the tour. There were
a couple of rays and one swam up to me, so I could pet it. I really wanted to
touch the sharks; but thought better of that. Greg got some great video and
stills on his Go Pro. (which we share with the rest of the group if they want
them)
John
Allison, Phyllis, Kris
Allison, Phyllis, Bob, Kris
Annette
Annette
Annette
me petting the ray
Annette & Cathy
Annette & Cathy
Annette & Cathy
Cathy
Kris & Annette
Annette
Allison
Kris
From
there we went to a vanilla farm and saw all the various stages of how they grow
it. It was more informative than the one we visited yesterday, but we got
better photos of the beans on the vine yesterday. They passed around the beans at
the various stages of growth, so we could smell them. Honestly, they didn’t
smell all that good, but maybe they need to be cut open to smell the good part
in the middle.
Phyllis, Bob, Allison Charles, Judy & Cathy
Judy & Charles, Allison, Kris & Bob
snacks
breadfruit chips & bananas
Annette
Phyllis, Bob & Kris
Tom, Phyllis, Bob, Cathy & Kris
Allison, Greg & Judy
Tom, Phyllis, Bob, Cathy, Allison, Greg & Judy
open bar
our outrigger
On the boat they had beer, mango juice or mango juice mixed with vanilla rum. With lunch it was just water. They had an open bar, but didn’t really promote it.
After
relaxing there for a while, we got back on the boat and stopped at the pearl
farm. It was larger than the one yesterday and showed us more of the actual
production. The pearls for sale were equally expensive and beautiful as
yesterday.
Then
it was time for our last snorkel at Coral Garden 2. It was another drift
snorkel which we were fine with. The twist came when they told us that we had
to walk to shore from the boat and then walk across the island on this rocky
& dead coral area to get to the water. The current was so strong and
without fins I (and others) needed to be pulled closer to shore until we could
stand up. 
Pearl farm
Then,
we had to walk out to where the drift snorkel was to start. Not easy to do with
the current and how shallow & rocky it was. Then, the worst part came. The
guide wanted everyone to stand in this one small area and to not float away you
were supposed to grab the coral and hang on. (anyone who snorkels knows you
don’t touch the corals because they die or could hurt you) He wanted us to feed
the fish while standing there. I got bashed into several of the coral heads and
others got cut up as well. The one guide caught on that Greg & I were not happy
with the plan and said we could just head back to the boat.
It
was so shallow that I barely cleared some of the areas and the guide at one
point lifted me over some and then gave me a push in the right direction. I
managed to find my way between areas where I wouldn’t get trapped in the coral.
There were lots of beautiful fish, corals and clams. That part was very nice,
it was just the workout it took to get to that point. I got to the boat and
snorkeled around the back of the boat to get to the other side with the ladder.
I wanted the current to take me to the ladder and not have to fight the current
to get to it. I grabbed the outrigger and rested there for a while before
getting back on the boat. Phew! Bob & Phyllis were very helpful in grabbing
my fins and snorkel. We had a few inexperienced snorkelers on the boat and I
was so glad they didn’t do that particular snorkel, as those of us that snorkel
a lot found it trying.
A
couple of the girls got a few coral cuts on their legs. They all said they
enjoyed it however. It was a beautiful day and the snorkeling was very good.
It
was time to head back to the dock and it was a lovely hour ride back. Just a
beautiful island. 
shadow of birds on the shade of our boat
We
had about an hour before all aboard and there were some huts with people selling
things and I was able to find my token magnet and a pair of earrings. We had
local currency to use up so that worked out well. The lady I bought the
earrings from told me to wait after I paid her. Confused that maybe I hadn’t
given her the correct amount I waited, and she came out from behind the counter
with a very lovey and the most fragrant frangipani flower lei that she gave me.
It is making the cabin smell very nice. What a sweet gesture.
Allison
wanted to get 4 gifts for people back home, but the pearls at the pearl farms
we visited were very expensive and she was able to find some lovely items at
the huts near the pier that worked out very well for her.
We
ran into our table mates near the huts and they had already finished their
tour, showered and went back outside for a while. We let them know that we
wouldn’t be at dinner since we couldn’t get showered and ready in just a half
an hour.
frangipani flower lei
We
did get some bad news from the Captain just before we sailed, saying that due
to a terrible storm we were going to have to cancel our next port of call; Tonga.
This is now the second time we have had to skip that port. So, we will have an
extra day at sea and will arrive in Auckland the night before we normally would
have gotten there. While we are disappointed, you can’t argue with bad weather.
The captain will do his best to skirt around the storm for a smoother ride.
*** Captain Benoit from our Tahiti snorkel sent us rather large file of photos via email which of course is impossible to download on the ship. I forwarded them to Rick & Janie, so they could save them for us since the site he posted on expires in 14 days. Thank you so much! (sounds like there weren’t a lot of great shots though) Greg had his Go Pro so we will have those photos as well. I told John & Toni that once we are on land with normal internet, we will send them the photos. (or we can get them ours if they have their computers or iPads with them).
It
seems there is always a lot of photo sharing on these cruises amongst those of
us that tour together.
https://photos.app.goo.gl/oQqwvHyt1b18ygjT9
- Raiatea snorkeling
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