French Polynesia Day 8

Day 8: Le Ronde Tahititenne
I'm about out of battery at the Intercontinental's lagoon, waiting to go to the airport for our midnight flight.  I haven't gotten to review the race pictures, but hopefully will be able to do the final post in LA tomorrow.

Killing time in the market

Jeri's 65th Birthday Present!

French Polynesia Day 7

Day 7 Huhaine

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.

French Polynesia Day 6

Day 6: Bora Bora

Big day today.  Shortish ride, but lots of stops to see things. Bora Bora is situated 142 nautical miles fnorthwest of Tahitiin the Leeward Islands (also included are Raitea and Taha’a).  It’s actually a mispronounciation by Capt. James Cook of the Polynesian words Pora Pora which means “first born”.  Cook came here in 1770 and missionaries arrive 50 years later.  After fierce resistance, it was annexed by France in 1888. 

During WWII, Bora Bora was thought to be of strategic importance by the Allies to block the Japanese, and during the war, the U.S. had 6,000 troops stationed on this tiny island. Though the Japanese never attempted to gain control here, the war was a boon for the island thanks to many infrastructure projects of the Army Corps of Engineers including an airfield and a beautiful (for cycling) ring road.

 

Along the road we stopped to visit a “pareo factory”.  These are the shmatas (“rags” for you non-Jews) that the Polynesians  (men and women) wearlike a skirt.

We also got to see a demonstration of thatch fabrication at a thatch factory.  The ubiquitous fruit and coconut juice was available here as well.

There was also a hike to a WWII gun emplacement that we started out on, but realized that our bike cleats were not the safest footwear for the path.  Jeri kept thinking of her Hawaian fall on lava, and I kept thinking of the goat path in Corsica, so we finally decided to turn around and let Erik and Beth check out the guns.

 

On the west side of the island we stopped at Bloody Mary’s where we had moored overnight and had dinner a mere 15 years ago.  It appeared to have not a changed a bit, with the sand floor and tree stumps for seats.

 

We spent the afternoon snorkeling with sharks and rays.  The rays are really used to humans and sidle right up to you for petting.  It was a bit hokey, but fun just the same.

 

Dinner tonight was on Windstar’s private motu.  We were all ferried over at sunset for a great bbq and Polynesian entertainment. 

 

The entertainment consisted of Polynesian dancing, singing, and fire twirling.  The fire dancers included an amazing 6 yo, though most of our group felt that protective services should have been called.  The kid was good, but did manage to get burned (slightly) at one point in the show.

But the best entertainment was the sunset and the full moon over Bora Bora.  Moth very romantic!