We have just arrived at the atoll of Ahe after an 80 mile night sail from Rangiroa, timing our arrival for maximum visibility (based on sun angle) to best navigate the somewhat shallow pass into Ahe’s lagoon.
Ahe is primarily devoted to black pearl farming. As we traversed the center of the lagoon, we saw oodles of buoys marking where the oysters are cultivated. Our first mate Paola actually worked for four months at the Kamoka Pearl Farm here in Ahe a couple of years ago, and I am sure we will pay it a visit for a personalized tour. Air Tahiti Nui’s in-flight magazine recently ran a feature article on her old farm. Pearl farming has completely changed living conditions here for the inhabitants of the Tuamotus. They used to be quite poor but are now enjoying a new economy based on the income from the pearl industry.
Yesterday, our last day in Rangiroa, we rented rusty bicycles at the local resort and pedaled down the main road from one end of the island to the other and back again. The overall bike ride was some 28 km, so we definitely got some exercise, but the road was flat and the bicycling kicked up a nice breeze so it was a pleasant experience overall. The main road is a 2 lane asphalt that travels the length of the motu, pretty much dead center with the lagoon visible on one side and the ocean on the other.
We stopped off in the town of Avatoru for some boutique shopping (birthday presents for Rod), also the post office (very modern and inviting with great air conditioning, but didn’t have envelopes or boxes for sale and was out of scotch tape) and at a private home where we traded a photograph for a model release. We couldn’t find the “fish lady” who had requested we take pictures of her fish (but not of herself), so we dropped off a couple of prints at the post office to be given to her next time she comes in. We even stopped at a winery, the only vineyard in all of French Polynesia, and bought a bottle of Tahitian rosé. We topped off our stock of fresh vegetables at a roadside market. Veggies are few and far between now that we’ve left Papeete, and we expect our supply to dwindle down to zero (except for the canned variety) in the near future. We should be eating fish and coconut by the end of this trip, like the locals.
Paola cooked a birthday cake for Rod yesterday and served it Ecuadorian style, which means after the lucky recipient blows out the candles, he gets his face shoved into the cake! Paola went easy on Rod and he only got a little frosting on the tip of his nose, but in Ecuador apparently there are many eager volunteers ready to ensure a full face plant, totally destroying the cake which starts out as the prettiest, most elaborate cake they can concoct, covered with beaucoup frosting for maximum effect.
We are watching wind and weather conditions and expect to depart in 3-4 days, leaving the Tuamotus and heading for the Marquesas 500-600 miles from here and completely different again in topography. The islands there are mountainous, steep and wild – creating underwater conditions that attract multitudes of unusual sealife.
Up to now we have had Fr Poly pretty much all to ourselves as it has been off-season, but now we are starting to see the leaders of an influx of yachts, all heading westerly (downwind) from the coast of North America (primarily Mexico) towards French Polynesia, Fiji, Tonga, New Zealand, Australia and points beyond. We are bucking the trend with our eastward passage into the waves and against the wind.