Gone Native

If you think it looks nice, you should smell how incredible it smells!

The Tahitian women wear the most wonderful flowers about their head and around their necks.  This beauty was $5.00 at the market and way better then any perfume. The market's are always the best on Sunday morning but you have to get there early and I mean early; 5AM, as the whole thing is over by 7AM.

View from my galley porthole, which inspires my cooking

Marina on Raiatea, our home for 1 week.

From Moorea we sailed to the island of Huahine, a feminine name, as the island resembles a pregnant women laying on her back. We anchored on a lovely bay across from a white sand beach and took a day off to tour the island by dingy. Each island has it's own beauty, with dramatic mountains and sandy beaches, but for sure each islands gets progressively more beautiful! After 3 days on Huahine, we sailed 22 miles to the islands of Raiatea and Tahaa. The crossing took nearly 3 hours and was very rough, with waves at 10-15 feet. I was only a bit sea sick this time which I attribute to to many drinks the night before. I really think I am getting over being seasick. We are in a lovely little marina on Raiatea and can see Tahaa just across the lagoon. Both islands are inside the lagoon, so you can take the dingy over to Tahaa, which is more primitive, having no rental cars or such. We will explore Tahaa next week. Today we are off to rent a car and tour Raiatea as a group. Also, rumor has it that there is

disco dancing in the town tonight, which has us all excited, as we all want to kick up our heals. Typically, these islands are quiet, having no night life except Tahitian dancing.     

Ah, this is the life

There are plenty of sandy beaches to tie your hammock up to a couple of palms.

We found this little resort in the middle of nowhere when we took the day trip with our dingy. They had only two huts to offer guests and the place was awesome! Wonder how you find such exotic places to vacation?

Sooz, looking very tropical

The marina is very much a community of people. There are French families that live on their boats and the kids come out to play together around 5PM each evening. There are bikes, cats and lot's of dogs. They do not believe in spay and neuter of their animals and remarkably,  the dogs are very sweet and docile. 

Sean did the driving around Raiatea and it was grand to have a day off for the crew from all their hard work.

The road around Raiatea

The backside of Sooz, Macin, and Aga

WOW

Crew Update: we are 6, as Christian decided not to come along because she wanted to return to Holland to see her father. I also corrected the information on post Something old, something new, concerning Laura Dekker, the 15 year old girl sailing solo around the world. I also included her website and the site for the film, "Maidentrip". 

The crew is currently working on the decks, sanding and finishing them. Sean has a list of projects to improve the boat and once the decks are done we are off to Bora Bora, which is the icing on the cake. Can't wait to see the island, after all, that was the ad I answered for the chef position: "Come on adventure to Bora Bora". What a long strange trip it's been but finally, Bora Bora!  The food has been amazing but the only draw back is we all forget to take photos. I am planning a post soon, of only the food along with recipes, after all, this is supposed to be a food blog as well as adventure blog.