Lost in Tranlation in Tikehau

Welcome back to our little slice of tropical paradise.

We flew from Bora Bora to Tikehau with the Italian couple we had met earlier. They spoke perfect English and were great fun. It turned out that they were staying at the same place as us in Tikehau.

Tikehau is a coral lagoon without an island in the middle. I'll throw in a brief geology lesson here to explain one theory for this unusual feature. During the ice age there was an island surounded by a coral reef. After the ice age, the ice began to melt and the sea slowly rose about 120 metres over many millenia. The coral slowly grew upwards, keeping just below the sea's surface, Eventually, the water rose above the island, effectively drowning it, but the reef kept growing. What we see today is a massive coral ring around an island that is no longer there. Weird, hey? Over the years, plants started growing on the coral, creating low islands. These islands are beautiful but the soil is very poor and it's difficult to grow anything.

This is what it looks like from the air. I couldn't fit all of it in one shot - it's about 40 km across! 

The sea breaks through the reef at regular intervals forming heaps of motu, small coral-based islands.

The Italians, Monica and Daniele, and us were met at the airport and taken by 4WD then boat to our accommodation. You've got to love a place that you can only get to by boat!

As soon as we arrived we saw many reef sharks hanging around directly beneath the restaurant balcony. The staff (and customers) of the restaurant throw all the food scraps into the sea so there is a resident school of sharks here. 

After every meal there would be a feeding frenzy as the scraps were thrown out. Scraps from the dinner table were just tossed into the water from where we sat. I'm sure that there were some kids at one stage throwing out perfectly good food, just to watch the sharks eat! 

There are also heaps of remora fish. I've only ever seen these attached to larger fish before but here they seem to live quite happily without being attached. I guess the regular supply of food scraps helps. They look weird with their suction-cup heads.

That night we met Irene and Bertie, a Swiss couple, and the six of us quickly became friends. We had such great times with these people.

Monica, Daniele, John and I did a lagoon tour the next day. We were excited to maybe see mantas but sadly, the mantas weren't there. John was so disappointed. We then went to an island where birds nest. I didn't expect this to be very interesting but it was quite amazing! Thousands of birds, mainly noddy terns, nested in the low trees. We could get quite close to them without even trying.

How gorgeous is this little guy?

There were also red-footed boobies. I love those red feet!

We had lunch on yet another gorgeous motu. I had brought some breadrolls with me which was just as well as the lunch was raw fish followed by a cooked fish each. (I'm not a fish lover).

We had time to snorkel and swim around the island. It was all so picture perfect.

Again, there was a resident school of sharks here. Monica threw out the food scraps....

Next stop was a place where a Taiwanese religious group had established a farm on a motu. (You never know what you're going to find sometimes!) It was quite interesting to see how they grew fruit and vegetables in such an unforgiving environment. It was very difficult to get fruit and vegetables in Tikehau. The meals at our accommodation were great but nearly always consisted of fish and carbs. Most fruit or veges were tinned. The fact that I took a photo of lettuces is an indication of how exciting it was to see greens!

That night, the staff had a surprise for Monica and Daniele. They were on their honeymoon and the staff brought out a special cake for them. They then played a song while the Italians danced. It was lovely.

John was well enough to dive again so he got the last spot on a very full boat and I joined the boat as the only snorkeller. It can be hit and miss being a snorkeller on a dive boat and this was more miss than hit. In my first five minutes I saw a turtle, a few barracuda and a huge Napoleon wrasse, which I've never seen before, then I didn't really see anything else of consequence for the rest of the trip!

This Napoleon wrasse is about 90 cm long!

The turtle was a hawksbill.

One thing I've seen a lot of in Polynesia is huge schools of these little guys. They're gorgeous.

I love the way they swirl with the water movements.

John had two great dives though. As well as seeing the things I saw he saw heaps of moray eels, a large Oceanic reef shark and a mermaid (that was me snorkelling above him!)

The most interesting part of the trip was getting back onto the boat after the second dive. I followed above the divers as they swam slowly through the pass between two motu. The current was quite strong and we drifted through it quickly. As we left the protection of the reef, though, the waves really started picking up. The boat came to pick us up but the water was so rough that the ladder was thrown up and down, making it really hard to get out of the water. There were four of us left in the sea when they made the decision to move to calmer waters. The four of us had to swim to the new position, which was a problem for one guy near John as he had already handed in his buoyancy compensator and one fin to the boat but still had his weight belt on. He then had to try to swim like that through rough water. John stayed with him while the other girl and I stayed together and we all managed to get there in the end.

