10.3.09

10.3.09

Today we took a boat excursion around Raiatea and the nearby island of Taha’a. We were picked up from our hotel dock early in the morning by a Tahitian couple named Teva and Flo. There were 3 other couples on the trip – 2 French and 1 Tahitian.

Although the weather was beautiful, the ocean was very choppy and it was rough going on our little speed boat. Lots of rough bouncing up and down on the waves and splashes soaking our clothes. On our way to the vanilla farm we boated through a large group of dolphins. It was neat to see them up so close.

The vanilla farm on Taha’a ran by a Danish ex-pat and his Tahitian wife. The tour was very interesting. Did you know vanilla is a type of orchid? All the vanilla plants had to be hand pollinated by the farmer. When they were finally harvested after 9 months, each individual bean must be massaged. Vanilla farming seems like a very long and exhausting process, but the results are terrific. We bought some vanilla beans, and vanilla honey and soap made by the farmer himself.

The next stop on the tour was a tiny motu (island) for snorkeling. I laid on the white sand and let the waves wash over me most of the time we were there. The brief snorkeling I did wasn’t very good since the waves were so high and the water so cloudy.

Lunch was a traditional Polynesian feast served on a different motu. I’m not entirely sure I know the name of everything I ate. I can tell you some of it was breadfruit, taro, banana, poisson cru, and rice.

Following lunch we paid a visit to what I would consider an oceanic petting zoo. Nets were suspended off several docks. Inside the nets were different types of sharks and rays, a sea turtle, a blowfish, and some very large translucent fish called our guide called “caron.” (I’m not sure if this is the correct spelling or not.)

The guide scooped the blowfish up onto the dock and made him puff up. When the fish de-puffed he made a very funny gas sound. To demonstrate the blowfish’s sharp teeth, the guide inserted a piece of coral into the blowfish’s mouth, which the fish easily chomped into two pieces. We have a very interesting video of this demonstration that I will post later.

Next, we did some ray and shark feeding. At this point in the trip I have had so much experience with rays and sharks that I wasn’t afraid of them at all. Feeding a ray a piece of fish was an odd feeling. Their mouths just kinda gummed at my hand. The guide showed me how to pet a shark laying under the dock. His skin felt like sandpaper. Mike had a chance to pick up a very cute sea turtle.

The visit to the pearl farm was kind of unpleasant. The boat ride there was very violent and we got totally soaked. By now the sky had filled with storm clouds and the sea was rougher than ever. Pearl farms are basically shacks in the middle of the ocean. Getting into the shack, you have to climb on the precarious and thin boards the farmers tie the oysters too. The winds were very high and I was terrified that I was going to fall off. Inside the pearl shack, we watched a farmer remove pearls from the oysters and insert new grafts. The demonstration was in French so we weren’t entirely sure what was going on.

At the end of the tour, our guide Teva told us the sea was much to rough for us to boat back to our hotel so he would drive us back in his car. He took us to his house and helped us dry off. His wife gave me a dry pareo to wrap up in and offered us tea and a shower. Such nice people. I know I’ve said it before in this blog, but the warmth and friendliness of the Tahitian people has really impressed us on this trip. They are always smiling and saying hello everywhere we go.

Getting back to the hotel into some dry warm clothes was such a welcome relief. We checked our dinner options and decided to go for a Chinese joint in the tiny town of Uturoa. There is a small population of Chinese people on Raiatea so there are a few Chinese eateries. The Polynesian take on sweet and sour chicken was very pineapple-y and good.