After a frenzy of fun in Moorea we headed to the next island of Huahine in the Society island chain in French Polynesia. We started to see a ton of charter boats, lots of catamarans and mega yachts…this theme was all over Huahine through Bora Bora.
We had an overnight sail and we anchored in the town Fare, Huahine. We stayed there a night or two and then headed to the bay of Avae, at the southern part of the island for another 5 days. SV Te Poe Rava, Kristy and Dan who are licensed dive instructors, agreed to certify a group of us at Avae Bay on July 2nd. We all headed there to get “skooled” (as Trevor would say!)
Dive Classes- I am already certified so I did a lot of laundry and organization on the boat while the classes were in session. Those of us who were already certified joined the class to take some photos….. we tried to stay out of the way…I hope Kristy and Dan weren’t too irritated with me : )
Trevor doing some stretches…underwater!Trevor and Briley demonstrating their skill of buddy breathingFrom the Slow Flight….the dinghy’s taking the class out to go for a dive. By the way…that house you see in the back ground has an engine and we saw this guy move in and out of the reef and to and from different bays on Huahine…it was pretty cool…never had the balls to go and hang with himFinal test on Slow Flight….you can see Brad giving me the bird : )
Fourth of July and fun times with friends!!!! – We of course had to have dinners on Slow Flight and on land to check out the local cuisine. We shot off old flares but were abruptly stopped by a boat thinking we were in distress….oh well…at least people will respond to these signals…even with beers in our hands : )
Clay and Trevor re-creating a mexican dish made in a pineapple with seafood, veggies, and cheese. It was awesome!!!!A local restuarnat where I had the server choose for me, somehting I do all the time since I can’t read the menu and I always am surprised and wonderfully delighted with what I get…I ended up having a white fish with a vanilla sauce, cream based. It was AMAZING!So I know this is a photo of a bathroom but here is a typical women’s restroom locally….I thought it was time to maybe share this now : )A panoramic view of Avae bay. There was a resort we could dinghy too and we always had a drink to show our appreciation. We often ate lunch there to use wifi as well.
Bike ride- We were so busy with the scuba stuff that we didn’t have a lot of time to enjoy all the island as we hoped so we rented bikes to go around Huahine (not Huahine iti). Mind you I do not bike well and Trevor was sweet enough to pay extra for an electric bike for me (sorry dad…all those bike lessons didn’t pay off for me).
Trevor taking a breakA photo of the island of Huahine. We only went around the big part but we had to go up a huge hill to the Belvedere (lookout) which we walked our bikes up. A grade of 15% up and down. Let’s just say our brakes were literally smoking on the ride down : )We weren’t sure what this was but these large rock platforms were big and commanded us to stop and take a walk and peek.A small museum we stopped at explained these large rock platforms…but in French…any translations?Huahine is unique in that it has a “lake” between the islands. Locals would build these fish traps….the tide would rise and fish would come into the ‘lake”…then at low tide the fish would be trapped and could not get out….pretty cool1Ummmm..house boat gone wrong or a really super cool land house?Vanilla was beginning to be a big part of the local flavor and vanilla plantations were advertised for tours. We never went on one but we loved the vanilla!
Heiva- In Tahitian, the word Heiva (hei meaning to assemble, and va meaning community places) refers to activities, pastimes, physical exercise, and festivals. Music, dancing, singing and sporting events have always held an important place in Polynesian communities. We were lucky enough to pass by the Heiva site on Huahine on our bike ride and learned that night there was the final dance competition so we had to go! I took Hawaiian dancing lessons when I was younger and this brought me back to so many memories…unfortunately I can’t move like that anymore but the performances were beautiful.
This was the Heiva site when we rode around on our bikes before the evening celebration.This is the Heiva site during the dance competition!!!!SV Me Too, SV Sky Blue Eyes, and Slow Flight waiting for the Heiva to begin.So this mother and daughter say me eyeing their head peice at the Heiva. I was wearing a week old head dress I had received from our crew from the PPJ rally (super sweet). They offered it to me and I smelled like flowers the entire night. I kept this head piece for weeks! Here it is resting on the helm of our boat.
Kimi, glad your current experiences brought back some fond memories of your past hula days. Thanks for sharing your great adventures. We continue to enjoy taking hula lessons, and will be dancing at Uwajimaya’s Haw’n days and at a senior center soon. Going to lunch with my retired nurse friends at Maggie Bluffs. FYI, sad news that Bob Miyashita (wife Jennie) died recently–he had a bad heart. Take care of yourselves. Miss you. Love, Mom and John
Kimi, glad your current experiences brought back some fond memories of your past hula days. Thanks for sharing your great adventures. We continue to enjoy taking hula lessons, and will be dancing at Uwajimaya’s Haw’n days and at a senior center soon. Going to lunch with my retired nurse friends at Maggie Bluffs. FYI, sad news that Bob Miyashita (wife Jennie) died recently–he had a bad heart. Take care of yourselves. Miss you. Love, Mom and John