{"id":2821,"date":"2015-07-05T06:23:11","date_gmt":"2015-07-05T06:23:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/svtoucan.com\/svtblog\/?p=2821"},"modified":"2015-08-01T06:23:32","modified_gmt":"2015-08-01T06:23:32","slug":"in-heaven-with-the-door-shut-the-tuamotus-pt-1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/svtoucan.com\/svtblog\/?p=2821","title":{"rendered":"In Heaven (with the door shut) – The Tuamotus Pt 1"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"IMG_8921\"<\/a>Sorry about the absence of blogging activity for the past few weeks \u2013 to quote our good mate Pembo from WA, we\u2019ve been \u2018in heaven with the door shut\u2019 and there ain\u2019t much internet inside the pearly gates!<\/p>\n

\"IMG_4143\"<\/a>They\u2019re known as the Dangerous Archipelago and for sure they would have been extremely dangerous in the time of the square-riggers and before the advent of GPS. Even now, the reefs and passes can pose hazards for unwary players, but the upside is that the Tuamotus are a group of some of the most beautiful coral atolls we\u2019ve ever seen. The most dangerous aspect for us was too many sundowners with our buddies from \u2018Rehua\u2019!\"IMG_4438_2\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\"sunset<\/a>
sunset over Raroia<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Our first stop, Raroia, wasn\u2019t even on our itinerary, but divine intervention (in the form of wind from the wrong direction) guided us to this particular slice of paradise.<\/p>\n

Our guide books led us to believe there were no services here, but in fact the village boasts an airstrip, a school and medical facility as well as three (three!!) magazins or shops. And some of the friendliest people we\u2019ve come across yet. On our first foray into the village we were invited to the primary school\u2019s end-of-year concert. What a delightful night of traditional dancing and singing, mixed up with some zumba for good effect. We felt very privileged to be welcomed into the local community with such warmth.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>
The wharf at Raroia with the supply ship in the background<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"The<\/a>
The end-of-year concert at Raroia primary school<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\"IMG_3924\"<\/a>We also met Chris and Jess from \u201cSilent Sun\u201d, both keen divers who told us about their drift dives in the pass and outside on the reef walls. With our appetites whetted, we ventured out of the pass and did the north and south walls. Wow! Some of the clearest water I\u2019ve ever seen with viz up to 30 metres, and an amazing amount of hard coral and fish life, including plenty of reef sharks on the northern side. Sadly, we never quite got the timing right to do a drift dive through the pass \u2013 slack water only lasts a matter of minutes and at other times the tide rushes in or out at up to 4 knots, so you need to be absolutely certain of your timing!<\/p>\n

\"one<\/a>
one of the many reef sharks on the wall<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"DCIM100MEDIA\"<\/a>
Diver Di at Raroia<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Amazingly<\/a>
Amazingly clear water on the reef<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The other hazard of anchoring in coral lagoons is\u2026 well, the coral \u2013 coral bommies are numerous and in some places it\u2019s impossible not to get your anchor chain wrapped around one or more coral heads as the boat swings with the wind shifts. Mostly you can drive yourself off them when it\u2019s time to leave, but in the anchorage near the village at Raroia there were just too many and our anchor chain looked like a demented macram\u00e9 knitter had been at work below. In fact, all five yachts in the anchorage needed a diver below and someone on the surface directing the helmsperson which way to steer. Sometimes having a dive compressor and tanks on board is very handy, not just for recreational diving!<\/p>\n

\"It's<\/a>
It’s a wrap! This one we were able to drive ourselves off by doing some fancy pirouettes<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

After finally freeing ourselves from the clutches of the coral, we motored across to the eastern side of the lagoon, dodging massive bommies that rose sheer from 40\u2019 to the surface. It goes without saying that you need the sun above or behind you and a lookout on the deck in order to spot them.<\/p>\n

\"one<\/a>
one of hundreds of coral bommies scattered throughout the lagoons<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The eastern shore was just heavenly \u2013 three perfect little motus (palm-fringed islands) sheltering us from the prevailing easterlies, gin-clear water, lots of interesting snorkeling around the bommies and the most exquisite shades of blue and turquoise from the differing water depths.<\/p>\n

\"Motu<\/a>
Motu on the Eastern shore of Raroia<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Toucan<\/a>
Toucan at anchor, Eastern side of Raroia<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I couldn\u2019t have picked a better venue for my birthday if I\u2019d tried, and we had a wonderful beach barbeque with our friends from \u201cRehua\u201d and \u201cNelly Rose\u201d, complete with bonfire, a full moon and great company.<\/p>\n

\"Living<\/a>
Living it up on Raroia with all our cruising buddies for Di’s Birthday<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"A<\/a>
A bonfire, a beach, a guitar and good company. Perfect birthday!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Full<\/a>
Full moon rising over Raroia<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

We spent our days here doing very little except beach-combing, collecting coconuts, snorkeling and diving (Bruce was teaching Audrie from \u2018Rehua\u201d to dive, so I accompanied them as official photographer!)<\/p>\n

\"Bruce<\/a>
Bruce teaching Audrie her diving skills<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"beauriful<\/a>
beauriful clear water for snorkelling<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

We also paid a visit to the local pearl farm. Black pearls are big business in the Tuamotus, and most atolls have at least one or more pearl farms (the pearl floats scattered throughout the lagoons create just one more hazard for visiting yachts). Unfortunately the farm we visited didn\u2019t have any pearls they could sell us but it was fascinating to see the farming process, including the seeding of the oysters.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>
The pearl farm, Raroia<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"The<\/a>
The precise art of seeding oysters for pearls.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

After a couple of weeks in Raroia, it was time to drag ourselves away so we could experience some of the other atolls in the Tuamotus before heading to Tahiti. As non-Europeans we\u2019re only eligible for a 90-day visa for the whole of French Polynesia which includes the Marquesas all the way through to Bora Bora in the Society Islands. It\u2019s possible to apply for a long-stay visa of 6 months, but you need to have it in place before you arrive, and with all the preparations for Panama and the Galapagos it was something we stupidly overlooked and are now kicking ourselves about. Even though we can\u2019t stay 6 months here because of cyclone season approaching, it would have been nice to have had a few more weeks\u2019 up our sleeve. Oh well, \u2018C\u2019est La Vie\u201d as they say\u2026.<\/p>\n

\"Beautiful<\/a>
Beautiful Raroia, paradise on earth<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Sorry about the absence of blogging activity for the past few weeks \u2013 to quote our good mate Pembo from WA, we\u2019ve been \u2018in heaven with the door shut\u2019 and there ain\u2019t much internet inside the pearly gates!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2821","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-svtoucan"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p6B46t-Jv","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/svtoucan.com\/svtblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2821","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/svtoucan.com\/svtblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/svtoucan.com\/svtblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/svtoucan.com\/svtblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/svtoucan.com\/svtblog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2821"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"http:\/\/svtoucan.com\/svtblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2821\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2967,"href":"http:\/\/svtoucan.com\/svtblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2821\/revisions\/2967"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/svtoucan.com\/svtblog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2821"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/svtoucan.com\/svtblog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2821"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/svtoucan.com\/svtblog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2821"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}