Hi
from Clare, 6-2017 Fun and Games Monday 17th
July 2017
A
PEACEFUL SPOT
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.
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| Follow the leader |
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| Look out for these! |
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.
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| Beautiful Moorea |
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.
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| The Papeete City Market |
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| Papeete City Marina |
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.
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| The Men are ready |
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| The fruit is ready |
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| Racing |
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.
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| A sneak photo |
We
have tickets for Saturday night which is the last night. We will see
the 2nd and 3rd place winners. The 1st
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.
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| Blockout! |
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.
Love
Candy xx
