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Misto - Days 111-115: Moorea and Huahine



With our repairs as complete as possible we departed Marina Taina for Moorea. On the north of the island Cooks Bay and Opunohu bays are probably the most photographed bays in the South Pacific islands. We anchored behind the reef at the entrance to Opunohu bays. They are certainly both beautiful, although Cooks bay appeared a little more choppy and open to the wind. Our one surprise was the huge cruise liner Emerald Princess that was anchored in the bay when we arrived. Other large cruise liners arrived on successive days. We took our bikes to the dock at Papetoai village and set off to bike around the two bays. This was a rather optimistic objective and we eventually got around Opunohu bay and half way down the west side of Cooks bay before deciding to turn around. The total trip was about 20 km. We did visit the fruit juice factory and purchased some Tahiti Drink (8% alcohol!). That evening we enjoyed Aurora's hospitality for dinner.

The next day we shared a rental car with Aurora and set off around the island. Some serious shopping took place in Maharapa village and we enjoyed the pretty drive, stopping for a drink at a shore side restaurant. We encountered a group of local young people who were enjoying a day of culture and local sports - this included throwing javelins at coconuts on long poles and running with a full branch of bananas! It seemed like a Moorean version of the Highland Games. Back up at Papetoai we had lunch and then drove up to the viewpoint, stopping at a very interesting archeological site which had many intact Maraes including one for archery where competitions were held and the God of archery venerated. The view across the two bays was superb, only marred by a heavy shower of rain. Before returning the rental car we briefly visited the pretty tropical garden with another great view. That night we departed for Huahine. We left at midnight and had to motor sail much of the way as the wind was further behind us than expected.

Huahine is said to be the most undeveloped and wild of the windward islands and as we entered the passe avapehi and motored south between the reef and the island we felt like we may have arrived in paradise. We decided to go right down to baie d'Avea and then work our way back north later. After two anchoring attempts we got the anchor to set on the sand bank in about 10' of water. The small hotel Relais Mahana is cruiser friendly and we enjoyed drinks on their terrace the first night with the crew of Exit Strategy. The following day we had to clear the through hull for our fridge and freezer that had become blocked with marine growth. After that we took the dinghy round point Tiva to snorkel. It was very shallow and a little disappointing after the outstanding snorkeling in the Tuomotus. We also walked around the point to the Marae which is slightly different to those we have seen on other islands. It is constructed of volcanic rock and almost boat-shaped. We are enjoying a couple of days in this quiet seclusion before working our way back to the north of Huahine.


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