Monica, Daniele, Irene and Bertie all left one day before us. The night before they left, we all had a great night telling jokes and stories. Half the fun was explaining why Tasmanian/Austrian/insert-preferred-country-or-region-to-make-fun-of jokes are funny to each of us! John told his "Jean-Claude" joke. Bertie doesn't speak much English and it was so funny watching John telling the joke in sections then everyone would wait while Irene translated for Bertie. When John got to the punch line, it was all lost in translation. Here's what happened. John had just said, "I go down in flames" It was so funny!

Saying farewell to our wonderful friends.

John and I caught a lift back to the main island and rode bikes around it. It didn't take very long!

To get back home, we wandered across what was supposed to be shallow water between the motus but the tide was up and we had to take our shorts off to get through.

On our last day there I had a short snorkel in the channel. I went between meal times to avoid the sharks! See if you can spot a fish in this photo.

It gave itself away when it moved.

The staff at our accommodation were fantastic. Within minutes of our arrival we were all laughing and making jokes. What I really loved was that the women ran the place. I occasionally saw a man in the kitchen (I think they did most of the cooking) or working outside but it was the women who were front and centre. 

Every second night, Camelia and Moon would play Polynesian music. It was good fun as they obviously loved doing it.

The place was picture-perfect. Our bungalow was next to the water. It was basic but worked well.

Look closely at the palm fronds on the buildings though. They're fake! They're made of plastic. From a distance you certainly wouldn't know but close up it was pretty obvious. How bizarre.

Mum, you would have loved the food here. The cheapest and easiest food for them to eat is fish. When we first arrived I explained that I don't like fish much. I could tell by the looks on their faces that this was not what they wanted to hear. Somehow, they chose to interpret my request as not liking raw fish. Raw fish in coconut milk is one of the most common meals here. So when raw fish was served, I usally got something else, often a salad or cooked fish. So I got fish every day. The thing is, some of the fish dishes were amazing! Italian fish skewers and grilled mahi mahi with a delicious sauce were my faves.

We were really sad to say goodbye to these great people. This is Moon. She always sang as she worked and you'd never see her without a smile on her face.

Esther was also great value. With her smoker's voice, she did a great Al Jolson impersonation one night.

Bye Moon!

We waited an hour or so in the very simple airport and I had to laugh at the security sign that said you can't carry batteries, hand grenades or ...... chain saws on the plane!

As each plane landed or took off, a fire engine would drive out to be prepared for an emergency. We had to laugh that there was a boat ready too!

We had a great time on Tikehau, largely thanks to the wonderful people - both the staff and the other guests.

Until next time.
Heather and John

Bora Bora - Fifty Shades of Blue

Hello again!

It was time for us to start island-hopping around Polynesia. Travel between Polynesian islands is largely by plane so we bought a pass that allowed us to hop from one island to the next. The Taha'a airport was very simple and we shared the basic cafe there with chickens and roosters!

We boarded our plane and were ready for the famous view of Bora Bora from the sky but sadly, we picked the wrong side of the plane. Luckily we had met a young Italian couple and they took photos for us.

Oh my - what a place Bora Bora is! If ever you've envisioned being stranded on a tropical island, this is the place you were dreaming of - crystal clear waters full of colourful fish and tiny islands dotted with palm trees. Life is laid back and pretty wonderful!

Sadly though, John came down with a heavy cold after his dive in Taha'a. He spent most of our three days in Bora Bora tucked up inside with Netflix and watching the Tigers, John's football team, win again, in an attempt to get better so he could dive again. We did manage to get in a couple of lovely meals though. Helen and John (John's sister and her hubby) came to this island a while ago and told us to eat at the Yacht Club, which we did. We got a table out on a jetty over the water and had a lovely evening there.

Over the next couple of days I went on two snorkelling trips while John stayed in our room. I tried not to look too excited about what I'd seen and done but the trips really were amazing! (Sorry John!)

The first trip was a bit strange. The only paying guests were a French couple and myself. The French woman spoke great English and was good fun and we got on well. The other people on the boat were local friends and family of the boat owner, just enjoying a day out. At first it seemed weird but I soon realised that we were getting a lot more of an understanding of the local culture this way.

First stop was where we were told to expect to see reef sharks and lemon sharks. I've never seen lemon sharks before. We pulled up at a spot marked with a few bouys and in the crystal clear water we could see heaps of reef sharks without even getting out of the boat! Any hopes I had of maintaining a natural environment for the sharks were quickly dispelled though when our captain, along with people on the other boats that had pulled up, started feeding out fish to attract the sharks. Anyway, we jumped in and it was incredible!

