Kat Scratch Litter box: Raiatea & Taha’a (July 22nd

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.