I was so looking forward to Raiatea, since it has one of the biggest cities outside of Papette (Tahiti) and I have heard of it before. Also, coming from Huahine where we had a fab time and it was so beautiful, expectations were now very high indeed. So, to no surprise we were a little let down by this island.
Anchoring was difficult as it was very windy and the water very deep. In the end, after 3 hours of trying, we finally picked up a mooring buoy. The next morning, in to town we went. The plan, rent scooters. The reality, a rental car with bungalow combo package was cheaper, with 4 of us splitting the car and Brian & I taking the bungalow for an extra $20. Don was doing his own thang.
That evening we buzzed into town looking for some dinner and night life. It was Friday night after all, but the place was a ghost town. We ate pizza in our bungalow and watched movies on the computer – nice.
Hiking a waterfall - literally
Brian getting a "water treatment" massage
Cute little pad out on the water
Okay, yeah, so were addicted to coconut water- yummy!
View all the pic's from Raiatea: http://www.flickr.com/photos/katnbrian/sets/72157625001371660/
Across the lagoon, as both islands are surrounded by one reef, we sailed over to the smaller, quieter, Taha’a. Getting advice from many, we anchored in front of the Taravana Yacht Club on a free mooring ball. Actually, it was the only mooring ball we could find and it belonged to a private person who was not around. Lucky for us. Anyhow, we promptly went ashore and met Richard, the Y.C. owner/operator. After some quick advice, Paula and I ran off to see the pearl farm next door and Brian, Mona & Don ran over to the bakery to place our order. Everyone joined back up to see all the beautiful pearls.
The following day was Paula’s Birthday so we all decided to take her our for dinner at the yacht club. But first, a hike was in order. On are way over to the trailhead, we stopped at a vanilla farm and got the full tour. It was great and the owner very gracious, & informative, especially for being a Sunday. Once we got to the next town over, Paula and Don did their own thing while Bri, Mona and I set about hiking across the island (via trail). The view from the top was amazing as you could see both Taha’a and Raiatea, and the reef that encircled both. 
Sorting vanilla bean - super fun
However, it was a bit muddy. Our plan, reach the city (the biggest of the island), locate a pay phone, and call a cab for the ride back. None of us had an intention of walking the 12k back (by trail, 30 some kilometers by road). However, you know what best laid plans get you…. Nowhere! The biggest town was no more than a church, a couple of houses, a school, 2 stores that were closed of course, and a gas station with that pay phone we were counting on, that we never found. Hmmmmm, I guess we were just going to have to hitch. As we started out walking we were starting to get worried. All the cars were going the opposite direction and those not, were plum full. Mona’s iphone ran out of minutes – drats! We first got picked up but only made it 1/3 of the way. We then got a ride from a guy dropping his women off to work at the only resort on the island, and he drove us out of his way all the way back to the boat. Awesome! Dinner at the Y.C. was terrific, and a perfect way to cap off the day.
Hitching in the back of a truck
Best place hands down in all of the Society Islands! It is a combination of the pretty lagoons of the atolls (Tuomotu’s) and the beauty of the volcanic islands of the Marquises. It is a smaller, less touristy Bora Bora.
We walked around the island today. It’s that small! It only takes about 3hours to go all the way around. Then, we actually walked across a section of the lagoon where it is shallow, over to one of the bigger motu’s (about a mile). This was so cool!!! We had arrived in paradise!
We stopped in little artisan shops, drank coconut water, well, out of coconuts, bought coconut bread out of the back of a truck, and gleaned as much fruit as we could get our hands on (bananas, mangos, papayas, breadfruit, etc.). It was an eventful day. 
The water color was so inviting so we spent a lot of time in it. The first day we got there, we went snorkeling in the channel. The next day we got up and went snorkeling again. Then we walked around the island. Then the following day we went swimming again. This time with a mission – find and swim with the Manta Rays! I ended up being the lucky individual who did that. It was only one and the visibility was not so good but boy, was it huge! It was a great experience. Due to the weather window and sailing conditions anticipated, we left that afternoon for the Cook Islands. Bye, bye French Polynesia! Bring on the English.
It only took us less than a day to get here from Tahiti. It already was a nice change of pace. I was more than ready to have left the big city of Papette. Where do I start, - well, we came, we saw, we biked. Actually, this was one of my favorite islands so far, better than Rangiroa or Moorea. This island was beautiful and had a surprisingly gargantuan super market! They also had a happy hour bar and some roulette food carts (Fish Burger, mmmmmm) that were great for snacking.
