Huahine - the gem of the Society Islands
Jackamy
Paul & Derry Harper
Thu 3 Jun 2010 20:10
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16:42.790S 151.02.410W
Thursday 3rd June
The journey over from Raiatea was
horrendous, so bad that we considered turning back and missing out Huahine
completely. Because we had to head east to get back to Huahine we were beating
straight into the trade winds and it was awful. But I think we're all glad we
persevered as the island is absolutely beautiful with a fantastic atmosphere.
I'd go as far as to say it is our favourite island in the Society Archipelago,
Moorea is up there too though.
The guide book says "Relatively secret,
unpretentious and authentically Polynesian, Huahine is a place to just kick back
and watch the world float by" and I couldn't agree more. The island has managed
to escape the overdevelopment that is taking place on the other islands. There's
only one real luxury resort and locals aren't keen on seeing any more, they'd
rather keep their island just as it is - mellow! We're anchored at a bustling
little village called Fare on the north island and we've fallen for the
place. It's as if something has been drawing us in and we haven't been able to
move on from here, even though we know the rest of the island is just as
appealing, if not more. Because Huahine doesn't rely on tourism and there aren't
any big posh hotels it hasn't been affected by the recession like the other
islands have. It's self sufficient and the people are continuing to live their
lives as they would do any normal day and the fact that there are fewer tourists
doesn't affect them.
 The boats at
anchor
 We went for a stroll and were
greeted by the usual sights, locals cycling and 'Le Truck' otherwise known as
the bus
 At the waterfront the men were
returning from their day fishing. The tuna is hung up on the main road
for passers by to buy it for their tea
I'd spoken to Sue from Camomile
the other day and she'd given us a few tips about what to do and where to go on
Huahine and one thing was to snorkel by the pass at Fare Village. So after our
afternoon exploring we managed to get a quick snorkel in before it was time for
'Happy Hour'. We began what we thought was going to be a short journey over to a
double-hulled canoe that is tied up on the reef which is where you tie your
dinghy on to. Anyway, after around half an hour we made it to the canoe after
manoveuring around the coral heads that littered the sea bed. As we lost our
oars in Nuka Hiva we actually had to use our fins to try and get us out of the
minefield. But a bit like our journey over here from Raiatea it was worth it
once we were there. As soon as we jumped in the water we were surrounded by
Bannerfish and huge Skipper Jacks as well as many other species of fish. We
believe that the fish must normally be fed by humans as they were definitely
after something, they wouldn't leave us alone and kept circling us. Paul even
saw a large reef shark but thankfully he didn't appear hungry.
  The canoe that we tied up to
and dozens of Bannerfish
  To the left is me with the fish
and to the right would have been Paul with the fish but one swam infront of the
lense right at the crucial moment
 One of the Skipper Jacks, they
were about one and a half feet long.........Two pretty Bannerfish
Both of our evenings have started
in the Te Marara which is conveniently situated next to the dinghy dock and they
just so happen to have a happy hour from 5.30 - 6.30. We've then ventured along
the waterfront to the Roulette vans, similar to the roach coahes in Tahiti. The
first night we opted for a Chinese and last night it was merely a choice of
meat or fish, all of us chose steak and frites, yum yum! The size of the
portions that we were given was incredible, thinking about it now I can't
believe we didn't take a picture. It was a large plate full of chips with a
piece of steak placed on the top. But this was no ordinary steak, it was
probably 3 times the size of a normal steak. It really is not surprising that
some of the locals are so big.
 The Chinese
 The 'Fish or Meat'
van
This morning was fantastic, we
had dolphins swimming around the boats inside the bay. At 8.30 we all quickly
donned our swimsuits and got in the water to try and swim with them but before
we knew it we were quite far out and as the current can be quite strong we made
our way back to the boat to pick up the dinghy. We'd get right up to the
dolphins, so close that you could touch them, then we'd get in the water and
suddenly they'd dive down and disappear. This went on for around an hour and a
half. Amy would stay in the water, hold onto the dinghy and be dragged back and
forth across the bay. We'd drop her off, she'd stay perfectly still but they'd
still sense that she was there. It was brilliant though as we could hear them
all talking to one another under the water. We eventually gave up and although
we technically didn't swim with dolphins it was still good fun. They then spent
the whole day swimming around the bay and at the bow of boats as they came in
and out of the pass.
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