Day 19: Raiatea Race!

We had been told a few days ago that there was going to be a prestigious outrigger canoe race called the Hawaiki Nui (Ha-vye-EE-ki Nwe) starting in Huahine yesterday, with a separate island to island leg taking place each day until the finish in Bora Bora tomorrow.  Today's leg of the race would be from Raiatea to Tahaa, and yesterday we learned that our arrival this morning would be delayed by 45 minutes until 9:45am to accommodate the launch of the race from the same pier at which the Pacific Princess would dock. 

This created big excitement on the ship, but we were entirely unsure whether we would see anything from the ship, or what the impact would be on the island. 

With that (relatively) late arrival, we had the chance to first eat breakfast in the Club Restaurant and then join the FOD (Fans of Douglas) up on Deck 11 to watch as the Pacific Princess approached the island. Unfortunately, though we weren't faced with the monsoonal rain we'd seen yesterday in Rangiroa, there was a passing light shower, and we all decamped and moved to the Pacific Lounge, one deck below at the front of the ship, where Douglas found a live microphone and was off and running with a commentary that moved from one topic to another swiftly and abruptly. I love his GPS-worthy lectures. 

Finally, though, we noticed that the rain had stopped, or at least slowed, and so we all moved, en masse, back up a level to look out as the Pacific Princess docked in Uturoa. 

What you can't easily see here, but trust me on this, is that, in the distance between Raiatea and Tahaa was a collection of multi-man outrigger canoes with three TV helicopters following them. 

Despite the lack of bright sun, the beautiful reef and small motus surrounding Raiatea and Tahaa never fail to impress. 

Without a second ship in port today, we were docked bow first in the closer spot the Windstar Wind Spirit had occupied the last time we were here, giving us a better view of the maritime wharf area. 

In front of this building, local drummers and dancers were performing to greet us. 

We walked off the ship to check out the availability of excursions bookable right on the pier in the visitors information center. There are options, unguided snorkel trips and Tahaa motu visit for as little as  $20pp, guided snorkel trips for $45, and island tours for $45. However, the day was not pretty enough for us to want to snorkel on the reef; it was windy and overcast with passing showers, and we have the luxury of waiting for another, sunnier day. 

Instead we walked down to the La Cubana restaurant, right on the pier, which offered 30 minutes of free wifi. We each purchased a Hinano, got the password and settled in a bit. Good?  No, of course it wasn't good Internet. G has taken to calling it underpowered Internet, or Undernet for short. Still, it was something and something is better than nothing.

Quite exciting, the TV was tuned to the race coverage, and the restaurant was packed with locals staying up with the results. Apparently this is a quick race, because the canoes were already starting to arrive on Tahaa and it was probably about 11am at that time.

I was able to check accounts and G checked the security cams at home, and, when we weren't chased away after 30 minutes, we bought a quart of pineapple juice from the pineapple juice factory we'd visited on Moorea and sat there drinking that. Princess had sent us another EMERGENCY NOTIFICATION in the past day or two, but here's the thing about receiving EMERGENCY NOTIFICATIONs when you're already on a ship in French Polynesia:  like all the other emails I receive, it wouldn't download so I had no idea if the EMERGENCY was that boarding wouldn't begin until 2pm or if an upcoming cruise was cancelled. Today I was finally able to see what the EMERGENCY was, and it was an itinerary change for the November 28th cruise due to- you guessed it- ship congestion in Rangiroa. That this has happened to us twice is almost beyond belief. Unfortunately, this time it's required that we rearrange some planned independent excursions, but I had already received (but not been able to download until today) notifications from the tour providers that Princess had made a change and asking if we could instead do the tours on the rescheduled dates. 

I see the fact that tiny dive operator Rangiroa Plongée on the coral atoll of Rangiroa in the Tuamotu Archipelago in French Polynesia knew about a change in the Pacific Princess' itinerary before we did as proof positive that, when your livelihood depends on a cruise ship coming in once a week or so, you make it a point to know what's going on with it. 

As you can tell, I was also able to upload a few photos, one at a time, until more and more crew members showed up and the speed slowed to a glacial speed. We packed it in and returned to the ship; it was just before 1pm by that time. 

By the time we finished lunch, it was raining again, so we sat on the covered Promenade Deck and waited until it abated, and while we were looking out at the gorgeous barrier reef that surrounds Raiatea and Tahaa and G wondered aloud just how that barrier reef got there and I turned to one of my guide books on my iPhone and read about how that happens. Each of these island groupings (Society, Tuamotu, Marquesas, Austral and Gambier) originated from the same fissure in the ocean floor, pushing up and then slowly, millimeters per year, moving northwestward, so that the youngest island in each group is the southeasternmost, and those northwest of it are all older. And the barrier reefs surrounding each island mark the edges of the island as it used to exist, before it started sinking back into the ocean. 

Good stuff!

When the rain finally stopped, we left the ship again (the beauty of a port where we're docked) to check out the two other supermarchés and one pharmacie in Uturoa within walking distance of the pier. These sorts of stores provide great insights into how the locals live. And Raiatea must have the cleanest, best fed, most well equipped babies on the planet. One full aisle in every store (with maybe five aisles total) contains just baby stuff, and I was amazed in the pharmacie when a couple ran in carrying a newly hatched, einsty tinesy infant, grabbed a baby bathtub that they won't need for at least three months, paid for it and ran out. Yes, clean babies are a definite priority. Also a priority, rodent traps and bug repellents in every shape and form. When we spotted a rodent trap at least five times the size of a standard mouse trap, I told G that, if I ever had a rat in my house that required that, I would just have to move.  Preferably off the island.  It's the other side of living in paradise; lots of creatures want to live there, too.  

Another reality that was instantly obvious:  prices at the supermarchés weren't too terribly much higher than we'd pay at home. But prices at the pharmacie were easily ten times higher. Unfortunately, there isn't a lot of overlap; items were either available at the supermarchés or they weren't.  And if they weren't, they were crazy expensive.

We returned to the ship at the same time the performers of the Children of Raiatea folkloric show were coming on board. It was nice to see that, without the pareos and floral crowns, they're just regular kids, eating junk food and running around while the adults were completing the security information. We had seen them perform last cruise and so skipped them this time around, but there is another folkloric show with adult performers taking place at 9:45pm tonight and we plan to be at that one.  The Pacific Princess stays docked in Raiatea until 4am tomorrow morning, though what these is to do here after dark is kind of a mystery to me. Uturoa may be the second largest town in French Polynesia but I don't imagine it is a hotbed of nightlife. 

We went directly to dinner in the Club Restaurant tonight; we were hungry tonight and had three courses plus dessert, a rarity for us.  We're skipping tonight's Ye Olde Pub Night in favor of waiting for the Raiatea folkloric show at 9:45pm. Then it will be quick to bed...we have a full day tomorrow in Bora Bora. Fingers crossed for more sun!!!