The jungle covered mountains were surrounded by the early morning mist as the island of Moorea came into view.The wind was blowing across the deck of the squared rigged barkentine, the Star Flyer. I felt I had stepped back in time to the era of sailing ships
The ship anchored in a beautiful blue water bay. H.M.S. Bounty may have anchored near the same spot of this tropical island. I was on a seven day sailing adventure to the islands of French Polynesia and I had waited many years to see this fabled group of islands.
I had arrived at the capital of Papeete on the island of Tahiti, the night before. It was warm and humid even in early October.I made my way to my hotel and decided to have a drink in the bar before turning in. The waiter approached my table and asked what I would like. I asked him what the specialty was? He looked puzzled but returned shortly with a selection of different teas. I could only smile and diligently looked over the different varieties after I realized that he had heard "Special Tea". I politely asked for a Bacardi and Coca Cola. Even though English is widely spoken throughout the world sometimes you have to remember it is not everyone's native language and humorous but harmless miscommunications like this can happen.
The morning sun woke me early. The beautiful turquoise waters of the shallow bay lapped against the pylons of the thatched roofed huts decorating the shoreline. These were rooms you could rent right over the water. I wandered along the shoreline taking pictures of the coral reefs and nearby islands. My morning was taken up by a tour of this largest of the islands of French Polynesia. It is shaped like a large figure 8 with the peaks of the volcanoes that formed the island at the center of each loop. The smaller loop, which I toured, is called Tahiti Iti. The jungle covered the hillsides as the narrow road followed the shoreline revealing hidden beaches covered in palm trees. The highlight was a visit to the Paul Gaugin Museum. This renowned artist made these islands famous with his paintings.
Late in the afternoon my open air truck taxi took me to the Port of Papeete and my floating home for the next week. Sailing on the "Star Flyer" is like a journey back to when clipper ships ruled the waves. The unfurling of the sails on the 226 foot high main mast to music is a fun daily event. The teak decks are swabbed by a crew dressed in blue and white sailors' uniforms. Passengers can relax in the nets hanging off the bowsprit. The Ship only holds 170 passengers but has all the amenities of a small cruise ship.
Morning broke the next day with sight of the peaks of Moorea on the horizon. The sky was overcast creating a moody ominous feel to the mist covered island peaks. The ship would anchor here on different days in each of the two main bays. Palm trees swayed in the wind as the zodiac (ship's tender) scooted toward shore to meet our tour guide. I took my seat in the back of the pickup truck whose bed had been converted to a six passenger compartment. The humidity caused my shirt to stick to my back after only a few miles.
The truck climbed up into the hills over the narrow and rough dirt roads along the slope of Mt. Tohiea to arrive at the best viewpoint on the island, the Belvedere. The emerald jungle covered island spread out before me in a grand vista.
The huge central peak, Mt. Rotui, spilt the northern side of the island into the two distinctive bays, Cook's and Opunohu. We continued around the island to visit a vanilla plantation and a pineapple factory. Our final stop was another viewpoint called "Magic Mountain". Here you get a grand view of Opunohu Bay and Mount Rotui in profile. The sun would break thru in spots to turn the water turquoise blue. The coral reefs that surround these islands could be seen clearly from this high vantage point. A cold Polynesian beer greeted me as our ship sailed overnight to two new islands.
Raiateaand and Tahaa islands share a common lagoon and are encircled by a single coral reef but the islands are very different.Raiatea is the second largest with the second largest town, Uturoa, in French Polynesia. Tahaa is quiet and much smaller. The Champon Pearl Farm on Tahaais where I learned about the exotic "black pearls" of French Polynesia.
The pearl oysters used in French Polynesia are the black lipped oysters. The shells of these oysters have wonderful colors, which vary from light grey to dark green in a variety of shades. These oysters produce pearls that are often called "black pearls". Polynesian myths give these pearls the power to heal or fall in love. They were originally only worn by Tahitian nobility.
The next day brought us to a secluded "motu" between Raiatea and Bora Bora. A 'motu" is a small islet surrounded by a reef. It was great for snorkeling and laying on the white sand coral beaches. We had to wade a short distance from our red zodiac to the beach.
The palm trees here lean out over the lagoon and provide shade from the tropical sun. I wandered the island taking photographs of palm trees in groves or stretching out over the water while my shipmates lounged in the sunshine. Snorkeling the shallow waters was easy and relaxing. It was much better than trying to snorkel in the open waters of Raiatea that I had tried a few days before. This was the South Pacific paradise I had come to see.
Bora Bora presented a whole new adventure for me the next day. Cloudy weather did not make for great pictures but it was very comfortable for my Stingray encounter and snorkel with sharks. The catamaran cut thru the waves as it left our anchorage and followed the shoreline to a shallow bay down the coast .I was able to stand in hip deep crystal clear water on a white sand bottom as the guides attracted a large group of stingrays.
I was soon surrounded by 6 foot gray winged visitors that allow touching and even took a fish from a guides mouth. I watched this large fish play and scoot around the shallow waters till it was time to move on to my shark encounter. The boat moved out into deeper water outside the reef. We anchored in about 40 feet of water. The water was clear and the coral on the bottom was visible from the surface.
The crew handed out the snorkel gear and gave us the safety lecture. We were cautioned not to stick our hand out to the sharks or they may take a bite. We were told to stay with the group on the anchor line or very close to the boat. I took my place on the anchor line with a dozen of my shipmates and with my mask in the water looked for my grey skinned quarry. The guides tossed chum into the water away from the anchor line and soon black tipped reef sharks appeared.
A swarm of six foot sharks darted and changed speeds in a blink. One large one cruised by me but ignored the line of arms and legs which must have seemed like a large monster. On the bottom large Lemon sharks serenely cruised the coral in search of lunch. They were huge even at that distance to the bottom. My adrenaline was pumping and my heart was beating faster as I watched the sharks around me.I was excited to finally have a close encounter with these predators of the ocean. The encounter was over to soon and the boat motored back to the main lagoon of Bora Bora. I still had all my parts so this was a great day on the waters of Polynesia.
We sailed that evening for our nest stop of Huahine. A squall blew up that night and the bow of our ship bounced like a bucking bronco. My cabin was in the bow and every few minutes I was bounced up and down on my bunk with the motion of the ship.I finally had to ask for another cabin mid=ship to get some sleep. The water was to rough the next morning for the ship to make port at Huahine so we continued our cruise to our second stop on Moorea. Morning arrived with sunshine and puffy white clouds as we approached the anchorage on Moorea.
The Star Flyer anchored in Oponohu Bay beneath the green crags of the mountains. I arrived on shore by our red zodiac to spend my last day on the shores of this beautiful island. The palm trees lined the bay and small fishing boats were anchored in the shallows. I could see my ship across the bay. I could almost image it being H.M.S. Bounty or Captain Cook's Endeavour anchored there. The warm wind swayed the palms as I wandered the shoreline with my camera. I loved it when I found palm trees sticking out over the water.
I made sure that I bought my wife a "Black Pearl" necklace before I left the island so she would always have it to remember our visit to these islands.The next morning I had my last glimpse of the jungles, mountains, and coral reefs of Tahiti as my plane climbed into the sky above Papeete on its way home. Visiting these islands aboard a sailing ship made the experience of visiting this tropical wonderland even better. French Polynesia is definitely a paradise and well worth another visit.