Ha'amene Bay and a Return to Uturoa

We've had such terrible Internet access that these photos have been sitting for a chance to post. A mile walk this afternoon allowed us to use some time we had not used last leg so we'll have access until we leave. That's tomorrow!

This will begin in Ha'amene Bay, home of the famous Hotel Hibiscus. We finally made it and, after motoring ashore, I snapped a photo of Wings hanging on her mooring. Note the huge color difference between shallow and deep water!

The Hotel Hibiscus from Wings. They're building a new dinghy dock.

A whole Parrot fish for dinner! Capers, lemon, and butter on the grilled fish were superb.

The Hotel Hibiscus is owned and operated by Leo and Lolita, a Frenchman and his Tahitian wife. He's been living on Taha'a for 45 years and built the hotel 30 years ago. The trappings of those 30 years hang from the ceiling.

Conni and I presented Leo with a club burgee from the Kenai Fjords Yacht Club.

After leaving Ha'amene Bay, Conni ponders the destination options.

With Raiatea in the background, we move through the Taha'a lagoon. Bill found and opened the coconut using his "cutlass" as they call a machete here.

On Taha'a's northwest side is the Love Here Pearl farm.

Another photo of Bora Bora at sunset, taken from Wings as we hung off a mooring at Love Here Pearl farm.

Tools of the trade for a cultured pearl farm: they open the pearl oyster and insert the starter seed for the new pearl.

Wings and our dinghy in the distance as pearl farm kids swim.

Maeeva'a, the farm teacher/salesperson, was a delightful and very knowledgeable person. Her English was much better than our French.

The founder of Love Here Pearl Farm and his granddaughter.

A classic Tahitian image: a Tiki. It's male.

The Love Here family works and lives here, a dock-walk from the farm.

Pearl oysters are grown in these pens.

I love this photo! Conni strolls to the dinghy and Wings as a squall passes by in the background.

Yeah, another photo of the photogenic Bora Bora.

We haven't been able to "Google" this ship, but she's a beauty. We thought that she might be a research vessel, but she has too many play boats for that.

What's that island?

On to Tapuamu, a bay that we enjoyed last year, although with terrible weather. This shows the steering stick on the typical runabout.

The tiny village of Tapuamu.

A view of the Tapuamu shore from Wings' dinghy. We're hanging on a mooring ball.

A peek through the palms reveals Wings at her mooring.

A common sight is a palm farm. The coconuts are harvested for copra.

Slow water from a faucet fills our water jug. We get it wherever we can.

A Polynesian pizza restaurant, closed 3 days a week.

Conni shops in the only store in Tapuamu. Note the baguettes in the bag.

After our emergency stopover in Uturoa, back on Raiatea, we stroll the streets of this second-largest city in French Polynesia.

The Hae'eva is a week-long celebration of Polynesian culture held yearly in Papeete. This group of local female dancers and male musicians was practicing and we stopped to watch.