Day 49: Raiatea

You know, sometimes it's easier to just do something, rather than to keep planning to do it. Didn't Nike have an entire ad campaign based on that exact premise:  Just Do It?  Well, it was time to Just Do It, and climb that damn hill, Mt. Tapioi, overlooking Uturoa, where the Pacific Princess docks on the northern end of Raiatea. G clearly wasn't going to be satisfied until he had done it, and I wasn't about to let him go alone, and that is precisely how I usually find myself in these situations. 

We fueled up with a good breakfast in the Club Restaurant:  fresh fruit, a big dish of cottage cheese and 6-grain toast (plus oatmeal for G), and returned to our cabin to pack for the hike. Despite the fact that I really didn't want to carry the weight, I packed three water bottles just for me, and several washcloths to be used for cleaning and cooling (when wet with water). As I've read to do, I layered first copious amounts of sunscreen, then even more DEET lotion on top, and packed both items to take with in case touch ups were needed. It felt funny to wear sneakers and socks...I spend most of my life these days in either Teva or Birkenstock sandals. We added Tilley hats and fully charged iPhones and set off. Luckily, the Moon Tahiti travel guide provides good directions that were very accurate, but also claimed this was an easy hike, which I might dispute. But we found our way to the dirt road beside the Gendarmerie and set out. 

Standing at the bottom and looking up was a bit intimidating. 

Luckily, once we had crossed over the cattle guard at the bottom of the road, we were met with this sign that confirmed we were at least starting out on the right path. 

It was hot in the sun, and G quickly moved ahead, leaving me to climb alone, but that is how I prefer it. I'm not a talker when I'm working that hard, and really am not that interested in listening either. I do, however, enjoy having the solitude to be able to think, things like "What the heck am I doing climbing this hill, when there is a little motu over there with a beach with my name on it?" and "Just think how many scoops of sorbet I'm burning off right now!" and "Is that a mosquito buzzing my head?  A Chikengunya mosquito?  Oh, crap!"

Yes, alone is better. 

Every so often I'd meet someone coming down the hill who would inform me that my husband was 50,  150, 500 meters ahead of me and had his cell phone turned on in case I ran into trouble. I wasn't in trouble, exactly, but I was motivating myself to move up that mountain by climbing from one shady area to the next and then resting a bit before moving on to the next shady area.  However, it did briefly rain, a misty shower when I took off my Tilley and allowed it to soak my hair. Heaven!  But then the sun returned in full force and the formerly comfortable shady areas became steam rooms from the trapped moisture and heat. Still, there were a few surprises along the way to keep me going. 

Horses were grazing freely on the hillside. They were very tame, even the darling colts, but it required constant care to avoid the piles of manure they left behind. 

And every so often I'd get a glimpse of that gorgeous blue water through the trees (and wish I was in it, instead!)

These horses had exactly the right idea, especially the one on the left.

I don't know how long I was at this- the road to the top is only 2.2 miles, but it was quite steep in places and really stinking hot (high 80s and even higher in the sun) and muggy by this time (11-ish). I had heard from fellow hikers coming down (in fact, two crew members from the bar staff) that G had made it to the top. Just as I was about to give up (the road was becoming even rockier and steeper), G came down to meet me, encouraging me by saying that it was just 15 minutes- 10 minutes- 5 minutes more, until, finally, he said we were at the last shady spot before the top. I was going to make it!  Go me!

And when I did reach what was actually the lowest of three different summits, each with an antenna on it, this view made it all worthwhile. When was the last time we did something for the first time? Today, when I saw what was, without a doubt, the most beautiful vista I've ever seen. 

On the left, the barrier reef on the west side of Raiatea and its sister island Taha'a (in the middle) with Bora Bora's Mt. Otemanu in the distance. The Raiatea airport runway is in the foreground.

The barrier reef on the eastern side of Raiatea and Taha'a

Looking directly east, you can see the Pacific Princess at its berth in Uturoa and the island of Huahine on the horizon in the middle of the photo. You can also see the ribbon of road we hiked up on the side of the hill.

Looking southward, with Teavapiti Pass, a break in the barrier reef through which the Pacific Princess cruises to dock at Raiatea near the center of the photo, and Motu Ofetaro, with that beach with my name on it, on the left.

I've broken the expansive view up into four photos just to get it all in, but then couldn't resist taking just one panorama photo to show how we were just surrounded by this spectacular scenery. I also took a video that is just, well...incredible, not because of the videographer but because of the subject matter. I'll try to post it from Papeete in a few days. I think G said it best, that being on the summit of Mt. Tapioi  surrounded by reef and islands was like taking a helicopter tour but never leaving the ground. 

After I rested a bit at the first lookout, we made our way to the second and third lookout points. I'm not certain which of these was the highest, because for each one we'd have to walk down a hill and then back up. There was an antenna on each of the three peaks; this was the view from the third one, from which we could only see northwest, to Bora Bora. 

We spent a lot of time- at least an hour- at the top. Part of it was that I wasn't anxious to leave that view and start down, but most of it was that I knew there was no way I was making that climb again anytime soon. While the climb up was hot and steep, I knew that, for me, going down would be tortuous. And it was. You see, my entire right forefoot was crushed in an accident over 20 years ago, and, after eight reconstructive surgeries, it, along with my ankle, is held together with screws and wires and bone grafts. I do really well considering the severity of the injury but walking on rocky surfaces is very hard. Walking on rocky surfaces going downhill is excruciating.  As I hiked up, I knew it would be and it was, but really wanted to see the view from the top.  As I explained to G (when I took breaks from crying into my washcloth as I walked), it was like sticking my foot in a fire. It hurt like hell, but the worst part was knowing I was going to have to stick it in that fire 5000 more times.

What should have taken 30 minutes or so to walk back down the mountain took me well over an hour and was far harder than climbing up. I would try to find every grassy area to walk on to soften the blow a bit while still avoiding the piles the horses had left behind. The switchbacks were the steepest, and therefore the hardest. 

Still, when we were halfway down, looking back up at that summit was very gratifying.

By the time we reached the street again, I was ready to just get back to the Pacific Princess, and, luckily, the walk from that point was only 15 minutes or so. I made it up the gangway and into the air conditioned comfort of our cabin and collapsed, as did G, proving that we are not kids anymore. At some point, I managed to lift myself off the bed and got us each an ibuprofen, which helped, and G eventually went to a hot tub, but that was pretty much it for us for the rest of the afternoon. 

The Children of Raiatea folkloric group performed at 5pm on the pool deck. They are just cute as can be, and we enjoyed watching them en route to the Elite Lounge. We enjoyed our final dinner tonight with our "next door" tablemates from this cruise, Andy (who was also on last cruise) and three of the youngest passengers on the ship, Matt and Crystal and Crystal's sister Jenny.  We dine tomorrow night at the specialty steakhouse on board, as we make our way from Bora Bora back to Papeete for an 8am arrival the next day.  The production show Stardust was being performed at 8:30pm, and another Raiatea folkloric show is taking place on the pool deck at 9:30pm. We are tired, however, and a pillow sounds more attractive right about now. 

The moon's reflection on the water tonight

We had planned to go to Matira Beach on Bora Bora tomorrow, but looked at each other as we got ready for bed tonight. We've both had a lot of sun the past few days (I think we sweat and/or wiped off our sunscreen in today's intense heat). We might do a couple of hours on the beach...or we might spend the day in a lounger in the shade on the Promenade Deck. A down day with a book in hand sounds pretty nice right now.