This morning we arrived at the island of Huahine, the one island on this trip that we had not visited on our prior trip to French Polynesia.
It lies 120 nm northwest of the aisland of Tahiti and consists of 2 islands Huahine Nui (big island), and Huhaine Iti (small island) connected by a sandbar at low tide and a single short bridge at high tide. The island is not very developed and consequently not crowded with tourists.
There were some very well preserved ruins of Maeres (temples along the coastline alone the ride,
and we made a stop to see some disgusting "blue-eyed eels that were about 6 feet long and 6in in diameter. Really gross!
The ring roads around each of the 2 islands are well maintained but there are some significant climbs. One so bad that Bill arranged a Back Roads type lift to take anyone who wanted to over the 500 foot climb wth a 25% descent! The shuttle consisted of a couple of locals with their pickup trucks and most of us (Jeri and Beth were able to snag a ride in the cab) sat or stood in the bed with the bikes hangoing on for dear life.
We did get to experience 2 other very hard climbs including one billed as 30% (but we think it was more like 18% and short).
The ship left Huhaine at 2 for the long fetch back to Tahiti. It was very pleasant relaxing for the afternoon with nothing to do.
Tomorrow is the bike race in Papeete that we will not be participating in. Our trip cancellation insurance for upcoming trips excludes bike racing, so on the off chance we did get hurt, we’d be screwed. I’m not very haoppy about this, and tomorrow I will be even grumpier, but for now I guess I’ll just enjoy the warmth and the sun.
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