Port 16 Raiatea, French Polynesia

Io orana!

Today, Jan 30th, 2022, we get to dock! No tenders!

There is a large lagoon that surrounds both Raiatea and its sister island Taha’a. There are limited entrances through the coral reef into the lagoon. We come in on the east side and head north to our dock at Uturoa.  I believe that is Huahine in the background.

There are lovely views of docks and homes along the water near Uturoa.

On shore we are greeted by this man blowing a conch and a manmade horn. Long, deep tones echoed across the dock!

We are handed tiare flowers again! Can you see mine?

We have an excursion today. This one is called “Opoa & Taputapuatea” to see the sacred maraes of Taputapuatea. The lady directing us to the correct bus is wearing a beautiful pareo!

On the walk to the tour bus I notice the beautiful paver work on the dock. The pavers go all the way to the ship!

Our first stop is a black pearl farm, Vairua Pearls. On Raiatea pearl farm houses are commonly on the water. Some are close enough to have a dock from shore to building. The boats are used to tend to the oyster beds.

We are directed to a small room in the back, with doors open to a dock out back. On a small table is a display of oyster shells and tools for working the oysters, very similar to those we saw in Rangiroa.

We receive a briefing on how Vairua Pearls do their pearl farming. This gentleman never gives us his name, but has a very thick French accent. He explains they leave their oysters in the water for 18 months to create the black pearls. This is less than the 2 years we were told at Rangiroa. This tells me Vairua’s pearls are inferior to Rangiroa’s. But as a result, the pearls in their shop were very affordable! So, you get what you pay for!

Boats are lifted from the waters when not in use. This seems to be a relatively new practice since we didn’t see this on our last visit. These lifts are everywhere and appear to be best managed with two people turning the wheels to lift or lower a boat.

A drive around Fa’aroa Bay reveals terrain very similar to Tahiti-nui and Moorea, and you will soon see, Bora Bora. Volcanoes left crater rims that have evolved into some of the most spectacular sites to be seen!

At the mouth of Fa’aroa Bay a small white house can be seen standing a quarter-mile out in the lagoon.

Zooming in, we can see the shape of a house.  This, like the house at the end of the dock at Vairua Pearls, is a pearl farm, but this one is only accessible by boat.

Our next stop is at the Opoa Taputapuatea marea. This is a UNESCO World Heritage site. This poster shows how large the archealogical area is.

UNESCO posted this marker identifying this as a World Heritage Site. Well earned!

On our way to the marae, the group gathers around a noni fruit tree

The noni tree is unique in that it is the only tree that grows fruit, then flowers grow from the fruit. All other trees grow flowers that then become fruit. Noni juice is widely regarded for its theraputic properties.

Marea Taputapatea is the center of Polynesian culture. Raiatea is the 2nd largest French Polynesian island and was once the center of government.

Maraes are believe to have a strong intersection with the gods and spirits of the ancestors. This makes the sites sacred.

Tara tells us as children they learn the full name of the god ‘Oro for whom this marea honors through a song. She has us start clapping a beat, and sings out something like this – “Ti’ira’ahuimatatedepapaopehoro’oreyoretemaranui’no’taputapuatea” (I had to watch the video a lot of times to capture this!) Notice the end of the name is Taputapuatea, the name we’ve been using for this site.

This small marae is a treasure depository marae used as a place for the people to place their gifts to the gods and ancestors. Even tamanu nuts are considered sacred offerings.

A third marae is a coronation site. Coronation ceremonies for the Polynesian kings and queens were held here. This was built over 500 years ago, and according to available history, ten ceremonies were held here, six of which coronated queens to lead the people. (And a year ago we just inaugurated our first female vice president? We’re centuries behind the Polynesians!)

We have one more stop on this tour – a vanilla plantation. On the way,  Tara asks Tieri, the bus driver, to pull over. She runs out to this bush. This is a tiare bush, from which islanders collect the popular tiare flower to wear behind their ear to signify their heart’s state.

We arrive at this little shack. This is the vanilla plantation, but is also a pearl farm, as you can tell by the name and the decor.

I don’t hear our host’s name, but she has a very strong French accent. She has one vanilla bean plant for the presentation. Unfortunately, this isn’t the season for vanilla blooms so we can’t see what that looks like. But we learn that growing vanilla beans is very difficult, and getting our beloved vanilla flavor from a bean is equally difficult. The flower has to be hand-pollinated. Each bloom is a hermaphrodite, both male and female, but is unable to reproduce by itself, and the throat of the bloom is too small for all but one insect to enter. Guaranteed pollination requires human intervention. Once pollinated, it takes 9 months for a bean to form and mature. Then it can take up to three more months of daily sundrying and nightly bagging to sweat the beans to get the shriveled, aromatic beans we love.

Back at the port we find out the artwork we see there is part of the street art project that we saw in Tahiti-nui! So we take a little walk to capture these.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And this last one is a contribution from a US artist – surprised?

Back on the ship the dock hands get ready to release the dock lines. One of them sees me with my camera and starts dancing! He was enjoying himself!

You can see the pavers I showed you earlier do extend all of the way to the edge of the dock! Uturoa, Raiatea wins for best looking dock we’ve ever seen so far!

We skirt the neighboring island of Taha’a to get to the western exit from the lagoon.  There are some sweet views on the way. This little place is likely another pearl farm.

This house caught my eye because of the road that curves up around the point. The tall palms echo the telephone poles, carrying the vertical lines past the road, and the house is hunkered down in the middle of the hillside, its yellow walls peeking over the trees. I really like this photo!

Another photo I really like is this one with the variety of trees cascading down the hillside!

We leave the lagoon of Raiatea and Taha’a and see Bora Bora in the distance. The sun begins to paint sunset!

Goodbye, Raiatea! Next port, Bora Bora!