Another day in Paradise

Resort at Atoll, Manihi in Tuamotu

 More pictures and great food as we travel from the French Marquesas Islands to the Tuamotu Atolls, both vastly different from each other. The Marquesas have mountains, waterfalls, and remind me of Hawaii. The Atolls are coral flat land with the clearest water I have ever swam in. As for food, well, Marquesas grow many varieties of fruit and veggies, where as the atolls are dry and fresh products are hard to come by. We are headed to Tahiti soon and we can find fresh produce there.  As for water, it is hard to come by and were told the water was not good to drink in the Marquesas. The atolls have no water; they collect their water from the rain. We had to buy drinking water in Manihi from Fernando, a local who brought us baguettes and fresh fish every morning. Fernando took Lou and Sherri to see a black pearl farm. Ron, Sooz and I got to visit a pearl farm on Ahe, when we all took a ride in the tender across the atoll and stumbled onto a farm. The lady engineering the pearls gave us a tour and Lou bought some pearls from her nieces.

Me

House in town on atoll Ahe.

Atoll, Ahe Tuamotu's

Taiohae Bay, Nuka Hiva taken by Sooz when she hiked to the waterfall.

Fish from Atoll Ahe, baked whole with potatoes

Fernando brought us fresh local fish and I baked it whole with onions, garlic, and spices. To the left are fish baked with potatoes, which I cut the heads and skin off before baking to make the fish less fishy. 

The water in Rangiroa was like a huge aquarium and I took this picture from the tender. There is a reef just near our anchorage and it is filled with several types of sharks, coral, parrot fish, man-ray, and fish I have never seen. Today was rainy so we plan on snorkeling tomorrow. Sherri went yesterday when it was sunny and said it is spectacular. Can't wait to explore the reef!

Clear waters of Rangiroa

Lou had her picture taken with two locals on their way to the airport to meet their brother and his family. They made these beautiful lei's for the greeting.

Lou Lou with locals on Rangiroa

Sooz at hotel in Rangiroa

 The hotel we anchored in front of was closed for remodeling but we discovered another hotel just down the coast. We arrived on Rangiroa Saturday and even though we were beat from the long night at sea we rallied for exploring. We stopped for drinks at the hotel which had a lovely open restaurant where you looked out at the sea. We met a nice Canadian couple, Terry and Maurine, and tasted Posian Que for the first time. This is the French version of Chivechie; raw fish, lime juice, coconut milk, shredded carrots, shredded cabbage, served with a 1/2 fresh coconut. Delicious! I snapped a shot of Sooz at the bar.

Malaysian shrimp vegetable over Jasmine rice which I made with frozen broccoli as the fresh veggies have run out.

Black pearls

Lou Lou with the pearl lady

Picture of black pearls at the pearl farm we stumbled onto in Ahe. Lou bought her pearls from this batch. Most of the pearls were black but the pearl lady  had some pale aqua and light milky white pearls as well. It was interesting the way they take the oyster and put a hard yellow ball inside, then place them all so they cling to black plastic mesh and grow the implant into a black pearl.





Lou Lou got me going on breadfruit and I made some great dishes with it.

Breadfruit Curry with fresh coconut, raisins, and yogurt

Breadfruit Curry
1 large breadfruit
1 large onion (sliced)
3 cloves garlic (minced)
1 cup carrots (sliced)
1 cup cauliflower (flowerettes)
1 cup broccoli (flowerettes)
1/2 cup peas
1 cup chicken stock

1/4 cup Hot curry powder
4 Tablespoons vegetable oil

Remove skin from breadfruit. Cut in half and remove core. Cut in 1 inch cubes and steam until cooked. Cool and cut into 1/4 inch cubes.

Heat oil in skillet. Add breadfruit and saute' until browned.
Add onion and garlic and saute' 2 minutes, turning frequently.
Add carrots, cauliflower, and broccoli; saute' 3-4 minutes.
Add chicken stock and reduce heat to simmer.
Add peas and curry powder to taste.

Salt and pepper if needed. Serve over rice

Wall hanging in Fernando's house. Man-ray are everywhere and beautiful friendly creatures.

Sunset over the Atoll

Me with a big Tuna

 More recipes and pictures to come, it takes hours to upload photos on the internet here. perhaps when we get to Tahiti the internet will be better, as I have more great photos and some excellent video.

We sliced the Tuna up and ate him with wasabi, fresh ginger, and ponzu.

Atoll Ahe