Far below us, a separate shark swam around. It was larger and fatter than the reef sharks. I realised it must be a lemon shark. 

After a while it suddenly rose closer to us, hoping to get in on the free feed action.

Around the boat swarmed heaps of black triggerfish, waiting for their share of the scraps. To my horror, the local woman on our boat threw a fishing line over the edge and hauled in triggerfish after triggerfish. It seems to be cheating to catch fish that are there because they get fed and will bite at anything that's thrown to them.

The next stop was where we would expect to see stingrays. Again, there were three or four boats there and everyone fed the rays. The rays would come so close that sometimes the boy feeding them had to push them away. They were almost aggressive. It was amazing to see so many rays so close but the artificial environment was disappointing.

There were also heaps of reef sharks here.

Next stop was the "coral garden" where a few feeble patches of coral were swarmed by boatloads of tourists. Agan, they fed the small fish and the sight of hundreds of small fish swarming around us was pretty amazing.

Thankfully, we then left the well-worn boat trail and our captain took us to a spot that only he knew about. The sand here was like fine clay and we used it like a body scrub. Cool!

The last stop was our captain's own little island where he lived. It was like something you'd imagine being on if you were Robinson Crusoe. Coconut palms protected thatch-roofed huts and the azure waters sparkled in the sun. It was incredible! We ate fruit while the local lady prepared her triggerfish nearby. She then waded through the shallow water to the next island, where she lived, with the fish fillets neatly arranged on a coconut frond. It was all so picture perfect (if you like eating fish!)

Our captain lived on this island with his three dogs. One of these dogs then accompanied us back to town. It stood on the front of the boat and barked every time it saw a stingray in the water!

That night we had a lovely dinner at a nearby restaurant. I was quite smitten with the flower arrangement in my cocktail!

The next day I headed out again, joining a trip that specialised in visiting manta rays. The French couple joined me and there were other French and American couples on the boat. This trip was much more professional and, with one exception, was much better at not disturbing the environment. 

Heiva was still going so our captain started our trip by taking us to where the canoe races were happening. We had seen locals practicing for this. Although this is a very traditional race, the traditional boats have been replaced with modern canoes, although they have outriggers attached like the traditional boats have. The men were working hard. There was a separate race for women and one for children.

We stopped at another 'coral garden' which was much bettter that the overrun one yesterday. Again, the fish were amazing and the water was crystal clear.

I wandered off and found a school of eagle rays! They were a long way down though so the photos aren't very clear.

The young captain knew exactly where animals lived and showed us an enormous moray eel. It was obviously used to being fed as the captain could pat it. Man, it's ugly!

After a while it had had enough of us and it left its hole and swam to another spot. I've never seen a moray out of its hole before.

Again, the fish were very friendly. Even though we weren't feeding them, other boats must do so.

We then went to a sandy area where eagle rays are known to hang out. We soon found them and jumped in. Again, they were a fair way down. I tried to count them and estimated there were between 80 and 90 in the main group with another dozen or so scattered around. Amazing! I love the way they look like butterflies as they slowly flap their way across the ocean floor.

For some reason the next couple of videos don't seem to have loaded properly. This seems to happen sometimes on this blog.

We had another stop at a coral reef where I saw a huge school of butterfly fish. After that, our captain tried to prise an octopus out of its hole. I think he got the message that we didn't want him to.

Finally it was time to go to the spot where manta rays hang out to get parasites cleaned by cleaner wrasses. It would be pot luck if there would be any there. We jumped in and found one manta circling slowly beneath us. It was only a 'baby' - about 1.5 metres across, but I was rapt to finally see one. 

We then pulled up in a shallow bay and ate fruit and home-made coconut cake. Our captain loved having his photo taken!

We were taken around the whole lagoon. The setting of some of the resorts with over-water bungalows was spectacular.

The colour of the water in some parts of the lagoon is truly astonishing. It really was 50 shades of blue!

Bora Bora is one of the most touristy islands on Polynesia and I hadn't expected to like it much for that reason, but it was really wonderful! It didn't seem overrun with tourists although that was probably helped by the fact that we stayed in an apartment in the main town, not at a resort.

There was dancing and singing in the town each night for Heiva but I was too tired at the end of each day to go all the way to where the performers were. We could certainly hear them though! I did see a percussion group practicing one day. They were fantastic! 

Our last morning was a Sunday and we were staying next to the Mormon church. Apparently the Mormons are big around here. It was strange seeing local men wearing white shirts and ties. They started to sing and, to our dismay, they sang English-style hymns. The songs sounded just as dreary as they do at home. If only they could sing local music - it's so much better!

Til next time,
Heather