Moorea to Tahiti to Moorea to Tahiti to Moorea
June 6 -11 Sunday through Saturday Starting to feel like a ping pong ball…or ferry service. On Sunday we traversed the Sea of the Moon to reach Marina Taina where Brian’s water maker miracle worker was waiting for us at the dock. He didn’t know what time we were arriving..but he was there to help us dock in the only space left in the marina. He brought the water maker back the next morning and we are in business again with unlimited fresh water aboard.
While we spent the day at the marina..of course we ran into more boating friends and hosted another potluck dinner. I made a seafood marinara pasta dish to add to the wonderful array of items brought to share.
We provisioned in the morning and made a decision to go back to Moorea instead of heading south to Tahiti-iti. It was a difference of over 4 more hours motoring each way..so we went with what we already know and love..Opunohu Bay on Moorea.
Now we are back in busy noisy Papeete. Lucka is supposed to leave tomorrow…and that is why we came back here..but there is one caveat..the government workers are going on strike tomorrow..ergo no planes will be operating out of here. This will be a major disruption not only to the Tahitians..but to all those coming in and out of French Polynesia and the surrounding areas. FP has a strict 90 day stay policy and several people we know..including Lucka must leave by tomorrow.
July 12 Sunday Well..change of plans…Lucka has accepted Brian’s offer to have her stay on board to help Furthur to Australia. Also the ‘Coastguard Couple’…Greg & Tiffany will be joining us June 16th \before the rally back to Moorea in which we will be the VIP boat for the event. Sounds like great fun..we may have Andy..the editor of Latitude 38 on board with us. Then on the 21st we will also be picking up Maggie..a great gal that we met in Mexico who will be traveling on Furthur until the Cook Islands where she will disembark and fly to her homeland of Australia.
Brian pulled anchor and we cruised back to Cook’s Bay for 10am morning services at St Joseph’s Catholic church there. The church was filled with beautifully dressed parishioners and we attempted to sing the hymns in both French and Tahitian languages. Afterward most of the crew reboarded and headed back to Opunohu Bay. However Melva and I chose to take a long walk to one of the most spectacular viewing places in the mountains of Moorea. There was a car racing competition up to the viewpoint..so we were stopped many times as the race cars sped by us.
And when we made it to the top of the Belvedere view point it was totally socked in and the sprinkling turned into a downpour. Fortunately one of the race car rally vehicles pulled over an offered us a ride back to our boats. What a relief..we were soaking wet..but fortunately not cold as the temperature stayed fairly moderate considering the constant rain. We made it back to Melva & Steve’s boat where we enjoyed a fantastic meal of roasted potatoes, salad and yes..omg..cheese burgers! This was a real treat as Further crew is primarily vegetarians who eat fish.
Brian then came and picked me up in the still pouring rain to return to Furthur where we watched several movies…nice and cozy and warm..the crew on Furthur eating popcorn and pizza.
July 13 Monday Steve and Trish from the English boat Curious came to pick me up for a rental car ride around Moorea. The weather had greatly improved from yesterday. This time traveling up to the Belvedere lookout provided us with spectacular views of northern Moorea with its glistening bays and atolls and its lush jagged mountains. We passed by lush plantation fields and beautiful sweet smelling foliage and enjoyed tasting the many fruit preserves, juices and many other products that they produce on this island
June 6 -11 Sunday through Saturday Starting to feel like a ping pong ball…or ferry service. On Sunday we traversed the Sea of the Moon to reach Marina Taina where Brian’s water maker miracle worker was waiting for us at the dock. He didn’t know what time we were arriving..but he was there to help us dock in the only space left in the marina. He brought the water maker back the next morning and we are in business again with unlimited fresh water aboard.
While we spent the day at the marina..of course we ran into more boating friends and hosted another potluck dinner. I made a seafood marinara pasta dish to add to the wonderful array of items brought to share.
We provisioned in the morning and made a decision to go back to Moorea instead of heading south to Tahiti-iti. It was a difference of over 4 more hours motoring each way..so we went with what we already know and love..Opunohu Bay on Moorea.
Now we are back in busy noisy Papeete. Lucka is supposed to leave tomorrow…and that is why we came back here..but there is one caveat..the government workers are going on strike tomorrow..ergo no planes will be operating out of here. This will be a major disruption not only to the Tahitians..but to all those coming in and out of French Polynesia and the surrounding areas. FP has a strict 90 day stay policy and several people we know..including Lucka must leave by tomorrow.
July 12 Sunday Well..change of plans…Lucka has accepted Brian’s offer to have her stay on board to help Furthur to Australia. Also the ‘Coastguard Couple’…Greg & Tiffany will be joining us June 16th \before the rally back to Moorea in which we will be the VIP boat for the event. Sounds like great fun..we may have Andy..the editor of Latitude 38 on board with us. Then on the 21st we will also be picking up Maggie..a great gal that we met in Mexico who will be traveling on Furthur until the Cook Islands where she will disembark and fly to her homeland of Australia.
Brian pulled anchor and we cruised back to Cook’s Bay for 10am morning services at St Joseph’s Catholic church there. The church was filled with beautifully dressed parishioners and we attempted to sing the hymns in both French and Tahitian languages. Afterward most of the crew reboarded and headed back to Opunohu Bay. However Melva and I chose to take a long walk to one of the most spectacular viewing places in the mountains of Moorea. There was a car racing competition up to the viewpoint..so we were stopped many times as the race cars sped by us.
And when we made it to the top of the Belvedere view point it was totally socked in and the sprinkling turned into a downpour. Fortunately one of the race car rally vehicles pulled over an offered us a ride back to our boats. What a relief..we were soaking wet..but fortunately not cold as the temperature stayed fairly moderate considering the constant rain. We made it back to Melva & Steve’s boat where we enjoyed a fantastic meal of roasted potatoes, salad and yes..omg..cheese burgers! This was a real treat as Further crew is primarily vegetarians who eat fish.
Brian then came and picked me up in the still pouring rain to return to Furthur where we watched several movies…nice and cozy and warm..the crew on Furthur eating popcorn and pizza.
July 13 Monday Steve and Trish from the English boat Curious came to pick me up for a rental car ride around Moorea. The weather had greatly improved from yesterday. This time traveling up to the Belvedere lookout provided us with spectacular views of northern Moorea with its glistening bays and atolls and its lush jagged mountains. We passed by lush plantation fields and beautiful sweet smelling foliage and enjoyed tasting the many fruit preserves, juices and many other products that they produce on this island